They say you should never meet your heroes. You will realize they have feet of clay, lecherous hands, and spiteful mouths. Let them remain a shadow in the back of your mind. The Platonic idea of your hero will always beat the real thing. In this case, I'm glad I didn't listen. Over ten years… Continue reading We Can Be Heroes
Tag: writing
Bad Decisions Make Good Stories
I've seen this on a t-shirt in a few different places. It's supposed to be some kind of devil-may-care, "I'm try-sexual - I'll try anything" type of declaration. But I saw it worn by the co-author of Hard Case Crime's brilliant comic, Peepland. And it might as well be the thesis for film noir, and… Continue reading Bad Decisions Make Good Stories
Choose your own Adventure
(C) 2017 Andrija Popovic The door opens up and you find yourself in the main hub area of your beautiful job. Rows of cube-chairs, one after the other, line the massive open plan office space. You can see your reflection in the great silvered mirrors of the executive offices. The executives get private thinking spaces… Continue reading Choose your own Adventure
Extra Large Turing Test with Fries
Extra Large Turing Test with Fries by Andrija Popovic (C) 2017 Andrija Popovic [Excerpt from artificial drive-through attendant Turing Test with Miss Rosa Mirella, 26, of Gaithersburg, MD. In this test series, subjects are randomly exposed to either a human attendant or an artificial one.] INTERVIEWER: Miss Mirella, just to review, prior to the very… Continue reading Extra Large Turing Test with Fries
All Politics is Local
All Politics is Local by Andrija Popovic (c) 2017 Andrija Popovic "Ms. Deveroux, give us a straight answer." Duane Jefferson, seventy years old and elder statesman of the Groveton city council, crossed all four of his arms. "Is the waste water disposal system for the oil wells causing our inter-dimensional issues?" Thea Deveroux, an occult… Continue reading All Politics is Local
This Was Not the Corporate Dystopia I Was Promised
The other title for this post is "We Need The Punk In Cyberpunk Now." Recent events has me thinking on a big influence on my formative years: the literature and the aesthetic of cyberpunk. While many grew up with images of the space age, with (white, western) humanity cementing its manifest destiny among the stars,… Continue reading This Was Not the Corporate Dystopia I Was Promised
I’ve Seen The Future, Brother, It Is Murder
I couldn't help but bring Leonard Cohen into this. He's one of the many artists whose loss gouged great wounds in our hearts. But Leonard's poetry will live on in everyone he's touched, and in every story he's inspired. This month's post is about the future. It's about two different futures, though. One is personal… Continue reading I’ve Seen The Future, Brother, It Is Murder
Two Updates for October
(Image by the great Ron Spencer) It's the waning days of October and, here in the DC area, it finally feels like October. Morning air bites you on the cheek. Leaves rattle on the asphalt in slow-motion tornadoes. ALIEN ARTIFACTS has seen print. I'm still focusing on writing short stories, especially now that three new… Continue reading Two Updates for October
Oh, The Horror. The Horror….
Oh, The Horror. The Horror. I love horror fiction, and films. The weirder, the better. But, I don't think I'll ever be able to successfully write it. I'll explain why after this gloomy self-portrait of Sir William Fettes Douglas: If there was a philosophy to my early childhood, it's this: "The world is dark and… Continue reading Oh, The Horror. The Horror….
Our Map is Not The Territory
I originally wrote this before the events in Dallas, Minnesota, and Baton Rouge unfolded on our screens. It's leading me to rethink a lot of things, especially what is happening in Baton Rouge, where a good chunk of Metaphysical Graffiti takes place. Will I have to revise the book so what happens to Ieshia Evans… Continue reading Our Map is Not The Territory
Biomechanoid Blues 