I’m not the kind of guy who likes surprises very much. I never had much in the way of birthday parties to begin with, but surprise parties in particular always rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, you want to celebrate my life by trying to scare me to death? No, thank you. It’s really… Continue reading Impala Nights: Part 1
Tag: supernatural
Writer Report: Supernatural Inspiration
Cold Streets is closer than ever to the end of the first draft. I have a few changes I think I’ll be making before test readers are contacted, so I guess they’ll be seeing a second draft, or perhaps draft 1.5 – either way, I’m on the cusp of switching gears between writing and editing,… Continue reading Writer Report: Supernatural Inspiration
Movie Review: Hellboy – Blood & Iron
I’m not sure what it is about tales of the occult and the supernatural that fascinate me so deeply. It could be the notion that the things that go bump in the night are more than just settling houses and gusts of wind; that right in front of us, just out of sight and barely… Continue reading Movie Review: Hellboy – Blood & Iron
Characters vs. Icons
There’s another Marvel movie due out before the end of the summer. I’m cautiously optimistic about The Wolverine. Many (some might say all) of Logan’s most interesting stories come from his time in Japan, a time that has not happened in the films until now. I can understand why some might be trepidatious given the… Continue reading Characters vs. Icons
Flash Fiction: The Last Saloon
After an unfortunate false start last night, I re-rolled for Chuck’s flash fiction challenge “Another Roll of the Dice“. The new rolls gave me the “Grindhouse” genre, with the elements “a troublesome dog” and “a hidden compartment”. The road stretched out into the inky darkness, pierced only by the headlights of the purring 1960 DeSoto… Continue reading Flash Fiction: The Last Saloon
Flash Fiction: Knight of Swords
This week, Terribleminds charged us with writing using a motif. The d10 told me to go for Swords, in the genre of Paranormal Romance with the setting of Route 66. “This is insane, even for you. You need your rest.” Simon Cooper ignored the suggestion. Part of him hoped that the traffic would have drowned… Continue reading Flash Fiction: Knight of Swords
Book Review: Cold Days
“Turns out your friend here is only mostly dead.” – Miracle Max, The Princess Bride It certainly seemed that Harry Dresden, Chicago’s sole professional wizard, was as dead as dead could be. He was shot at the end of Changes and spent almost the entire length of Ghost Story haunting his friends and watching them… Continue reading Book Review: Cold Days
IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Wolfman
{No audio this week on account of my own lycanthropic rampage.} There was a time when movie studios didn’t mind being associated with the unusual and the macabre. For years, Universal Studios seemed rather proud of its men becoming monsters. Bela Legosi inhabited the castle and cloak of Count Dracula, Boris Karloff took a couple… Continue reading IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! The Wolfman
2012's First Braindump
In lieu of IT CAME FROM NETFLIX! this week, postponed due to the dayjob workload, I give you the start of that thing I’ve been inspired to write thanks to Chuck Wendig as I mentioned Tuesday. I honestly don’t know if anything will actually come of this, but rather than post some pithy filler I… Continue reading 2012's First Braindump
Dresden Zen
In the process of writing Cold Iron, which is still in progress, I’ve reached for inspiration and motivation from contemporaries in the field of supernatural detective mysteries. First and foremost and long overdue is my reading of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files, a series of novels about a Chicago-based wizard who operates a private investigation… Continue reading Dresden Zen
