The Power of Symbols

The Power of Symbols

Storytellers have always used symbols. Even the most ancient texts contain rich symbolism. So do tales predating the written word by millennia. At first it seems counterproductive to wrap ideas in layers of metaphor. What's easier: saying, "Being too single-minded can land you in trouble," or writing a 635 page book about a guy chasing a…
September 29, 2015
Middle Earth 90210: How Tolkien and Howard’s Successors Blew Their Inheritance

Middle Earth 90210: How Tolkien and Howard’s Successors Blew Their Inheritance

As this blog's subtitle implies, I write speculative fiction. So far my works include hard SF, mil-SF, weird fiction, SF/horror, and space opera. Perhaps you noticed the absence of fantasy from that list. The omission seems even stranger when you consider that I'm an incorrigible Tolkien fan. The Hobbit, The…
September 23, 2015
Farewell Wes Craven: The Death of a Reluctant Horror Icon

Farewell Wes Craven: The Death of a Reluctant Horror Icon

"I think what, really, horror films deal with is vulnerability and inattention," director Wes Craven said in a 1996 interview promoting his meta-horror opus Scream. "They show you the penalty of...not admitting to what's really out there." Craven succumbed to cancer on Sunday in Los Angeles. Having been raised by…
August 31, 20151 Comment

Do Self-Published Authors Bear a Stigma?

I came across this article by indie author Liz Long wherein she laments the stigma attached to self-published writers. My local media (newspaper, TV, radio) won’t review my books because they don’t have a Big 5 publisher name attached. My own alma mater, Longwood University, told me they won’t feature…
August 14, 2015
Millennials Don’t Live in America

Millennials Don’t Live in America

We talk about generations as if they're clearly defined categories, but in reality the gaps between generational cohorts are pretty ambiguous. Because I straddle the line between Generation X and the Millennial Generation, and my parents are Baby Boomers, my perspective on current intergenerational conflicts is as close to objective…
August 11, 2015
Archaic Industries that Are Still in Business

Archaic Industries that Are Still in Business

The increasing speed of innovation was aptly summed up by John Lithgow's character from Interstellar: "...[I]t felt like they made something new everyday. Some gadget or idea. Like every day was Christmas." The tireless march of progress has certainly endowed us with an abundance of technological goodies. It has also…
March 4, 2015
If there Were an Oscar for Best Hollywood Revenge Fantasy

If there Were an Oscar for Best Hollywood Revenge Fantasy

I recently saw--no, make that had the misfortune of being sucker punched by--an initially promising film that squandered its competent storytelling with a superfluous, jarring and gratuitous jab at a thinly veiled parody of a hate group painted with such broad strokes as to crudely slander millions within is own…
February 21, 2015

Get a Different Table

The winners of the 2014 Hugo Awards were announced yesterday. I heartily congratulate the authors of the winning works. As for the other nominees, take heart. Being nominated actually is an honor--especially considering how the whole process is structured. Much is being made of the losses suffered by Opera Vita Aeterna…
August 18, 2014