The Rio Bravo approach to world-building

I’m often asked about “world building,” the term for creating the environment for fantasy novels. Most tend to be much more elaborate than mine, which may be one reason why my books are so much shorter. I usually respond with some variation of, “I’m more interested in people building,” which is true but can understandably sound a bit facile. Still, … Read More

Reality…what a (necessary) concept

Reality may seem a strange concern for a writer who focuses on fantasy and horror. After all, how can you claim anything is “real” in tales of faux-medieval warriors, disco-era vampires and supernatural hillbillies? Yet it’s an overwhelming concern to me, and one that leads me repeatedly back to the films of John Cassavetes. His work–among them Shadows, Faces, the … Read More

Hundreds of little people living under his skin.*

Coming up with character names is, as the master Charles Dickens probably knew, one of the most fun aspects of writing. Unlike real life, where you’re named long before your identity is formed, you have the chance to give someone a handle that reflects their personality. Villains can be named “Uriah Heep”; plucky young urchins can be “Pip” or “The … Read More

Bad Influences from Good Sources

As writers, we all own up (or should) to the things that influence us in a positive way. For example, I acknowledge the debt I owe to Robert B. Parker for my understanding of how to make a first-person narrative entertaining. But what about negative influences? What about the things that we tried to incorporate into our own writing that … Read More

Lancelot du Lac: hiding meaning in plain sight

Recently I blogged about how John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur awakened my love for Arthurian stories. And while I continue to adore that film, I’ve also grown to love its polar opposite, an Arthurian film so minimal, as stark as Excalibur is voluptuous, that it’s hard to believe they basically tell the same tale: Robert Bresson’s 1974 film Lancelot du … Read More

Return of the REAL King

There are many books on Elvis, from treatises on his sociopolitical influence to muckraking autobiographies by those on his payroll, but it’s rare to find one that understands his impact, yet takes the time to delve into the human being behind it. Gillian Gaar’s Return of the King does just that, using as her sources mainly interviews with musicians and … Read More

Io9, Battlestar Galactica, and the American Idol culture

“Born Originals, how comes it to pass that we die Copies?”–“Conjectures on Original Composition” by Edward Young, 1759 *** I’ll tell you up front, this is a rant. I try not to do them often, and usually delete them after I write them. If you’re reading this one, it means I’m still fuming even after an acceptable cooling-off period. Io9, … Read More

Low Road: Donald Goines and urban tragedy

I discovered the novels of Donald Goines when I worked for a book distributor that sold collections to libraries. Often this meant orders for all the books by a particular author, as was the case with Goines, whose novels bore vivid titles like Whoreson, Black Gangster, Swamp Man and White Man’s Justice, Black Man’s Grief. Goines’ first novel appeared in … Read More

Thirty years of Excalibur

Thirty years ago the Arthurian myth first grabbed hold of me when I saw Excalibur on its initial release. Prior to that, I’d encountered King Arthur only through the Disneyfied Sword in the Stone, or the bloodless Technicolor epic Knights of the Round Table. John Boorman’s 1981 film was different: limbs were hacked off, breasts were bared and there was … Read More