Thirty-five years ago, two things that fundamental changed my life happened in the same summer. In May, Star Wars was released. In August, Elvis Presley died. The arrival of Star Wars turned the thing that everyone in my small town mocked, that had gotten me teased and beaten up, into the hippest thing in the world. Spaceships, aliens and robots … Read More
Rant: the Penn State Penalties
I’ve been following the Jerry Sandusky child molestation case since it broke. The Freeh report, which explicitly blamed Sandusky’s continued ability to molest children on the deliberate actions of those in power at Penn State, including legendary football coach Joe Paterno (arguably the most powerful man on campus), led to unprecedented penalties against the university and its football program. And … Read More
A story as tight as a sharkbite
Every year on the Fourth of July, we watch Jaws. It’s the original summer movie, and the template for everything great about the blockbuster/tentpole approach. It’s also a really good story (and yes, it was a good story when Melville first told it, too, but that’s another post). The book it is based on, however, is not. A really good story, … Read More
Maria Scholl, the overlooked great science fiction heroine
A while back I wrote about Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino) of The Replacement Killers, the forgotten great action heroine. Now I’m spotlighting Maria Scholl, the overlooked great science fiction heroine. Scholl, played by Cox Habbema, is one of the main figures of Eolomea, a 1972 East German (i.e., Soviet-era Communist) SF film directed by Hermann Zschoche. In a nonspecific future, spaceships … Read More
Show your love for Eddie (and a good cause, too)!
So, as promised, here’s my big announcement. I’m joining Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Lethem, Nick Hornby, Richard K. Morgan Chuck Klosterman, Dennis Lehane and three of my personal heroes–Bruce Springsteen, Charles de Lint, and Andrew Vachss–at Novel Tees. It’s a literary t-shirt shop where all profits go to Protect, a lobby for legislation to protect children from physical, sexual, … Read More
Sword up vs. sword down
To general readers (i.e., those who don’t read one genre exclusively), “fantasy” means warriors, sorcerers, castles and dragons. The omnipresence of Joseph Campbell, in the wake of George Lucas, has added the core story idea of the naive young hero, sword raised as a beacon of everything that’s just and right, preparing to go into battle. You can see the … Read More
Interview: Red Reaper director Tara Cardinal
NOTE: October, 2013. When this post first ran, the director used the pseudonym “Kristen Stewart” for reasons related to financing and marketing concerns. Since then, happily, those concerns no longer apply, and the truth can come out: Legend of the Red Reaper was written, produced, partially choreographed and directed by its star, Tara Cardinal. Keep that in mind when reading … Read More
Meg Coburn, the forgotten action heroine
I love action heroines. I’ve even put one in my next Eddie LaCrosse novel, Wake of the Bloody Angel. But my standards require, if not strict adherence, at least lip service to the laws of the natural world. That negates the whole concept of the “ass-kicking sprite,” wherein a tiny female character suddenly has the ability to overpower people (usually … Read More