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
Short story in new anthology
My short story, “The Cut,” is available as part of Dark Light, an anthology edited by Carl Hose to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Please consider picking up a copy; the list of contributors is pretty impressive, and it’s for a good cause.
The real pirate of the Bloody Angel
When I began thinking about the next Eddie LaCrosse novel, sometime during the final stages of Dark Jenny, I knew I needed a simple hook for it. The previous books had them: The Sword-Edged Blonde came from the song, “Rhiannon,” Burn Me Deadly came from a mash-up of Kiss Me Deadly and the idea of dragons as nuclear weapons, and … Read More
The Music of the Firefly Witch
Back when I first wrote the stories that comprise volume one of The Firefly Witch tales, I also discovered the use of music to set the mood for writing. I know from talking to other writers that it’s a common thing now, and probably was back then–Stephen King blasted AC/DC when he was working, for example. But with no internet … Read More
The Return of the Firefly Witch
I sold my first short story in 1996. It appeared in a defunct horror zine called Gaslight: Tales of the Unsane. It introduced Tanita “Tanna” Tully, a character I subsequently wrote about for nearly ten years. She was: a) blind, but could see in the presence of fireflies, b) a parapsychologist, and c) a Wiccan high priestess known as Lady … Read More
The sources and settings for Wake of the Bloody Angel
Okay, so the fourth adventure of sword jockey Eddie LaCrosse, Wake of the Bloody Angel, hits shelves and reading devices this summer. What’s it about, you ask? Pirates. Oh, sure, there’s other things: the weight of the past, the nature of truth, the limits of friendship, sea monsters. But the selling point for me, the reason I wanted to write … Read More
The Pultizer Fiction Kerfluffle
For the first time since 1977, the Pulitzer Prize committee chose not to give an award for fiction this year. The responses have been vociferous and bifurcated (those are high literary terms for loud and split). It’s been denounced alternately as a flaw in literature itself, or in the committees doing the nominating and selecting, respectively. The nominating committee–Michael Cunningham, … Read More
Interview: Jefferson Brassfield, screenwriter of Westender
I took a chance on the 2003 movie Westender, based on the DVD cover image to the left. I love fantasy films, and this one seemed unusually somber and even (dare I hope?) thoughtful, instead of the usually mayhem and scantily-clad girls (not that there’s anything wrong with that). It turned out to be just that: a meditation on redemption, shot in … Read More
The wacky comradeship of the Beats
“New York gets god-awful cold in the winter but there’s a feeling of wacky comradeship somewhere in some streets.”–Jack Kerouac I love reading about the Beat Generation. This is not the same, I hasten to add, as actually reading the work of the Beats, which can be hard going for someone used to more traditional forms of writing. But the … Read More
Guest blog: Alyxandra Harvey
Alyxandra Harvey is the author of numerous YA paranormal books, including the ongoing Drake Chronicles. Here she talks about some aspects of her chosen genre and how she relates to her fans. ***** First, an apology. I’m sorry if I’ve become homework. And I’m sorry if part of me finds that pretty freaking cool. I get many requests for help … Read More