I was discussing fantasy books with a coworker the other day and during the conversation I told him about a book I had read years ago that he might like. I couldn’t remember the title, but the premise was there. What I recalled was two college friends who are transported to a sort of medieval…
Month: December 2019
Podcast Update
I had planned to have a new episode of the Prometheus Project recorded and uploaded this morning, but I didn’t count on coming down with the flu. I could still record it, but I don’t think you’d want to hear me coughing and wheezing. Besides, the flu medicine I’m taking makes me a bit loopy…
Plans for the New Year
I’m not a fan of new year resolutions. In my opinion, why wait for a calendar event to do something positive in your life? It’s like saying, “I’ll start that new project on Monday” or “I’ll stop drinking on Friday.” Why not do it right now? Why wait? With that said, I’m not against setting…
Mining for Ideas
I had a writer recently tell me they had a difficult time coming up with ideas for stories. They complained that they’d sit down at their PC and stare at the blank page on the screen and struggle to think of something interesting to write about. Keep in mind, they’re a fine writer and I’ve…
Hidden Treasure
If you’re anything like me, you probably have hundreds of story fragments laying around. I have scraps of paper, spiral notebooks, and legal pads stored on bookshelves and milk crates in my home office. I also have far too many sub-folders on my MacBook that contain bits and pieces of ideas, half-finished dialogue, and partial…
Holiday Wishes
December is a month of holidays, some religious, some secular, but all worthwhile. I think that people often get so caught up in the media- and politically-inspired drama that they forget about the reason for this season. That being kindness, forgiveness, and charity. It doesn’t matter if your Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Rastafarian,…
Monkey Mind
I recently heard the term “Monkey Mind” while watching a video on mindful meditation. It was a cute animation that described how we can become overwhelmed by all the things in our lives and how all this makes it difficult to concentrate. I felt a connection to the little animated monkey in the video. The…
Taboo Subjects in Fiction
I was recently thinking about a book I read a while back called Damage by Josephine Hart. If you aren’t familiar with it, the basic premise is that a British politician has an affair with his daughter-in-law. It’s a dark, twisted tale, impeccably written, with an unreliable narrator. Ms. Hart does a fantastic job of…
What to Read Next?
Sometimes I hate to finish reading a good book because I don’t want the story to end. You know how it is when you get caught up in the narrative, you care about the characters, and while you want to know how the story ends, a part of you just wants it to keep going…
Supporting Other Artists
I find it strange when I encounter creative people who see art as a competition. They are the ones who put down other artists, either to their faces to behind their backs, and they love to point out what they perceive as flaws in the work others produce. It’s not constructive criticism they’re offering. No,…