When I was a kid I adored comic books. I was (and still am) a fan of Marvel titles, especially Spider Man, The Incredible Hulk, Doctor Strange, The Silver Surfer, and The Uncanny X-Men. I’d run down to the local convenience store the first of every month and pick up my favorites, along with a…
Month: June 2021
Complacency and Change [Creativity]
It’s good to have routines, like writing every day, exercising regularly, doing positive things on a schedule. Routines help us to get things done, stay healthy, keep us on task. The more often we do things the easier they become (usually) and the better we get at doing them. For example, writing every day keeps…
New Beginnings [Mental Health]
I never realized just how much influence our jobs have on our mental health. I mean, sure, we can get stressed at work, occasionally have to deal with toxic people, clean up mistakes, things like that. It’s a job and it comes with the territory. I recently read this article that explains how a toxic…
Playing Exquisite Corpse [Creativity]
I’m sure the title got your attention, but this isn’t a post about horror or forensics. Exquisite Corpse is actually a game focused on creativity. Think of it as a creative exercise that can be done with either words or images. It’s actually quite fun to play and the outcomes can range from amazing to…
Book Review – Testing the Ties That Bind [Books]
I always enjoy reading stories by writers I’m unfamiliar with, especially when they exceed my expectations. Mackenzie Littledale’s Testing the Ties That Bind: A Mini Collection of Short Stories is one of those rare collections that does just that. There are only five stories here, but what it lacks in numbers it makes up for…
Be Like Water [Writing]
There’s a great quote by martial artist, actor, and philosopher Bruce Lee that always resonated with me. “Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves….
Finding Your Writing Voice [Writing]
An author’s writing voice is much like a fingerprint, or even their actual speaking voice. It’s special, unique, and identifies them as an individual. When I pick up a book and start reading, the author’s writing voice identifies them, much like if they had called me on the phone. When I was in my teens…
Beet-Pickled Turnips! [Recipe]
Yeah, I know, you’re asking yourself “why did he do this?” It was an experiment. I was making a batch of roasted root vegetables and ended up with a few extra beets and turnips. I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I didn’t want to stick them back in the veggie drawer in the…
Russian Literature [Books]
I’m not sure when my affinity for Russian literature initially took hold. The first Russian author I read was Nikolai Gogol. I picked up a short story collection of his, Diary of a Madman and Other Stories in a book store in the mall. It wasn’t an official volume, but rather a collection of his…
Quote the Writer, Not the Character [Writing]
Okay, I know this will sound strange, but it annoys me when someone quotes a character from a work of fiction instead of the writer. I should let it go, I know, but I think it comes from my belief that writers are under appreciated in general. It happens often enough in fiction. I mean,…