I sometimes forget how nice silence can be. Like most people, I live my life surrounded by noise. Streaming music (or radio, if you’re old school), television, traffic, airplanes overhead, the hum of electronics, people talking, dogs barking, phones pinging and beeping…it’s constant and never ending. There are times when I need a break from…
Author: RB
Writing with Prompts [Writing]
I’m curious as to how many writers use prompts to get started on a project. Of those who do, how do they find their prompts? Online? From collections of prompts? Do they keep a list of ones they come up with themselves? And are they using prompts just for writing exercises, or do they use…
Review – Rabbits [Books]
I was browsing in a local bookstore a few weeks ago when a book cover caught my eye. Or more specifically, it was the technicolor rabbit on the cover that got my attention. I picked up the book and read the inside flap, the back cover, and then flipped to a random page in the…
Fear of the Written Word [Books]
Lately, I’ve felt as if the United States has somehow slipped back in time a hundred years or so. It’s like our society has regressed in so many areas, but at the moment I want to look at the latest fad of banning and burning books. Book burning and banning isn’t new. Ever since humanity…
Tokyo Manuscript Writing Cafe [Writing]
I stumbled across an article this past week about a new Manuscript Writing Cafe in Tokyo that sounds fantastic. Unlike your usual cafes where writers have to contend with distractions like loud conversations and the constant traffic of non-writers, this new endeavor strives to make it easier for wordsmiths to meet their daily writing goals….
Review – A Puppet Scorned [Books]
It’s no secret that I love weird fiction. I like stories that go against convention, that are experimental, make me think, and make me look at the world in a different way. So when I was asked if I’d be interested in reviewing Jamie Kort’s short story, “A Puppet Scorned”, I had to say yes….
Review – The Labyrinth [Books]
As I mentioned in a previous post, I really enjoy Simon Stalenhag‘s art and storytelling. The first book of his that I read, The Electric State, was an excellent post-apocalyptic story that he told with both words and images. I found it heartfelt and moving. After having such a great introduction to his work, I…
Review – One Punch Man, Vol. 1 [Books]
Yes, I believe that comic books and graphic novels are legitimate reading materials. It’s fiction, but in another form. There’s a story, there’s art, there are character arcs, plots, beginnings, and endings. About a year ago I discovered an anime titled, One-Punch Man, and was immediately drawn into the story. I’ve always been partial to…
Embracing Change [Mental Health]
“The only constant in life is change.” – Heraclitus Change happens around us all the time, but it’s either so subtle we don’t notice it or so frequent that we stop noticing it. Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not, but in both cases, we usually have no control over it. All we can do is…
Review – Broken Stars [Books]
Following on the heels of my recent review of a Japanese science-fiction short story collection, I decided to stay in the same part of the world for my next read. That ended up being Broken Stars, a collection of contemporary Chinese science-fiction. I need to admit that I felt Broken Stars was a stronger collection…