Hating What You Love

Netflix alert: There’s a highly entertaining limited series out now, called Pretend It’s a City. It features author/humorist Fran Lebowitz chatting with Martin Scorcese, giving her opinions on an array of topics. If you’re not familiar with her, Lebowitz is incredibly smart and almost unbelievably funny. The show is broken into half hour episodes soContinue reading “Hating What You Love”

What’s in a Name?

I’ve been thinking about names a lot lately. Names of fictional people, specifically. I typically put a great deal of thought into what I name the characters in my stuff. My (hopefully) soon-to-be-published novel, The End of Jimmy Ray Day, features some names I just love: Sam Sneed, ‘Big’ Bill Byrd, and, of course, theContinue reading “What’s in a Name?”

Ted Lasso [Apple TV+, 2020]

2020 was a crapfest. You know it, I know it, we all know it. If you’re lucky, 2021 has gotten off to better start, but speaking personally, 2020 really kind of sucked the life out of me on many levels. I do feel like the worst of it is over (hopefully, anyway) but I resolvedContinue reading “Ted Lasso [Apple TV+, 2020]”

Derek Delgaudio’s In & Of Itself [Hulu, 2021]

How do you talk about something, and encourage people to watch something that’s almost impossible to talk about? That’s the conundrum I face in trying to decide how much to divulge about In & Of Itself. Derek Delgaudio is an esteemed magician, but this is no mere magic show—make no mistake, Mister Delgaudio performs aContinue reading “Derek Delgaudio’s In & Of Itself [Hulu, 2021]”

The Night Stalker [Netflix, 2021]

You have to give Netflix credit—they have become the undisputed champions of true crime television, and seem to have no interest in relinquishing their crown anytime soon. As they move down the serial killer checklist, they have pretty much exhausted anything relating to Ted Bundy, and have just released a series focusing on one ofContinue reading “The Night Stalker [Netflix, 2021]”

Behold the Incredible Head Hopping Author!

Happy 2021, everybody! Hard to believe we’re already halfway to February, and yet here we are. I’m sure many of you are grappling with writing resolutions—I am, too. Even though I managed to crank out a few short stories last year, my writing output was far lower than I would’ve liked. I have the feelingContinue reading “Behold the Incredible Head Hopping Author!”

Dolla Dolla Bill, Y’all

Stephen King has a famous quote that I suspect a lot of writers hold dear as a milestone to hit in their careers. Mister King said: “If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn’t bounce, and if you then paid the light bill withContinue reading “Dolla Dolla Bill, Y’all”

Traveling During a Pandemic

Hey everybody, how are you all holding up? It’s been a little while since I’ve checked in, and the funk I was in when I posted last time is stubbornly hanging on. I’ve done painfully little writing, I can’t do much in the way of photography (although people more determined and creative than myself haveContinue reading “Traveling During a Pandemic”

Is Anyone Else Having a Hard Time Focusing?

I’m in a weird situation. A conundrum, you could say. Due to the nature of my work (911 dispatcher), I will have no reduction in hours. I may even start picking up overtime as things progress. And while I’m thankful to continue receiving a paycheck in these uncertain times, I see people talk about allContinue reading “Is Anyone Else Having a Hard Time Focusing?”

Quarantine Pop Culture Recommendations

So, things are bad. Like, real bad. Bleak, dystopian-novel-bad. I live in Kansas, where some people are so hard-headed that they are ignoring the CDC and spouting “it’s just the flu” and mad that their gym is closed. I won’t get into a rant, but my point is that most of you are probably goingContinue reading “Quarantine Pop Culture Recommendations”