You might have noticed the randomized quote on the website in the upper right corner. (It used to be at the top but the new look-and-feel seems to prevent me from doing that.) Over the years, I’ve collected quotations that seem particularly poignant or true. I like quotes. They’re like little succinct nuggets of knowledge. …
Look, the truth is, I didn’t much care for the new Mario movie. Granted, it’s for a different audience than a forty-year-old cis white software developer. It’s for the kids who think Minions are the shizznit and that the cops are like Paw Patrol. It’ll be on in the background of daycares for years to …
Circe by Madeline Miller This was attempt number two at reading. Not the book’s fault, it was me. At the time, I wasn’t in the headspace to read something heavy and steeped in the Classics. But now, Greek mythology is having a renaissance (or did it ever disappear?) with God of War, Hades, Lore Olympus. …
So I thought you might be curious about what brings people to my blog. Well, I can tell you this, it’s not because of my books and not because of my writing. They seem to be here mostly for Disney stuff. In particular, they search for things like “villain in Pinocchio”, “bad guy in Pinocchio”, …
So everyone’s been in debate whether this season of The Mandalorian was any good or not. Some people give it a thumbs up because it delivers an engaging adventure and characters. Others thought it abandoned the main characters for others’ storylines (ex. Bo-Katan, the pirates, Elia Kane) or that it violated “Show, don’t tell” or …
What motivates me to do this? Why do I keep submitting novel after novel hundreds of times only to get rejected hundreds of times with the same form letter? Thank you, we don’t want it. Thank you, we don’t want it. Thank you, we don’t want it. A few reasons. Compulsion By this point, I …
MAUI Origin: Moana (2016) Moana is a little like Pinocchio, where there are several unrelated antagonists–Te Kā, Tamatoa, the Kakamora. But these are dumb obstacles in Moana’s way. They have no personality and no purpose but to provide Moana with action set-pieces. The person serving as the real antagonist, the one preventing her from getting …
So this weekend I attended the 2023 Minnesota Writing Workshop in Saint Paul. I am averse to writing conferences because A) I’m extremely introverted and B) I can’t stand spending that much money on something that could potentially go nowhere. I’m not a gambler. I like to know I’m getting something for my money. Maybe …
Catfishing on CatNet (CatNet #1) by Naomi Kritzer So this is a YA novel about a girl forced to switch schools a lot because of her stalking father. The way she stays socially healthy is something called CatNet, which is basically a forum/chat client for people who like cute animals. What she doesn’t know is …
It’s a question I’ve tried to answer before, both directly and peripherally (see Cancel Culture). And the answer seems to change as I learn more about life. Right now, my answer is “no”. And here’s why. Take this thought exercise. There are two paintings in a gallery, both are for sale. They both look exactly …