Aldrich Killian guest starring “The Mandarin” Iron Man 3 (2013) What I’m realizing (much to the detriment of this series) is that Marvel focuses on the stories of the heroes (Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man), whereas DC focuses on its villains (Joker, Riddler, Clayface, Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Black Adam). Think about it. Aren’t Superman and Batman kind of bland compared to Lex Luthor and Joker? Their bad guys cast a longer shadow. Whereas Marvel goes the other way, their good guys cast a long shadow (so much that they’re recasting an actor who played a hero into a villain). This isn’t just the movies doing it; it’s the comics. Which…
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Disney Villains: There’s a Rubric?
So I came upon this image the other day… And I couldn’t help but recall my Ranking the Disney Villains series. When I started, I was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to rank these characters. What criteria was I supposed to use? How do you evaluate who is a good villain? How do you tell who’s “good” at being “bad”? So now I get to go through those pages and add some “measurements of evil”. Also, it’s worth noting that these rap sheets don’t seem to include the “counts” of each crime. Just severity in relation to other crimes. And there are no victimless crimes here, like…
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Being a Politician
I have a niggling little voice in my head that keeps saying, “Eric, be a politician.” And I suppose that’s coming from my strong sense of duty, moral obligation, and service. It’s part of the reason I write books–to demonstrate some moral truth. Better writers than I say “novels should ask the questions, not give answers”. But anyone can bring up a problem. It takes a better man to offer a solution. This is part of the reason I read “Somebody’s Gotta Do It“. I can’t talk about this without sounding egotistical. I don’t know if I’m a good leader. I used to not be one–selfish and micromanaging and egotistical.…
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The Books I Read: March – April 2026
Reviews of Peter David's Sir Apropos of Nothing, Ryan Leslie's The Between, and Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes
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Just Trying to Find My People
All my life, I’ve been trying to figure out why I am the way I am. I guess that’s what everyone is asking. It’s the question at the heart of every piece of fiction–who am I? But the whole reason we ask ourselves this question is that we’re trying to find out what we can do about it. Where do we fit in? Who is our tribe? Who are our people? Like the ugly duckling that keeps getting rejected by every social group, not knowing it belongs with the swans. Before, I talked about how difficult it is to make friends because no one seems to be interested in the…
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VOID 1680 and The Librarian’s Apprentice: Two More Solo RPGs
I finished the final draft of Millia and the second and a half draft of The Supervillain Rehabilitation Project, which means it’s now in the hands of beta readers and I have nothing to do (although I suppose I could work on the structural problems around it, but I wouldn’t mind a break). So since I’m in liminal space right now, I decided to try a few more Solo RPGs. This time, I surveyed some game stores’ top ten lists and Reddit posts, instead of recommendations by one lonely guy. VOID 1680 This one was kinda fun, but you really have to be into music to get the most out…
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Magic Systems: What You Need to Know (Part 2)
So I started with examples. Now let’s break it down to what all those elements have in common. Reverse-engineering. That way, we can find what base building blocks were used to make the structure. I didn’t come up with any of this–these are all based on my notes. I’m just putting them together into something coherent. First, we have to define what magic is. Sorry to be pretentious, but you need to get your terms down to get a bead on what we’re talking about. IMO, magic is power. It’s the ability to do something you wouldn’t normally be able to do in real life. That means starting from some…
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Pre-Order the “Splash” Anthology
I have a story in here about The Little Mermaid, but the Prince gets to tell his side of the tale (tail?). Available May 23rd in eBook or Paperback form. Order now!
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Quill, Thousand-Year-Old Vampire, and Captain’s Log: Trying Some Solo RPGs
So I just finished revising two novels back-to-back. That’s a lot of revising. That takes its toll. Not that I prefer one over the other (composing vs. revising), but if you do one or the other for a long time, it grinds. In any case, I needed a break from writing without taking a break from writing. I didn’t want to write any new short stories, didn’t want to start a third novel. If only there were something fun to do with my writing time. Something to remind me why I love it, like a game. A game with writing. Not one where you just fill in blanks like a…
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The Books I Read: January – February 2026
Constituent Service by John Scalzi A small novella by John Scalzi. Was debating whether or not to even write about it, it’s more of a snack than a meal. But people like snacks. Scalzi seems to be eschewing serious stuff like Lock In and The Collapsing Empire for humorous science fiction (at least in terms of what he’s producing). I don’t know what the market is like for that genre, but I enjoyed this story. It’s like an episode of a TV show, or maybe a pilot, with some sitcom one-note characters (not a slight–you don’t need heavy character development in comedy) solving a low-stakes mystery. This takes place in…
