The Artists of the Future
I just came back from a week in LA for the Writers and Illustrators of the Future workshop and awards ceremony. I’ll write a detailed report on the trip at a later point. For now, I’d simply note that one …
The Fascinating Failure
Fascinating failures are products of passion, ambition and originality, where the lofty goal has exceeded the reach of the creator. Fascinating failures take risks.
There are fewer and fewer of these at the movies and in books. The Hollywood formula …
Writing About Vietnam (For Beginners)
After a quiet start to the year I’ve had two acceptances in quick succession. The first is a novelette to the excellent Interzone magazine, my third sale there.
The story – A Shout is a Prayer / For the Waiting …
The Writer’s Training Regime, Part 3 – 500/500
While possessing very left-wing views on most matters, when it comes to writing I’m a downright fascist.
500 words a day. No exceptions. Ok – when I’m editing a long work, maybe that day is an exception. But otherwise, whether …
The Dark Heart of the Lego Movie
The Lego Movie has a heart of darkness.
Beneath its glossy façade and messages of friendship, individuality, and freedom, lies the abyss of moral hazard and societal decay. The Lego Movie is, at its core, a capitulation to the venal …
American Sniper: Not a political rorschach test, a stupidity test
The perpetual outrage machine of twitter has been running hard against American Sniper. Now, while outrage on twitter is its default position, and therefore unsurprising, I found it curious that that a filmmaker as sophisticated as Clint Eastwood was …
Two New Stories Out Now
Well, not that new, I guess. One of the stories – The Line – was the second I’d ever written. But I reworked and rewrote the damn thing over a year as I felt the central idea was worth pursuing …
Writing Fiction: Year Two in Review
2014 was my second full year of writing fiction. It was good to me. In fact, it exceeded expectations.
My goals were as follows:
1) 60 short story submissions,
2) with two sales, one of those being a professional sale …
The Morality of The Matrix
Neo, Trinity and Morpheus were mass murderers.
This realisation came to me as I re-watched The Matrix recently. It’s still a fine film, no doubt, which stands the test of time. Slick, stylish, philosophically intriguing, with some fantastic set-piece action …
Santa Claus – A Bearded Despot Revealed
He goes by many aliases: Kris Kringle, Saint Nicholas, Hagios Nikolas, Joulupukki, Nicholas of Myra, Sinterklaas. He’s the jolly bearded man bearing gifts; the herald of good will and joy; an icon for the young; an ally to the old …