No, that’s not me sitting in the chair. In fact, I am alive and well, though I have taken an overly long hiatus from the blog. But it’s all for a good reason. After spending nearly ten weeks writing about Westworld, I had always planned on taking a few weeks off. But then midway into…
I was away from the blog for a long time in 2017. In fact, I wrote the fewest posts since 2011 – when I began this blog in the middle of the year! There’s a reason for the paucity of posts, but I resolve this year to do better. What was the reason, you ask?…
It’s been a few weeks since my last post because I needed a short break from the blog after the season’s end of Game of Thrones. Fortunately, I spent what little time I had working on other things. It looks a bit more dogeared now, but I’m nearing the end of my edit to the sequel…
I’ve been off the blog for twelve whole days. I’ve never been away for that long, and here’s why, I suppose … No, I haven’t been sailing near the Rock of Gibraltar . . . For one, I’ve realized I tend to blog more these days about historical or fantasy related television shows like Game…
Before my summer trip to Rome I re-read Angels & Demons by Dan Brown and it reminded me how well Brown crafts puzzle-like plots. I’ve always liked his thrillers because they involve history and religion. But the key for me is the puzzle at the heart of each story. Here’s what I mean. (Minor *SPOILERS*…
Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 A.D. – the famous battle where the army of King Edward Longshanks defeated William Wallace and his fellow Scotsmen, depicted in the movie Braveheart. So, this week I’m revisiting one of my first posts from July 2011, this blog’s inaugural month. Loved the film, even if the history is…
The past several days, the internet has been abuzz with the story that Harper Lee’s new novel, Go Set A Watchman, portrays Atticus Finch as a racist. This is the same man she portrayed as a noble hero in To Kill A Mockingbird, which is set twenty years before Watchman. So how could the moral…
This past weekend, my daughter and I saw Jurassic World, and we both really enjoyed it. I wish I felt the same way about the original Jurassic Park when I saw it in 1993, but I didn’t. I had a big problem with that film. Here’s why. I had no beef with Jurassic World –…
I don’t often blog about the craft of writing, but I do love a good story. Good stories tend to have good plots, which usually means they’re well-structured. This week, I’m blogging a bit about story structure . . . and Harry Potter. Why, you ask? Let’s just say it all began with a wager….
It was a slow week for tidings, but the Wayward Herald found one post by author Jane Lebak quite interesting. The post, titled No Protagonist? No Problem (but don’t try this at home), starts with the premise that a protagonist is critical to any good story. And by “protagonist,” she means the character who “faces…
Bernard Cornwell’s new novel 1356 came out this week in the UK. Unfortunately (and for reasons that still vex me), it won’t be released in the U.S. until January 8, 2013 – but I can hardly wait! The novel is about the famous Battle of Poitiers during the Hundred Years’ War, and it brings back one…