Happy Thanksgiving! There’s a great deal to be thankful about. I’ll start with friends & family, friends who are like family and family who are like friends! There’s also an entire world of wacky inspirations for fiction, mysteries unfolding everywhere and the shadows of monsters (human and perhaps not) lurking just outside my field of vision, waiting for the opening lines of a story to come to life. So enjoy your turkey or tofu, watch the parade or the football games, inhale the aromas of cinnamon, ginger, apples & the suggestion of winter in the air and whatever you do
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Spies and Lies
Spy thrillers can be compelling, but the closer they are to real life the muddier they get. Good people do bad things for good reasons. Good people do bad things for bad reasons. Good people turn out to be bad people when they do too many bad things for good and bad reasons… “A Most Wanted Man” — the John le Carré novel and film, starring the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman — and the Worricker series (Masterpiece on PBS) gave me a case of moral ambiguity whiplash. In all sorts of popular fiction people in the right side of important
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The Way the Future Used to Be
Fiction set in the future reveals a great deal about the present in which it was written. That’s why it’s so interesting to read futurist literature from the past. If you’re dizzy from the back to the future allusions, you’re not alone. Which future? Which idea of the future prevails? What elements of the present point the way to what will come? And who points the way? Reading 1984 in 2014 is a disorienting thought. As it’s been a long time since I read it (since before 1984) I think I should give it another chance, especially after reading Edward
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The Final Diet — a contemporary fable…
Jeff rolled out of bed. Leah snored softly. Her left foot dangled outside the covers. It twitched, but it was a movement from a dream. She was down for the count. She always denied snoring and took any suggestion that she was anything but an elegant sleeper as a dig. Jeff closed the bedroom door, slipped out into the living room and headed on to the kitchen. It was Leah’s place but he was there so often that he’d left his mark. His Earl Grey tea was on the counter, his toothpaste was by the bathroom sink and his laptop
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Big Cats & Little Cats
Sometimes when I want to have a better understanding of an animal mentality I study the animal closest at hand — my cat. Morse is 10 pounds of instinct, whiskers, claws, sense of smell and a clear order of priorities. Named after Colin Dexter’s ale-drinking, opera-loving crossword puzzler Chief Inspector in Oxford, England, Morse keeps his paws clean and his bowl half-full at all times. Unlike the majority of cats with whom I’ve shared my home, I’ve never had to attempt to “teach” Morse not to wake me for breakfast. If he’s hungry at some ungodly, early hour, he simply
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Archetypes, Disney & Jung
The psychotherapist Carl Jung wrote about the role that archetypes play in our collective unconscious. The Trickster, Hero, Maiden Wise Old Man, Magician, Witch, Faithful Dog, etc. are familiar types — as is the Shadow (the representation of the dark side of an individual). These archetypes are everywhere in fiction —from classic fairy tales and sitcoms to Disney movies and noir detective novels. Classic Disney films drew archetypal characters in ALL CAPS — there was never a question about the motivations of Cruella de Vil (“101 Dalmatians”) or any subtly in the Disney versions of familiar fairy tales. I’d better
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Pop Culture References
Pop culture references can be useful shortcuts — cutting straight to the chase OR they can be off-putting, confusing and alienating phrases that make a reader feel uncomfortable and out-of-the-loop. In fiction, they are often used to give the reader information about a character or a place with a minimum of descriptive paragraphs. This assumes the reader will be able to paint a picture of the kind of person because the references are familiar and specific. Here are two very different descriptions: One: He was drinking Sanity IPA at the Dive Bar on Amsterdam Avenue when Germany beat Argentina in
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Buy By Bye: Who is Saying What? And Why?
I’m reading a somewhat interesting indie book, interesting and deeply flawed. So flawed, that I’m not sure I want to finish it. It’s not just that it is badly in need of a good copy editor — we could all use another pass through with a skilled eye for catching errors — it could also use the services of a serious editor. Why don’t I just give up on it? That’s a good question. Here goes… The story is told from multiple points of view — a lot of P.O.V.s — and I’m beginning to wonder if some of the
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Halloween Report
Halloween 2014 has come and gone. This year not a single piece of candy is leftover. How did that happen? It wasn’t the kids in my building — it was the adults. I leave quality holiday candy in a basket hanging from my doorknob starting a few days before Halloween and, usually it’s still there for a few days after. There’s been some turnover in my neighbors and the days of finding “gifts” of other candies in the basket have been replaced by adults grabbing more than one mini Snickers bar or a couple of caramels. It’s an interesting development
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