Today the MNSpec writer’s group gave me feedback on my story ‘Pinky, The Invisible Flying Pony Who Saves The World.’
Overall, people appreciated it for the mindless bit of fluff that it is – a dark parody, mashing Lovecraftian Evil with a children’s story. But there were several useful points [...]
In honor of the decomposing pumpkin that I shoveled off our front step this evening, I give you… Decomposing Pumpkin by Brainkrieg.
Thanks to Jess for the link…
An Apple is not Candy,
-Z
A Review of Playing Evil in the Video Game “Neverwinter Nights 2″
[Editor's Note: There's a handful of micro-spoilers in here, but nothing that will keep you from enjoying the game.]
I’ve waxed philosophic before about breaking out of my assassin RPG niche. In the video game [...]
What do these people have in common? They are all Bestselling Authors. But lately, there have been a plethora of authors claiming “Bestseller” status. The problem is that they are bestsellers – technically . But you should know that some authors are using a new-and-improved [...]
Where have all the Scary Monsters gone?
Wanted - Scary Monsters for Fiction Market
I’m noticing a trend that fewer and fewer works of Monster fiction are being classified as “Horror.” Stories containing non-humans characters such as Demons, Vampires, Ghosts, Werewolves, Aliens, and anything with Tentacles, used to [...]
“That’s it,” I said.
Four Hundred and some-odd slices of dead tree stood stacked up on the desk. Nearly One-Hundred-Thousand words that have taken me years to choose and arrange…
…and I was looking for lighter fluid and my lucky Zippo lighter.
I’d just read a Real book from a Real author, then [...]
Mythology meets high-tech in this thrilling military shooter by Jeremy Robinson. ‘Pulse’ is the first installment in Jeremy Robinson’s ‘Chess Team’ series, and sure to be a hit with those who like action-adventure…
Wait, let me rephrase that.
…those who like ACTION-ADVENTURE!
Damn, there’s more bullets in this [...]
For those who don’t know about Sound Unseen, it’s a Music/Art/Film fest themed out by a slew of cool Minneapolis Artists and Venues. Its for those people who need a damned reason to get off their ass and experience some local art. Sound Unseen 2009 runs from Sept 30th [...]
Ripped by Greg Kot covers the effects of the internet on music and bands over the last decade, touching on some stuff back in the 90’s like the Beastie Boys mad sampling on Ill Communication, but really starting around the time [...]
Its kind of like pointing out that Water = Wet, but in a sea of singer-songwriters, Suzanne Vega is the best by far. There’s very very few people on this planet who deserve to be called a ‘musical genius’, and fewer still who would dare to make a stop here [...]
Whether you are an ASPCA-er or not, you won’t want to miss tonight’s Benefit to Fight Animal Cruelty at the 7th Street Entry. There’s a great lineup of bands for a good cause, but mostly you will want to see Revolver Modele. This is Revolver Modele’s last show. [...]
I hear there’s a lot of bad art out there. Bad movies. Bad TV shows. Bad books. Bad music. Bad paintings. Bad sculpture.
And worst of all… bad interpretive dance.
How Bad Is It?Apparently, bad art abounds.
Is it true? Is there a lot of bad [...]
Blood Hollow came as a recommendation from an employee at Rebild and Romain Booksellers (Formerly JJ O’donoghue Books) in Anoka. The helpful person working there suggested that William Kent Krueger is one of the best crime fiction writers in Minnesota. That’s high praise from [...]
The 2009 Minnesota Fringe Festival opens this weekend. The craziness begins on 30 July and runs until 9 August.
If you’re not familiar, the Fringe Festival is what happens when an ungodly number of indie theater productions land in town. They run all hours in all [...]
As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve joined forces with MNSpec – the Speculative Fiction writers group. For July’s writing review, I entered the short story “Yellow King” – a prequel which introduces characters and mythos of the full novel “The Demonslayer’s Handbook”.
The writer’s group met last Sunday [...]
It’s clear from my previous post in this series on Audience Entitlement that I’m in agreement with Neil Gaiman – the author does not work for the audience. Or as Mr. Gaiman puts it, “the author is not the audience’s bitch”.
However, a career in writing [...]
For those who don’t know, the 48-Hour Film Project (Sometimes called the 48-Hour Film Festival) is a contest where teams compete to create a 4-7 minute movie in only 48 hours. That includes concept and writing of the script, casting, traveling, directing, shooting, editing, scoring, post-production, and burning a [...]
Neil Gaiman posted on his blog recently on the topic of Audience Entitlement
A fan named Gareth, irate at the author of a series in progress, wishes that the author would hurry up and get the next book in the series out the [...]
It isn’t supposed to happen like this, or so I’m told.
The idea sounded refreshing and I needed a break from The Demonslayer’s Handbook. So, I took a week off to write up [...]
I saw the show “Power Balladz” last night, and it was a blast! A hyper-talented cast performing some of the greatest Rock Ballads of all time. (Like the flier says, “The greatest songs ever written by man, woman and/or beast”)
No joke. Here’s the list [...]
A couple months ago I joined MNSpec also known as the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers Group. They’re a great group of people I found through meetup.com
What is Speculative Fiction?You can read the wikipedia entry here, but I think the term was invented to handle stories that included [...]
You gotta love the 80’s. Like your weird roommate in college, the 80’s were… unique… memorable. For those too young to have experienced the 80’s firsthand, here’s your chance to see and hear what you missed.
The new theater production at the LAB (Formerly the Guthrie Lab) will be a cultural [...]
Those who haven’t been holding their breath must not know that the fourth installment of the Terminator series will be released this week. Here are the trailers:
Trailer One Trailer Two Trailer ThreeThis Tarot Tuesday reads the cards for the summer blockbuster Terminator:Salvation.
The [...]When looking for Tarot Tuesday’s Subject of the Week, I found my usual sources of ‘buzzworthy topics’ jammed with spam. One-hundred percent of the spam was of the subcategory: porn. I’m calling it Sporn.
I don’t have a problem with porn myself, but I understand why [...]
How the hell does someone end up becoming a Horror Author? Bad Childhood? One too many scary movies as a kid? Abusive siblings who would scare the hell out of you?
For myself, it started with a realization. As a kid, I was always terrified of the dark. We lived in [...]
First, I suspect many of you are wondering what the hell #followfriday is. It’s a hashtag for twitter (and if you don’t know what twitter is, check this out and if you don’t know what a hashtag is, look here.)
Follow Friday was [...]
The death toll from the swine flu is 113 worldwide, Mexico City is nearly quarantined, and something that sounds like the plot of a Stephen King novel is now the top story on every media outlet known to man.
This picture making the [...]
The fun pseudo-utility behind #followfriday and #wisdomwed crashed into my occasional tarot reading, and gave me a fabulous idea.
I’ve decided to perform a tarot reading for the entire world every Tuesday.
I know, tall order huh?
A tarot reading is far too ‘big’ to [...]
Disclaimer Addendum (29 Apr 2009) - There’s been a lot of noise about the amazing similarity between the current Swine Flu pandemic and the story behind the Nation Undead website I cover in this blog post. Patient Zero, the rise and spread of “Respiren Flu” and it’s cure “Toxicil” are [...]
Last week I tripped across an interesting opportunity over at Apex Book Company. (Click on their banner below to visit the site.)
On their Submissions page, they are accepting short story entries for an anthology called “The Blackness Within” All stories in the anthology will involve [...]
Non-fiction books have it made. You can make the crappiest cover in the world, and have the worst writing and editing skills, but it will still sell. Because what non-fiction really sells is Information, and if the information is good, people will buy it. Regardless of the cover.
Case in [...]
There’s two distinct advantages to waiting a few years after a game’s release before you pick it up:
The price will be low The system requirements will be laughable. (Unless you never upgrade your computer)Case in point is Bioware’s Jade Empire released in 2005. Fate laid a [...]
I was just a kid during the 80’s, but I remember the ever-present threat of Global Thermonuclear War. The Government “Star Wars” programs. Books about how to create a fallout shelter in your backyard. The “Tornado” drills in school, that we all knew weren’t just for tornadoes.
So while [...]
Anime fans will be excited to hear that Hollywood is turning some of the more popular animes into live-action movies. Akira and Ghost in the Shell are on the way, but the first to arrive on the big screen is Blood: The Last Vampire. (One of my personal favorites.)
Thanks much [...]
For those who don’t know, Twitter is a service that lets you post bursts of random nonsense onto the internet in a format called a ‘tweet’. Tweets are limited to 140 characters, so it’s an exercise in succinctity for people who [...]
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
…at least that’s what WordPress antes up for you with when you load it over your existing previous blog.
I know, I’ve put off the change for as long [...]
This book is exactly what you expect, and what I really like about the "Dummies" line. They really aren't written for dummies at all. They don't presume any advanced knowledge of the subject, and explain all concepts and terms so everyone can understand them. [...] 
On Monday October 20, 2008, you can have your chance to bowl against some local Minneapolis bands:
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This Friday, March 14th is a holiday known by math geeks as "PI Day".
A Vote for Jagged Spiral is a vote for an Alpine Stereo System for Colin's Truck! Honestly, the man has a portable CD player connected via a cassette-tape-adapter-thingy! What's that? You haven't heard of cassette tape? Let's just say, he [...]
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