Browsing all posts in Asides.

Book Bastards: Loveable Books, Loathable Writers

“Tolstoy I’m sure was an incredible jackass, but I still love him. I still love Stevens, I still love Pound. If we didn’t read people who were bastards, we’d never read anything. Even the best of us are at least part-time bastards. We bastards love people who love our books, regardless. Read the rest of […]

Amazonians Won’t Let Amazon Own The Amazon

Amazon can’t have a monopoly on the Amazon like they almost do with books. According to The Register: “Web supermarket Amazon’s bid to create new top-level domain name .amazon has hit a dead end…Committee members of internet overlord ICANN – which oversees the world’s DNS and other such technical stuff – rejected the e-tailer’s application […]

Every New Day, A New Room … But Only Once

“No one ever steps in the same river twice,  for it’s not the same river and they’re not the same person.” — Heraclitus (Gender-neutral edits added) Characters in my thrillers have relied on that quote and the meaning behind it more than once. But the true meaning came home for me last night while falling […]

Prism Spying More About Secrecy Than Data

The real scandal in the NSA Prism revelations is not so much about what data is kept or the merits of how that may keep us safe. The real issue is the fact that the whole program was kept so secret. The US was founded on the principle that those who govern do so ONLY […]

Memories And Time – The Beginning Of A New Approach

All we are is memories and time. Think about that for a moment while I explain a different approach I am taking with some of my writing. I’ve tried for decades to deal with deep issues … serious things … in the context of my main fiction genre, thrillers. I put the thoughts — and […]

Radical Egyptian Clerics Seek to Legalise Child Brides

 Radical Egyptian Clerics Seek to Legalise Child Brides Pedophile sex traffickers are the sorts of perverts that heroine Mira Longbow goes after in Die By Wire

A Veterans Day Thanks To A Hero

Click to enlarge. And click that one for full size. A Veteran’s Day salute to my uncle, LTC Buddy Barner, USAF. I dedicated my book Perfect Killer to him and wrote him in as a character before he died. More images here.

David Stone: Superb Writing in Thrillers

David Stone is, for my reading taste, one of the best writers on the planet in any genre. His ability to use the best possible words to evoke a mood, describe a character or set a scene just resonates with me … and makes me envious as hell. Below are a few of my favorite […]

Vonnegut For President

Vonnegut for President! Platform: Cat’s Cradle. Slogan (from Chapter 4): “All of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies.” Clearly a man of his word! He has my vote!

Take THAT! Paul Ryan

And the meme goes on! Actual weight 45 pounds (four 10-lb plates plus bar. Since I don’t have those cool House of Reps gym barbells, I must assemble my own from what’s around my garage gym. And … I’m just funnin’ here. This is not an endorsement or a put-down. I’m a registered Democrat who […]