Dec 29, 2015 | Entertainment, Writing
I was reading the other day on Gizmodo a fascinating post about a bunch of computer scientists who have trained artificial intelligence using human knowledge of the, uh, carnal variety. Specifically, they used 14 million passages of romance novels to create little...
Dec 8, 2015 | Entertainment, Writing
Editors typically frown on the excessive use of the exclamation mark. Some go as far as to argue it shouldn’t be used at all. So, what’s the deal? How did we start using it in the first place? The English Project has some interesting things to say on the...
Dec 6, 2015 | Entertainment
Everyone knows the story of how Orson Wells caused a minor panic with his radio rendition of War of the Worlds. Not everyone is as familiar with the vampire panic of the late 60s and the early 70s, when rumors swirled that there was a “King Vampire of the...
Nov 29, 2015 | Entertainment
One of my favorite free newsletters, Atlas Obscura, recently offered a fascinating glimpse into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – or Alice in Wonderland, as most of us call it. As you probably know, Lewis Carroll wrote it to entertain some little girls on...
Nov 22, 2015 | Entertainment
Following the success of my Famous Writers’ Insults post, here are some more ideas for great insults. You Fishwife In the classic 1950 film All About Eve, the playwright, Lloyd, reaches for the most cruel and cutting remark possible and shouts, “You’ve been...
Nov 14, 2015 | Entertainment, Fun Historical Facts
November 14, 1969. Lightning strikes the mighty Saturn 5 rocket carrying the crew of Apollo 12 as it was steadily ascending into the Florida sky. Sixteen seconds later, proving an old saying wrong, a second bolt of lightning struck the spacecraft. Still, the mission...
Nov 8, 2015 | Entertainment, Publishing
As The Passive Voice points out, nothing can ruin one’s day faster than receiving the dreaded rejection letter. Nothing, that is, except for receiving the standard form rejection letter, a lifeless kick to the guts aimed en masse at a pool of unsuitables who...
Nov 2, 2015 | Entertainment
Nina Mohan of BuzzFeed has produces a series of brilliant graphs that perfectly sum up life as a writer. You can read my favorite ones below, or visit the page for all eleven of them. Nina Mohan for BuzzFeed Nina Mohan for BuzzFeed Nina Mohan for BuzzFeed Nina Mohan...
Oct 31, 2015 | Entertainment, Free Stuff, My Publications
A short story to celebrate Halloween. Happy Hallow’s Eve, everyone! Best Halloween Ever! Ding dong! Is that the door? I spit out a curse and pry my eyelids open. It takes more effort than it should. Then again, my head is pounding and my thoughts are as blurry...
Oct 23, 2015 | Entertainment
Raymond’s snooty (but hilarious)… As you know, I love science fiction, especially its early gems. I lament the fact that most readers are unaware of the classics, especially when it comes to short stories. Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man, for example,...
