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The Song of Scarbeak
Recent posts here have been thoughtful and/or erudite. That’s all well and good, and they have been appreciated; but sadly, this post will not continue that trend. Since it falls to me to post something here on our Thanksgiving holiday, I thought it would be appropriate for me to instead ‘talk turkey’, so to speak.…
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From Blood to Whispers: The Appeal of Quiet Horror
I used to live in the guts of horror. By that, I mean the kind of horror that stains your palms and tastes like rust. My other books — especially the Bloody Series with its love for graphic detail, human monsters, and the unforgiving anatomy of violence — live in the places where flesh tears,…
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The Natural Rewards of Writing
I’m sure there are people out there who began writing because they wanted fame and fortune (although I can’t imagine anyone who keeps writing because of all the loose fame and fortune laying around in publishing). Every writer I know, however, began writing for a couple of reasons: There are some writers who are happy…
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Hobbes, Nihilism, and Mad Max 2
For reasons long forgotten two mighty warrior tribes went to war and touched off a blaze which engulfed them all. Without fuel they were nothing. They’d built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked, but nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. Cities exploded…
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Conspiracy Theories
How do these things get started, anyway? I suspect they begin with a grain of truth… Back when I was working for the navy, I was the Contract Compliance Inspector for the fuel operation at the big naval air station in the middle of San Diego Bay. We had a number of satellite facilities around…
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MIRROR TEST
The Mirror Test is an experimental technique used by behavioral scientists to help determine whether or not an animal is capable of self-recognition, which is arguably considered to be a sign of self-awareness and sentience. A mark is placed on the animal at a spot it cannot see except in a mirror. If the animal…
