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The Dark Side of the Wild West
On Saturday, May 20, I’ll be at the Ironwood Library in Chandler, Arizona discussing the Weird and Wild West on panels with such authors as Jeff Mariotte and Hal Astell. On one of the panels, we’ll be discussing all the flavors of westerns from Spaghetti Westerns to Steampunk-flavored Westerns to Space Westerns. One thing most…
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Fear and the Occult Detective
Fear is one of our oldest emotions — if not the oldest. And fear of the unknown is one of our greatest fears. I don’t know what I don’t know, and that lack of knowing scares us. It is primal, that fear of the unknown. Playing on our Fears Fear, and playing on our fears,…
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The Hero’s Cage
Those among you who are writers are well aware of the processes involved in character creation. Of course, you need a name and an appearance to build your character around. That’s what your audience will consciously relate to throughout the story. But every character must have quirks, traits, mannerisms, accents, all of which will serve…
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What Inspires Me
When asked what inspires me, I think of the 1985-92 television series Ray Bradbury Theater. During the intro segment, Ray Bradbury walked into an old cage elevator and came out in an office full of memorabilia and toys. He referred to it as his “magician’s toyshop.” All he had to do was look around and…
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The Best-Laid Plans…
Good morning, all, and welcome back to the Web. Forgive me, dear readers, but I have lost my way. For a good many years now, I have written stories and novels of fantasy and the occult. I’ve written a fantasy novel that has received praise for not being overrun with elves, dwarves, and goblins (check…
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Valdis Damien van Dyne
Pierce Mostyn not only has Cthulhu to think about, he also has Valdis Damien van Dyne. In case you don’t know, Pierce Mostyn is the hero in my Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations series. He is the G-Man assigned to fight the Ultimate Evil. Ultimate evil from our point of view, that is. But along the…
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10 Favorite Tales of Terror
It is a human trait to have favorites. Shoot, it may even be a trait of living things. After all, my cat has her favorite toys, food, and places to sleep. And so it is with fiction. We all have our favorite stories. Today I am going to share with you 10 of my favorite…
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The Steampunk Aesthetic
Earlier this month, I was a panelist at the Wild Wild West Steampunk Convention in Tucson, Arizona. During the convention, I had the opportunity to sit on a panel with K.W. Jeter, the man who coined the word “steampunk” in a 1987 letter to Locus Magazine. In the letter, he spoke about fantasies set in…
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Did I Write That?
Let’s talk about the subconscious mind and its effects on writing fiction. I’ve studied and practiced the art of fiction writing for a short time: four years, two months, and four days (4 to 8 hours per day, most days.) That’s a lot of hours. About two years ago I phoned my ‘favourite reader’, and…
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