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Deadpool’s Rules For Writing
What Does Deadpool have in common with writers? Yes, there are spoilers lurking here… I was never a huge follower of the graphic novel craze that spawned Deadpool, or the X-Men character universe. Oh, sure I saw the first movie and other than the creepy old guy in a wheelchair and Rebecca Romain-Stamos in blue body […]
Prison Lingo
Every culture has a language unto itself, phrases or words that mean something completely different because of where they are spoken. Prison is one of those places. The world on the inside has a culture and language driven by life in confined spaces, honed by decades of control and restricted freedoms. I’ve mentioned before that time […]
Get Out Of My E-Mail!
The rise of the machines is happening. It began with a very not-so-subtle e-mail from my medical insurance provider. This was not the usual e-mail fluff that clogs up your spam filter recommending this supplement, or an indictment that I could stand to lose a few pounds. The timing of these e-mails are suspicious. They seem to hit the […]
Doing Time: My Path to Publishing
This week, Author Holly West, offered a guest blogging spot over at Do Some Damage, a crime fiction blog hosted by a really talented bunch of authors. If crime fiction is your thing, or if you’d like a look at the insides of the crime fiction game, this is a site you should check out. Thanks for […]
Blank Page Intimidation
That stark white space is intimidating as hell. I don’t know what it is about the emptiness that makes the obsessive compulsive in me begin to itch. You’d think that an empty page is perfect, all in order, with nothing out of balance. But, no it’s a negative space, a sucking black hole of self-doubt. […]
Kanye Had A Bad Week
Kanye West had a bad week. No matter what else happens, I’ve had a better week than Kanye. I’m powering through a head cold, which I know is probably Zika Virus. I had Mexican food this week, and Mexico is close to the Caribbean where the Zika Virus lives – so, I must have Zika. […]
Want to Time Travel? Go To Prison
I’ve been playing with an idea for a new book and it involves – wait for it – time travel. Not like the H. G. Wells, Time Machine kind of time travel. There is not fanciful device to dial up the year and zap you to the exact time and place of your choosing. The story I’m noodling […]
Seasonal Decisions That Make You Go WTF
It seems winter forces a period of reflection. We tend to make “seasonal” decisions with the mental acuity of the Village Idiot. I believe this seasonal dumbing down has something to do with lower temperatures which slow the speed of neural connections in the brain. It’s science. One must wonder, why important matters are scheduled during this […]
Is Our Guest Room Ready?
I don’t blog about politics, but I often touch on social issues in posts, from human trafficking, to violence and crime. All great makings for flashy television news ratings. I’ve been watching the coverage on the Syrian refugee coverage for months. Nearly 5 million refugees have fled the country, and another 6 million displaced within […]
50 Shades of Grey Matter
Have you been around that person, the one with the brain that operates on an entirely different level than the rest of us? This guy (or gal) is the one doing their sudoku puzzles in ink along with their morning herbal tea. They are the ones who do math equations for the fun of it and […]
James L'Etoile 