“There is failure in language, and yet a language. There is failure in life, and yet a life.”—Samuel Beckett “No one and nothing cares for us.”—Caitlín R. Kiernan   American poet Charles Upton noted that “the specific medicine for the shock of despair is the deeper shock of meaning.” After picking myself up off the […]

Read more "HEAVY METTLE REQUIRED: THE ECOLOGICAL UNCANNY"

A filmmaker/executive producer in Hollywood (Holywood? Highly Weird?) has contacted me with an offer to join his writers’ room, where roughly 5 to 9 scribes will turn out scripts for a projected HBO/Netflix Originals dramatic series set on a near-future Mars. “Stoked” doesn’t begin to describe how I felt immediately after our 1-hour phone conversation—Fuckin’ […]

Read more "My Mars Future and Two Reviews"

Just in time (but not really) for the holidaze, here are 5 of the most wicked books I’ve read and reviewed in my role as contributing editor—covering political science—with New York City’s iconic Library Journal magazine. These reviews are not easily found, as LJ is a subscription-only publication usually present in most North American libraries, […]

Read more "Espionage, Black-Ops, and a Dyslexic Spy"

My friend director/writer Mike Lombardo’s first feature film, I’m Dreaming of A White Doomsday, had its world premiere Friday 20 October at Columbus, Ohio’s amazing Gateway Film Center.  I made a rare journey (soon to become less rare, as 2018 will without doubt be my busiest—and life-changing—year in this dark mortal coil) west to my old […]

Read more "Report from Nightmares Film Festival"

The Stephen King-based Hulu TV series, Castle Rock (starring Jane Levy, Sissy Spacek, Scott Glenn), is filming several miles from where I live. I’ve applied to Pittsburgh-based Nancy Mosser Casting (The Road, and many others), who are looking for background types: Prisoners, Prison Guards, Staff, Family Visitors, and Pedestrians. I’ve never “acted” before, but believe […]

Read more "Stephen King’s CASTLE ROCK TV Series: Will I Participate?"

Jane Yolen has been referred to as “the Hans Christian Anderson of children’s literature,” a claim I’m not qualified to dispute. But her unerring ability to transform even the most mundane events, objects, and people into mythic gold is too well-known for doubt, earning—among others—awards such as the Nebula, World Fantasy, Rhysling, and Caldecott Medal. Read […]

Read more "The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen"

I’ve been fortunate these past weeks to receive books by authors mostly new to me—including Caroline M. Yoachim‘s debut collection. As much as Weird Fiction has evolved since roughly the late 90s, Science Fiction, in the hands of writers like Yoachim, has responded even more radically to the times. Read my review

Read more "Seven Wonders of a Once and Future World by Caroline M. Yoachim"