Where it comes from, where it goes

It’s what I consider one of the strangest writer interview questions: where do you get your ideas?  As more writers get interviewed on more blogs, I thought it was a question that was going to die, but it hasn’t.  I’ve seen it asked in two different author interviews just this week, despite the fact that [...]

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My fevered brain

It started Friday night and by Saturday, I had a full-blown fever.  Not yet of the achy, miserable, death-dealing variety, but a good fever.  Maybe that sounds weird, but there are good fevers.  The ones that detach you from your usual thought-processes, letting you wander freely through your subconscious and unconscious mind, leaving a trail [...]

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Axyl Witt, Proust-style

It’s spring break here, which means nothing is happening at work. To pass the time, I decided to borrow Vanity Fair‘s “Proust questionnaire” and see what the main character from Ugly and the Beast had to say. *** Long suspected of being an enforcer for the Caridad drug cartel, Axyl Witt was convicted of five [...]

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Watched Recently: Perfect is the enemy of good

Voltaire was right about so many things, but about this above all else.  When you strive for perfection, you will always fall short, not just of perfection, but likely of goodness as well. I’m thinking about this today as a result of going to see Watchmen last night.  (On IMAX, which I recommend for its [...]

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Outside the comfort zone

Never mind writing characters who are a different gender, race, ethnicity, what have you.  Sometimes the big struggle is writing a character who isn’t that far removed from you, but who has done something you’ve never even considered. Not murder–I’ve given that some serious thought over the years.  I even have a couple of back-up [...]

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Writing matters, even in action movies

Christian Bale got a lot of bad press for a temper tantrum he had while filming Terminator: Salvation.  Fine, let directors of photography trash talk him behind his back, but he deserves a lot of praise from writers for another revelation that’s recently come out. When he was originally offered the role, he said he [...]

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