There is a word for every condition under the sun. What word describes the inability to feel pleasure? How much do you love books? Are you a bibliophile, bibliomaniac, or a biblioholic? Do you have bibliomania? Have you ever had the desire to eat grass like an ox? Have you ever gone temporarily insane? Been…
Two quotes by Hunter S. Thompson sum up my youth and my writing: “Truth is weirder than any fiction I’ve seen” and “It never got weird enough for me.” I was fascinated with people, but I quickly grew bored with ordinary life. I went off exploring other worlds: criminals, gangs, commies, Birchers, hippies, drug dealers,…
Being part of the king’s court should be a dream job, right? Unfortunately, it wasn’t so for Hop-Frog and Tripetta. The king’s jester, Hop-Frog, was a dwarf and a cripple. Hop-Frog wasn’t the name with which he was christened; he was called that because of the way he moved around. Along with a female dwarf,…
What words do you use to describe your character’s habits or traits? Does your character enjoy good food, drink, and other luxuries? Or maybe your character is a mean, sneaking coward. Even though your character is an adult, does he act like a spoiled brat? A bon viveur is a person who lives high and…
Now that the new Vietnam War documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick is running on PBS, that most difficult time in American history is once again before us. However, when I saw us so easily fall into fighting in Iraq, I couldn’t help but wonder had our politicians forgotten about our quagmire in Southeast…
“Why do you like vampires? What’s so special about them? Why read about them? What’s so appealing?” Thus do the philistines speak. What’s so appealing about literary vampires? Let me count the ways… …by doing a bit of history… The literary vampire didn’t begin to flourish until the mid-1880s. I’ve heard it said that before…
Would you make a deal with the devil to keep from getting the plague? The book opens in France on May 21, 1349. The plague is making its rounds, killing each one who is infected, and it is almost impossible to escape infection. Damian’s fiance has come down with it and life no longer has…
Have you ever burst into laughter and not been able to quit? Have you ever experienced an afterclap or been knocked agroof? Are you acquainted with an alterocentric person? Do you have a cacoëthes? Would a person with cerebropathy need to be put in a mental institution? What is curglaff? Have you ever burst into laughter…
Set in the vast Bavarian forest in Germany, this story gave me the feeling that I was in the middle of an original Grimm’s fairy tale, not one of the innocent Disney versions where all the blood and gore have been taken out. Konrad and his mother lived on the edge of this forest. Full…
The eerie feel of autumn swoops in on the wings of birds and insects as they fly south for the winter on nature’s highways. Seasonal decorations grace the shelves of stores all around America, and the excited chatter of children turn from the latest toys to this year’s costumes. When the leaves fall and the…
