Work
1.21.22 Farewell by the dashboard light
Aww, Meat Loaf! Marvin Aday, aka Meat Loaf, the actor and singer who paired for years with Jim Steinman to create operatic pop hits like “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” has died at 74. I can’t say I was his biggest fan either way…
Read More1.21.20 Legislators are coming for your freelance jobs. Time to take action.
If you are a freelancer. If you do piece work. If you in any way have multiple outlets that pay you for the work you do. Time to sit up, and pay attention. State governments, some with good intentions and some without, are coming for your jobs. And that includes mine. Of all the things…
Read More12.31.19 2020: The Year of Not Buying Stuff, in 4 easy steps
There are a lot of things that can be said about 2019. And for me, personally, in my day-to-day life — I can’t really say it was a terrible year. It’s a terrible year for the world and society at large, and my heart breaks daily while trying to cope with all the little fires…
Read More2.26.19 Meet the Beatles anthology: “Across the Universe”
Words are flowing outLike endless rain into a paper cupThey slither wildly as they slip away across the universe — The Beatles, “Across the Universe” Now the story can be told: I am delighted to announce that I will be co-editing a brand-new anthology for Fantastic Books, Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles (working…
Read More1.08.19 Arisia 2019 Schedule
Come find me at Arisia in Boston from Jan. 18-21! I’ll be paneling, partying, reading and selling. Here’s my schedule: Saturday, Jan. 19, 8:30pm – 9:45am (St. James)It Was Nineteen-Eighty-Something The twenty-year nostalgia cycle took longer this time, but the Reagan era is back. 2018’s Ready Player One hid its plot in a fire hose…
Read More12.07.18 Glenn Close on being a selfish artist, ‘hideous’ paintings and still missing ‘Damages’ Patty Hewes
There was never any way I could get all of the greatness of chatting with Glenn Close into a single 800-word article for the LA Times Envelope, though I did my best. For those who liked that chat and were left wanting more, here’s most of the rest of the transcript of our conversation. We…
Read More12.4.18 50 Things I Can’t Stop Thinking of Since I Sent the New Novel to My Beta Reader
I forgot to do this one thing in Chapter 20. The ending could be done in a completely different way. It’s too goofy. It’s not funny. It’s not funny enough. The serious parts are seriously inane. My main character doesn’t have an arc. My beta reader hates it. My beta reader is trying to find…
Read More1.3.17 ‘I would like to be who my mom has been – not afraid to be a little weird’
I never did get to speak with the late Carrie Fisher or Debbie Reynolds (more’s the pity) but I hear they were cracking gals. The pair died within a day of one another last week, which sent a lot of us into a tailspin, once again shaking our fists at the craptacular way 2016 presented.…
Read More9.6.16 ‘Do there have to be zombies in it?’
Before the show was picked up by AMC for domestic and Fox for international, its creator Frank Darabont presented the first version of the script to NBC, with whom he had an overall deal. According to Hurd, their response was, “Do there have to be zombies [in it].” NBC then asked Darabont if the show…
Read More9.4.16 ‘August was a heavy month and now the nights are drawing in’
August was a heavy month And now the nights are drawing in — Bob Geldof It’s not so weird to want some time off. It can be a little weird to take time off when you a) make your own schedule and b) are looking to take time off from things most folks might consider…
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