Writing
A twist in the tale: Why too many ‘Twilight Zone’ endings can ruin the surprise
One summer, I spent my days lounging around the pool, reading “The Twilight Zone.” Not watching. For one thing, “The Twilight Zone” reruns were on way late at night. I wasn’t quite a teenager, VCRs were in other peoples’ homes, and the Internet was still a good decade or so away. So I’d only seen…
Read MoreNot seeing the forest for the trees: ‘Into the Woods’ and other ways Hollywood gaffes in retelling classic fairy tales
“Into the Woods” fans, brace yourself: The Disney adaptation of the award-winning, long-running, grown-up thinking fairy tale musical by Stephen Sondheim – one of the stage’s pre-eminent writers – is getting neutered. As the New Yorker reported recently, during a master class in New York City Sondheim told the audience of high school drama teachers that…
Read MoreAnd then we came to the end: Why the series finale is the most important episode of all
In the last seconds of “The Sopranos” finale seven years ago (yes, it has been that long), my television set suddenly cut to black. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” cut off right on the word “stop.” Crap! My cable died just at the exactly most important moment of the entire iconic series? Then I got it.…
Read More‘Revolution’ will no longer be televised, and it comes down to guns, and hair
Ugh, the guns. The guns and the hair. The guns, the hair and the complete lack of forward motion. Hello all, and welcome to the ongoing shiva service I’m holding for the death of NBC’s Revolution, a show for whom the end of the world came twice: Once when the series started – the premise…
Read MoreHappy 80th to Harlan Ellison, who has a knock-knock joke for you
Harlan Ellison, that irascible love-him or hate-him genius of speculative fiction, lawsuits and storytelling, turns 80 today. While covering the South by Southwest Festival in 2008, I got a chance to talk with him in person (there's a video I'll turn up one of these days), and before that, on the phone. Here's just the…
Read MoreServing up lamb in a rare, delightfully nasty way
One of these days I'll write a longer post about the joys of discovering the fiction Roald Dahl wrote for adults, rather than children (most of us only know him by his "Matilda" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" books). It's twisty, detailed, tightly-written and often delightfully nasty. But for now, I'll send you to…
Read MorePacing 101: The Walking Dead, and how not to end a season
UPDATE: Long term fans of "How I Met Your Mother" may also be experiencing bouts of pacing whiplash. I didn't watch the series except hither and thither and liked the ending, but I'm not invested in it. Either way, this article makes points I'm also making here: Too much, too late, ruins things. (Hey, spoilers…
Read MorePutting that dream into action, you st★r f**ker
Speaking of mining dreams for content. My pal Tamara over here has a call out for talented playwrights interested in a prompt based on a real-actual-honest-to-spaghetti-monster-dream someone had. She writes on Facebook: I am lucky enough to be a producer and actor of new short plays once a year, every summer. It is one of…
Read MoreYou can’t go home to Arrakis again
Recently, a link popped up all over my Facebook thread, informing me how I could begin breezing through books at a much more rapid rate than I do. If I don't know anything more about that particular link, it's because, f that noise. I see no need to read faster. I probably need to read…
Read MoreDream mining for story inspiration: Check and check!
Who says dreams are dead time? I woke up with an idea for a short story on Sunday morning and pounded out a good start. The only problem now: Where to take the darn thing. Secondary problem: Finding the time to finish it up. The important part is starting. It's even more important when you're…
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