Thoughts on DC and the Joker

The trailer for the long-awaited* Joker movie dropped yesterday, and I have a few thoughts. The first thought being, of course, who asked for this movie? Let’s establish a few bonafides. As bad guys go, the Joker is an A-list character, as recognizable as DC’s big heroes (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman). The director and co-writer […]

Fringe Candy Tangential: The Devil’s Candy

This is not about candy. Certainly not about Hi-Chew despite my feelings on the matter. Nor is it, exactly, a movie review. Here’s the thing. I love horror movies. (No! Really? Tell me something I don’t know!) But so many movies come out every year that it’s impossible for me to watch all of them. And […]

Role-Playing & the Perfection of Imperfection

I’ve been playing role-playing games since I was twelve, and running them for almost as long. There’s something amazing about sharing a story that you tell with your friends. I love the fact that D&D is seeing a resurgence, and that more people are returning to the hobby or picking it up for the first […]

Disney’s (Almost) Forgotten Live-Action Movies: 5 Favorites

When people of a certain age (cough)young(cough) think about Disney films, they think of the animation. And that’s fair. It was what built the famous House of Mouse, after all. And while they never completely stopped making live-action films, their output did have a few fallow periods. But in the years before Lucas and Spielberg […]

Examining Themes of Legacy in Cobalt City

After the release of Cobalt City: RESISTANCE and a few conversations with regular readers of the Cobalt books, I got thinking about common themes in the series. My relationship with themes is kind of complicated. I don’t know how other authors work, but for the most part the themes in my books are things that […]

Playlist for the RESISTANCE – Favorite Five

Cobalt City: RESISTANCE comes out in a few days, and I literally could not be happier to share this book with you all. It was a long process with a hard deadline to get this book ready in time for the mid-term elections, but we made it. Here we are, with the book out roughly […]

“But think of the art!” – Dispatches from Dystopia

There is this common tune, that great art (and great art movements) comes from periods of strife and political unrest. While it’s most famously seen in music, take rap or punk as examples, pushing back against oppression is also a major influence on the British comic book scene in the 80’s. The panacea we’ve been […]

Review: Rites & Desires by Amanda Cherry

First of all, how DARE you! Second, I say that with love. Because as much as I wish I’d created Ruby Killingsworth, I never could have pulled this novel off with such joyful aplomb. See, there’s been a number of stories told in Cobalt City over the years, but never anything like Rites & Desires, […]

The Benefits of a Step Back

As regular readers know, I’ve been working on a new Cobalt City novel for over a year now. As is typical for me, progress is not always smooth and constant. I had a big block from some time in October until just a week ago where I’m pretty sure I didn’t finish a single chapter. […]

Year of Creators Interview: Arinn Dembo

This week’s interview brings us writer Clarion West graduate, spec fiction author, and game writer Arinn Dembo. She’s been a writing pro for quite a while, but even before she got her first big sale (if memory serves, an amazing and high profile review of a favorite book by a favorite author), she’s been a […]