A Conspiracy of Feathers

When I created Anwat al Masewei over twenty years ago, I didn’t ever think it would bring me here. I was engaged to my second wife, an artist, and we had the idea to do a fantasy comic book. Something different. We created a few characters, she did a few drawings, and I sketched out […]

Descent into Dystopia: Cobalt City Edition

I know I’ve discussed the current Cobalt City novel RESISTANCE once or twice before. For new readers (or those with the memory of goldfish), RESISTANCE is the novel I started last November as a way to process what I saw as our country’s decline into fascism and straight up dystopia. I’d hoped to be finished […]

The Storm Haunts the Horizon

He hears thunder and steps outside, eyes on the horizon. He’s been hearing thunder. It’s been more frequent since November 8th. Still no storm. But it’s coming. If history has taught him anything, it’s that the storm is always coming. He shivers, rubs the goosebumps on his arms. Rubs his aching eyes. He’s been feeling […]

View from the Trenches–On Deep Edits

If you’ve been reading this blog for long enough, you’ve probably heard me talk about Of Rooks and Ravens, the big, weird fantasy novel set in the world of Ravensgate. If you have missed all the randomness about how the project evolved, that’s okay. It’s a Gothic high-fantasy with an ace/aro female academic forced by […]

In Memory of a Model Adult

When you’re a kid, there’s this concept of the “cool house” where everyone hangs out. I was fortunate as a teen growing up in Durango in that we had several such homes. Places where we could keep ourselves entertained in a what was, to many of my friends, a boring and sometimes downright hostile town. For […]

Travel: Writing Research

That’s the dream, right? Pack the bags and fuck off to some far-away place for an indulgent period of time to write, research, absorb your surroundings, and write some more. If you’re like me, and I expect many of you are, you rarely get further than the closest convenient coffeehouse or bar. But still the […]

Behind the Story: The Complicated Journey of Madjack

On May 16th, Meerkat Press will release their eagerly awaited superhero anthology Behind the Mask. (It’s available for pre-order now and the advance reviews have been great and the table of contents boasts some exciting names.) This is particularly relevant to me because my Cobalt City story “Madjack” happens to be between those pages–a fact […]

Evolution of a Character: Gato Loco

I don’t know how other authors do it, but at least in my case, it’s uncommon for a character to leap fully-formed from brain to paper. I find that often times the character comes together in bits and pieces until they’re ready to be seen. And even then, they can continue to evolve over time. […]

For Your Consideration: 5 Favorite Bands

I saw a meme going around the Social-Media-Sphere™ this morning, a listy kinda meme, where you list several bands in a Band you Hate, Band you feel is Over-rated, Guilty Pleasure Band…kind of a gang of five musical Fuck/Marry/Kill situation. And I considered doing it. Because the kind of music a person listens to (or […]

10 Favorite Songs from Musical Theater

In news that might not surprise many of you, I’m one of those bastards who loves musical theater. No joke. Couldn’t get enough of it as a kid. Found my mom’s album of My Fair Lady and never looked back. Now, my tastes have evolved considerably in that time. So much so, that there’s nothing […]