All posts by Mike

Adventures and mishaps in science fiction, fantasy, and mystery
Movies, Science fiction

Remembering Bob Gordon

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Bob Gordon

Robert Gordon Van Horn, November 16, 1924 – September 11, 2015

Now this brings back some memories:

Robert (“Bob”) Gordon Van Horn was an unassuming man, not given to boasting, and devoid of any ego. If you spoke with him, you’d never know that he was a popular TV personality, a creative innovator, or a war hero. As our mutual friend Dave Plyler told me, “Bob saw fierce combat in World War II at the Battle of the Bulge for which he earned a purple heart and a bronze star, but he never discussed his service.”…

Bob is preceded in death by North Carolina’s other legendary children’s TV show hosts: George Perry (WFMY’s Old Rebel); Fred Kirby (WBT’s singing cowboy); Uncle Paul Montgomery (WRAL’s jazz artist); and Brooks Lindsay (WSOC’s Joey the Clown). His passing earlier this month should serve as a reminder of the pioneering work they all did to make growing up just a little more fun.

Saturday afternoons, I’d plant myself in front of our black-and-white TV and watch those wonderful “B” serials Bob Gordon featured on his show in between rope and magic tricks. Rocket Man was my favorite.

Rocket Man

Those cliffhanger serials were my first introduction to science fiction, and no doubt influenced my approach to story telling.

Thanks for the memories, Bob.

Writing

The Meta-Recipe

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A Moveable Feast

Things got a little heated at the last meeting of our Sci-Fi/Fantasy critique group. One member said that the manuscript under review did not work. The reason, he insisted, was that a scene lasting two paragraphs of a ten-page story was exposition, and as everyone knows, “showing is better than telling.”

I disagree. Sometimes you enhance the pace with a little exposition. For example, does the reader really want a vivid, sensuous accounting of your protagonist fixing dinner? I’d say no — unless it’s central to the story.

And that’s the thing. A vital part of the writing craft is knowing when to apply the right rule. Even the best rule should not be mindlessly followed off a cliff.

Bill Daley, the Chicago Tribune’s food writer, recently offered what I call a “meta-recipe” for aspiring cooks. He calls it “10 steps six cookbook pros say you should follow to get the most from a recipe.” These steps offer sound advice for writers, too, about learning how to apply the rules of writing.

For example, Daley’s first meta-rule is: Cook! The more you cook, the more you will learn and the easier it will be to spot a recipe that’s “worthwhile or intriguing.” And the more writers write, the more “feel” they get for what works and why.

Daley also counsels that cooks should Listen! You want to hear the recipe’s “voice.” Judith Jones, the cookbook editor behind Julia Child and other cooking legends, says she wants the recipe to tell her “whoever wrote it had really done it and makes me feel the taste and texture just by reading it.” So a writer seeking direction should heed the insights of someone with actual publishing experience rather than someone who has not.

Daley’s best advice for cooks and writers, in my opinion, is Consider the audience. Should you substitute a jalapeno for the habanero your recipe calls for? Would Aunt Doris prefer a tangy dish rather than the blazing one your recipe calls for? And wouldn’t your potential readers prefer you to tone down your violence or sex scene?

Developing such judgment comes from experience, careful listening, and caring. Good advice for any craft.

Book review, War

Soldiers Aren’t Angels

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Breakfast With The Dirt Cult

My review of Samuel Finlay’s gritty and gut-busting war novel Breakfast With The Dirt Cult is featured today at the Abbeville Review blog.

An excerpt:

Finlay’s fictionalized account of his tour of duty in Afghanistan, Breakfast with the Dirt Cult, is hard to classify. It isn’t a red-white-and-blue “Support our Boys!” kind of tale, nor is it an expose of imperialistic brutes in uniform wielding high-tech machines to murder and subjugate noble savages. So one should not expect this war novel to be “The Green Berets” or “Apocalypse Now.” It is instead a tale that bristles with humor, honesty, and has an edge to it that will alternately have you chuckling or holding your breath.

Read the rest at the Abbeville Review.

Southern Culture, Writing

Quote of the day

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Ron Rash

“I was almost 40 when my first book was published, and I’d been getting rejection slips and rejection slips. But ultimately, it was not about getting published. It’s about doing this thing that I feel like is part of who I am. My life would be incomplete if I weren’t doing this.” – Ron Rash, author of Serena.

Fiction, Writing, Yukio Mishima

Best Fiction and Writing Blogs

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mishima

The best fiction and writing blog posts from around the ‘net, with advice and inspiration guaranteed to make you a literary ninja. Compiled by mishima.

Nihar Pradhan – Travelling, Photographing & Writing
Jon Westenberg – 30 Reasons Why I Write
Marcy Kennedy – Internal Dialogue: The Secret Sauce to Fixing Problems?
James Royce Patterson – Five Ways To Improve Your Writing’s Flow
Damyanti – Have You Always Been A Writer?
C.S. Wilde – How I Write
K.L. Register – Why Do You Write?
Samantha Who – The Keeper of Lost Causes

Aztec Midnight, Fantasy Fiction, Weapons

Messages on missiles: Here is a Sugar Plum for You!

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Sling bulletsAncient Greek sling bullets with engravings. One side depicts a winged thunderbolt, and the other, the Greek inscription “take that” in high relief.

Ancient Origins has a great introductory article on slings.

I’ve long been fascinated by primitive weapons, and I think every fantasy author should know the basics of the ones he writes about. Not only does such knowledge add authenticity to the story, but helps the author get a feel for the artistry and discipline involved in mastering such a weapon. You don’t just pick up a sling and start hitting your target. The video below of a slinging competition will give you an idea of the deadliness of this elegant and simple weapon:

In my novella Aztec Midnight, the protagonist, Jon Barrett, learned how to use the sling from an elderly Mescalero Apache in Texas. Alone and defenseless in Cuernavaca, he must track down the drug cartel members who have kidnapped his wife. Barrett constructs a sling on the run, and approaches the cartel’s hideout. It’s night, and he can hear a guard treading back and forth on the dark front porch. How can Barrett take the guard down without alerting the others inside?

Precious minutes slipped by. Nothing stirred. In the distance, another train approached Cuernavaca station. Its whistle barely rose above the subdued rumble.

A ghostly silhouette appeared at the end of the porch. I realized the guard had moved in front of a shaded window. Its glow barely formed an outline. I had to take my chance. After placing the roundest rock in the pouch, I stepped forward and swung the sling. The release felt perfect.

The outlined figure did not react. Then the speeding rock tore into bushes and trees on the other side of the yard, and the guard jerked his head toward the sound.

This was my last chance. I took another step forward, slipped a rock into the pouch, swung as smoothly as I could, and released the string.

That passage still makes my blood pump.

Okay, I’ve worked at the computer long enough. Time to change, grab my sling kit, and jog down to the park for some target practice.

Lovecraft

H.P. Lovecraft, please call your office

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Moa Claw

From Ancient Origins: The Frightening Discovery of the Mount Owen Claw

Nearly three decades ago, a team of archaeologists were carrying out an expedition inside a large cave system on Mount Owen in New Zealand when they stumbled across a frightening and unusual object. With little visibility in the dark cave, they wondered whether their eyes were deceiving them, as they could not fathom what lay before them—an enormous, dinosaur-like claw still intact with flesh and scaly skin. The claw was so well-preserved that it appeared to have come from something that had only died very recently.

Read the rest at Ancient Origins – if you dare.

If I’d discovered that claw, I would have set new land speed records skedaddling out of the cave.

Fiction, Writing

Best Fiction and Writing Blogs

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JeffnBev

The best fiction and writing posts from around the ‘net, with advice and inspiration guaranteed to make you a literary rock star. Compiled by the dude.

A. J. Humpage – 10 Reasons Why Stories Fail
Alice Osborn – Don’t You Dare Double Space After a Period!
Wallace Cass Jr. – Fighting Procrastination and Writer’s Block
Jacqui Murray – Writer’s Tip #75: Break the Rules
Kirsten Slater – My Night Time Dreams
Chris Nicholas – Paper Trails
phantomwriter143 – Submitting Your Manuscript
Nicola Alter – A Workshop with Garth Nix

Robert E. Howard

‘Red Sonja’: ancient female warrior found in Kazakhstan

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Howard

Robert E. Howard, please call your office:

Dubbed by some as ‘Red Sonja,’ the remains of a woman were found in Kazakhstan have drawn comparisons to a character played by actress Birgitte Nielsen, who starred in self-named 1984 movie along with the equally outsized Arnold Schwarzneggar. In the burial found in the Central Asian republic, archeologists also found a huge sword and dagger, still clasped by the bony hands of the warrior woman. That the two weapons were found in the skeletal hands has lead researchers to theorize that the woman was buried with military honors.