Category: Blog Post (from under The Bo Tree)

Welcome back to my continuing series of lazy, er, uh, I mean innovative THREE-CHAPTER REVIEWS, where I read the beginning of various works and give my impression of whether or not the beginning works and, consequently, whether or not to keep going. {Note: for an explanation of the philosophy of all this, see HERE}.

I will be comparing the first three chapters of three different Dark Fantasy novels: Eyes of the Grave (EotG), by Chelsea Callahan, King of Shards by Matthew Kressel; and Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay.

Continue reading “THREE-CHAPTER REVIEWS #2 (DARK FANTASY)”

Back in the 80s, I liked everything about Hai Karate. Except how it smelled…

It’s cute when candy-asses in my everyday life try to get s***ty with me, out of nowhere—not knowing or factoring in that I’m also an attorney.

Continue reading “Notes from (Semi-?)Retirement”

I’m reading King of Shards (Book One of the Worldmender Trilogy), by Matthew Kressel, now. If this saga ends anywhere near as good as it has begun, I will have found my new favorite 21st century spec fic author. But, more on that later…

For now, I’ll leave you with a quote, from Mr. Kessel, about how the literature establishment looks down on speculative fiction:

Continue reading “The Literati and the Science Fiction Ghetto”

Unpopular opinion: Not only did Jesus survive and ended up wed to Mary Magdalene—but they owned a Toyota.

When critiquing or beta-reading, my “first paragraph test” runs at about a 80% to 95% positivity rate. It goes like this: 80-95% of the time, the start of the story I’m reading would be better if the first paragraph were deleted entirely and the story started with the second.

For published works? It clocks in at about a 50/50 clip. I’ve found this is also is true when editing my own works…especially short stories that I think I’ve ‘finished’.

I haven’t had the chance to fully think through why this is—but, once I noticed it, there was no denying it.

Some time ago, I had a long discussion with the most prolific consumer of both fantasy and horror books (and movies) that I know, my oldest son, about just what makes “horror” horror? Or, what makes a “thriller” a thriller, and not “suspense”? And so forth.

For example, what was “Alien”? What was “Aliens”? The same? If so, why do they feel so different?

Afterwards, I decided that I needed, for own sanity, to come up with a topology. Here’s what I developed:

Continue reading “What Makes A Thriller A Thriller?”

I drive on highways with HOV lanes all the time, and I’ve still yet to see a single hover-car.

Webster-Merriam defines “jerk” (the personality-type) as:
a) an annoyingly stupid or foolish person (eg, “was acting like a jerk”), or
b) an unlikable person, esp. one who is cruel, rude, or small-minded

But, look at the second definition. It is based on a social norm (“unlikable”). So, if, in the first place, the group norm is that of being cruel, rude, or small-minded, then what?

Continue reading “21st Century Jerks”

Director/Actor Werner Herzog, age 78, regarding Tom Cruise:

“It struck me to see the relentless professionalism with which he worked. I wish I would never have a life like him. He would have his nutritionist on the set and nibble a few things every two hours. A very precisely balanced sort of diet — and working out physically. Not a life that I would like to live.”

From this interview.