A Writer's Vanity

Category: Blog

  • REVIEW: The Detour

    The Detour is a road trip comedy series on TBS written by the husband/wife team of Jason Jones and Samantha Bee and starring Natalie Zea and Jason Jones. The second season starts soon, which makes now a great time to binge the 10-episode first season! The show flew under my radar. When it popped up…

  • OPINION: Crap jobs; feedback loops

    Prior to becoming a publisher full-time, I spent 20 years doing software development for a wide range of companies: uptight mega-corps, a dot-com during the web bubble in the early 200s, state government, county government, upstart private companies, and state universities. Before that, I worked in a chemistry lab. Prior to that, I cleaned toilets…

  • REVIEW: The Young Pope wants your Cherry Coke Zero

    I had a fevered dream this past weekend. In this dream, the Pope climbed from under a mountain of babies. He showered and I saw his buttocks. A man with a grotesque mole was put in his place. I learned that Cherry Coke Zero is the breakfast of champions. And all of this madness? It…

  • REVIEW: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

    Many followers of this blog are probably familiar with A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay. It made several 2015 year’s best lists and won the Stoker Award for best novel. Rightfully so because it is an excellent book. Merry Barrett, our narrator, recounts her experiences as a child when her sister Marjorie becomes…

  • OPINION: Confusion 2017

    Detroit Rock City. Well…technically…Novi, Michigan. But close enough, right? For the last three years, I’ve heard many positive things about Confusion. No less than an (ir)reputable source as Scalzi had told me it was where the cool kids went to play. I’m a cool kid, right? This means I needed to be in the middle…

  • REVIEW: The Last Weekend by Nick Mamatas

    It probably should come as no surprise that I enjoyed The Last Weekend by Nick Mamatas. There are zombies. Gore. Sex. Power tools. I’ve published Nick’s short fiction half a dozen times and a book he wrote about surviving as a writer titled Starve Better. If you’re in the enlightened intersection of readers who have…

  • OPINION: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Joseph-Beth Booksellers

    With so much angst in the inner circles of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, it is easy to forget how much books mean to so many people. When I heard that Catherynne M. Valente would be in Lexington in support of her Fairyland series, I asked my daughter if she would be interested in going.…

  • SELF PROMOTION: For Exposure: Stoned and Delirious

    This chapter covers my experiences at Archon. I reckon I owe Sara M. Harvey and an anonymous kid (who kept calling me “Kentucky”) my life. A 2011 AP-GfK poll revealed that 77 percent of adults believe angels are real. We’re talking the floating down from heaven, halo glowing around the head, majestic wings variety. Angels…

  • OPINION: Con Nooga Post Mortem

    Last weekend I made my first appearance at Con Nooga. Robby Hilliard, director of the literary track had invited me to attend, so I decided to venture south and check it out. I like Chattanooga.  It’s a nice town that embraces its southern pride without being obnoxious about it. Tennessee whisky is a specialty there,…

  • OPINION: A Digital Obituary for a Wonderful Character

    A gaming tragedy happened to me yesterday. I’m still bummed about it. I lost my saved game files for the Fallout 4 play-through I had been working on for over two months. I even reviewed the game recently. My character, a red-haired vixen (what other type would I play?!) dead shot named Jessica had traversed…