Writing villains is easy. Writing GOOD villains is substantially more difficult. As with any character, they need to have a reason to exist, and often a reason for their evil. They have to have motivations that are grounded in reality, motivations that make sense. Even if that sense is twisted, we still have to be…
Our first stop of the next day — Christmas Eve Day — was the Audubon Aquarium. It was a delight. Featuring both fresh and salt-water fish, their displays and habitats featured good visibility for viewing. We had lunch in the Aquarium cafeteria, which was situated to provide diners a fantastic view of the Mississippi River…
I’ve been trying to provide a good mix of content for people to read here on my blog, but after more than four years of weekly posts, I’m running out of ideas again. So I’d like to offer up some choices of subjects for future posts and have my readers vote on them. Please make…
I attended Midwinter Gaming Convention over the weekend, and sitting in the hotel lounge on a Monday afternoon, the post-convention depression sets in. I had a good time this year, and it was over too soon. I was able to be part of the reprise of last year’s successful Changing Breeds game that had my…
With halloween only a week away, I’d like to recommend a few films to help inspire the Halloween Spirit. Not all of them are, strictly speaking, scary, but all of them capture aspects of the holiday, and many can be viewed the year ’round. First up on my list is a double-feature based on a…
On June 11 I attended an event at Purple Door Ice Cream in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Every two years or so, they try out a bunch of new flavors, and sell tickets so people can sample them and then vote for their favorite. For $10 (in advance: $12 day of) you get 12 tickets and a…
If you’re looking for inspiration for a Chill, Call of Cthulhu or Pulp gaming campaign and want to include plenty of supernatural thrills and chills, here are some films that I feel capture this spirit perfectly. Even if you just like a good horror/adventure film, take a look at this list and see if anything…
Two things had me thinking of the classic, 1960s-era Star Trek television series. First BBC America is running mini-marathons every Friday starting late in the afternoon where they run four or five episodes, then loop them for a second showing, ending well after midnight. Second, famous gamer-dude John Wick has been talking on his Facebook…
Fellow author Chuck Wendig posted a very solid piece several years ago on his blog about why authors shouldn’t slag off other authors in reviews. It got me thinking: many authors don’t review the works of others at all. Amazon has a policy against posting reviews of authors’ work by other authors, which they enforce…