Robopocalypse

I wrote up a review of the novel Robopocalypse and posted it over at This Week in World Robot Domination.

Check it out!

World Robot Domination - The Song

So I wrote a song last year, for use on the 2010 This Week in Science music compilation. That CD is sold out, but the tune is now available to purchase through Amazon and iTunes and CDBaby and other fine internet music purveyors.


Enjoy - if you dare!

I also used the first section of this song for my entry into a video contest. The idea was to make a trailer for the upcoming book, Robopocalypse. This song seemed perfect, so I put together this:

Chuck Swindoll

The news about Osama bin Laden reminded me, again, of something I heard Chuck Swindoll say on the radio many years ago.

I wrote this letter in response.

"On your March 14, 2003, broadcast of Insight for Living, you said, “May the pain of the everlasting punishment of the terrorists know no bounds and find no relief.”

I find this statement to be highly disturbing on many levels, not the least of which is Jesus’ command to love your enemies.  If Christ can forgive those who are crucifying him, how much more must we forgive those who act against us?

I continue to be shocked by your statement, possibly the most un-Christian thing I’ve ever heard said on the radio.  No matter how we feel about the terrible acts that occurred on September 11, 2001, we must resist the temptation to judge and condemn.  Those acts are God’s alone to perform."

I got a long letter back from someone in Swindoll's ministry, telling me that it's okay to be angry and that even Jesus was angry once. But how does that give Swindoll the right to condemn anyone to hell? Isn't that  God's job?

I suspect similar judgments against Osama bin Laden will be made. But is it ever right for us to wish eternal torment on someone? When Jesus says to love your enemies and to forgive them and to turn the other cheek, I don't recall seeing any qualifiers to those statements. Maybe I'm reading the wrong translations.

I know, I know, I'm guilty of judging Swindoll. The issues we perceive as faults in others are usually issues we are having trouble dealing with in ourselves.

All this makes me appreciate again the words of John Shelby Spong, who advises us to "Love wastefully.

Zielin, Lara

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.


One day, on Twitter, I ran into Lara Zielin. She likes donuts. In fact, she wrote a novel called Donut Days. The photo accompanying her Twitter profile captured her inside a Dunkin' Donuts. How could I not like this woman?

Then I discovered we share a birthday.

Well, obviously, we are twinsies.

She writes young adult fiction, aimed primarily at girls, and I found her first novel, Donut Days, to be just delightful. Favorite quote: "I was just thinking it might be easier if we all worshipped donuts or something. I mean, they taste good and they never hurt anybody."

Her next book, The Implosion of Aggie Winchester, comes out later this year. Lara graciously sent me an advance copy and I've been enjoying it quite a bit so far (not done reading it yet). Lara really captures voices and does a terrific job of portraying recognizable characters trying to handle the dramas of high school-era life.

And this latest book has a character named Neil in it.

Lara Zielin, quite obviously, is my FAVORITE AUTHOR EVER.

She's also a dynamite editor, and you can even take advantage of her editing services at her Help for Writers site.

She's also the owner of a Sharktopus, so be careful when you approach her.

Your Turn to Curtsy, My Turn to Bow

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.

William Goldman is the king of screenwriters.

His Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting is mandatory reading for anyone wanting to write a screenplay.

But he's also an addictive novelist.

I went through a stretch of reading almost nothing but William Goldman novels. Marathon Man. Father's Day. Brothers. The Color of Light.

Later I went through another stretch. Princess Bride.Your Turn to Curtsy My turn to Bow. Soldier in the Rain.

Not too long ago I finally read Magic. Loved it. Couldn't put it down.

Pick one up. You'll want to read more.

The X President

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.

I really wanted to read this book.

I remember seeing mentions of it and thinking the premise sounded fantastic. I sought it out. I read it. I remember really enjoying it.

You know what?

I can't tell you a single thing about it. If I read the synopsis I'm sure it would come back to me, but failing that, my mind draws a blank.

Similarly, I came across a novel by Hugh Laurie many years ago, well before House MD, called The Gun Seller. I thought it looked entertaining. I read it. I enjoyed it. I remember, at the time, reading a review of it on Amazon that said it was good but that a few months later the reader could remember nothing about the novel.

Guess what. I remember nothing about that novel.

The Way You Wear Your Hat

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.

Ring a ding ding, baby.

What a wonderful book: The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'.

I got my copy at the Bill Zehme's book launch party in Chicago. By the time I got to the author's table, he was, well, a bit tipsy. Perhaps - perhaps - I was, too. And he, and I, and everyone, were having a great time.

He happily signed my book ("Pally Neil, The old man sends love and ring a ding ding") and chatted and, well, it was probably the best book launch evah.

Pro tip from Frank: never wear brown shoes after dark.

The Vampire Lestat

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.

Back during the original vampire craze of the eighties, when I really loved The Lost Boys and Near Dark, I decided to give Anne Rice a try.

So I read The Vampire Lestat.

I loved the opening bit, with the vampire as rock star. Then it started an extended flashback. Okay, that was fine, but I hoped to find out more about the rock star story.

Then there was another extended flashback.

Okay.

Then he met another vampire. And that vampire had to tell its story.

Then another.

Enough already! I don't want to hear the back stories of every person/vampire you come across! Tell me about this rock star business!

I haven't read any more Anne Rice.

Under the Dome

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.

In the late eighties, I wanted to read some Stephen King. I asked what I should read, and folks pointed me to The Shining. I read it, thought it was fairly engrossing, but it was never "scary" and I didn't bother reading any more Stephen King.

Then, ten years ago or so, I read great reviews of his On Writing book. I checked out the audio version from the library and thought it was absolutely fantastic. I didn't read any more Stephen King.

Last year, I kept seeing mentions of Under the Dome, and more than that, saw the cover. Yes, the cover made me want to read the book. I borrowed it from someone and flew right through it. What a great read. Really involving, really well-detailed. He's obviously a gifted storyteller. But I didn't bother to seek out any more Stephen King.

Then I saw an announcement of his forthcoming novel: 11/22/63: A Novel. I can't wait.

This Hebrew Lord

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.


Two authors have radically shaped my thinking on biblical issues.

Marcus Borg and John Shelby Spong.

They've encouraged me to take the bible seriously but not literally.

They've helped me to view the life and work of Jesus through the lens of first century Jews.

They've allowed me to open my mind as well as my heart.

They've taught me to love wastefully.

And for all these things, and more, I thank them.

Greed

There was not enough. Never enough.

An extra box of Pop Tarts became an extra case. A second pair of shoes at the same price became a stockroom in her closet. A second hammer, another set of spare tires, a set of guest towels became, over time, a mountain of stuff, rotting in piles across her lawn. Her home became a prison, so encumbered with THINGS that she could find no more room for herself. Or for Frank, who finally left when his pillow, his one sacrosanct spot of his own, disappeared beneath a down comforter, forever entombed in plastic wrap, a bargain so good she couldn’t pass it up.

She stood in front of the stove, boxes pushing at her from all sides, forgotten dusty bouquets of plastic flowers threatening to topple onto her at any moment.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of the gas. She thought of last Sunday’s sermon, about greed, about the useless accumulation of things, about the better life that waited for her somewhere else.

She selected a matchbook from the overflowing ceramic bowl on what used to be her kitchen counter. “Antonio’s Pizza” read the matchbook cover. Frank took her there the night after he won a bowling trophy, a trophy that was now irretrievably buried in the detritus of her existence, in the neverending pile of goods she’d surrounded herself with.

Give away all you have. Give it away to the poor. She knew that’s what Jesus would want.

But that would be too hard.

She struck the match.

Written for Leah Petersen's 5 Minute Fiction challenge.

Seven Plays

I've accepted the Blogging A to Z Challenge. All month, I'm going to blog about Books from A to Z.

Sam Shepard really hit the big time during my college years. Fool for Love. The Right Stuff. Buried Child.

I loved his image, the loner cowboy cruising the west. I loved the work itself. The crazed beauty of Tooth of Crime. The oddball intensity of Chicago. The rugged loneliness and anger of True West.

We did a production of True West that remains one of my favorites. I have a scar on my arm from being hit with a typewriter during the big fight scene one evening.

Shepard is also a master at creating short, atmospheric fiction. Motel Chronicles. Cruising Paradise. Day Out of Days. His imagery is stark and I almost prefer his fiction to his amazing stage work. You can just get enveloped in that atmosphere. It makes we want to put on a pair of cowboy boots and drive a pickup truck deep into the desert.

And it makes me want to be in one of his plays again...