Stories of Suspense with a Sense of Humor
The best and most effective jokes reveal some inner truth about the joke’s target. In the context of a story, the wonderful part is that they also advance the story, and the audience hardly has a reason to notice it is a “joke” except that they are laughing. These are fifth degree jokes. Fifth degree … Read more
Elvis and Annabelle is a cute, quirky film that is worth tracking down. It’s an indie that got made, most likely, because Joe Montegna liked the script, and wanted to play the pleasantly demented golfer whose son covers for him in their funeral parlor. It won some awards at the Newport Beach Film Festival. Elvis, … Read more
My daughter was cut by an old man in a mask. He drugged her, told her everything would be fine, and then cut her gums and removed a tooth. The experience may have traumatized her for life except that it was our dentist performing a planned procedure. The guy is still a little creepy, trying … Read more
I had an incident while preparing Nan bread from a recipe that called for heating a pizza stone to 500 degrees. A pizza stone, if you are not familiar, is thick clayware that acts as a heatsink to help ensure the crust is thoroughly baked. And 500 degrees, by the way, is really hot. After … Read more
The highly regarded and award-winning novelist, E.L. Doctorow, whose books were on our shelves while I was growing up, spoke the other day at Michigan State University, and raised some interesting points about what “is” historical fiction. His point is that all fiction is historical–except the genre writing of that name which seems to be … Read more