Matt Haig did something unusual in The Midnight Library. He made me want to commit suicide. He pulled me so thoroughly into his main character’s life that when she decided to kill herself, I thought: Yep. Good choice. I’d do the same. Stop it. It’s not a spoiler. It’s revealed in the…
A Boy and His Dog is a great 1975 post-apocalyptic movie set in 2024. In Draft 2, Will spent a lot of time being homeless in Barstow. 40 days, actually. Yes, that was an allusion to another great hero who spent 40 days in the desert. The instigating event was…
I was trolling for something to listen to as I commute between Houston and San Marcos. I was done for the moment with non-fiction, having just finished the truly excellent Playing to Win by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin ( @aglafley https://www.linkedin.com/in/ag-lafley-2381b3201/ and @rogerlmartin https://rogerlmartin.com - seriously, if you're…
Sometimes a scene is fun to write and gives the author a chance to vent his spleen, cry out against the injustice of the world. It just doesn't make it to the final version of the book for the sake of word count or "do you really want to piss…