Category Archives: Writing

September 9, 2026 · 5:15 am

Writing links for a Wednesday

I haven’t done a writing-links post in a while, so …

For anyone pushing creative stuff nobody seems to get, Rod Serling did too. When The Twilight Zone was approaching its first season, one interviewer asked Serling, “For the time being and for the foreseeable future, you’ve given up on writing anything important for television, right?”

So your beta-reader missed something you clearly explained in the manuscript? Maybe you’re not as clear as you thought.

When building a story around ancient legend, how much history should you throw in?

Acting link: The appeal of good guys playing bad guys.

“As nearly anyone who has graded a paper that was generated by ChatGPT can attest to, AI does not produce good writing. Not only does it hallucinate citations, but it fails to offer any originality or a clear point of view. It produces vague generalities without real insights. It offers a reminder that proper syntax and good writing are not the same, and as a professor I would certainly rather point out how an engaged student can refine their writing to improve their argument than grade another banal paper that is the product of intellectual laziness. What’s more, this excessive reliance on AI leads me to the inescapable question: Why are you in this field?”

I’ve read multiple complaints in recent years that a non-super supporting cast is becoming a rare thing in comics. Here’s some arguments for bringing them back.

“One thing that frustrates me quite a bit about modern opinion-writing is that hardly anyone tries to argue with a particular person or a specific argument. it’s all gesturing towards people saying something … i think writers would be well served by finding actual people of influence who hold the views they want to contest, and then contest them head on.” — Jamelle Bouie.

“Blackburn notes that there’s a lot of control relinquished to a chatbot as to what the definition of pornography or conservative values is. The definition is whatever the AI model has defined it as.” — a look at how rightwingers are using chatbots to find passages they think justify book banning.

The creators of the classic Elfquest say they’d sooner have no animated version than an unfaithful adaptation — which is why they’ve now accepted there will never be an Elfquest movie. Here’s a more detailed look at some of the bad proposals.

Why Han Solo works when Han Solo-type PCs do not.

Are clothes art? Who decides?

“Publishing.com LLC and its two principals will pay $1.5 million and be required to substantiate earnings claims in the future to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company and its operators misled consumers about how much money they were likely to earn using their products.”

White supremacy, and criticism of the Christopher Nolan Odyssey. Here’s another look at the politics of the film.

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September 6, 2026 · 5:14 am

Not alternate enough: Summoned by Michael Anderle

In a discussion of Doctor Who: Wish World at his Blue Towel Productions blog, Ben McClure says that when writing about an alternate reality version of a popular show, you can “make the new world incredibly interesting, often by raising all sorts of questions about how the world works or even how the world came into being at all … the other way to make an alternate-reality story interesting, and by far the preferred one, is to make the alternate-version of the character meaningful.”

I’ll be blogging about this in another context but it captures part of why I was disappointed in SUMMONED: The Free Judge Reborn, Book 1 by Michael Anderle. The book takes place in the 2080s, the history is very alternate but none of that seems to matter.

(This has nothing to do with the book, I’m just using random photographs to provide some visuals).

Kara Greims is a crusading attorney, constantly frustrated that money and connections allow so many of the people who wronged her clients to walk away without paying a price. When gets news her brother has been murdered in Los Angeles, she heads west and discovers he was a Free Judge, part of a secret, supernatural justice system devoted to providing justice when the secular, mortal system fails. As the skull of Jacob Grimm, her brother’s mentor, explains to Kara, the True Court prefers it if the True Judges bring justice via quasi-legal means — intimidate someone into confessing to law enforcement says — but if that doesn’t work, executing malefactors is acceptable. Kara’s first target (I’m assuming the family will turn out to be descendants of Jacob or his brother): the corrupt corporation that killed her brother.

This leads to the novel approach for an urban fantasy of having Kara work within the system: she digs up documents via public information requests, puts together a case that the company has been violating the law, gets it to the right regulators. It is not, however, novel outside urban fantasy; as she herself points out, it’s not that far from a Leverage episode. Or similar, earlier TV creations: Mission: Impossible‘s organized crime episodes, the TV movie Institute for Revenge and others.

Lack of novelty is not a problem. Bringing justice to those the law cannot touch is a popular premise and like the legend of Robin Hood, there’s always a need for someone to do it. What doesn’t work is that the bad guys fall too easily. Kara puts in a lot of effort to make her case — it’s not a cakewalk — but her legal moves invariably work. Where is the Hamilton Burger to her Perry Mason? Why are the bad guys’ lawyers not throwing up counter-moves? For all the work Kara performs, it’s too easy. Likewise, her repeated beating of the thugs they send after her makes me wonder why they don’t change tactics — a bomb in her car or something like that.

The final problem is the worldbuilding. In Kara’s timeline, Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s motorcade took a different route in 1914 and he was never assassinated. No WW I, no treaty of Versailles imposing crushing burdens on Germany. No fascism. No WW II. Also no stock market crash, no Depression. On the downside, with no Cold War there was less pressure on the federal government to support civil rights, segregation continued unabated until the 1980s. At this point there was a horrifying fire in the Japanese neighborhoods of Los Angeles; assuming it was fueled by race, imperial Japan invaded and won. Kara’s story takes place a century later.

That’s a good premise for a timeline, though not always convincing (why would the stock market crash and the Depression not happen?). I don’t see any signs of it in the story, though. Other than zeppelins being the primary form of air transport, there’s nothing that feels different from 2026 in the real world. No sign of Japanese control. No sign the law is different. Hell, Leverage is a TV show in both worlds so apparently their history ain’t that different. To go back to that quote from Blue Towel Productions, it isn’t an interesting alternate world because there’s so little alternative about it.

I wanted to like Summoned much more than I did.

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September 4, 2026 · 4:14 pm

God said ha. I said “ha!” back

The old saying is that if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. I planned to get a lot done this week; God said “ha!” meaning there were a ton of obstacles. Despite which, to my pleasant surprise, I did get a lot done.

First the obstacles. We were still dealing with Plushie’s ulcer (diagnosed last week) but as of his Thursday appointment, it’s cured. Once again our dog has beaten a health problem despite his nearly 16 years of age! That’s always nice. He’s still on an antibiotic for the ulcer but that’s more a precaution than a necessity. We’re taking it though.

Trixie didn’t do so well. Last week she was becoming weirdly picky about food and reluctant to eat her meds. She also felt … off, in a way I can sense but couldn’t define. Sunday she began not eating at all so we took her into the vet Monday, followed by the emergency vet (they could do a couple of tests Park Vet couldn’t). At first the news was horrifying: anemic, blood count up, white blood cells up, which could indicate an infection, or possibly internal bleeding. At the end of the day, by virtue of eliminating the alternatives, they settled on probably some bleeding in the GI tract (I will skip the technical details).

We came home with directions to switch some of her meds and to have her drink a protective slurry an hour before her meals. It’s working: we took her in for a recheck Wednesday and all her signs have improved, though not by a lot (but the vet said that’s expected). She’s livelier, though also sleepier — she’s on Gabapentin now and it knocks her out. But she’s clearly happier and more interested in eating so this is a definite win. A demanding one — the need to time the slurry and her food and some of her meds makes our schedules that much more complicated.

Oh, and I also had to take our car in for an oil change and checkup. That took up a couple of hours too.

Despite which, work went well. I got two articles in for The Local Reporter, both out next week. Might get a third one done but I think that’s where the dog drama will leave me too wiped. I also got three posts up at Atomic Junk Shop, one about iron-on shirt decals in the 1970s, one on a really weird 1971 cover (above, by Murphy Anderson) and one about the path to (IMHO) the definitive Phantom Stranger run by Jim Aparo and Len Wein which kicked off with the cover at left by Aparo.

I also got a nice review of Southern Discomfort from one of my fellow bloggers. Thanks, Greg!

I worked through another year of Doc Savage’s history for Savage Adventures, and polished the bibliography. And then, on Let No Man Put Asunder, I really got some good stuff done. First I went through the writing guide Writing the Breakout Novel, taking notes on stuff that might be useful to think about (give your villains goals. Your supporting characters too). Maybe not — while I’ve read the book a lot, I’m not sure I use it’s techniques not. But I think I’m using it early enough in the rewrite process that might be different.

Then I started rereading, taking notes along the way. Insights or phrases someone offers more than once (“making the beast with two backs” is not going to appear more than once). Thin characterization or motivation. Implausible plotting. Places where it needs more tension. I got a third of the way through the book; that’s pretty good.

I also received by McFarland second-half-of-the-year royalty check. Small, but my books are still selling, which is cool; if you bought one of them, thanks!

And I now have three stories in the “made the first cut” category. No guarantee any of them will sell — I’m quite used to “This was a really tough decision, but …” emails — but they’re all possibilities. More disappointingly, I won’t get an author table to sell my books at Retcon next year. It was quite lucrative this year because it’s set up so all the con-goers go past the sale area frequently, probably why table requests have quadrupled. I’m on the waiting list so fingers crossed.

Fingers crossed too for more weeks like this.

Below, a typical Len Wein opening to a Phantom Stranger story. Aparo art.

All rights to images remain with current holders.

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September 2, 2026 · 5:18 am

When do the good times start?

When I watched The Exorcist a couple of years back, I was struck by how slowly the story opens, showing us the details of everyday life. It was a carefully calculated decision to ground the film in the “real” world before the spookery gets going.

I think the source novel, William Peter Blatty’s THE EXORCIST, does the same thing, but less successfully. It’s a hundred pages of mundane detail about Chris and Regan’s lives (and some about the priests) before anything happens; sure, there’s some odd noises in the attic, but that’s as creepy as it gets. Even after the supernatural happens, the resistance to accepting it gets comical: sure, someone fell down the steps with his head completely twisted around on his neck but that could certainly happen naturally! No, not it couldn’t.

I presume this reflects that Blatty was writing in an era when mainstream horror novels weren’t a thing — this was three years before Stephen King broke in with Carrie. So perhaps grounding it in reality was necessary — and the book’s blockbuster success clearly shows it didn’t hurt. Nevertheless I couldn’t get into it; Blatty’s oddly jerky prose style didn’t help. I do think a little more tension in the everyday stuff would have been a good idea — if you’re going to spend more than a quarter of the book in the mundane world, find some way to make it interesting.

This is, of course, a challenge lots of speculative fiction writers face when they’re setting stories in our world. Some plunge right in: the opening page of Storm Front informs us that Harry Dresden is a wizard helping people out with supernatural problems. My short story “The Savage Year” (in 19-Infinity) opens with mage Artemis West getting ready to perform magic on a job for the Secret Service. “The Glory That Was” in the same book has a robot minotaur break in on a political luncheon.

Other stories take time to build. Southern Discomfort, as I’ve mentioned before, starts with little overt magic. We have Maria’s sense of something wrong, hints that Pharisee Georgia is, shall we see, eccentric (no stop signs allowed — traffic circles instead), freakish rainstorms. Until the ravens attack as Maria’s getting off the bus, there’s nothing that seems strongly supernatural. However Chapter Two spells out that this is a town run by elves, and the person who murdered Aubric McAlister is not of mortal clay. Not a long wait.

That puts me in mind of Orson Scott Card’s old rule that the opening and ending of your story should mirror each other. Mine starts out with Maria in a bad place: on the run from the cops, emotionally closed, desperate. The final scene is all about resolving that. Likewise Let No Man Put Asunder starts with Mandy and Paul waiting for their life to begin, and ends accordingly. Maybe that’s what bugged me about The Exorcist: it starts with Chris but it’s not really a character-centered story where her personal arc is resolved at the end. Instead it switches to horror midway through and stays there.

Then again we have the priest supporting character who does indeed get a character arc. Unlike the movie, he’s not quite interesting enough to be the spine of the story, at least for me — like I said, the success of Blatty’s book certainly speaks for itself. But like I said, I didn’t find it terribly compelling, and I think I’ve identified why.

All rights to images remain with current holders. Covers top to bottom by Lee Macleod, Kemp Ward and Sam Collins.

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August 28, 2026 · 4:40 pm

Do I wither with time, or is this just a fluke?

Which is to say, this was another frustrating week. Looking at how often I type that, I wonder if I’m losing my ability to concentrate as I age? Or is it just that sometimes, shit happens.

This week was definitely partly “shit happens.” First off, Monday evening Plushie’s good eye had something wrong with it, making him squint so much it was barely open. TYG rushed him down to the nearby emergency vet who did not perform well. We may not go back which is a crying shame (it’s a lot further to the next closest E/R). However we were able to get a Tuesday morning appointment with his eye doctor (they’re also close): it’s an ulcer, which is manageable and it was back to normal by Thursday (though we’ll be doing added eyedrops for a week or so). Still that meant we got to bed sometime around midnight, which ain’t good.

Yesterday I went in to my own doctor, who confirmed I have sleep apnea. The most likely outcome is that I’ll end up wearing one of those freaky masks hooked up to a small air pump. I’ll be talking to a specialist about that. The other alternatives are a smaller mouthpiece that would widen my air intake or to take the GLP and see if my weight comes down. My doctor favors the CPAC pump and I’m inclined to agree. While I’m obese by BMI standards I’d need to lose 30 pounds to be non-obese; while I’m nobody’s idea of six-pack abs I do not believe I have 30 excess pounds to lose. In any case, that took a chunk out of my day.

Oh, and Trixie came down with a tummy this weekend and refused to eat. Since then she’s eating but she’s ultra-picky. Won’t take her meds on anything but the same canned chicken we give Plushie. Won’t eat kibble, only soft food. Refuses most hard treats — I’d think she had a tooth issue but there are some treats she does eat so … well, you’ve got me. If it keeps going I may ask the vet for insight.

All that said, part of the problem this week was me not being organized. I had three stories to work on for The Local Reporter and in-between sending out emails and waiting for replies my mind kind of wandered (the lack of sleep didn’t help). Plus I had some personal plane travel I might take before the end of the year and that always messes up my mind: do I want to spend the money? Do I want to get to the airport at 5 in the morning if it saves $100? I’ve spent much of my life living on a struggling writer salary so it’s impossible for me to be just “yeah, that’ll do for anything over a couple of hundred bucks. And if I plonk down the money now, who knows what’ll happen between now and then?However I did get most of the work done on the stories. Plus I got more work done on Savage Adventures, including adding footnotes. I’d been mostly attributing stuff in the text when appropriate but it’ll flow much smoother with footnotes.

And that was about it. Part of the problem is that I kept trying to do more than one project in a day and that’s usually a mess unless I plan it very carefully. I’m going to try to avoid that in September.

Oh, here are two pieces over at Atomic Junkshop: one about realizing what certain songs really mean, one on DC’s Homo magi and my head-canon version of their history.

Doc Savage cover by James Bama, comic book panel by Jack Sparling. All rights to images remain with current holder.

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August 25, 2026 · 5:02 am

The ending of the book (and what came before)

As I mentioned last Friday, the second draft of Let No Man Put Asunder is now done. Though technically I suppose it’s more like the eighth draft: this is a rewrite of a novel I finished in the 1990s, which was a rewrite of my second novel from back in the 1980s. The title has remained, nothing else is the same.

(As I don’t have any book-relevant illustrations, the photos will be random)

Okay, one thing remained the same, the core concept of two people, an older woman and a younger man, meeting and forming a telepathic link, one that downloaded all their memories into each other. The original 1980s version had them pretty happy before things began to happen; I went with “ordinary person caught up in a deadly dangerous game” rather than “protagonist with a personal problem resolves it by getting caught up in a deadly dangerous game.”

The 1990s rewrite made everything considerably weirder and more imaginative as they wandered through various nightmare worlds running from the mercenaries hired by their mysterious, unknown enemy. In the 1980s version, their enemy saw them as a threat and wanted them dead; at the climax he turns out to have a weakness that isn’t set up in advance. The 1990s take established he’s a psionic who kills anyone he sees as a threat to his power — and that’s pretty much anyone with similar abilities. His weakness is that he’s always struck and killed swiftly and never learned to fight a protracted battle; when my protagonists, Adrienne and Neil, confront him at the climax, they survive long enough that his confidence cracks. For someone whose powers stem from his force of will, that proved a fatal weakness.

The reason Adrienne and Paul were a threat remained the same in both versions. It doesn’t work for Paul and Mandy in the current version. The Community of All is simply too big and too powerful a foe, with different motivations … so why were they a threat to it? And how could they beat it?

Suffice to say, I figured it out. There is a reason the Community is hunting them down. And I think it works. Having found an ending to the plot, however, I still need one more draft. I need to sharpen the character arcs — both Paul and Mandy are in worse places at the start than Adrienne and Neil were. And I’m not sure those character arcs end satisfactorily. The 1990s version was Part One of a duology; this ending makes the book a standalone. The adventure is over, their immediate problems have been resolved, but I still want to show where they’re heading next. Paul, for example, was supposed to end up in a relationship with one of the supporting characters: this draft that didn’t happen, though I may change that back.

In September I’ll read over the story and take notes, then start mapping out what needs to happen — beats in the character arc, and the like. I’m tentatively optimistic I can finish by the end of the year and then send it out for beta reading, alongside getting the final proofing done on Watching Jekyll and Hyde.

Wish me luck.

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August 21, 2026 · 4:30 pm

One big accomplishment, several little ones

The big one being that I finished the second draft of Let No Man Put Asunder. Last week I got past a major sticking point but I still had some doubts about the ending; last weekend I figured it out (having TYG off work last week so we were both more relaxed was a big help, I think). Monday and Tuesday I got it done. Several months later than I’d hoped, but even so, yay!

I’d hoped it would be in good enough shape to offer for a beta reading, but no, not quite. It needs at least one more draft which even assuming it goes really well means it would be finished shortly before holiday season. So no feedback session until next year. Less speedy than I’d like — on the other hand, it’s faster than I was beginning to fear it would be.

(There’s no pet news other than “they’re adorable” but I figured I’d throw in a couple of photos anyway).

The little stuff? I got a lot of work done on the Local Reporter stories for next month’s issue. Submitted some pet insurance forms, mostly for their regular drugs. Resolved an IRS issue — happily it’s in our favor. And worked on Savage Adventures. This made the days kind of scattershot, which isn’t good; I always work better when I have one thing to focus on a day. But things like taxes need to be done.

I was, however, somewhat bummed by money. There was a columnist gig I think I’d have been good for but they wanted pitches — suggestions for the kinds of things I’d write for them — and the job got snapped up before I could figure out the kind of specific things they’d like. I discovered I’d missed another opportunity that might have been lucrative. And of course, not knowing I could bill our pet insurance for drugs means several years of lost reimbursements (I’ve recovered quite a bit of that but my records don’t go back for enough for all of it). This doesn’t leave us in desperate straits but more money is nice. Particularly earning more money.

Over at Atomic Junk Shop I blogged about the Bronze Age love of reprints — a very big deal in an era long before TPBs and omnibuses were available everywhere. And about one of the Bronze Age’s problems being how often creative teams turned over.

Plus over the past two months I’ve sold around eight copies of Southern Discomfort. Not a lot of money but it is very pleasing enough people were interested to try my book. I’m also pleased that promoting it more than I think I did Questionable Minds paid off, at least a little. Something to think about for when my next book comes out. To everyone who bought it, thanks!

And if you’re eager to learn more about me — and who isn’t, really? — you can check out my interview with Michael Parks.

Cover by Samantha Collins. Rights are mine.

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August 14, 2026 · 4:29 pm

You mean if I take time off, I get less done?

TYG is on vacation this week. She’s completely relaxed, which means I’m much more relaxed. Not that I’m normally stressed out but it’s always surprising how much of a difference it makes.

This weekend she’s taking part of the vacation at a local hotel, as she’s done the past couple of years. As I stay close to home to watch the pets I wouldn’t get to the new Spider-Man movie this weekend and our schedule didn’t permit it last weekend. So TYG suggested I go mid-week, and I did. So most of Wednesday was not productive (though it was fun — review tomorrow). Yesterday we had the housekeepers in it, which sucks up time (you try creating when you’re sitting and trying to calm cats about the strangers in the house), plus I had a couple of errands to run.

However … I did get some good work done. More on Savage Adventures. And finally, some fiction. I sat down Monday evening, started work on Let No Man Put Asunder and did more Tuesday. I’d been frozen at the point where the late-book plot of the previous draft absolutely no longer works as I’ve changed a key detail. Suddenly I was able to get past it. It doesn’t work as well as the last draft yet but it’s fixable. Or I can go back to the old approach, though I probably won’t.

I’m tentatively optimistic I can wrap up this draft by Aug. 31. Though I’ll need at least one more draft before I submit it for beta-reading.

That’s pretty much all I got done but it’s quite a good thing to have gotten done.

Also Con-Tinual has posted my panels on that old TV classic, The Night Stalker and on getting your fictional settings right to Facebook.

Cover by Steve Ditko, all rights to image remain with current holder.

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August 7, 2026 · 4:30 pm

At last, a productive week, though I didn’t produce the things I most wanted to

That is to say, I spent another week without getting any fiction written. I don’t like that, but at least I didn’t just flap and flounder around without accomplishing anything.

I’d intended to spend Wednesday working on short stories. Instead I wound up spending two or three hours checking on which stories had been rejected (in the “if you don’t hear from us, we didn’t take it” mode), then checking out potential markets and resubmitting them. “Mage’s Masquerade” went to Abyss and Apex; “Oh the Places You’ll Go” went to More Distant Shores. I also read a couple of stories from Tuesday’s writing group that I hadn’t been able to listen to (schedule conflicts).

(We went to Costco last weekend. They’re ready for Halloween).

Thursday I’d planned to work on Let No Man Put Asunder. However Trixie got up early again and the lack of any personal space in the early morning does seem to affect my focus. Creativity dissipated and I settled for working The Savage Adventures. I put in two days on that book this week and got my analysis of two years of Doc Savage magazine proofed. If I can work a year a day, I can have the text of the book done this year. Still have to find a cover artist, though my cover concept is simple enough I may try using software to do it myself. If not, I’ll look.

(More Costco Halloween fun. This one actually moves).

I got two articles in at The Local Reporter, one on the ongoing drought here in the Triangle (improved, but not gone), the other on a land-development dispute in Chapel Hill. That one took longer than it should; for some reason I couldn’t seem to shape it in my head. But it’s done, and pay will be forthcoming.

Over at Atomic Junk Shop, I reposted an old post from this blog about Childhood’s End, the book and the miniseries, and some horrendous acts by the US government in the last century. The cover above I believe is by Richard Powers.

Plus I took Plushie in for his regular eye checkup. Everything looks good, which is pleasantly surprising; dogs with glaucoma usually lose the eye within a year and he’s still in good shape after two-plus years. Robust, as our vet says.

Next week, though, I really have to get some fiction done!

Speaking of fiction, if you’re interested in a discount on the sequel to the Ceaseless Way anthology, Become the Sky, the QR code below should take you to a discount offer. No obligation to buy.

The “abrupt embrace of ethics” line is from my short story “Obolos,” a brand new one alongside a reprint of “Backstage With the Hypothetical Dead.” And lots of good stories from other contributors. The cover is by fellow contributor Sonya Lano.

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August 5, 2026 · 5:15 am

Stupid counterfactuals, sanewashing and other media-related links

Back in 2007, as Florida Governor Jeb Bush was stepping down and looking at the White House (he tried in 2016 and face-planted), the AP ran a story discussing how different it might be if he’d been president rather than his brother, George W. Jeb was the smart one; maybe he’d have won the war in Iraq (IIRC, there was no suggestion he wouldn’t have fought it), maybe the economy would be booming, etc. Well, maybe; then again, maybe not. This was so speculative I have no idea why it was worth publishing (did Jeb’s press team hand some money under the table?).

Last year Ed Kilgore offered a similar fantasy: wouldn’t we better off if the Toddler won in 2020? He wouldn’t have four years of resentment over losing, wouldn’t have had four years to scheme and adopt Project 2025, Kamala Harris would be completely discredited as a candidate (why other than sexism this is a win — well, other than sexism, it isn’t), the Democrats could have united behind one candidate who could unite the party, VP Mike Pence would be easily beaten … As noted in the comments at the (non-direct) link, there’s no way to be sure things would work out this well. The Toddler might have run for a third term; he might have proven just as terrible; the Republican candidate might not be Pence. There’d be four more years of horrible policies, deeper entrenched — I don’t think things would be better for trans people, immigrants, etc. And, of course, none of this translates into any sort of insight about what the Democrats should have done or should do in the future; the only possible option is to fight hard every election.

Another bad media move is taking anti-vaxxers seriously. For example the writer shaking their head sympathetically (so to speak) when one interviewee says she suspects vaccines caused her kid’s autism and the public health authorities decided she didn’t know what she’s talking about. Well, she doesn’t. Vaccines do not cause autism and the Toddler administration is doing nothing to tackle the issues the writer says MAHA cares about (the cost of medical care, environmental pollutants). More critique here.

See also the perennial problem of sanewashing right-wing propaganda bullshit. Or consider that when NYT reports on the Toddler’s fake charges of vandalism against David Hearn — accused of destroying the reflecting pool that’s the current Toddler obsession — the focus is not on Hearn getting charged by the DOJ to satisfy their whiny boss but on the Toddler’s anger and the conflict in his cabinet. The abuse of power is the story hear; the Times would sooner focus on the cabinet soap opera.

Then there’s the Washington Post ….

Moving away from journalism … ‘“They can’t all be mega-hits” sounds like the most anodyne statement of fact you can imagine and fills some executives with puzzled rage.”

Videogame-based movies can be hugely successful … but will that apply to films based on Asteroids or Pong?

Is it time to bring back old-school professional critics?

Is Netflix releasing all the episodes of entire series in one lump a big mistake?

The Fast and Furious finale is way overdue. Part 2 of 2023’s Across the Spider-Verse hasn’t come out either. James Bond is in limbo. Camestros Felapton wonders what’s up with film franchises?

Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire isn’t doing well either.

Broadway star power can make a show a hit, but when the star leaves, that can sink a show too.

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