Category Archives: Screen Rant

March 16, 2018 · 4:30 pm

The actor’s nightmare? Seriously?

I mean, come on! It’s been eight years since I was on stage and I’m having this now?

For those who don’t know, the actor’s nightmare is a dream in which you’re going on stage but you have no idea what your lines are, or maybe even not the show. I’ve had it several times in my life, though none of them were in relation to actually doing a play. So maybe having this one Wednesday night is not surprising.

We open with me driving to where the actors are assembling for a production of Born Yesterday, a 1950s comedy (I was actually in it around 30 years ago) directed by my old drama teacher, Jo Yeager. I know we’re meeting in a hotel before we go to the theater (a lot of my dreams are set in hotels), so I drive into the lobby, which the staff take with great aplomb, directing me to the lower floor. I’m figuring how to get down there in my car, but when I actually arrive, I’m somehow on a bicycle.

Sam, one of my writing group colleagues (he’s a real person, unlike most of the people in this dream), tosses me a line and waits for me to say mine. I’m blank, so he gives it to me. It’s something to the effect of “I have to know it if I’m going to New York,” “it” being some Irish play (because there are lots of Irish Americans in New York). I realize I don’t know any of my lines. I haven’t even practiced them the past week! I spent the rest of the dream trying to pick up peoples’ scripts and flip through them to jog my memory, but none of the scripts have my lines in them. I’ve no idea how this resolves itself; the end of the dream is my driving home and trying to figure out what direction home is.

I’m pretty sure the underlying meaning is that I felt really stressed this week. First, Trixie being sick and not really relaxing this weekend. Then having trouble focusing because Trixie was sick. Then trying to make up for lost time because I’d been unfocused. Thursday was when this week’s Screen Rant was due (on Sailor Moon, hence the illustration), and I was much further from completion than normal for deadline day. So stress is understandable, is it not?

Doing Leaf articles and Screen Rant compounded my stress. Unlike say my film books, they’re short, tight deadlines so I don’t have much wiggle room. And because I’m doing two different Leaf projects, the amount I’ve been writing has been higher than usual. When it’s my own deadlines I can always be flexible if I have a reason. Not so much this week, though I did unclaim a couple of Leaf articles I’d planned to do today (four is enough). One of the projects is wrapping up though, so I’ll be handling much fewer the rest of the month (and April, if the work lasts).

I did complete my Screen Rant on the Sailor Moon/Tuxedo Mask relationship (above is the photo of their wedding from the live-action Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon).

I started proofing my test copy of Atlas Shagged and almost immediately found errors. One of which is prominent enough I’ll need to re-upload the corrected text. C’est la vie.

I finished the next draft of No One Shall Slay Her but didn’t make my 1,000-words-a-day quota. Partly that’s the slowing down, partly that the next thing I planned to work on (The Impossible Takes a Little Longer) is at an awkward point that needs some thought to fix. However I got back in the groove today, with a thousand-words on a new story I’m tentatively calling Neverwas. It felt soooo good to write some fiction.

All in all, I think I did well.

#SFWApro. All rights to images remain with current holder.

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Filed under Atlas Shagged, Impossible Takes a Little Longer, Personal, Screen Rant, Short Stories, Story Problems, The Dog Ate My Homework, Time management and goals

March 11, 2018 · 10:39 am

New Screen Rant out: Underwhelming spinoffs you forgot about

For example, The Brady Bunch Hour, which makes The Bradys look like This Is Us.

US of Archie in which the Riverdale gang’s ancestors happen to be around at turning points in American history

Getting Together, the flop spinoff of The Partridge Family

And of course, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space.

For the full story, just click here. #SFWApro, all rights to images remain with current holders.

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Filed under Screen Rant, TV

March 9, 2018 · 4:30 pm

Urgh, insomnia was just too helpful

For some reason sleep this week was really appalling, even by my standards. Can’t say it wasn’t a good, productive week but I felt quite wiped out for a lot of it. Fortunately I had a good night last night or I’d be writing something as incomprehensible as Duran Duran lyrics.

I have my Leaf articles done and a new Screen Rant submitted, on bad forgotten spinoffs. For example The Dukes, Saturday morning’s take on The Dukes of Hazzard. I also talked to the new management at And Magazine about resuming work there. I’m going to give it a shot, though I won’t have time to spare until April, when the Leaf stuff winds down.

I’m giving myself a mulligan on my “1,000 words of fiction every work day” rule, as my not doing it was a calculated choice. It was more practical to do extra fiction on Wednesday and go light Thursday, so I figure I’ll cut myself some slack. Fiction writing was still productive, as I finished the draft of Questionable Minds I’ve been working on. It still needs a couple of sections touched up, then it’ll be ready to submit, self-publish or whatever. I’ll be thrilled when it’s completely finished and I don’t have to think about it.

I worked on No One Can Slay Her, ran into some trouble, stopped. I’ve figured out the solution though, so I’ll have this draft done by the end of next week.

I sold a story, The Grass Is Always Greener, to the Strange Economics anthology (specfic stories with an economic/business element). I am very pleased with that, of course. I also realized that my list of Stories Out was off — a couple of them have been out so long at particular markets it’s obvious they’re not biting. So I have them back on the To Submit list.

And I finally resolved the problems with the hard copy of Atlas Shagged. I should have a copy next week so I can double-check it’s good to go.

Today we had some landscapers come in and spend much of the day working on our yard (trees trimmed, one cut down). It needs it, but man did the dogs freak out. After a while they became sort of resigned, or I’d not have gotten anything done. Here’s Plush in a calmer moment earlier this week.

#SFWApro. All rights to Dukes image remain with current holder.

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Filed under Atlas Shagged, Nonfiction, Screen Rant, Short Stories, Story Problems, The Dog Ate My Homework, TV, Writing

March 4, 2018 · 8:04 am

New Screen Rant: specfic shows we never got to see

There’s the awful pilots for Knight Rider 2o1o and (below) Bates Motel (not the recent series, a 1987 film)

There’s the much better pilots for Global Frequency (which I reviewed yesterday) and Bionic Showdown (with Sandra Bullock as the new bionic woman)

And a whole bunch more. You can read it all here.

#SFWApro. All rights to images remain with current holders.

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Filed under Movies, Screen Rant, TV

March 2, 2018 · 4:30 pm

I hate knowing insomnia helps

But yes, a couple of nights of bad sleep left me with a little more time. And because I slept like a log for most of my Mysticon trip, I wasn’t as exhausted as I sometimes get. Goya’s painting to the contrary, the sleep of reason did not bring forth monsters.

That compensated for thousand natural shocks my schedule is heir too. Plushie and Trixie were in the mood for really long walks this week, and I’m not about to say no. Today it was probably around four miles, so we got back a half-hour later than I’d planned.

Morning was partly taken up with TYG and I getting our names on each others’ bank accounts. The death of our friend Neil last month spooked us a little (he and his wife are almost exactly the same age as us) so taking sensible precautions seems like a good idea. We’d inherit the money anyway, but with joint accounts we have instant access. And neither of us is worried the other will empty out the cash and run off (yes, there are cases where this happens).

I didn’t get quite as many Leaf done as I planned, but I planned a lot. I’m working on two different projects so I’m shooting for seven to eight each (the minimum expected) instead of 10 for one. I only made thirteen, but I anticipate doing more next week.

I turned in a new Screen Rant, on TV series canceled after the pilot (both great and godawful pilots). It’s a fun one, but it’s not out yet.

I kept up my 1,000 words of fiction a day, mostly working on No One Can Slay Her. The first third looks really good now — hopefully I’ll say the same for the rest of it at the end of next week.

I got a little done on both Questionable Minds and The Impossible Takes a Little Longer. I’d like to do more, but I’m realistic about how much time the Screen Rants and Leaf stuff take. The only things I didn’t do that I’d planned on was resolving the problems with Atlas Shagged (as I mentioned this morning) and starting the hunt for a cover for Atoms for Peace. That’s quite satisfactory. There’s always going to be stuff I could be working on, but as I keep reminding myself it’s okay not to have it all written at once.

The Sleep of Reason Brings Forth Monsters by Goya. #SFWApro

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Filed under Atlas Shagged, Atoms for Peace, Impossible Takes a Little Longer, Personal, Screen Rant, Short Stories, The Dog Ate My Homework, Time management and goals

March 2, 2018 · 5:17 am

Goals for February: I’m pleased with myself

Seventy percent, which is good, especially considering I’m working my more personal projects around the Leaf work and my Screen Rants. The new Plot My Work journal I bought does seem to be helping. So is leaving email until late in the day, unless my phone shows me something urgent.

I redrafted No-One Can Save Her and got lots of work done on Questionable Minds and Impossible Takes a Little Longer. I did a review of Undead Sexist Cliches with notes on a couple of extra chapters I need (sexual harassment definitely deserves a section on itself) and various little details I want to add to some chapters. I pitched a column idea to the New York Times but as usual with big markets, I got nowhere. I’ll keep trying, though.

I discovered there were still two problems with Atlas Shagged, one major and one minor. The title on the cover has to match the title in the book (easy fix) and I just realized there’s no table of contents (slightly more complicated). I’ll attend to both those next month. I’d hoped to get started soliciting a cover for Atoms for Peace but that didn’t happen.

Oh, and I attended Mysticon, which was also on the goals list.

I’m disappointed I didn’t make my 1,000 words of fiction every work day, but not too disappointed — it was the right thing to do on the day in question.

My personal goals were a mix. I wanted to up the amount of vegetable and fruit-centric dishes I make, and did so. I did the allotted meditation time, but with very little focus — it’s all monkey mind lately. Though I did manage lots of moments of mindfulness, focusing on what I was doing. While I did exercise, either the weather or the time got in the way of me getting back on the bicycle. Next month, definitely!

So yeah, pleased with myself. Wish me luck keeping up the same level for March.

#SFWApro. Photo courtesy of pixabay. All rights remain with current holder.

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Filed under Atlas Shagged, Atoms for Peace, Impossible Takes a Little Longer, Personal, Screen Rant, Short Stories, Time management and goals

February 16, 2018 · 4:22 pm

I found her

So it was Valentine’s Day Wednesday. Which put me in mind of Kipling’s poem The Thousandth Man, albeit genderflipped:

“One woman in a thousand, Solomon says
Will stick more close than all others.
And it’s worthwhile seeking her half your days
If you find her before the other.”

It did take half my days (we met when I was fifty), but I did find her. And that’s made such a wonderful difference. For Valentine’s Day we went out to Ted Turner’s Montana Grill (it’s close, and we had a limited time window). TYG got me a new belt, which I’d asked for. I got her bath bombs and typhus (see left).

Now, as to this week’s writing:

First, the Space Invaders proposal for a movie book got thumbed down. The editor I’d been working with contacted me Monday to let me know. Apparently they’re having some internal upheaval and he’s no longer associated with them either. However even though it was his idea, he gave me the blessing to shop it around on my own. I intend to do so, possibly to McFarland, maybe to a different press that works with this topic. And there’s always self-publishing. Though my experience with editing and proofing my McFarland books makes me slightly dubious about the editing: even my relatively short Bond book took a lot of work (errors in fact are far more grievous than errors in self-published fiction, I think).

Another thing that’s not happening, at least yet: I received an email from the new owners of And Magazine, asking if I wanted to take up column-writing again. I’m interested, but I haven’t heard back since I said “Let’s talk.” Whether they lost interest or something fell through I don’t know, yet.

Other news was more upbeat. I reviewed the last draft of my Undead Sexist Cliches book at the start of the week rather than leaving it to the end. I was pleasantly surprised that it went much smoother that way. By the end of the week I had a much clearer idea of what will go in which chapter (some chapters will be substantially larger than others, but I think that’s okay). And I went through a ton of articles I’d bookmarked around the web and mined them for more stuff. I’ll start the next draft in March.

Despite my pessimism last week, I also figured out how to fix No One Can Slay Her and completed the latest draft (number fifteen, sheesh!). I feel much more optimistic I’ll have it polished and finished by the end of March. I also did a lot of work on The Impossible Takes a Little Longer and Questionable Minds.

I didn’t get a Screen Rant done. I pitched several ideas but I only got a green light on one, with instructions to wait a couple of weeks (it’s close to another we did recently). A couple of others are still maybes.

And I got my quota of Leaf articles done.

I also dealt with a couple of different contractors and got the state car inspection taken care of Monday. So a good, productive week.

I shall attempt to make the weekend as unproductive and leisurely as possible.

#SFWApro. All rights to cover image remain with current holder (it’s a very good book by the way, i read it some years back).

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Filed under Impossible Takes a Little Longer, Nonfiction, Personal, Screen Rant, Sex for Dinner, Death for Breakfast, Short Stories, Story Problems, Writing

February 10, 2018 · 1:41 pm

New Screen Rant out

About terrible fantasy shows you forgot ever aired. G vs. E below is probably the most obscure — even my editor didn’t know it existed.

I will admit to watching Secrets of Isis as a teen purely because I crushed on Joanna Cameron (I got crushes like I breathed). But I found the show as boring as Shazam!

And then there’s Heath Ledger’s Roar, which other than bringing the Spear of Destiny to TV has nothing to recommend it.

All rights to all images remain with current holders. #SFWApro

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February 9, 2018 · 4:30 pm

Crazy dog parent week

So Tuesday I discovered we’d lost Plush Dog’s tags. They were hooked to his collar, the metal loop was loose and he was wandering through brambles. Or it could have been one of his roll-in-the-dirt moments. No way to tell now. But as a result we’ve been doing most of their walkies in the back yard. Yes, he’s microchipped, but we still don’t want him running off without an easily identifiable phone number on his harness (I’ve ordered new holders and tags, but they ain’t here yet).

Possibly that’s why the pups have been so wired this week. I don’t recall them being quite so frantic and excited in the mornings. Thursday (doggy day care day this week) they were so needy and lively I wound up playing with them for an hour so TYG could get some stuff done. Not the best use of my day off, but such is dog-owner life.

Oh, and Plush chewed through one of their balls Wednesday, and had licked some of the stuffing out. Fortunately I caught him before he could swallow.

Then this morning Trixie came downstairs with me for the first time in a while. This slightly disrupted my schedule as I always wind up snuggling on the couch with her. Still, she’s worth it.

So, all that said, how did the work go? Not too bad.

I think I completed about fourteen articles for Leaf, which will help pay for — well I’m not sure yet, but it’ll certainly help pay for something.

I continued working on the rewrites of Questionable Minds and Impossible Takes a Little Longer. I also read a couple of heavy-exposition scenes from Southern Discomfort to the writing group and got (as usual) great feedback.

I got next to nothing done on No One Can Slay Her. The last half of the story needs heavier restructuring than I’d thought and while I’ve diagnosed the problems, I don’t have the solution yet. I’ll blame that partly on the dogs — it’s really hard to do thinky/planny stuff when they’re piled on my lap. And Thursday was devoted to Screen Rant work (not out yet) and the Leaf stuff. Regrettably I wasn’t able to make my 1,000 words of fiction a day on Thursday. I was hoping I’d keep it going the whole year, but I could be happy with “every day of 2018 but one.”

And I worked out my transportation and hotel for Mysticon later this month — I’m a guest. Actually credit goes to Carla at Mysticon for finding a room at the con hotel when I wasn’t able to do it.

Plus I squeezed in a dentist visit. Teeth are in good shape, yay.

And now I crash. Slept poorly last night and I’m done in. But the weekend is here.

#SFWApro Photos are mine, please credit me and source blog if you use ’em.

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Filed under Impossible Takes a Little Longer, Personal, Screen Rant, Short Stories, Southern Discomfort, Story Problems, The Dog Ate My Homework, Time management and goals, Writing

February 2, 2018 · 4:30 pm

I hate working working on the weekends, but …

Given that I had an eye doctor appointment Tuesday morning, and that I wouldn’t be much use for a while afterwards (I can’t stand using a computer with dilated eyes), I did some advance work Sunday. Definitely not my ideal weekend, but I got some work done on my new Screen Rant (Deaths That Destroyed TV Shows and Deaths That Saved Them) and some of those Leaf articles.

Necessary, but it left me feeling a little stressed the rest of the week. I felt waaay more relaxed this morning when I had all my deadline-related stuff done. And I did have a productive week.

I completed about 12 Leaf articles for the Houston Chronicle’s website, our current client. Not exciting, but profitable.

I got several more chapters done on my rewrite of Impossible Takes a Little Longer. It’s going well but the really tricky chapters (which I will probably blog about soon) are yet to come. I also resumed rewriting Questionable Minds, which is much closer to getting done. I don’t think there are any major problems with it, this is just one final going over before I either self-publish or start sending it out again.

I started on a fresh draft of No One Can Slay Her. It’s really improving, though I didn’t get as far as I’d hoped. And it just sunk in I want it finished by the end of March. No, no market call or anything, but if I’m going to finish four stories this year — well, do the math. So I really need to push.

I also posted a blog post about the Dr. Mabuse films over on Atomic Junkshop. I’ll be reviewing the films in more detail over there than over here, as I have more than enough post topics for this blog.

Given I’m juggling multiple projects, I ordered a planner some writer friends recommended for setting deadlines and tracking performance when you’re writing several things at once. I seem to be doing okay, but as I’ve liked using a journal again, I thought it would be worth expending some Christmas money to see if this thing helps.

Oh, and my eyes are in good shape. Always nice to hear. And after my eye appointment, I finally got my first haircut in several months. I definitely look better with short hair.

I’ll close with this 1970s historical-adventure cover (courtesy of Books from the Crypt) by Frank Brunner, better known for his Marvel work on Howard the Duck and Dr. Strange. All rights to image remain with current holder.

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