Post-apocalyptic America is usually associated with mutants, radioactive cacti, Mad Maxian biker clans, and at least one rabid dog. But strip clubs?! I haven’t read Victor Gischler’s book, but if this logline is any indication, I might need to. From the Amazon Product Description: Mortimer Tate was a recently divorced insurance salesman when he holed [...]
There’s a fine line between critiquing art and enjoying it. Being overly critical can keep us from appreciating a film or book. But being un-critical makes us gullible to all kinds of propaganda, and leads to the proliferation of mediocrity. So learning to balance art critique and art appreciation is important to the thoughtful consumer [...]
Is it just me, or do sports announcers use far too many superlatives? Watching the Olympics has been like perusing a lexicon of sports clichés. Some of the most common are: Best / First / Greatest (often accompanied by the word “world”) History / Historic (usually every other event) Amazing Incredible Unbelievable Impossible Inspirational Perfect [...]
My short story entitled “Subterranea,” is currently being featured on the webzine Fear and Trembling. It’s a noir-like, eco-horror piece, which you can read HERE. Fear and Trembling is a division of Double-Edged Publishing, Inc., a group that has been a pioneer in the field of Christian speculative fiction. I appreciate the work those folks [...]
Mormonism has gotten a lot of press lately. What with Mitt Romney running for President and now Stephenie Meyer’s teen vampire saga all the rage, you’d think Mormonism would be making some inroads into mainstream American religion. However, it appears the Latter Day Saints are still facing an uphill climb. The topic came up again [...]
The Patriot Act is so broadly demonized nowadays, you’d never know it was passed with overwhelming congressional support shortly after 9/11. The critics usually frame it as the precursor to an Orwellian age of censorship, racial profiling, unrestrained government intrusion, back alley interrogations, black helicopters and meter reading Ninjas in night goggles. Boing Boing’s blurb [...]
When I was shopping for an agent, a question came up with such frequency that I began to ponder its import. It was: How long did it take you to write your first novel? A fairly innocuous question, until you start to appreciate the nature of the business and the author / agent relationship. The [...]
If we “see through a glass darkly” (I Cor. 13:12), it only stands to reason that shadows of Eternity are everywhere. Maybe that’s why I keep Avram Davidson’s Adventures in Unhistory close by. Subtitled Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient Legends, the book covers the historical or (pseudo-historical) underpinnings of such basic mythological [...]
Can blacks be racist? On the surface, you’d think that was a no-brainer. Of course, anyone can be a racist! But if you based your answer off the upcoming thriller Lakeview Terrace, you’d discover that racism, at least according to the Hollywood braintrust, is limited to a very specific type of person. At first glance, [...]
I first heard about Son Lux over at the Arts & Faith Discussion Board, and since then the CD has earned a permanent spot on my iPod. At War With Walls and Mazes, the debut album from Ryan Lott (and band) is a bit hard to describe musically: Contemplative Electronica maybe. At times it’s a [...]
