Other than brief forays into the tropics, the Baja peninsula, and the Keystone State, Mike’s lived in SoCal his entire life. His father’s parents immigrated from the Ukraine and, on his Mom’s side, his great-great uncle, Daniel L. Marsh, was the fourth president of Boston University. Marsh Chapel is named after him. While Mike has [...]
ON BOOKS & WRITING Novel Journey Chosen as one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Sites for Writers 2008. I also contribute a monthly column here. Write About Now — The illustrious Mark Bertrand’s ruminations upon the craft of writing. A Christian Worldview of Fiction — Becky Miller zeros in on issues of critical thinking and [...]
My short sci-fi piece, Father Fayad’s Curious Compatibility Projector, recently landed in Raygun Revival Issue 48. I also received the Editor’s Choice award for my creative non-fiction essay entitled “The Ark,” published in the Summer 2.3 Issue of Relief Journal. Coach’s Midnight Diner inaugural edition included my short story, Polly’s Muse, in their genre anthology. [...]
Possibly the thing that surprised me most about the Wayne Adam Ford case was that, despite his surrender and admission of guilt, the jury still recommended death. I’ve always assumed that contrition matters for something. But serial killers may be another story. The Crime Library described Ford as “the remorseful serial killer,” and said this [...]
More people would be alive today if there were a death penalty, or so it’s said. No doubt, capital punishment can be a deterrent to crime. But as French existentialist Albert Camus noted, For centuries the death penalty, often accompanied by barbarous refinements, has been trying to hold crime in check; yet crime persists. Why? [...]
These kinds of stories always leave me con- flicted. Last Thurs- day, after two weeks of deliberations, a jury said serial killer Wayne Adam Ford deserved to die for the brutal murders of four women. In November 1998, after the persuasion of his brother Rodney, Ford turned himself into the Humboldt County sheriff’s station. At [...]
For some reason this post is the most linked to article on my blogsite. Usually about seven or eight times a week someone is directed here based on word searches for this subject. I have no idea why.
The same day another terror plot was uncovered, this one potentially involving liquid explosives and up to 12 UK to U.S. bound planes, I happened to hear a song from Neil Young’s new album, Living With War. Young has turned his talent into a tirade against the Bush administration and what the musician perceives as [...]
Last week over at The Master’s Artist, Deborah Gyapong used the recent Mel Gibson flap to ponder The Character of the Artist. I really enjoy Deb’s site and, once again, she made some terrific points. At issue, is the connection (or lack thereof) between character and craft. In non-religious artistic circles it used to be [...]
