New Other Blog Post About "Avengers Endgame"

Now that I have fixed the many, many formatting issues with the post, I will share a link to it. This one was written by me and me only, so save any ire or crappy diatribes for me and not my blog partner.

Read the post here.

It's Nice to be a Favorite

This reader chose my story in "The Best of the Horror Zine: The Early Years." as one of his four favorites.

Latest Other Blog Post.

I've been remiss in my link-providing duties because I'm not used to having a second blog anymore. It's been several years and that other blog is no longer fit for public consumption. However, the new one is up and running. The most recent post is our take on the Bill Maher/Stand Lee/Comics non-troversey. We focus on who Maher is and why he seems so content with being a shriveled up little douche-nugget rather than getting deeply into what is already a proven quality medium.

Read it here, Comment there!

A Different Kind of Published Piece

The beginning of 2019 has not been a stellar one for me in the short story acceptance arena. As the stories I submitted toward the end of last year have started getting read, they have not wound up finding a home at their intended anthologies. It's been a tad disheartening, especially considering the relatively good year I had in 2018. Fiction is my main focus as a writer but it's not all that I write. It's been a while since I had any non-fiction published, but that changed recently with the impending release of a collection that means a great deal to me.

The above pictured collection features something that means as much to me as any speculative fiction anthology. XTC has long been my favorite band and it's an honor to be included in a book by Mark Fisher with, among other things, recollections from the members as well as fan remembrances. To know that my name will now be forever linked with XTC...well, I have no words. Most likely you've never heard of them and while they're not for everybody, their influence can be felt everywhere.

You can preorder the book here.

Without Further Ado, I Present the Blog that the World Doesn't Know it's Been Waiting For!!!

There was a delay but things seem to be moving forward in a relatively positive direction now, so the first post on the new blog is up and ready for your evisceration!

We wound up not starting with the Spider-Man animated film so don't be too disappointed!

Click here to immerse yourselves in the gooey goodness!

Nine Things Social Networking Taught me that I Never Knew Before

Despite all the bemoaning of social networking and its various evils, one cannot deny its ability to inform and educate. I believe this happens in spite of itself but it still happens anyway. I freely admit the ten things below are things of which I was blissfully and perhaps tragically ignorant until I started "meeting" all the people on Facebook and Blogger (I despise Twitter and Snapchat).

If anyone is offended by this list, I am sorry you're so full of yourselves. If anyone isn't offended. I haven't done my job. The list, as always, follows:

• There are actually intelligent, in many cases highly educated, individuals who were headbangers, i.e. metal-heads.
• Some people literally only exist to advocate for one cause and have no apparent interests outside of it.
• Genre fandom is filled with some of the absolute lowest forms of hateful, arrogant, judgmental sub-human life.
• People who indulge in "Cosplay" are really, really, super serious about it! Like...really serious. Yeah...
• The world of videogamers is rife with sexist assholes.
• There either truly are people who believe thoughts and prayers can mitigate horrible tragedies or else people are so incredibly self-absorbed that they feel a simple sentence is all they need to contribute to the human condition.
• The more individualistic a person claims to be, the more they're looking for someone to tell them what to think.
• Millions of how people have no idea how to properly vet and disseminate information but they seem more than willing to allow someone else to do it for them as long as it makes them feel righteous.
• Many people see correct grammar and punctuation as an inconvenient formality rather than a necessity.
  
  You may notice I chose not to qualify any of my points. I feel they stand alone well enough and, frankly, I don't feel the need to explain myself.  However, I am interested in what others think so share away~

A Different Take on the Apu Controversy.

Maybe you've read about this but in case you haven't, here's a brief synopsis and a link if you want to read further:

The character of Apu on the long-running "The Simpsons" has been singled out as a particularly offensive stereotype thanks to a documentary by comedian Hari Kondabolu called "The Problem with Apu." The film's producer Adi Shankar started  contest to get scripts sent to him that would somehow "improve" the character while still maintaining his place in the Simpsons pantheon. The producers of the series have decided to forego all that and simply drop the popular character from the series, likely minus any fanfare or undue focus.

I have my own views on the whole controversy but I'm not an idiot and won't be discussing them in print. Whether I agree with the documentary's assessment or not, it can be used against me some time in the future. Instead, I have chosen to focus on what I believe is the reason for the response the "Simpsons" producers have chosen.

There has been a problem brewing in the creative world since the Internet went from being an underground rarity to a full-blown accepted part of daily human existence. People have become more involved in their various interests and causes, ridiculously so in many cases, and with that involvement has come an undeserved sense of proprietorship. Somehow real-time interaction has led many to believe they somehow own these franchises they claim to love. This is especially true of Generation X with its constant "You killed my childhood" whining and Millenials who feel the entire entertainment industry is one giant roleplaying game. The moment creation became content, the nature of the field was altered possibly forever.

Konabolu and Shankar are both in their thirties. They have come of age in a time when online slacktivism has been used to accomplish ends both positive and questionable. They know full well the power behind an online movement, even one as seemingly benign as an attempt to "rescue" a character from the perception of negative stereotyping. A contest thrown by someone uninvolved in the series to collect an acceptable script sends a simple and powerful message: We are going to politely yet aggressively make the change we want to see in your product. It is, at its core, a brilliant piece of diplomatic maneuvering and the response of the show's producers was the only one that could have circumvented it.

"The Simpsons" has stood as a monumental achievement of pop culture longevity for three decades. Even for those of us who haven't watched regularly for years, it's obvious they have done something right. And if social attitudes towards one of their characters have changed, one assums they're perfectly capable of dealing with it themselves. By allowing an outsider no matter how well-intentioned to push his way in, they would be sacrificing whatever autonomy they've enjoyed. The same autonomy that has allowed them to outlast any other animated series in history (so far.)

From a writer's perspective, it's a smart move. Everybody knows the show will be going off the air soon. They've made their mark and they want to continue to do so with the time they have left without some guy whose desire it is to hitch onto their accomplishments trying to influence "content." So while it may seem like a compromise, this move is actually the opposite. I applaud the decision not for its end result or even for that fact that the issue hasn't been resolved, but because creators have stood up to a softer, shrewd form of censorship and said no.

Stiff Competition from the Land of the...Something!

Looks like mah fellow Amuricans are catching up to those lovable Canadians.  Isn't this exciting? Shut up if you don't think so!