There are good movies and there are bad movies. And then there are bad movies that are way too much fun to turn off. Guilty pleasures. Movies that, no matter how quickly I’m channel surfing, I just have to stop and watch. Here’s my top three: “Road House” – Between “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” lies…

So I’m in the middle of a writing project, taking an idea that someone else came up with and fleshing (not “flushing”) it out in the form of a treatment. As I get closer to the end of the first draft, I’m finding myself going over and over what I’ve written so far, making little…

Last weekend’s memoir conference, sponsored by the Writers of Southern Nevada, drew more than 160 attendees to listen to five speakers covering all aspects of the memoir writing process. I learned at least one new thing from each speaker. Here are some kernels of wisdom:   Linda Joy Myers – Author of “The Power of…

Everybody’s doing it. Writing their memoirs. Whether to leave a lasting legacy for their families, or with visions of “New York  Times” best-seller status dancing in their heads, these would-be authors can use all the help they can get. Heck, I’ve been involved as a ghostwriter in half a dozen memoir projects and I’ve still…

I’ve been thinking a lot about archetypes lately. (Hey, you’ve got your hobbies, I’ve got mine). Not to get all academic on your asses, but the theory of archetypes says that there are only so many basic story structures, most of which go back, back, back to the Bible, the Odyssey, and Gilgamesh (among others).…

I’m sure I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my wife and I rarely agree on movies. Her tastes lean toward Hollywood love stories, indie love stories, and light comedies (with love as the central theme). I like anything with karate and the undead. So I’m sure I surprised her when I jumped at her suggestion…

Recently, as I dozed through 20 minutes of commercials at my local Cineplex, I awoke in time to watch a promo for a newly re- mastered, digitally-enhanced, one-night-only showing of “The Sound of Music.” (I believe the “Do-Re-Mi” song roused me out of my slumber; it scores the same on the annoyance scale as “It’s…

I just finished up a big rewriting assignment for a first-time author. While his manuscript was excellent for a novice, I spent most of my time dealing with the same seven basic issues. I thought it would be helpful to share those with you now: “When in doubt, leave it out” – I learned this…

Here’s a great quote from writer extraordinaire T.C. Boyle, who delivered the opening keynote address at the recently-concluded Vegas Valley Book Festival: “We live in a random universe . . . and it’s all bad. When I write, I am God. And my characters are going to suffer.”

Well, not really. That’s just something craps dealers say to entice you to belly up to the table. But we do have our three winners (one first place, one tie for second) in the Vegas Valley Book Festival’s Flash! Fiction Contest. (I blogged about it a few weeks back.) Our friends at Las Vegas CityLife…