Mewadge. Mewadge is what bwings us togeva

I was thinking about happy marriages the other day. For me, 23 years will come this May.

23 years, and before that my wife and I even knew each other for five prior to the auspicious event. And by auspicious event I mean when she conked me on the head and I later woke up with a ring on my finger.

I honestly think her and I were made for each other. Fate brought us together. I could go into the coincidences that occurred to culminate into our first date, but that would be boring. Or at least reminiscent of something broadcast on the Hallmark Channel in the recent past. Suffice it to say it was love maybe not at first sight, but certainly at first date.

And yet the last few years have been a revelation to me of sorts. Even people who are made for each other have to work on the marriage thing. All the time. Day-in-day-out neglect will eat you. I know too many couples who have obviously lost the spark that ignited their relationship.

I remember as a teenager being able to think of little more than her. Just picturing her in my head made me weak, made me miss her, made me want to protect her somehow.

This is what I was thinking about the other day. Did I still think of her in that way? Consistently? If I was to be honest with myself, the answer to that was no.

To mourn

Your Formica countertop was a wonder,

a well-wiped surface that gleamed.

Clear in my memory,

the chosen color - burnt brown –

like Wonder Bread dipped

in warm waxen chocolate.

This one token

heaped on others remains

tucked in my mind

of your ever-ordered household.

Every easy fold,

every towel regiment on display

lined in linen closets,

exact as rulers,

Siamese same,

silent, without voice,

did shout your name.

Perfect movie scenes and writing

When I am writing a book, one of the things I want most to create is a perfect moment. Do you know what I mean? They're not easy. It's a single-shot type thing with a good deal of buildup, but they're total head shots if you get them right.

Take Minority Report, for instance. That's a pretty good movie. Not a classic by any means. There are plenty of sci fi shows that are better, but Minority Report has a perfect moment. I would argue that a number of sci fi movies that are, on the whole better, don't have perfect moments. Perfect moments are rare.


For one, the damn movie has Max von Sydow in it. Beside the point, sure, but how cool is that?

The perfect moment in Minority Report comes towards the end when Anderton (Tom Cruise), is in the hotel room. It's the moment when he stumbles upon the supposed fact that the guy he is searching for is the same perp that kidnapped his son. There is more than just writing involved in this. The expression on Anderton's face says it all. He has spent the last hour of the movie declaring over and over that he is not a killer, that this particular vision of the "precogs" is wrong. The perfect moment is when he realizes with clarity that he will kill the guy when he walks through the door.

AWYS 2

I'm excited to release this book today. The previous stuff I've released is a little dated and doesn't necessarily reflect where my writing skill is today (Christmas stories excepted, but those are just short stories so I don't count them). I wrote my fantasy trilogy about twenty years ago. It's good, don't let me talk you out of buying it, but that was a million words ago. Boon Noon is a little newer, but AWYS represents something I wrote last year. And I think it is pretty darn good. Dark and a  tad violent, but still good. Again, thanks to +vladimir chopine for the cover. 

Now go out and get a copy.

Alone with you Somehow

A new book is on its way. Thanks to +vladimir chopine at Geek at Play, I have a cover that I think looks great and is quite representative of the storyline. Here is the picture the cover will come from. My son and daughter provided the  silhouettes. I hope to have the book available in a few days on Amazon.

Thanks again, +vladimir chopine !