The disappearance of Robin Hood can be stated simply. In the last few decades, writers keep making one or two mistakes when writing Robin Hood. First, they take a grim, gritty, realistic approach to the tone of the story and characters. Second, they interpret Robin’s outlaw status to make him transgressive in a way that … Continue reading Looking for Robin Hood
Category: On Writing
True Romance vs. Modern Romance
I truly believe that, when scholars look back upon our culture, after magnanimously picking through the refuse we leave behind to glean something of value, they will view the Mario games with far greater regard than they will most of the ‘highbrow’ literature and Nobel Prize winners of our day. Granted, this will not be … Continue reading True Romance vs. Modern Romance
Writer’s Update
This first book of my space opera series was suppose to tell the story of Zephyrinus Zapatas' rise to knighthood while simultaneously relaying the history of The Holy Terran Empire. While it started out well enough, the middle section was turning out to be unwieldy and clunky, weighed down with too many long blocks of … Continue reading Writer’s Update
Writer’s Update
The relaunch of my Space Opera series proceeds at a good clip. I hope to be done with the series' first installment, Faith and Empire by April's end. I'm not going to publish it right away, however. I will serialize it here on the blog, one chapter a week, beginning the first Monday in May. … Continue reading Writer’s Update
"Where there is no vision, the people perish..." Proverbs 29:18 Chris Fox offers some sage advice on writing with an eye on the big picture... https://youtu.be/Mr9WJiHukhE
The Return of the Catholic Writer
James Matthew Wilson over at FIRST THINGS alerts us to the creation of The Colosseum Institute: For the Arts of Poetry and the Renewal of Catholic Letters in Our Time. He makes a strong case for the desperate need of such an institute. It is a case many of us are familiar with, but it is … Continue reading The Return of the Catholic Writer
Neil Peart R.I.P.
Canada has produced the two of the three greatest song lyricists in modern history, Leonard Cohen and Neil Peart. And while I've always liked Cohen, I absolutely loved Peart. I've never liked big crowds, so I didn't go to many of the large scale concerts. There's probably less than a half-dozen other big name bands … Continue reading Neil Peart R.I.P.
Why We Write What We Write
And by 'we' I mean those of us who eschew the nihilism of Grimdark. Hugo and Dragon Award nominee, Benjamin Cheah Kai Wai recently posted: 'This world is a dark world. Open a newspaper and see for yourself. Murder, genocide, civil war, assaults, rapes, kidnapping, sex trafficking, corruption, on and on, and endless litany of … Continue reading Why We Write What We Write
Anatomy of the Scene
I've long considered Jim Butcher to be one of the Master novelists living today. His books are consistently exciting and thoroughly enjoyable. Oddly enough I've never thought to seek out his wigwam on the worldwide web until just the other day. Having done so at last, I found nothing less than the secret to his … Continue reading Anatomy of the Scene
Talking Dying Franchises at ‘The Federalist’
"The imaginative power of Star Wars’s IP has been systematically stripped away into a confused and contradictory mess loaded down with contemporary politics. The simple, yet rich story of the originals (and even of the prequels, for all their faults) now suffers from a soulless and pointless tumor that grinds the rich characters of the … Continue reading Talking Dying Franchises at ‘The Federalist’
Carlos Carrasco 