Open Mind, Open Door

Star Trek: Discovery, season 2, episode 1: "Brother"  The story so far:  Christopher Pike has come aboard Discovery and assumed temporary command. The mission is to track down a mysterious energy signal many light years away, but when they arrive at the coordinates, they find a huge asteroid in the process of tearing itself to pieces. A closer inspection shows the wreckage of a Federation medical ship on the surface, so of course they have to check it out. Once aboard, they find Jett Reno

I was in my twenties when I went to my first real concert, and I almost had to be dragged there kicking and screaming. You see, I'm not big on crowds. In fact, I'm not big on most things involving humans. My idea of a good day is shutting myself away from the world with a good book or a good movie, or lately, with trying to write what I hope might one day be a good book. Back then, though, things were different. I felt like I had to fit in, and since all of my friends were going to a concert,

Okay, here's the thing.... I love America and everything it stands for. To me, America stands for freedom. Freedom to vote. Freedom to choose. Freedom to disagree. Freedom to simply live in peace. Those few brave forefathers declared themselves free from the shackles of an English king two and a half centuries ago, and they changed the world forever. And since then, you've put your men and women in harm's way in order to keep the peace.  So thank you, America. And I mean that truly,

As every writer knows, getting that book polished and out into world is only half the battle. After that comes the marketing, and believe me when I say, marketing ain't easy. If you're fortunate enough to sign with one of the big-5 publishers, a huge chunk of that burden will be taken off your hands, but most of us have it do it ourselves. So, how do you do it? Well, there are as many strategies for selling a book as there are blogs and websites devoted to the task, but it really comes

We can understand why our parents and grandparents trusted the government, right? Those were years of intense propaganda, and the gallant men at the top got us through the depression and through the war, so why distrust them now?      Then came Watergate, and the world was shocked. We were genuinely shocked that the most powerful man in the free world might actually lie. How naive we were.      And the lies continued. Iran-Contra. Read my lips. I did not have sexual relations with that

Recently, I was on the Deadman'sTome podcast. If you haven't heard the show, you should, but that's not the point I want to make. The link is below if you want to give it a listen.    That night, Chris Roy was on as well. Chris is another writer, currently serving a life sentence in Mississippi State Penitentiary, aka Parchman Prison Farm.     Not exactly a writer's retreat.    That show stuck with me. It was awesome. With the noise and turmoil of an average day on death row clearly

This coming weekend, we in Canada will celebrate Victoria Day.      Actually, the entire country won't celebrate the day. Some provinces choose not to. And really, to call it a 'celebration' is a bit of a stretch. What we really celebrate on Victoria Day is not the queen's birthday, but a day off work.       Which brings up an interesting question. Why do we celebrate Queen Victoria, and why on Earth do we get a day off work in her honour? Is it so we can all spend the day dressed in our

I'm not exactly an old man, but I've been around. And these things, I know to be true:  Life ain't easy and shit ain't fair. It never was and it never will be. Get used to it. There is no guarantee that you will ever get what you want, but if you choose less than what you want, you are guaranteed to never get what you really want. Always speak the truth. Unless you're at a family dinner. At a family dinner, you are contractually obligated to lie your ass off. Fake it 'til you make it.

Something awesome is going to happen soon. Soon by astronomical standards, at least.     Sometime in or around 2022, a brilliant new star will grace our skies. Well, not a new star exactly. In fact, it will be two very old stars coming together in a spectacularly violent collision.     Hang on. Let me explain. And I promise, no math.     Many solar systems in our galaxy are binary. That simply means that instead of one sun at the center, they have two. There is actually some evidence