The greatest irony about the state of the world over the last decade or so is that, once upon a time, I would have been content to just stay quiet about my personal beliefs and political affiliations. I had previously held the opinion that the arts especially should be nonpartisan, thus enabling everyone from all…
Today, I want to introduce you to my absolute favorite plot outline. It’s my favorite 1.) because this outline tends to be the basis for epic fantasies, which I love, and 2.) because, contradictory to reason number one (contradiction being my signature style of doing things), I also love that it can actually be used…
When I was going to school I had a teacher, a realist, by all accounts, who once made the sarcastic quip when the focus of the class suddenly turned to musicals: “Hey, look: someone’s singing, and nobody called the police.” It was funny to those of us in the room. And it was understandable: not…
In the past I have talked about trigger warnings and my stance on them—not only as a writer, but as an audience member. And as of this blog post, I still—more or less—stand by those thoughts. And on a somewhat related topic (though, not directly related), I’ll add one thing more to the conversation: I…
A classic tale of good and evil that has withstood the test of time due to its powerful messages of friendship and persevering through extreme adversity.