Brandon Rucker Writes

Inactive Notice

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Tue, 15 Mar 2016 02:49:00 +0000

This blog is no longer currently active. You're encouraged to follow me over at my current online hub at Brandon Rucker Dot Com (brandonrucker.com).

Straight Outta Compton | It's Not A Documentary

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Sat, 29 Aug 2015 19:34:00 +0000

To put the bottom line at the top here: I came straight outta the movie theater last weekend thoroughly entertained by this N.W.A biopic. At least on a popcorn movie level. What served me and my unfettered enjoyment going in is the acknowledgment of the inherent nature of the biopic. Firstly, you can’t effectively distill 29 years – or in the case of the movie’s timeline, a dozen years or so – into a 2.5 hour movie. Even in trying to include as many key moments as possible, a great deal of the “bio” aspect is going to be left on the cutting room floor, if shot at all. Secondly, this is not a documentary, it’s a Hollywood movie with a story, a screenplay, actors and a director (among countless other collaborators and interested parties), which means a plot of the story that is inspired by real-life and real events has to be agreed upon by the respective powers-that-be before the green light can be lit.

Given those two elements, there’s naturally going to be some concerns with the timeline of events (which obviously gets condensed for movie storytelling purposes) as well as whose perspective of the “truth” ultimately gets presented (NOTE: Ice Cube and Dr. Dre are listed as co-producers and there were reportedly some disagreements on an agreed upon "truth" during the arduous pre-production period). So with those two things firmly in mind, I went in with the purpose of being entertained rather than getting informed, since I already knew at minimum 95% of the larger story anyway, and I also didn’t go in expecting the film to present a mosaic point of view that would peer into every nook and crevice to fill in all the gaps within the story. Again, that’s what comprehensive documentaries are for, not Hollywood theatrical biopics. We've all seen these types before. These feature films exist as more of a Cliff's Note, carefully packaged for easy consumption by the masses for two-hour or so escape.

I am a serious docu-junkie, so to ESPN’s Bomani Jones’ point: yes, I would have rather had a documentary that digs deeper and includes all minutia, plus all those ugly things that existed under the rocks, but that’s not what this is so neither I nor you nor the masses should have expected it. Straight Outta Compton is a well-crafted movie with some really nice performances in a story told with a dramatic and socially-conscious (and unfortunately timely) lens. Agile direction by F. Gary Gray of a smart script that's definitely helped by the sharp casting.

Newcomer O'Shea Jackson, Jr. played his father Ice Cube perfectly and definitely up a few notches from his father's first acting turn as Doughboy in Boyz n the Hood. The other great portrayal, if arguably the film's best performance, was Jason Mitchell's, the fairly new-to-the-game actor as Eazy E. Also strong was Corey Hawkins' performance as Dr. Dre. This trio was defined well as: the streetwise poet, the streetwise business man (though the movie downplayed his visionary status), and the dreamy, ambitious and goal-driven music producer. With the focus being on these three main players, the roles of M.C. Ren (portrayed by Aldis Hodge) and DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.) are unfortunately relegated as secondary/support status, though they were also cast well. Surprisingly the cameos of Snoop Dogg and 2Pac, both portrayed by even lesser-knowns, were very faithful, which helped keep their sidebar inclusion from seeming superfluous (given the timeline faux pas). R. Marcos Taylor inhabited the alpha dog role of Suge Knight with the required gravitas and command. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Paul Giamatti's strong yet nuanced embodiment of former N.W.A. manager and Ruthless Records co-owner Jerry Heller who was essentially the story's main villain.

As I stated above, as a Hollywood movie Straight Outta Compton delivers the essentials of what you would want from a movie of its kind -- it was really cool to see the guys I'd been into so much as a teenager realized on the big screen in such an artful way. Since it's not a full-bodied real-life docudrama there's no point in judging it as such. Though had it been, yes, of course it would be totally fair to call the movie out for its egregious lack of certain events and details, such as the more potent nature of the group's (and the culture's) misogyny and some of the altering of the chronology of events. Yet as merely a Hollywood move, I'd give it an A-.

Back and Better Than Ever

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 17:26:00 +0000

That's right folks, because you didn't demand it, the Brandon Rucker Writes blog is back, reactivated and better than ever! How's that for hyberbolic re-introductions?

Why the return? It's simple: this is my original public blogging home. There's a legacy of sorts here going back to 2009. And since I tend to have a lot to say these days, rather than clutter my main website RUCKERPEDIA (brandonrucker.com) with all my worldly obsevations, daybook musings, hypes, diatribes and sermons, it's more optimal to do so here in a designated space (plus there's a bigger audience here anyways cuz, y'know, Google rankings).

So essentially it breaks down as fiction stuff over on Ruckerpedia, and nonfiction and journalism here at BRW. Simple.

Get it?

Got it?

Great!

Welcome back. First new post, which is about the movie Straight Outta Compton, will post in a bit.

Y'all be good to each other.

- BLR

UPDATE: Deactivation Notice

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 22:26:00 +0000

Please note (hah, as if it weren't obvious by now): This blog is no longer active, however, its contents are now archived over at my personal website Ruckerpedia (brandonrucker.com). Please join me there as it will now be my primary blogging and archiving outlet.

Thanks.

- BLR

Write-or-Flight: A Response (July 2014, Week 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 05:30:00 +0000

Funny thing about being a writer: if you don’t exercise your writerly muscles regularly, they tend to weaken. Although I write daily (such as in social media, which shouldn’t, and doesn’t, count), I don’t write creatively daily as I probably should, so I am in constant fear of what I like to call writer’s atrophy. I’ve experienced this in the past during different writing hiatuses – syntax gets bad, diction gets compromised, and the overall ability to get the flow of prose to be at a minimum degree of articulate becomes...challenging.

Yet, I have this blog which (mostly) gets mirrored over at my new little website Ruckerpedia. I also have a little blog for my Comic Book Fetish, that I use sporadically. But that's just the journo purposes. It says nothing of fiction writing that occurs (or, doesn't occur these days) behind-the-scenes. Quite simply and rather bluntly, I need to cut the bullshit. Spend way less time on the Interwebs being an info-junkie, spend much less time in social media and in turn spend more time writing from the well of fiction and journalism that is always burgeoning within.

VELVET by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 22:13:00 +0000

I've just finished reading the first arc of Velvet by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. It's a really classy book...a spy caper/paranoid thriller book with style and grace. If you enjoyed what these two did on Captain America and the Winter Soldier books in the past, you'll likely dig this too. I think it's Brubaker's best work to date, and Steve Epting's art is even sleeker than it was on those Marvel books. Love the female lead, Velvet Templeton.

From the Image Comics.com listing: Collects VELVET #1-5 SPECIAL LOW INTRODUCTORY PRICE! From the bestselling creators of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" comes this smash-hit spy thriller with a unique new twist! When the world's greatest secret agent is killed, all evidence points to Velvet Templeton, the personal secretary to the Director of the Agency. But Velvet's got a dark secret buried in her past...because she's also the most dangerous woman alive.

The trade collection of the first 5 issues comes out on June 18th for $9.99. https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/velvet-vol.-1-before-the-living-tp Trade collection of the first 5 issues comes out on June 18th for $9.99.

BOOK: Nothing But Trouble - Stories by Bob Thurber

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 19:40:00 +0000

My old friend Bob Thurber, the winner of numerous literary awards, is on a roll. In 2011 he released the stark, unforgiving and rather audacious novel Paperboy: A Dysfunctional Novel (Casperian Books), followedbby Nickel Fictions: 50 Exceedingly Brief Stories and Cinderella She Was Not: a novelette -- both self-published in 2013, and now here in 2014 he's just released Nothing But Trouble (Shanti Arts Publishing), another collection of stories, this time accompanied by the complimentary images of photographer Vincent Louis Carrella.

From the press copy: This uncompromising collection of stories comes from the widely acclaimed and award winning master of the short story, Bob Thurber. Here he weaves his tales around such facets of the human condition as Fathers and Fools, Women and Children, Marriage and Divorce, and Art and Artifice. Typically unsettling and revelatory, Thurber knows how to cast a story that depicts the coarse reality of life, and his skills are displayed here with both passion and sentiment. Thurber gives the reader a chance, not to peek, but to plunge head first into the deep, dark mystery of simple existence. Accompanied by photographs by the equally intrepid wordsmith and image maker Vincent Louis Carrella.

I've been reading, associating with and drawing inspiration and influence from Bob Thurber for the better part of fifteen years now from the early days of Internet socializing we and hundreds of other writers did on the online writer's workshop (which as it turns out was a social media forerunner). Surely you remember the Zoetrope Virtual Studio, right?). Thurber, whether by will or nomination, was a de facto mentor to a lot of us young budding writers there at the tail end of the last century and we're all the better for it. I've mentioned probably ad nauseam here and elsewhere the tremendous impact Thurber's writing has had on my own prose work. And I know that through his work and generous sharing of his time, there's no telling how many up-and-coming writer's he's helped the past decade or more. And readers too, as much of his fiction tends to hit on such a realistic and revelatory level that it can be cathartic.

About three years back I had the distinct honor of not only interviewing -- in two parts -- my esteemed mentor (I won't say peer; he's on a whole other level), but I also had the privilege to acquire a few pieces of his works for publication in the Liquid Imagination webzine when I was an editor there. For our 8th issue of LI I even performed a nifty voice reading of his micro story "Grave Invitation" (a work of his that is also featured in the aforementioned Nickel Fictions collection).

If you like your prose fiction short, honest, straight-to-the-heart and steeped in the oftentimes stunning enigmas of real-life, then you should most definitely be reading the work of Bob Thurber. You've been informed.

- B

THE WRITERS’ ROOM: The Walking Dead, Smallville & other comics – Full Episode – SundanceTV

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 22:50:00 +0000

THE WRITERS’ ROOM: The Walking Dead, Smallville & other comics – Full Episode – SundanceTV

Memorial and Benefit Show for Jason McCash

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 21:09:00 +0000

T-shirts of this image will be
available for donation at the show.

On May 4, 2014, a week from today, I and many, many others (at least 200 folks) will be at Birdy's in Indianapolis for one of two local musical kiss-offs to our fallen brother Jason Daniel McCash (THE GATES OF SLUMBER), and benefits for the young family he left behind. The show features current and legendary Midwestern bands such as APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE, BULLETWOLF, COFFINWORM, IRON DIAMOND, OCCULT DECEIVER and the one-time special occasion reunion of Indy cult-favorites MAJHAS. It will be fun, loud, crowded and 100% beneficial to Jason's wife Bridget and their fantastic three children. All proceeds, from the $10 donation at the door as well as various memorabilia and such that will be available, will go to the Jason McCash family. It's a great event for a great cause and while I'll be there doing my part I am especially looking forward to seeing and just simply being around the extended family of friends, fans and fellow musicians, all of us who were existed as interstellar bodies in Jason's universe.

I'm still having trouble writing in depth about the loss of my childhood friend, former musical partner and kindred spirit. But I will soon and I will publish those words here, hopefully this week in anticipation of the first benefit show.

R.I.P Jason McCash

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 16:39:00 +0000

I’m supposed to be writing some kind of memorial for my fallen friend Jason McCash who tragically passed away this past Saturday night (April 5th). But I haven’t been able to yet. Like so many others, I’m still grieving and trying to make sense of this untimely event. As a member of the doom metal band the Gates of Slumber from my hometown of Indianapolis, Jason has well over a thousand friends and fans currently feeling this great loss with me. I have so much more to share, but it will have to wait for a bit.

My Personality Type: The Groundbreaking Thinker

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Sat, 05 Apr 2014 20:04:00 +0000

My Personality Type: The Groundbreaking Thinker

The Groundbreaking Thinker

Groundbreaking Thinkers are charming, enthusiastic persons. They really bubble over with energy and like to take centre stage. They love variety both professionally and privately. Groundbreaking Thinkers tackle changes consistently with their optimism and firm belief in their own abilities; they are always on the look-out for improvement possibilities.

Their excellent communication skills are of great advantage to them here. They approach the world with curiosity and openness and master new situations with a great deal of talent for improvising and with resourcefulness. Their spare time is taken up with a large number of hobbies; most Groundbreaking Thinkers like to travel in order to gather as many different impressions as possible. This personality type is unbeatable at discovering new possibilities.

In their work, Groundbreaking Thinkers highly rate challenges and diversified tasks. They cannot stand routine and too detailed work. They love to astound others with bold ideas for an original, new project and then leave it up to the others to implement them. Hierarchies, rules and regulations arouse their opposition and they love outsmarting the system. It is vital to them that they enjoy their work; if this is the case, they quickly become pure workaholics. Their creativity best takes effect when they work independently; but they are very good at motivating others and infecting them with their optimistic nature. Conceptual or advisory activities appeal especially to Groundbreaking Thinkers. It can happen that some people feel somewhat duped by their flexible, spontaneous nature.

Their sociability and enterprise ensure that Groundbreaking Thinkers always have a large circle of friends and acquaintances in which activity plays an important role. As they are mostly in a good mood, they are popular and very welcome guests. Grumbling and peevishness are unknown to them. However, they do tend to be a little erratic and unstable when it comes to obligations and this makes them appear to be unreliable to some. Groundbreaking Thinkers are very critical and demanding when it comes to picking a partner because they look for the ideal relationship and have a very concrete picture of this ideal relationship. Mutual aims in life are very important to them. They do not like compromising and would rather remain alone. For the partner, it is often a challenge to have a long-term relationship with a Groundbreaking Thinker. Groundbreaking Thinkers need a lot of space and diversity or otherwise they become bored and feel cramped. Types who are rather more traditionalistic often have problems with the willingness of Groundbreaking Thinkers to take risks and their often crazy, spontaneous actions. However, if one can summon up sufficient flexibility and tolerance for them, one will never be bored in their presence and will always have a loyal and faithful partner.

Adjectives that describe your type
extroverted, theoretical, logical, spontaneous, rational, innovative, intellectual, open, independent, curious, enterprising, analytical, clever, enthusiastic, venturesome, inventive, energetic, sociable, optimistic, non-conformist, creative, freedom-loving, charming, able to get enthusiastic, self-confident, communicative, capricious, inconsistent, outgoing

LINKAGE: Daniel Kaye: Update on my novel - I, Vladimir

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Tue, 11 Mar 2014 16:16:00 +0000

Daniel Kaye: Update on my novel - I, Vladimir: Hi all, I’d like to thank you all for being so patient and for having such interest in my vampire novel, I Vladimir . So many of my...

As the Storm Abates – The Lament of WildStorm | PBX From the Podium

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Fri, 06 Dec 2013 21:07:00 +0000

It has come to my attention that the WildStorm Universe may have finally met what is arguably its timely demise with the forthcoming and quietly announced cancellation of Stormwatch in early 2014. The breadth of WildStorm’s contribution to the industry couldn’t hope to be covered in one little 1200-word article, but I’ll try to do it some justice here. This, my friends, is a eulogy in the wake of WildStorm’s apparent demise.

As the Storm Abates – The Lament of WildStorm - ENR | eXPress News & Reviews by eXpertComics.com

Defending Robert Kirkman and Other Stories - ENR | eXPress News & Reviews by eXpertComics.com

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 00:49:00 +0000

Thanks to asinine comments made by George Romero, I am forced to defend Robert Kirkman and his The Walking Dead comic and AMC's television adaptation of it. Other topics include Valiant Entertainment looking to block Kirkman's titling of his upcoming new comic book series, plus Marvel Studios, Infinite Daredevil in 2014 and some historic DC Comics news.
Defending Robert Kirkman and Other Stories | Professor’s Blackboard - ENR | eXPress News & Reviews by eXpertComics.com

LINKAGE: Liquid Imagination #18 is Live

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 19:02:00 +0000

For nearly four years I have been proudly associated with a unique little webzine called Liquid Imagination. The latest issue, #18 just recently went live.

It's the first issue since #5 (Jan 2010) to not have my input in regards to content. This is bittersweet. 2013's been a doozy of a year and I recently made the agonizing decision to relinquish my position as Flash Fiction Editor to the incoming Christa Angelios who has assumed the editorial duties for the flash fiction section.

I didn't always edit flash fiction, though. I started out as the Music Coordinator, producing original musical for the zine for issues #5-7, which truly gave us our uniqueness, before I moved onto editing flash fiction, an art form I've been obsessed with since the late 1990s. I'd also do an interview here, an article there. But for me flash fiction (my preferred criteria: stories of 800 words or less) was where it was at for me. It was never an easy job selecting the best, and I've always said the worst part of being an editor, especially when you're a writer yourself, is rejecting submissions and relaying that bad news to another author.

I'm confident Christa will do a fine job in her new role, but most importantly, Publisher, Designer & Managing Editor Sue "MVP" Babcock had the faith in enlisting Ms. Angelios when she knew I needed a break. Liquid Imagination is still a class publication, which is also lovingly produced by Fiction Editor Kevin Wallis, Poetry Editor Chrissy Davis and Voice Narrator Robert C. Eccles. With Mrs. Babcock's leadership and our individual visions over the last couple of years, LI has managed to carve quite a niche for itself as an online publisher of poetry, speculative, literary and flash fiction, as evident by the ever-increasing slush pile we'd amass every reading period.

So, make sure you check out LI, which updates on a quarterly basis in August, November, February and May.

BOOK: Love and Rockets - The Covers (Fantagraphics)

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 02:24:00 +0000

For the love of quality comics, this (as with pretty much any Love and Rockets book) is an obvious must-have!

Love and Rockets - The Covers video & photo slideshow

LINKAGE: Saga 10 Years From Now @ Bleeding Cool

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 18:01:00 +0000

Why We Are Going To Be Even More Obsessed With Saga Ten Years From Now by Hannah Means-Shannon.

Hannah Means-Shannon is the Senior New York Correspondent for Bleeding Cool. She writes blogs about comics for Trip City and Sequart.org. Follow her on Twitter @hannahmenzies.

VIDEO: Robert Kirkman on the Set of Season 4: The Walking Dead

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 04:59:00 +0000

NEW MUSIC + VIDEOS: Carcass Brings Polished "Surgical Steel"

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 01:00:00 +0000

It's a good thing I don't have a whole lot of time prior to making this post because otherwise I would be gushing incoherently, going on and on about how historical and momentous it is that after 17 years those boys from Liverpool, England's Carcass are finally releasing a new album on September 17th in the States. The legendary progressive metal band reunited for festivals and some touring about five years ago, and there was always the hope for a new album. That finally got officially announced this past spring and was properly teased earlier this summer (see the teaser below).

Guitarist/growler Bill Steer is a guitar god of mine and bassist/vocalist Jeff Walker is legendary in his own right. Since original drummer Ken Owen suffered a stroke a decade or so ago, and second guitarist Michael Amott is too busy with his other two bands, Spiritual Beggars and Arch Enemy, the remaining original members are joined by some new blood: drummer Dan Wilding and touring guitarist Ben Ash.

Long-time fans like myself will be happy to know that Surgical Steel reportedly sounds like the lost relic that could fit nicely between their third and fourth albums, Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious (1991) and Heartwork (1993), and some say between Heartwork and Swansong. Judging by what I've heard so far, I'm happy with either. Early reviews also say that the advance single, "Captive Bolt Pistol" (video below) is easily the least accomplished song on the album. That is very good news.

Check it out.

SHOUT-OUT: Formative Years Roll Call!

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 22:07:00 +0000

Back in 1989 when dinosaurs roamed, 24 years ago this month I formed my first band, a little garage band called Metatrosity (with the C converted to an S for a better looking logo). That little metal band somehow created a 6-degrees of separation kind of family tree that included so many other local Indianapolis, IN bands throughout the 90s and even into the 2000s when a lot of us really started making noise. With such an early start I managed to play in four of those bands before adulthood/fatherhood. Today, we're all a bunch of old men now, but, hey, those are our roots. So for no other reason than that I want to, I’m sending a shout-out to a bunch ex-bandmates from back in the day:

Christophe Holmes, Pete Gossett, Tony Reitz, Chris Robinson, Jason Fredriksz, Michael Downton, Tom Roosa, Jon-Michael Gioe, Dave Lawson, Scott Manning, Tevlin Schuetz, Lyman Medeiros, Joshua Maloney, Nathan Striedinger, Jason McCash, Karl Simon, Charles R Brown, Paul Fox and honorable mention to Ross Ebert who was one o' my neighborhood homies from back in the day (I'm talkin' Cub Scouts, son!). He damn-near became a bandmate too.

Oh, and long live Drop Dead!

NEW MUSIC + VIDEO: THE WEEKND's "Kiss Land"

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 19:35:00 +0000

One of two highly anticipated new albums for me in 2013 is Kiss Land by The Weeknd (Canadian-born Abel Tesfaye and his array of producers). Coming off the success of 2012's triple-disc feature Trilogy (and the 2011 "mixtape" albums that it compiles) along with a break-out world tour, September 10th will bring the dark-themed r&b soul singer's first "proper" release to worldwide fans (raising my hand) starving for more of his seedy tales set to sex-inspired chill-out beats (a la trip-hop and hip-hop), seductive basslines, and haunting melodies -- all drenched in smoke, sweat and sin. Aww yeah! It's The Weeknd, baby, and we ain't leaving the bedroom until . . . oops, sorry, I got a little ahead of myself there. Although, from what I've read in the press, I'm getting the sense that this new album will be somewhat of a departure, though still very much carrying that Toronto-inflected sound that gave the artist his original platform. We shall see.

Recently Tesfaye told Complex Music.com that "The only thing R&B about my [music] is the style of singing. My inspiration is R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, and Prince, for the vocals anyway. My production and songwriting, and the environment around those vocals are not inspired by R&B at all."

Also, that he "wrote a letter to the producers of Portishead and let them know this album [Kiss Land] inspired by them."

Personally I can only hope the new disc is a sizzler like previous The Weeknd releases. I had bumped that Trilogy CD set (which consolidated the House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence -- the first three digital mixtape albums + 3 all-new bonus tracks into one convenient physical package) in my car all this past fall and winter long. It kept me warm. Regardless, it's good to know that Kiss Land, which Tesfaye has said is yet another concept album, will keep me warm this coming fall and winter.

Advance singles have already been released. Here's the video for "Belong to the World".

READER: New To My Bookshelves

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 16:05:00 +0000

So as a person with a severe book fetish and addiction, I've been hitting up the library a lot more frequently this summer than the rest of the year. Two easy reasons for that: One - I'm currently unemployed; the body may be somewhat "at rest" at home, but the mind absolutely must stay active. Two - I'm doing research, evident by the stack of non-fiction that's sitting on one of the shelves.

What am I researching and what's the research for? I'm researching the history of mankind, particularly the 18th & 19th centuries (recent stuff rather than ancient); diseases and pandemics that have spread throughout human history, and vampires. This research is for the on-again/off-again/on-again novel series I've been slowly developing since October 2009. The novel's concept revolves around a unique kind of "living vampire" I've created as my own individual take on the sub-genre of blood drinkers. Why? Well, it started with the realization that my life partner/fiancee/wife-to-be (we'll get around to it eventually) is an addicted vampire-geek. I thought, how the hell could I as a writer myself just sit idly by while she consumes countless books featuring fanged antiheroes? In that thought was born an inherent challenge for me to write something she could enjoy with her vampire-geek glee (because, sadly she's just not into the crime and suspense, or even the literary/slice-of-life and experimental stuff I've written).

Prior to this I never had an inkling to tackle vampires in my fiction, except maybe once in all my years (I first started writing prose in 1993). And the way my mind works, the only way I would even flirt with the idea of writing a vampire story was if I could do it as uniquely as possible (execution is the key more so than originality). Being that it was the month of October, we we're indulging in a slew of horror and thriller movies at home in anticipation of Halloween. There were four particular movies we watched in that 2-week span that really got my mind working on a germ of an idea I could run with: I Am Legend (adapted from Richard Mathesons' post-apocalyptic classic), and the first three Underworld films.

Ah, yes, the science angle rather than the typical and all-too-prevalent supernatural and Gothic angle. And so the rest of this story I'm sharing here is top secret and still in development with only a few scattered chapters written here and there. But I'm so close to finally getting my mind thoroughly wrapped around this vast canvas for an epic, centuries-spanning story I've created. Hmm. I could probably use an assistant as much as an agent.

I also still try to make time for fiction and biographical or documentary stuff, although it's hard to get to that when job-hunting daily along with working on songs in addition to the researching and writing (and, if I'm honest, spending too much time binge-watching TV series). Perhaps just days prior to his death, I checked out Be Cool (1999) by Elmore Leonard yet again (because my paperback copy got water-damaged some years back). I also checked out, yet again, John Ridley's Love Is A Racket (1998) because the book is hands-down the best neo-noir that I've criminally never owned! I need to just buy this hardcover edition from the library. I really doubt anyone else is checking the book out, as the book is practically in mint condition and Ridley is, criminally, not a bestselling author.

That's all the new and recycled stuff I have on deck to read. Remember, kids: a literate mind is a valuable mind. Get yer read on!

MEMORIAL: Long Live Elmore Leonard (1925-2013)

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 22:01:00 +0000

So, yeah. One of my favorite authors passed away a week and one day ago (August 20, 2013) at age 87. Born on October 11, 1925 (a fellow Libra), Elmore "Dutch" Leonard, who died due to complications from a stroke, was perhaps the greatest modern day crime fiction writer in American history and a huge influence on writers all across the globe, including me.

He started out writing westerns in the 1950s before switching over to crime fiction in the late 1970s, which was fitting if you consider the fact that crime fiction was pretty much born in the law versus the lawless motif of western fiction.

If the late great Mickey Spillane defined the hardboiled (rogue) detective aspect of fiction for me with his Mike Hammer novels, then it was Elmore Leonard who defined criminals as protagonist aspect of fiction for me with books like Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight and Be Cool. All four of those became movies, as did a lot of his other books, but those four left the biggest impression on me in terms of prose, plotting and dialogue.

Good lord, the dialogue. I don't think there's a novelist better at delivering the most natural and most realistic dialogue (with a lyrical cadence) via his characters than Leonard. If there's one thing I've managed to do pretty darn well with my own writing, it's dialogue. Leonard was a huge influence in achieving that. Heck, most every writer of crime fiction was happy to steal little tricks from the maestro (see: Robert B. Parker & Carl Hiaasen).

In 2000 I belonged to an online novel writing workshop called Novel Conceptions with maybe a dozen other new novel writers. It was that summer that I had started writing chapters for what I considered to be a romantic crime novel called A Distant Thunder. Any Leonard fan could read those chapters and see I was doing my best Elmore Leonard impersonation. The voice he used was just that seductive to me that I couldn't escape it impacting my own as a young writer. Young authors borrow and borrow until they develop a style/voice all their own. In that sense, Mr. Leonard was one of my professors.

A lot of us paid real close attention to his controversial 10 Rules of Writing from a 2001 NY Times article (and later, a book) in which he helped me an other writers stop opening stories and chapters with the weather, simplify our dialogue attributions, go easy on the adverbs, keep our exclamation points to an absolute minimum, and the most important one: rewrite it if it sounds like writing.

Thanks for the words and the memories, Dutch. The literary world (and the film world) has lost one of its sharpest minds and truest voices. You will be missed.

Long Live.

BIRTHDAY: Happy 96th Birthday Jack Kirby

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Legendary comic book creator/artist/writer/editor Jack "The King" Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzburg) would be 96 years old today had he not died on February 6, 1994 at the age of 76. Any reader of Marvel and DC Comics has probably been touched by at least the legacy of genius that was Jack Kirby through the characters he helped bring to life collaboratively with Golden & Silver Age comics greats such as Joe Simon, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Larry Lieber, Don Heck and others (and in some cases single-handedly). Without Jack Kirby there would be no Captain America, Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, The Avengers, The X-Men, Black Panter, Silver Surfer, Fourth World, Challengers of the Unknown and, yes, Young Romance. A lot of folks don't realize that Kirby and his first mate Joe Simon had pretty much created the genre of romance comics during the Golden Age 1940s. But seriously, that list is just a small sample size which didn't even included the plethora of colorful villains to thwart the abundant heroes).

When I finally started reading and buying comics regularly on my own in the mid-80s (predominantly the Uncanny X-Men), I was not quite aware of the importance and greatness of this American icon. Naturally the Marvel Bullpen news column in the comics would always mention The King. But it wasn't until a batch of Silver Age Marvel Comics that I obtained in 1987 or so finally exposed me to his actual work, particularly in the Fantastic Four, one of the titles that most displayed the breadth of his talent and unique vision for well over 100 issues (including annuals & specials).

By the early 1990s it was the Image Comics partners Erik Larsen, Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino, as well as other creators like Alan Moore and Steve Bissette (of the Kirby inspired 1963) who really exposed a younger generation of comic book fans to the importance of Kibry. He was no doubt a great inspiration to them, not only creatively but in terms of their spirit of independence at the time as they championed creator rights. Image Comics was one of a few handful of independent publishers that actual allowed Kirby to OWN his creations of the time. Prior to that, there was a contentious long and ongoing legal battle with Marvel Comics (and to a lesser extent, DC Comics) over legal rights of copyright ownership or co-ownership for the vast majority of characters/intellectual properties that especially Marvel continues to exploit (even to this day) with little or no residual monetary compensation for one of the originators (and his estate). The scope of this issue is actually far greater than what I have time to delve into here.

Besides, on this day to remember this great man's day of birth and unrivaled contribution to American pop culture, I want to positively acknowledge this event with enduring admiration and respect.

Thanks, Jack.

UPDATE: Countdown To . . . Four-Oh

noreply@blogger.com (Brandon Rucker) — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 15:00:00 +0000

In just 30 days (including today) I will enter a new phase in life, a new realm of existence, a new age demographic, a new set of numbers to equate a decade of life. Yes, I will turn . . . 40.

Wow. Just to see the number in stark black and white is pretty stunning. But it's not something that really creeps on you because by my age you will have already developed (almost daily) aches and pains in various joints, muscles, bones and what have you.

Still, there's the actuality of the momentous occasion happening. Considering the year I've had (there must be some truth to the bad luck of the number 13), I don't think I'm in any position to complain about getting a year older.

Celebrate life, not bemoan it, right?

Just a month to go . . .