Bidding Wars, Voyager, short stories, and a mid-grade novel, oh my.

 As with everyone, 2020 has presented unique challenges for our family. But it's also provided a number of opportunities. I've been writing and editing and revising fiction for a long time, and really haven't done anything with it. The novels Bidding Wars and Voyager have been hanging around since...

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The long and winding road to publication

This certainly isn't the trilogy of books I thought I'd write when I first dreamt of writing books, but April 2nd will see the completion of a trilogy of sorts. No, not a trilogy, more of a set of matryoshka books—each one nested in the other. You see, the book being published in April—“I’m Just a Comic book Boy” Essays on the Intersection of Comics and Punk—was the first one we pitched and is...

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Shakopee (the city and the Native Americans, and the history)

Two random events caused me to fall down a rabbit hole of research, and I figured I might as well share it. Warning, it's not particularly a happy story, but if you don't already know it, it's a story you should know. Particularly if you live in Minnesota. The two events are: 1. a friend, jokingly (I think), pronounced “Shakopee” as “sha-CO-pee” (with the accent on the CO), and it made me wonder...

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The first punk band: the case for The Fugs

[should you prefer a pdf of the essay, here you go: http://bit.ly/2pqPbbx] The first punk band: the case for The Fugs. There is always a danger in declaring something as the “first” of its kind. The minute one points the finger another will come along and adjust the gaze further back. Attempting...

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The re-making of a Sneetch

The Sneetches is one of my favorite Seuss stories. So, when Rebekah Folwer mentioned Kohl's was selling stuffed Sneetches, I got very excited. However, when I finally got to Kohl's I was surprised to see they only Sneetches with stars on their bellies. Where were the ones without? I looked at both...

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Poaching: shoot to kill policy

On our first day at a game reserve in South Africa, our guide offered to take us on a walking game drive. So we followed her through the bush. She carried a large caliber rifle (to me, it looked a comically large elephant gun). At one point, someone asked something about the rifle. Our guide responded, "oh, that's not for the animals. It's for poachers." What? "If I see someone who isn't authorized...

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Homeless veterans vs (?!) Refugees

It's probably stupid to get worked up about memes on the internet, but since that's how so much information is conveyed these days--particularly on social media--I can't help but react. Today, in our (probably) never-ending series "dissect a meme," we take a look at the "homeless veterans" memes in circulation. Primarily, these are ones that take a stand suggesting that people can choose to either...

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The secret message of Go, Dog. Go!

As the political pundits turn their attention to deciphering the agenda of the candidates and looking for "hidden clues" into just who these candidates are, I turn my attention to a children's classic.  After reading P.D. Eastman's Go, Dog.  Go! for the 90th time, I feel uniquely qualified...

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Boogers

This one has no art to go with it, is considerably shorter, and has less back-story to it.  But, here we go: Parker, the 8-month old, has had a runny nose lately.  Something I hadn't anticipated when we decided to have children was that I might slowly lose my mind.  I find...

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Anatomy of a poem--"The boy on the ceiling"

If you know me even moderately well, you know poetry isn't really my "thing."  But, after reading Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein and a whole slew of other children's literature to my sons, the desire to rhyme has overcome me.  What can I say? Dylan, now 3, seems to have mastered potty training....

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