Steven M. Moore's Blog, page 34
June 2, 2021
My favorite short fiction…
I’m considering both others’ stories and my own. First, those others gems:
“To Serve Man.” You might have seen the Twilight Zone episode based on this Damon Knight classic short story published in 1950. It has influenced all my ironic sci-fi short fiction. And Mr. Knight’s Creating Short Fiction should be on every writer’s reference shelf.
“The Marching Morons.” I’ve been using the title and referring to this novella in these pages for a while now to describe Trump’s voters (thanks to SecState T...
May 31, 2021
Israel’s problem…
…is Benjamin Netanyahu. Old Ben is the autocratic Trump of the Middle East, right up there with Assad, the Ayatollah, Erdogan, and MBS. The Middle East has always had more of its fair share of murderous demagogues, of course, and they’re often entrenched in their power with support from religious extremists—old Ben’s is derived from religious fanatics just like the fascists here in the US.
Extreme? Hardly! Anyone who denies this reality today is part of the problem. Old Ben and his ilk aren’t ev...
Memorial Day…
In this time when the word “hero” is used so often, let’s not forget the original heroes, those individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep America safe and free. They did this not for Democrats or Republicans; they did it for all Americans and others yearning for freedom. Their graves fill Arlington and other cemeteries across this land and overseas where the battles were waged. This day is more than just part of another three-day holiday weekend filled with BBQs, car and furniture sale...
May 26, 2021
Origins of themes…
The Montclair Film Festival, before Covid and before it became dominated by Colbert and his wife, featured some excellent documentaries. One was Tricks (a 3generations.org production), which had an impact on me by portraying human trafficking mostly in service to the sex trade—sex trafficking, to use the common phrase, where evil people exploit young women and girls, turning them into prostitutes and sex slaves. This is a theme I consider so important that it appears in two novels and some short...
May 24, 2021
Trump’s Good Ole Piranhas…
After purging Rep. Liz Cheney from its House leadership, the Good Ole Piranhas have overwhelmingly declared their fealty to their evil lord and master Donald J. Trump aka Il Duce. Not their voters, mind you; just GOP House members like Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, etc., GOP Senate leaders like McConnell, etc., and other toadies who’ve drunk Trump’s Kool-Aid; in other words, the so-called conservative Republicans have shed their skins to reveal that they’re really fascist snakes who...
May 19, 2021
Origins of themes…
The Montclair Film Festival, before Covid and before it became dominated by Colbert and his wife, featured some excellent documentaries. One was Tricks (a 3generations.org production), which had an impact on me by realistically portraying human trafficking, mostly in service to the sex trade—sex trafficking, to use the common phrase, where evil people exploit young women and girls, turning them into prostitutes and sex slaves. This is a theme I consider so important that it appears in two novels...
May 17, 2021
It’s Trump’s Good Ole Piranhas now…
After purging Rep. Liz Cheney from its House leadership, the Good Ole Piranhas have overwhelmingly declared their fealty to their lord and master Donald J. Trump aka Il Duce. Not their voters, mind you; just GOP House members like Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Jim Jordan, and other toadies who’ve drunk Trump’s Kool-Aid; in other words, the so-called conservative Republicans have shed their skins to reveal that they’re really fascist snakes who now publicly proclaim “Sieg Heil!” as they salute t...
May 12, 2021
Why I don’t focus on one genre…
In my extended series (“Detectives Chen & Castilblanco” is the longest at seven books), I often avoid focusing on one genre. My stand-alone books can be in any genre, or multiple genres, too. Other authors and marketing gurus have told me that’s a mistake, that I’d sell more books if I would only pick one genre and stuck to it. Maybe they’re right? (If you’re an author, express your thoughts in the comments.)
First, let me emphatically state that I don’t write my stories to become rich. I write ...
May 10, 2021
An op-ed on “op-ed”…
The NY Times, for some insane reason, recently decided to use “guest essay” in place of “op-ed.” Let’s ignore the fact that most writers posting articles to the Times two opinion pages aren’t “guests”—they’re paid contributors who regularly post their opinions there. Instead, I’ll analyze why this new policy is insane.
I was expecting more blowback about their stupid decision. There was a bit, but it certainly missed the points I will put forth in this article. The Times‘s decision is an arrogan...
May 7, 2021
The Academy Awards…
Frequent readers of this blog are probably aware that I’ve not done movie reviews for more than a year. The reason is obvious: Covid-19. We don’t have streaming video and don’t want it because we the need the full-screen, surround-sound, reclining seats, and popcorn—the full experience that can only be obtained in a big, traditional theater setting. I hope to return to that experience and writing movie reviews soon.
Any opinions I have about this year’s Academy Award nominees were formed by movi...
