Keith Soares's Blog

Is There a “Little C”?

Tomorrow morning, I’m going in for some minor outpatient surgery, to remove a spot of basal cell carcinoma from the top of my head.

Now, I chose the words of that sentence pretty carefully. “Minor,” “outpatient,” even “carcinoma.” Because, yes, “carcinoma” means “cancer.” The “Big C” as it is sometimes called. But I’m not trying to be dramatic. I am literally having a minor outpatient procedure, which is nothing — not a drop in the bucket — compared to what so many other cancer patients do on...

The Walking Dud

If you’re like me, you spend way more time thinking about inane things in a logical way than is healthy or sane. This is necessary in writing fiction, because despite that name (fiction: (noun) something feigned, invented, or imagined; a made-up story), people generally expect their fiction to be plausible. That is to say, sort of like fact, but we’ll give you some wiggle room. And I’m one of those people, trust me. That’s why my story,The Oasis of Filth, deals with “zombies” that are very mu...

10 Cloverfield Lane – The Conspiracy is Real

This post contains no spoilers from the movie.

I think.

I like monster movies, especially because they don’t come around all that often, at least in terms of major US releases. So of course I was excited when the original Cloverfield arrived in 2008, especially under such a veil of secrecy. I will admit that my first watch of that movie was not a love-fest, though. The hand-held camera thing was often annoying and took you out of the moment due to the unrealistic and unbelievable nature of p...

Here There Be Monsters

As I approach the 2/3 mark in completing John Black book 2, And It Arose from the Deepest Black, I have to remind myself that, as the trailer for the new 10 Cloverfield Lane says, “monsters come in many forms.”

Which is right on target with the story for the second John Black book (JB2 for brevity). This new book takes place just a short while after the events of the first book, and introduces not only some new characters, but some new… monsters. But of course, monsters come in many forms… r...

Bowie

I grew up listening to David Bowie, and, as an amateur musician, manytimes played and sang Bowie songs. I admired his songwriting as well as his brooding vocals. In one song, the Iggy Pop cover “China Girl,” he goes from almost muttering “I’m a mess without my little China Girl…” to bellowing “Visions of swastikas in my head/ Plans for everyone!”

Simply put, Bowie was cool. When I heard he had died a few weeks ago, I wanted to write an homage to him. Something important. But that became ever...

My Rey Theory

Two Star Wars posts in a row? My geek is showing. For the record, I had virtually every figure and toy when I was a kid, and even had my walls plastered with official Star Wars wallpaper. So don’t be surprised that I have gone full-nerd over the new movie.

Here goes…

Since everyone else seems to be trying to answer all of the unanswered questions from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I figured I would post my theory about the great new main character, Rey.

This post contains spoilers about the m...

Spoiler-Proof: The Spoils Awaken

In March of 2014, I wrote a post here called ‘Spoiler-Proof,’ about how I actually don’t mind spoilers. Even knowing what’s going to happen, I like to appreciate how it happens, if done well. So, of course, I had to learn all the spoilers in advance of seeing the new Star Wars.

I have tickets to see the movie in 3 days. But I know the entire plot now. Yes, I know why that character was mysteriously absent from the promos. Yep, I know what happens to the other one we love so much. And who that...

On the John Black Tetralogy

This is a time capsule. Does it matter, right here and right now? Not really. It might some day. It might not. But I leave it here as a marker. This was the plan. This was the idea. May it come to be.

For I Could Lift My Finger and Black Out the Sun is the first of the intended four books of the John Black tetralogy. (Gee, that’s a big word. What’s it mean? Trilogy plus one. Four books. That’s all. It’s sometimes called a Quadrilogy, but that’s what we call a “bullshit word,” i.e. it’s not re...

The Future’s So Dark – What Movies Have to Say About the Next 15 Years

Today is “Back to the Future” Day, because this is the day that was set on the time-traveling Delorean’s clock to take Marty McFly to the future in 1989’sBack to the Future Part II.But is that all Hollywood has to say about the state of our next few years? Hardly.

Click to enlarge!

Since the image above is small, and you’re going to need this information,here’s the same image but you can click to enlarge it.

Get ready. There’s bad news ahead. Forget hoverboards and start looking out for the f...

Flash Fiction: “Hello Dolly”

Keller opened the drawer. “Pick your poison,” he said with a grin, several days of stubble giving his chin a ragged look.

Undaunted, Polly reached for the largest knife, all gleaming metal, almost a foot long. She stepped back and echoed Keller’s grin, but with a single laugh and a slight sheen of sweat on her upper lip that gave away her nervousness. “Okay. What now?”

Keller’s grin faded. “What the hell is that?”

”What?” Polly said, looking down at the knife. It looked big and sharp and inti...