Richard Paolinelli's Blog, page 3
July 18, 2024
Death On The Range
A couple of weekes ago I released a short story for my subscribers only - A State Of Revenge - to enjoy.
But today I thought I let everyone get a taste of what subscribing has to offer. Here is a western-themed short story for your reading pleasure. And of course, it has a supernatural/sci-fi angle.
I’m not called a Sci-Fi Scribe for nothing.
If you like w…
July 6, 2024
A STATE OF REVENGE
“Captain Frohman, come in and be seated. You of course know Minister Churchill.”
“Of course, Sir Samuel,” Frohman replied, nodding to the seated Winston Churchill. “A pleasure, sir.”
“You may not keep that sentiment once you know why you are here, Captain,” Churchill replied.
“Sir?”
“Yes, well then, Captain,” First Lord of the Admiralty Samuel Hoare cleared his throat lightly and picked up a file from his desk. “We’ve asked you here because we have a mission for you. One you cannot share with anyone outside of this room.
“Read this,” he continued, handing the file over to the officer. “When you’re finished I’m certain that you’ll have questions. We’ll answer them, starting with what your mission will be.”
Churchill fired up a cigar while Frohman read the file, his face flushing redder by the second as he read. Churchill and Hoare exchanged glances. They’d expected just this reaction.
“My god,” Frohman exclaimed, closing the file and handing it back to Hoare. “Sirs, this must mean immediate war with Germany! The Titanic and the Lusitania? Both sunk purposely by the Germans!”
“War with Germany is already on the horizon, my boy,” Churchill said. “We don’t have enough evidence to convince our leaders, or our people, to go to war right now. But what has been done demands a response.”
July 2, 2024
Don’t Panic, And Keep Your Towel Handy
I’ve mentioned before I decided not too long ago to discontinue any and all commentary on all things political.
Boy, has the last few days proven that to be a wide course of action or what?
The level of freakout on all sides of the political spectrum has been…something to behold. It always amazes my how someone can take one item of news and somehow convol…
June 27, 2024
Dispatch 06272024: Respect The Source Material
It seems like every year this subject comes up – and almost always it involves Disney.
I’ll preface this by saying I have yet to watch a single second of “The Acolyte”, Disney’s latest attempt to milk what is a long-dead franchise.
Judging by the reviews – the series has a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – I see no reason to change that status. The reasons …
June 25, 2024
The Curse On Lord Stanley’s Cup
In case you missed it last night, the Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
For the Panthers, it’s the first NHL championship in the franchise’s history. They made the finals last year but lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
In 1996 they advanced to their first Cup finals and got swept by the Co…
June 24, 2024
Losing Americana
Over the final half of May, and the first third of June, we spent about three weeks out in Central California.
It’s the region where my wife and I were born and we have some family still living out there. Why escapes me but we’ll get to that later.
The first couple of days were spent reeling from sticker shock. Everything out there cost way more than we p…
June 22, 2024
Dispatch 06222024: Discover the power of the block button
Social media is a double-edged sword for writers. That’s an undeniable truth.
On the one hand it allows us to promote our work, connect with our readers, and network with other creatives. That’s the positive side.
Unfortunately, being active on social media also exposes us to the Dark Side.
Here there be trolls – and other various forms of life more common…
June 21, 2024
Dispatch 06212024: What was that?
I meant to write something yesterday but there was this little matter of having a rock churned up by a truck jacked up on its chassis and driven some yahoo with compensation issues cracking by two-month old windshield.
The original also died thanks to another jack wagon with similar issues, driving a similar vehicle, and similarly tossing a large rock in…
June 19, 2024
Dispatch 06192024: Absent Friend
Its hard to believe its been two years now. Two years since my phone rang even as the sun had just risen over the mountains east of here.
I’ve reach the age where early phone calls never bring good news. This one certainly didn’t.
Two years ago today, Jim Christina, a talented western author, my friend – and my co-publisher at Tuscany Bay Books – passed a…
November 1, 2022
40 Years
40 years.
Four decades ago – as I sailed through the air, launched from the mast of a drilling rig by a high pressure hose when its safety chain failed and I was directly in its path about twenty feet above the ground – I decided that I was going to get serious about writing for a living. Assuming of course I landed in the soft sand between two pieces of high-speed machinery, instead of in one of them. In that case I would have been a smeer of jelly and no longer concerned with my future.
Obviously, I hit the sand. And, also obviously, I got serious about getting out of the oilfield and getting behind a typewriter (and eventually behind the keyboard).
40 years.
Its been a journey. The path I saw before me back then is nothing like the path I walked for the last 14,250 days. There have been plenty of detours, ups and downs, stunning victories, crushing setbacks, unexpected course changes, and the occasional stop in a turnout or two where I seriously considered quitting on the whole thing. Among the many surprises I never saw coming, was to be the co-founder and publisher of my own small publishing house.
40 years.
And today I finally arrived at the destination I had in mind all those years ago. My novel, Reservations , has been optioned and is in development to be adapted into a feature film. I even got to write the adaptation and will be working on the upcoming revisions which are sure to come.
But as I stand here I suddenly realize I haven’t reached the destination I had in mind 40 years ago at all. This is just the first checkpoint. I’m not even halfway up the mountain I started climbing back in 1982. There is much more work to do to get Reservations into production and on the big screen. After that, there are many more books of my own to write, and many more written by some amazing authors to publish.
After the first couple of years of this decade, which have been filled with loss, grief and despair, I felt 58 years old. After today, I feel 58 years young.
40 years.
40 years of an incredible journey behind me.
40 years of an even more incredible journey ahead of me.
I can’t wait to see what they bring…
