The worst grade I ever got in graduate school wasn't an F or even a zero; it was "crucifixion." No, I wasn't strung up on a wooden scaffold to be slowly suffocated. But my professor did write on the back of my paper, "If you submitted this to any historical journal, YOU WOULD BE CRUCIFIED!"... Continue Reading →
As a Greek storyteller and history buff, you know I had to offer my take on the latest Greek epic to grace the silver screen. And I am happy to say, Christopher Nolan delivers. While it is far from the Lord of the Rings-perfection audiences were hoping to see, this version of The Odyssey ranks... Continue Reading →
Note: So I guess I made the mistake of posting this piece on Reddit (you know, the forum for informed and nuanced discourse) and pretty much got downvoted to oblivion. As expected, the discussion revolved around the contentious issue of Helen's historicity, entirely missing the point of this piece, namely that I will see the... Continue Reading →
Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption proves why King is a master storyteller. This novella is a masterclass in storytelling technique, demonstrating flawless pacing, excellent use of dialogue, and natural character development. While King can be overly descriptive in his other works, he shows remarkable restraint here, stripping everything from the writing but the bare essentials.... Continue Reading →
In the 1980 film Somewhere in Time, Christopher Reeve (of Superman fame) plays a man who falls in love with a portrait of a young woman long dead. His obsession with her photo leads him to discard everything that reminds him of the seventies, and following a rather intense night of self-hypnosis, he travels back... Continue Reading →
Every streaming service wants to make the next Game of Thrones. Barring the last two seasons' abysmal ratings, George R.R. Martin's book-based drama had studios the world over greening with envy, and because of that, viewers have been subjected to a flood of poorly conceived imitations the likes of which we haven't seen since the... Continue Reading →
I sit (virtually) with my artistic conspirator and college-attending daughter, Jasmine, to discuss one of our favorite pieces of fiction, Howl's Moving Castle, comparing Diana Wynne Jones's original fantasy novel with Hayao Miyazaki's cinematic interpretation. We also get into anime in general and the differences between Western and Japanese storytelling. Love Studio Ghibli? Or books... Continue Reading →
Everything old is new again! Nostalgia sells, and like any good business, Hollywood is banking on your childhood like never before. Instead of the innovative storytelling we grew up with in the '80s, we are inundated with sequels, prequels, remakes, and reboots. Disney gave us new Star Wars, Amazon's Rings of Power brought us back... Continue Reading →
Whoo-Boy. A lot's been going on, so let's get to it. Ages of Aenya As you probably know, Ages of Aenya finally became available last month, and sales have been brisk. It's great knowing people from as far as Europe and the UK have read the story and have had nothing but good things to... Continue Reading →
I feel that I owe J.K. an apology. I had always felt that her depiction of evil was a bit naive, 2-dimensional, "comic-booky." I had long taken the liberal stance that real evil doesn't exist, or if it does, it's very, very rare. People are genuinely good, I thought, and genuinely want to do good... Continue Reading →
The Art of Storytelling 
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