R.F. Kuang's The Poppy War starts as a typical coming-of-age fantasy about a girl from humble beginnings who discovers she has special powers. Despite a cliched beginning, the first chapter had me hooked, as it's probably the best bit of writing in the novel --- not surprising given the knock-them-dead-from-page-one nature of publishing today. The... Continue Reading →
Wars, Rings, Trek, and the Death of the Artist
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 →
Station Eleven Review
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (what a name!) centers around an apocalyptic, end-of-the-world scenario involving a super-flu that wipes out most of humanity. It's a more concise and grounded version of Stephen King's The Stand, and was of particular interest to me given our post-COVID world. Mandel weaves a complex narrative with multiple... Continue Reading →
My Father’s Story, Part 1: Hunger and War
After ninety years on this Earth, my father passed away in March of this year. Here, I share the remarkable life of Arthur Alimonos as he tells it, beginning in 1933 in the little-known village of Magoula, Greece. Having lost his father to tuberculosis at age five, Arthur struggled to survive in a family of... Continue Reading →
O Babas Then Einai Etho (Greek Version)
Ο μπαμπάς δεν είναι εδώ. Η μητέρα μου ήρθε με αυτή τη γραμμή καθώς φτάσαμε. Ο μπαμπάς δεν είναι εδώ, μπήκε καθώς περπατούσαμε στο διώροφο όπου ζούσε ακόμα με τον πατέρα μου πριν από μια εβδομάδα. Τον είδα στο φέρετρό του στην κηδεία, περιτριγυρισμένο από τις επιχρυσωμένες εικόνες των Ορθοδόξων Αγίων, αλλά καθώς πλησίαζα το άκαμπτο... Continue Reading →
Dad’s Not Here: A Tribute to my Late Father, Arthur Alimonos
Dad's not here. My mother came up with that line as we arrived. Dad's not here, she intoned as we walked into the duplex where she'd still lived with my father a week ago. I saw him in his casket at the funeral, surrounded by the gilded icons of the Orthodox Saints, but as I... Continue Reading →
A Girl Called Wolf by Stephen Swartz
In today's exciting podcast, I sit down with Stephen Swartz to discuss his semi-biographical novel, A Girl Called Wolf. It's the harrowing true survival tale of an Inuit girl named Anuka (a fan and friend I've known for many years through Facebook) and the rare indie book deserving more attention. Then in true Story Matters... Continue Reading →
Cloud Cuckoo Land is a Masterpiece
It's been a long time since I've read a book this good, and I couldn't be more thrilled. This book restores my faith in fiction and reminds me why I wanted to become a writer in the first place. It's a story that, quite frankly, I wish I could have written. Silly as the title... Continue Reading →
I’m done; it’s all a scam
Amazon ads? Scam. Bookbub? Allauthor? Awesomegang? Scam. Scam. Scam! What about review sites like Goodreads? IndieReader? Kirkus? All scams. I have spent the past several years trying to game the indie scene, but it simply does NOT work. Having wasted God knows how much money, I've had to rationalize these expenditures, telling myself it's a long-term... Continue Reading →
The Sorry State of Indie Publishing
The indie publishing industry is an embattled landscape of scams, schemers, dashed dreams, and desperation. Thanks to Amazon and the advent of POD printing, we are inundated with dreck novels by would-be authors, while the truly rare, standout storyteller often goes unnoticed.
The Art of Storytelling 
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