I am a writer of comics, film, and television, mostly centering around what people typically call “genre.” That is, horror, fantasy, or science fiction. The books mentioned above are the ingredients that boil together in my addled mind, resulting in my own strange writing style which has resulted in a somewhat successful career. At its best, I believe that writing inspires creativity and imagination, and these were some of the books that did that for me.
In college, I had the good fortune of working at the University theater (A coveted job). There were these two guys, older than me by about twenty years – one that worked there, one that just hung around, but both so well versed in books and film they made my professors look like children playing at educators. These two probably influenced me far more than any film classes I took. They would offer suggestion after suggestion, but there was one they’d continue to bring up. Edgar Rice Burrough’s John Carter. “Star Wars basically stole everything from those books!” They’d lament. And so, I bought the whole lot and started my journey to the dying world of Mars. People turn their noses up at Edgar Rice Burroughs, but his madcap and seemingly endless imagination pulled me into the swashbuckling adventures of (first) John Carter, along with other heroes as they fought pulpy sci-fi bad guys and saved beautiful women. As the pages turned, my mind whirled, realizing that a simple story, well told, was a true comfort to my soul.
Rediscover the adventure-pulp classic that gave the world its first great interplanetary romance-now featuring an introduction by Junot Diaz
In the spring of 1866, John Carter, a former Confederate captain prospecting for gold in the Arizona hills, slips into a cave and is overcome by mysterious vapors. He awakes to find himself naked, alone, and forty-eight million miles from Earth-a castaway on the dying planet Mars. Taken prisoner by the Tharks, a fierce nomadic tribe of six-limbed, olive-green giants, he wins respect as a cunning and able warrior, who by grace of Mars's weak gravity possesses the agility of a…
Parker. One small word to describe a very big man. He is simply a criminal. And yet, this work-man-like thief is as compelling as Hamlet himself. Book after book, Parker is going to do something illegal. Rob an armored car, a ferry boat, a casino... Sometimes with partners, sometimes without. He’ll be double-crossed, captured, and chased by the police or the mafia, but Parker is as slick as a slippery eel. And what’s more, as you read the books you find yourself rooting for him! And he’s the bad guy! Richard Stark, the pen name for author Donald E. Westlake, writes with a straightforward no-nonsense prose, lightly sprinkled with turns of phrases that kept me smiling. These novels are wildly addicting and it’s a wonder they haven’t gotten more attention.
You probably haven't ever noticed them. But they've noticed you. They notice everything. That's their job. Sitting quietly in a nondescript car outside a bank making note of the tellers' work habits, the positions of the security guards. Lagging a few car lengths behind the Brinks truck on its daily rounds. Surreptitiously jiggling the handle of an unmarked service door at the racetrack.They're thieves. Heisters, to be precise. They're pros, and Parker is far and away the best of them. If you're planning a job, you want him in. Tough, smart, hardworking, and relentlessly focused on his trade, he is…
I had been reading Stephen King along with all my other junior high classmates for some time. It felt like a rite of passage for boys my age. A rite that my mother frowned upon, but, I was reading, and that was to be extolled. So, imagine my surprise when I had blown through the usual suspects of King’s novels and somewhere in high school landed on The Gunslinger. It’s like Lord of the Rings through a spaghetti western filter. It was, and might still be, one of the greatest series of books I have ever read. As a writer, I think that these tomes unlocked something inside me. Something that kept to the “rules” that boring teachers would try and push upon you. Instead, these books reminded me that nothing you write has to be conventional, and when they aren’t conventional, they might end up being something more. I read Gunslinger and then moved onto to the others in the series, and since then, have come to proselytize their greatness to everyone that crosses my path. Even going so far as buying multiple copies to have on hand to give away when I find a potential convert.
The Dark Tower is now a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba.
'The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.' The iconic opening line of Stephen King's groundbreaking series, The Dark Tower, introduces one of his most enigmatic and powerful heroes: Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger.
Roland is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey toward the mysterious Dark Tower, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own.
On his quest, Roland begins a friendship with a kid from New York named Jake, encounters an alluring woman and faces…
I’m not sure how I had gone so long having not read any Ray Bradbury. Sure, there had been movies and television that he was involved in I’m sure I came across, and I had somehow skipped over Fahrenheit 451 in high school (along with a tidal wave of good books). It wasn’t until reading Stephen King’s full-throated support of the man in Danse Macabre that I decided to give him a try and picked up Something Wicked This Way Comes. Reader… I wasn’t prepared. This isn’t a novel… it’s poetry. He blew apart what I thought of as writing with soaring description and exposition, all while weaving a tale of the fading nature of youth and importance of fatherhood. It was the type of writing that countless “Creative producers” have tut tuted when scrawling “Get to the point!” on my scripts, and yet, I could read this type of prose forever. I was never in a rush to find “the point” he was trying to get at because his sentences were so darn colorful and wonderful to read, they felt like a sumptuous meal that had to be savored and cherished. Each bite a different flavor, but all of them good!
One of Ray Bradbury’s best-known and most popular novels, Something Wicked This Way Comes, now featuring a new introduction and material about its longstanding influence on culture and genre.
For those who still dream and remember, for those yet to experience the hypnotic power of its dark poetry, step inside. The show is about to begin. Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. The carnival rolls in sometime after midnight, ushering in Halloween a week early. A calliope’s shrill siren song beckons to all…
And here is the book I wish I did read when I was 13. No single book series has affected me more. When I read Dragons of Autumn Twilight, it changed me from a casual reader to a voracious one. At the time I didn’t know it was a distillation (and more exciting one for my money) of the Lord of the Rings series when I first opened it up, and honestly, I couldn’t care less. I remember seeing the cover. These three people staring out at the reader, not with excitement, but with a look of, “Be careful if you come in here… it’s not all happily ever after,” And it wasn’t…but it was a glorious adventure. I cried at deaths, and cheered at victories. I was completely invested in this story from beginning to end, and when it did end, I started it all over again. Can there be a greater compliment to a writer than that?
This Dungeons & Dragons-inspired fantasy adventure is the first installment in the beloved Dragonlance Chronicles, set in the magical world of Krynn
Once merely creatures of legend, the dragons have returned to Krynn. But with their arrival comes the departure of the old gods—and all healing magic. As war threatens to engulf the land, lifelong friends reunite for an adventure that will change their lives and shape their world forever . . .
When Tanis, Sturm, Caramon, Raistlin, Flint, and Tasslehoff see a woman use a blue crystal staff to heal a villager, they wonder if it's a sign the…
Wally West is back! The fan-favorite character has returned to the role of the Fastest Man Alive and is leaping through time on a quest to return him to glory!
Leaving past mistakes behind and racing into the future, Wally West returns as Central City’s Scarlet Speedster! Now reunited with his wife, Linda, and their two children, the former Kid Flash begins a new chapter in his life. But Wally quickly remembers that saving lives and fighting supervillains may make him a hero, but they don’t pay the bills. Luckily, an old friend may have just the right job for this blue-collar champion. The Flash Vol. 17: Eclipse collectsThe Flash #772-779.
As an avid reader, I read a wide variety of books. Of the fiction genre mystery and suspense remain my favorite. From the classics to the gritty, a well-told mystery is a literary gem. As my mystery palette has aged—like my taste in wine—so are my demands of what makes a good mystery novel. The best mysteries for me contain more than a serpentine journey toward the hidden truth. They have intriguing characters, crisp dialogue, interesting settings, formidable foes, and of course indispensable heroes or anti-heroes. My writing goal is aimed at achieving the same level of literary penmanship of the mysteries I enjoy reading so much.
Daniel “Dan” Bluford is the Director of Polar City Single Organism Research Lab Facilities. A business he helped to create. The world’s leading architect of sustainable, ecologically conscious products for energy, manufacturing, water treatment, waste management, and environmental clean-up equipment. A company whose mission statement read in part, “Better environment through industry.”
Unable to stay awake on his drive home after work, the loving husband and father stopped for coffee at a familiar coffee shop. The place was empty, aside from a lone barista. A young woman with a sacred Maori chin tattoo and an infectious smile. Shortly afterward, Dan…
Daniel "Dan" Bluford is the Director of Polar City Single Organism Research Lab Facilities. A business he helped to create. The world's leading architect of sustainable, ecologically conscious products for energy, manufacturing, water treatment, waste management, and environmental clean-up equipment. A company whose mission statement read in part, "Better environment through industry."
Unable to stay awake on his drive home after work, the loving husband and father stopped for coffee at a familiar coffee shop. The place was empty, aside from a lone barista. A young woman with a sacred Maori chin tattoo and an infectious smile.
