As the holidays approach, my art activity typically increases. Last weekend, my son-in-law and I were vendors at the annual Riverside Day of the Dead event. This was a huge venue, attended by thousands. (The picture to the left represents the mash-up of designs we do.) We had a great time and moved lots of [...]
My novelette, Wickers Bog: A Tale of Southern Gothic Horror, is currently free for Kindle. What readers are saying about the story: “…a captivating and creepy tale with substance.” — S. Thomassie “Quick read that doesn’t skimp on lush imagery and a really good story. I’m a fan of bayou horror, and this does not disappoint.” [...]
I started this website back in 2005. I’m sometime asked why I named my blog deCOMPOSE. It comes from my short essay entitled Let Us Decompose which was first published in Relevant Magazine back in 2006. Here is that brief essay: *** G.K. Chesterton said, “Art is the signature of man.” Some believe men rose from monkeys. But let the [...]
There’s no shortage of hatred for Halloween. Mainly from well-meaning religious folks. “Halloween is the devil’s holiday!” “Witches, vampires, and ghosts are not of God!” “Have no fellowship with the works of darkness, but rather rebuke them!” Those were sentiments I voiced at one time or another. We were the parents who turned the porch [...]
The Hero’s Journey is a narrative pattern first identified by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Campbell identified “a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world’s mythic traditions.” That “motif” revolves around three basic movements: Departure Initiation Return Within that framework are specific [...]
A writer friend recently pondered (in an online writing community I’m part of) whether he should use a pen name when publishing his fiction. The reason? He’s a minister at a church and feels that other staff pastors won’t “get” his fiction gig. In fact, some might be downright hostile to it. Sadly, this is [...]
Sometime in the early 1950s, the CIA began a “quest to locate an ESP-enhancing drug.” As part of that quest, the Defense Department appointed Henry “Andrija” Puharich with locating mushrooms that they believed might unlock psychic powers. The research was conducted under the codename Project MKULTRA and, as an official memo put it, involved “studying [...]
I was recently interviewed at Family Fiction about my recent novella Requiem 4. I don’t necessarily see my stuff as particularly “family friendly.” That’s not to say it’s family unfriendly, but that proponents of that term tend to frown upon horror, language, and darker elements in fiction. Nevertheless, it was a fun interview with some [...]
Had I not heard God being addressed as “Father,” I would never have equated my father with him. My father was a large man, as most fathers are to sons. Mine was more so. A thick, burly man who could raise his voice to shiver the timbers. His skin was olive and he often wore [...]
“Write for your audience.” This is common knowledge among authors, a staple of advice at most writer’s conferences. Know your audience. Write to their tastes. If they like certain tropes, certain cover designs, certain characters types, certain resolutions, even certain length stories, write to them. Give them what they want. When it comes to writing [...]
