Blog

  • As I’ve stated before, one mark of a truly fine mystery novel—for me at least—is if I feel the need to go back and reread it. This isn’t just a matter of me waiting long enough to forget whodunnit (a period of time that grows shorter the older I get), it’s also an indication that

    Read more

  • This is one is kind of a no-brainer, given the recent passing of Ozzy Osbourne. I rediscovered this song through my son, Connor, who heard it at the end of 2008’s Iron Man with Robert Downey, Jr. The song plays over the closing credits, and it’s the perfect end to a perfect movie. It’s also,

    Read more

  • If you’re going to be in Central Florida later this month, please try to attend my book talk on August 26 at the Barnes & Noble with Danni and Michelle, the hosts of the Book Club After Dark. We will be discussing Twice the Trouble, the paperback edition of which goes on sale that day.

    Read more

  • What can two bucks buy you in today’s economy? A copy of my book, that’s what! For the entire month of August, the Kindle edition of Twice the Trouble is on sale for just two bucks. That’s right. Just two Ameros! You should buy it! Right now! Don’t give me that “I don’t even have

    Read more

  • The early 1990s were an amazing time to be alive. The Cold War was over, the internet was changing the world, and the economy was booming. And the music! Grunge was pumping new life into the American and British rock scenes, resulting in an alt-rock renaissance. I’ve already written about many of the great bands

    Read more

  • Ever since I started this series, I’ve been meaning to write a post about Chris Foss. For a sci-fi nerd growing up in the 1970s and ’80s, it was impossible not to see and be familiar with Foss’s artwork. After all, he illustrated more than 1,000 book covers during his long and celebrated career. His

    Read more

  • I’ve always been a huge fan of Steve Winwood. Even as a kid, I loved how clean and bright his songs were, without ever being sappy or trite. Rather, they kept an edge somehow. Eric Clapton once said that Winwood was like a young, White, British Ray Charles. I kind of think he was right. 

    Read more

  • What’s worse than a shameless plug? A rerun of a shameless plug! I’ve been laid up with back problems all week and haven’t been doing much, so I thought I would repost this oldie. I had a lot of fun writing this essay. Many thanks to the good people at CrimeReads for giving me the

    Read more

  • If you had a clever and edgy punk/garage band back in the 1980s, and if that band got picked up by indie college radio stations, you were likely to get slapped with the label of “college rock.” Many great bands suffered this fate. Some, like R.E.M. and the B-52s, were able to grow beyond it.

    Read more

  • R.I.P. Kenneth Colley

    Once again, I’m writing a very belated obituary for a fine actor. The great British character actor Kenneth Colley passed away a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to the enduring magic of Star Wars, many young people today will know Colley from his brilliant, understated performance as Admiral Piett (a.k.a. the closest thing Darth Vader

    Read more

Leave a comment