What I'm reading. The Coldest War, by Ian Tregillis.
Here's a commercial message to help keep us off the street corner.
I'm teaching at Writers Online Classes. Sign up for, How to Sharpen Your Writing. It's a tough market out there and let me shine a little bit of wisdom by sharing how to add some sparkle to your prose. Whether you choose to scatter that sparkle on vampires, that's your call. We don't judge. Now to our regularly schedule programming.
The East Coast is about to get pounded by the Frankenstorm, Hurricane Sandy, which in a weird way. gives us a bit of respite from all the campaign hollering.
So to continue giving you a break, let's talk about bad ass characters. What made me think this was this clip I stumbled across from Rocky III, featuring the villain, Clubber Lang. Over the years, Mr. T devolved into a parody, but if you watch this video, you'll see what a bad ass he could play.
Cable TV has also given us a great crop of bad asses, especially Breaking Bad.
Starting with, Walter White (Bryan Cranston).
The sketchy and scary, the chief goon Mike Ehrmantraut (Johnathan Banks).
The icy and manipulative king pin, Gustavo "Gus" Fring (Giancarlo Esposito).
And no doubt, the baddest ass cop since Dirty Harry, Hank Schrader (Dean Norris).
Fans of True Blood and Walking Dead have their faves, so chime in.
Only a few more days to the end of the Lego Ghost Train Contest sponsored by the University of Doom. It's an easy way to snag a great present and take the burden off St. Nick's wallet.