The Inside Story deals with character and structure, and the relationship between these and theme. I’ve read a lot of books on writing in general and story structure in particular, and this is certainly the best on the subject of the transformational arc.
Yesterday, I finished my fourth (more like 3 1/2) major draft of my new novel, Untimed, bundled it up, and shipped it out to my editor for line editing. This was a relatively quick and easy draft (about ten days),…
A Twitter friend of mine dug up this ancient and forgotten interview that I gave from my Cambridge Mass apartment in 1994, during the development of our 3DO fighting game, Way of the Warrior. The original post can be found here, but…
I added four or five dishes to this Sam’s by the Beach review. Good stuff! Also chugging away on the polish pass of my fourth Untimed draft. I should be done Wednesday I think. Then on to line editing. Woot!…
Restaurant: Jer-ne Location: Ritz-Carlton. 4375 Admiralty Way. Marina del Rey, California 90292 USA. (310) 823-1700 Date: October 29, 2011 Cuisine: Californian Rating: Solid _ When the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey renovated and opened its new restaurant in the early 2000s the naming committee was obviously inspired by Steve Martin‘s classic LA…
In my latest move to further build up my social online presence I’ve moved onto goodreads.com. You can find my new profile here. It’s also installed permanently on the righthand sidebar via the icon. Those of you who use goodreads, link to my profile…
Restaurant: Fraiche Santa Monica [1, 2] Location: 312 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401. Phone : 310.451.7482 Date: October 21, 2011 Cuisine: Cal French Italian Rating: Not a bad facelift. _ Fraiche and Fraiche Santa Monica have gone through a number of ownership and chef changes…
Restaurant: Echigo Location: 12217 Santa Monica Blvd. Suite 201. Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 820-9787 Date: October 27, 2011 Cuisine: Japanese Sushi Rating: Very good warm-rice style sushi _ Back when my office was at the Watergarden in Santa Monica Echigo was one of…
Reviews have started pouring in for Naughty Dog’s latest masterpiece, Uncharted 3. Given that this is the sequel to Uncharted 2, the multiple game of the year hit of 2009, one might’ve worried that there was nowhere to go but down. But…
PlayStation Museum has organized a charity auction of all four Naughty Dog Crash Bandicoot games, signed by yours truly and Jason Rubin. The auction link can be found here. All proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Go bid! For…
I was once a very hardcore WOW (World of Warcraft) player. And although I burned out and haven’t been playing this year (after reaching 85 with my main, I just lost interest), but I still follow the news. Blizzard just released…
Yesterday, John McCarthy, the inventor of the LISP programming language passed away. It’s been a bad month for computer guys. First Steve Jobs, then Dennis Ritchie, creator of C, now McCarthy. LISP was one of my early great loves in programming languages….
I got notes back from my editors concerning my new novel, Untimed. This is the least stressful batch I’ve ever received. Not only are there relatively few changes, but I agree with all the big ones. Granted, this was the…
Restaurant: Blue Plate Oysterette Location: 1355 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90402. 310.576.3474 Date: October 18, 2011 Cuisine: American Seafood Rating: Good eats _ Blue Plate Oysterette is a relatively new (couple years) addition to Santa Monica’s high turnover Ocean…
Over the last two years, I’ve read lots of books on the publishing business, and this one has the largest volume of useful information. Sure it’s mixed with a lot of random other stuff and considerable repetition. But a must read and very cheap. Just skim the parts you don’t need.
Today’s post is just a quick update to my entry on Drago. We went there again last weekend and I added three or four new dishes. Click here if you are itching for more Italian. Or for all the LA Restaurants.
Restaurant: Bouchon Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3] Location: 235 NORTH CANON DRIVE | BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210 | 310.271.9910 Date: October 15, 2011 Cuisine: French Bistro Rating: Good, but expensive _ In the last three-four years there’s been a bit of a…
