Confession
I am a Catholic through and through. And every good Catholic knows that confession is good for the soul. If not the career. I confess that I have not written anything of substance since Nov 30. At that time I was working on a novel (I didn’t get to 50,000 words this year) but the…
Arsenic and Adobo
One of the things about the Mystery genre I have always liked is that it’s a big tent. Long before other literary forms began looking for “underrepresented voices,” the mystery genre was welcoming to anyone who could write a good book. Women have always been welcome as mystery writers, no bias here. People of color…
The Tyranny of New Year’s
December 31 is in two days. Your Cultural Overlords demand that you celebrate. You must attend a party. It must be chaotic and wild. You must drink to excess. If you decide to drive after such drinking, all the better. We need to reduce the surplus population. You must count down the seconds until Jan…
Yule Warp
Christmas barrels in like a Japanese bullet train flying toward Tokyo. It stomps on our lives like Godzilla smashing Tokyo. It is as busy as a Tokyo street. It is as confounding as a Tokyo street sign. I have never been to Tokyo, but I’ve watched a lot of anime and I think this is…
December 23
A song I entered into the Great American Songwriting Contest. I usually don’t win these things but I think this is one of the best songs I’ve ever written. What do you think?
Celebrity Lives
Don’t know about you, but I am signally not interested in what Gwen Stephani and Blake Shelton are up to. Ditto the Kardashians, any of them. Doja Cat can stay in her litter box, for all I care. Ariana Grande says she needs to be carried everywhere so that her delicate feet don’t touch the…
The Villian Explains
One of the mystery writing tropes which drives me nuts is the moment in a book where the villain feels compelled to explain everything he’s done. Usually this happens when the protagonist is helpless, at the complete mercy of the bad guy. The protagonist often says something like, “I guess you’ve been very clever in…
More Music
Here we go with more of my songs. The open mic is Ventura’s “The Listening Room” at NAMBA, which is an arts organization with an unfortunate acronym. They’re all good people, promise.
An Unhealthy Appetite
When a child eats vigorously and with relish (as well as mustard), the grown-ups will say “That boy has a healthy appetite.” I have been in Diabetes Hell for 15 years now. I can tell you that there is also such a thing as an “Unhealthy Appetite.” As a Diabetic, I have to avoid sugar.…
Sgt. Bruce
That handsome young man above is me, though it’s hard to believe. I have never been that good looking. I think someone is punking me. Tuesday will be Veteran’s Day, and I will be entitled to a free breakfast at IHop. I went in Sunday just to confirm. Also to have a nice pancake. I…
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Mark Bruce, Writer 