K. Marvin Bruce

My friend Steve likes horror movies.   It’s something we share in common, and it’s one of the things that brought us together back in college.   He recently published a book that some horror fans will enjoy— Holy Horror . The idea here—Steve used to teach biblical studies—is that you can learn quite a bit about the Bible from watching horror movies.   It’s an interesting idea because a lot of conservative Christians believe horror is evil.   From the Devil, even. I find this kind of book interesting because it bring two unexpected fields together.   I write horror stories.   (I’ve got one ready to go, if I can only find the time to get it through Submittable.)   I watch horror movies.   Who would think of finding the Bible in such places? His larger point, I think, is that horror and religion are closely related.   That I can get!   Have you seen the how the evangelicals behave lately?   How they rally around ...

Can creativity be taught?  I’m not sure, but it certainly can be cultivated.  My friend Steve recommended Edward de Bono’s book Lateral Thinking .  I see it was published several decades ago, but it has me thinking about thinking. We are encouraged, indeed, compelled by logic to follow a linear, or in de Bono’s words, vertical approach to thinking.  One of the characteristics of this structure is that each step along the way must be unerringly right for the next step to work. Creativity, de Bono insists, uses both vertical thinking and lateral thinking.  Lateral thinking is the process of withholding judgment so that numerous alternatives might be considered.  No matter how irrational. De Bono isn’t writing particularly for writers.  His book was for teachers, primarily of younger students, giving them suggestions and exercises to increase lateral thinking ability.  While not everything might apply, some key aspects of his approach re...

As I sit here lingering on the edge of self-publishing, I decided to read an improbable novel recommended to me by my friend Steve.  Robert Repino’s Mort(e) is an apocalyptic tale about a cat whose single-minded purpose leads to a poignant conclusion.  I won’t spoil it for you; I’m a professional. I’m always encouraged to see madcap novels published.  The Medusa novel I have out with about six publishers at the moment is bat-shit funny.  It is also intelligent, and maybe that’s my problem. I know editors, and they are fallible people.  They have sins just like the rest of us.  Their deadly sin, it seems, is not being able to see the potential in a story that’s clearly got it.  Repino, according to Steve, had a tough time finding a publisher for what is clearly a brilliant novel.  His story gives me hope. It might just be easiest to give up, but when I think this I realize that publishers are starved for good content.  To get to ...