Lighting served a useful purpose when phones were still using a confusing mix of USB-Mini and USB-Micro. Since all other phones standardized on USB-C, Lighting should be abandoned.

The thing is, all the time I was in my teens and twenties and reading books about how to write, I’d always hear that plot and structure were essential, that if you mastered those you could write anything your heart desired. And most of the novels I was enjoying at the time were not that big on either of them. That’s…

The original plan was for a trilogy. And then at some point while he was writing Clash of Kings, Martin realized three books wasn’t gonna cut it, and it would have to be four. And then four wasn’t gonna cut it, so it kept going up.

What do you mean “even” Fevre Dream lol?

Personally my approach is closer to King’s than Martin’s, because I am such a savage critic of myself that I really have to choose between writing the King way or getting nothing done at all. The last time I turned an entire week over to nothing but writing, I was hitting 10,000 words a day - which is probably…

What do you mean “even” Fevre Dream lol? I thought it was one of his better efforts (I’ve never read any of his Wildcards stuff though). It would have made an amazing ‘80s horror movie too, probably up there with Near Dark, Lost Boys, and so on.

(Martin’s) writing always seemed to have a certain functionality to it. Whereas with King, even if the book is a stinker, there’s something about his writing style that makes it genuinely enjoyable and appealing to read.

The funny thing is, I’ve never really thought of Martin as having a sparkling prose style (and I’ve been reading him since the ‘80s, and I have the Baen paperback of Tuf Voyaging to prove it). His writing always seemed to have a certain functionality to it. Whereas with King, even if the book is a stinker, there’s…

In a nutshell, that explains why it’s normal for him to take so long between books, but it also gives us a glimpse into how the reception of the TV show’s final season might have landed on him personally - assuming he was originally intending to follow most of the same basic story beats, the fact that the final season…

I mean, realistically there’s no way there’s an apathetic response to Winds of Winter.

To me, it felt like A Storm of Swords was tying things up, eliminating a bunch of characters, and moving into an end game.  And then along came A Feast for Crows, and suddenly we’ve got a bunch of new characters, new locales, yadda yadda yadda.  Big mistake.  Good for sales though. 

“James S.A. Corey” is an example of finding a middle ground.  They turned out a series of decent books in a relatively short amount of time.  Which is interesting, because Abraham is a friend of Martin’s and Franck used to work for him.

The interesting thing is that prior to ASoIaF GRRM was not known as a guy who wrote big books. He had written a handful of novels, but most of his output was short fiction. I don’t think anyone expected him to write giant fantasy novels. In fact, he was writing a novel set in the space opera universe of his 1970s…

I still hold that “George R.R. Martin is not your bitch” is axiomatic. But, y’know, I am not George R.R. Martin’s bitch, either.

During my brief career as an occasional film critic for a medium-sized newspaper, I wrote that Pearl Harbor was sure to sweep the Oscars and was going to be the next Titanic at the box office. I also came away thinking Malibu’s Most Wanted wasn’t that bad. It’s got to be something they put in the soda at the…

I believe there are usually open bars and really nice swag bags, so viewers are predisposed to be in a good mood.

If you’ve never seen the first one, you’re gonna see one of the greatest homoerotic big budget action movies of all time.

It’s one of the greatest cheesefests ever made. It’s so over the top, it uses Kenny Loggins “Danger Zone” three times. It’s so melodramatic, it uses Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” four times.

The non-cynical part of me says it’s just a really fun experience - you get a free, surprise screening with no expectations and everyone’s jazzed about it. You’re in a good mood and it carries you through.

Guys, it’s been years of this now. Never. Trust. Reactions. From. Preview. Screenings.