Books & Writings
As the editor of the Bohemian, Pacific Sun, and North Bay Magazine, I’ ve learned something about deadlines—they’re addictive. So, when I’m off the clock, I publish books (essays, how-to’s, neo-noir) and my own one-man magazine, Press Press, exploring how creativity becomes culture.
In Print
Columns
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Mum
I had prepared my answer. I had practiced it in the mirror between applications of lip gloss. I knew when she asked exactly how I would respond: “Yes, yes, damn it. End of story.” And it would be a lie. We did Mother’s Day because Mom claimed to have forgotten her birthday (at the behest…
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Building an Audience
Live studio audiences aren’t just living laugh tracks–they’re a vital aspect of the entertainment industry in and of themselves. When television producers need real-life guffaws they turn to a handful of Los Angeles-based audience-wrangling firms to put butts in seats, from those clad in action slacks Downtown, to the buns of steel at Venice Beach.…
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Is It Time To Swap?
Jane, Stuart, Sarah and Roger have known each other a long time — but have they truly known each other? In other words… Is it time to swap?
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A Petaluma Boy Goes to Hollywood
CUT! Goddamn tourist trams. It’s a hazard of the neighborhood we’re shooting in, a tony faux burg that affords the beau ideal of establishing shots–a nice wide angle of the Leave It to Beaver house. That monolith of Americana is nestled just next door to the Hardy Boys’ joint, around the corner from Boo Radley’s…
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Hold Me With Your Robot Hand
Neil Alden may have an artificial arm, but he has no tin ear. Despite being born without his right arm, Neil has yearned to play bass like his hero Michael Anthony of Van Halen. Through a chance encounter with a German engineer and a little help from his friends, Neil’s dream may come true…
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The Late Projectionist Review
“…A torrid tale of angst set in a surreal little town a bit like Petaluma. Our narrator is a frustrated and slightly delusional would-be screenwriter coping with art, love, and life while searching for a leg up (or at least a crumbling foothold) on his foundering career. Is he condemned forever to small-town Dullsville and…
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Dateline Lumaville
APOCALYPSE NOW: A war in Europe, impending computer havoc, the stock market’s playing Icarus, Nostradamas is a bestselling author and “Dr. Strangelove” is released on DVD – do the math in your head. Time to reserve those front row seats for the second-coming, Birth of the Beast ’99 coming live to Bethlehem – New Years…
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Brenda Starr Creator Dale Messick Endured Deadlines and Sexism
“I’m a half-assed celebrity — everyone knows Brenda Starr but nobody knows me,” laughs cartoonist Dale Messick. “I still get fan letters after all these years — five or 10 a week. They all want a sketch and an autograph because people collect these things. People collect anything. That’s why I never take my [dental]…
