Iron Man, too

It's rather bold for actor Blair Underwood to portray a white gay man.

Wait; that was Raymond Burr.

Burr, who lived a discreet life with a long-term male partner, was perhaps best known for his 1960-70s TV shows Perry Mason, and Ironside, about a San Francisco police chief paralyzed after a sniper shoots him. Determined to continue striving for justice, he solves crimes with the help of a driver and assistant.

Underwood will play the lead in a revamp of the original Ironside. The updated version is set in New York City. If the show were accurate in its portrayal of daily life, it would include the numerous transport difficulties faced by disabled residents. But since it's filmed in Los Angeles, that will probably be overlooked.  New York City's record on accessibility, even decades after the Americans with Disabilities Act, is, well, dismal.

Some in the disabled community feel that if there isn't an able-bodied back story to be visualized, the character should be played by an actor who actually is disabled.

PINS, the audiobook, now on Audible

Patron saints, headlocks, 

thrash metal, crash diets, 

dogpiles, nutpulls and 
only the occasional assault. 

PINS, my acclaimed debut novel,

narrated by Paul Fleschner. 

www.Audible.com, www.Amazon.com and iTunes.com.

Bear Hug

I love it when current pop culture, or a sweet Public Service Announcement, reflects the values and intention of my fictional work. Sometimes I find a direct connection.

My (and my characters') love of forests and nature play a big part in my last novel, Every Time I Think of You (set in 1979-80). A new clever series of ads conveys a similar love and respect of nature and our forests.

The Stupids

This blog has aimed to promote my books, and offer enlightening insight into goodhearted people, fictional or otherwise, that relate to my novels' themes.

But today I find myself overwhelmed by a veritable smorgasbord of The Stupids.

The biggest recent act of stupidity (allegedly) is that of the pilot of the Korean Asiana, who crashed the airplane on a runway at San Francisco International Airport. While bold acts of heroism have been documented in saving nearly all the crew and passengers, one passenger, alleged covered in the fire-preventing foam, was not seen by a rescue truck and run over.