Stories, Worlds, Community
Folks, my intention this week was to write about what I did this summer:
The movies I saw. The TV shows I watched. The books I read. The books I attempted to read, but gave up on around the 50 page mark. Etc.
You get the idea.
But it’s difficult to write about frivolous things while the world around me is in chaos.
Continue reading “MONDAY MORNING DISPATCH (9/15/25)”I’ll be back with my regular weekly commentary next week. In the meantime:
I’ll be at Frightreads this coming weekend (13th-14th), Maryland’s biggest and best Halloween and horror convention. Lots of horror and fantasy writers will be in attendance, along with cosplay, special guests, artists, special events, etc.
Stop by my table and say “hello.” And maybe buy a book…?
Slade Grayson is a writer who relies on the kindness of strangers. And readers. And sometimes strange readers. You can buy his books here, or buy him a coffee here.
On hiatus for the summer. See you sometime in late August.
1) I was listening to an old interview with author Jon Ronson (THE PSYCHOPATH TEST, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, and many other nonfiction books). He talked about being overweight when he was a kid, and how he was picked on because of it. He said there was one particular bully who initiated things, and one time, at the main bully’s urging, a couple of kids threw him into a lake.
Ronson said after he became a bestselling author, he tracked down the head bully and emailed him. He asked the man if he remembered him and remembered when he, along with some other kids, threw him into a lake because he was fat. Ronson told the man,
“I’m a bestselling author now. What do you think about that?”
Continue reading “MONDAY MORNING DISPATCH (7/14/25)”1) You ever have a breakfast so disappointing, all you can think about is, When the hell can I eat lunch? Is 10:30 too early?
2) These couples who have YouTube channels and post cutesy videos about their relationship… You know the ones I’m talking about.
“Join us on our adventure of life, laughter, and love!”
Crap like that. They post videos with premises like:
“Watch as I try to teach him to dance.” Or “Will she notice that I’m not wearing my wedding ring?”
Continue reading “MONDAY MORNING DISPATCH (7/7/25)”1) I’ve never watched a full episode of THE SOPRANOS, but I’ve seen tons of clips of the show on YouTube.
This isn’t an attempt at that kind of weird bragging you see sometimes, where there’s a discussion of a popular show and someone snidely says, “I’m happy to report I’ve never watched a single episode of this overhyped show.”
No, nothing like that. I have nothing against the show. Just personally, I’ve never seen a reason to give it a watch.
Continue reading “MONDAY MORNING DISPATCH (5/26/25)”1) I was listening to a podcast last week…might have been the Dana Carvey/David Spade podcast, but don’t hold me to that…and someone mentioned iconic lines and iconic speeches from action movies. The premise was, that the most iconic speech from an action movie is Liam Neeson talking to one of his daughter’s kidnappers in TAKEN.
You know the speech:
Continue reading “MONDAY MORNING DISPATCH (5/19/25)”Another short one this week.
1) Me, when I was a kid:
“Gold is something that’s worth a lot of money. When I grow up, I’ll get as much gold as I can!”
Continue reading “MONDAY MORNING DISPATCH (5/12/25)”1) I hate driving.
Besides how boring it is, the main reason I hate driving is other drivers. I realized the other day that my typical driving routine is broken up thusly:
50% yelling at other drivers who changed lanes or made a turn without using their blinker.
10% yelling at drivers who obliviously have their blinker on all the time.
40% yelling at other drivers who slow down for green lights.
The first two groups, I understand. They’re idiots.
Continue reading “MONDAY MORNING DISPATCH (5/5/25)”