I heard about Slow Shutter from James Campbell, an iPhoneographer who I’m pretty sure has every iPhone photo app ever created. I was fascinated by the blurry, abstract long exposures that he had created with it. I have a “real” camera, a Canon DSLR, that I could use to get long exposures. I’ve done soRead… Read more »
I’m old enough to remember the early days of the web. Back then (not too long ago, the 1990s), organizations didn’t take this online medium seriously. The web site paled in importance to the newsletter or magazine, at least according the leaders of the time. After all, who reads things on a computer? The InternetRead… Read more »
Did you get a Kindle for Xmas? Get my book Murder in Ocean Hall for just 99 cents in this holiday offer exclusively for Kindle owners. My novel is a murder-mystery set in Washington, DC. Inspired by my experience in the city, Murder in Ocean Hall follows a veteran detective as he investigates the deathRead… Read more »
I’m a huge fan of iPhoneography, so it was natural that I would enter the Fotoweek Mobile Phone Image Contest. The theme of the competition was “Fotoweek Through the Mobile Lens”: Mobile devices allow you to get up close to capture intimate moments, abstract macros, candid street photos, night projects, and what FotoWeek DC FestivalRead… Read more »
(l to r) Arlin Godwin, Nick Fitzhugh, Mary Ratliff, Anthony Brenneman, Jackie Steven Directors are auteurs, in charge of hundreds of people and with millions of dollars at their disposal, right? Think again. Easy-t0-use cameras and Internet technology allow anyone with a story to tell to make a movie. This was highlighted by the recentRead… Read more »
Thematic Literary Magazine, Issue 3 My short story, The Really Real World, has been published in Thematic Literary Magazine. It was in the “smitten” issue and is a darkly comic look at how the quest for fame ruins a budding romance. I wrote it after The Real World came to DC. They didn’t seem toRead… Read more »
We live in a magical age, where I can write a book in Washington, DC, and then readers in Paris can download my work to their e-readers. Murder in Ocean Hall is now available in France. It’s available in la boutique Kindle, which is an adorable name for an e-book store. The book is inRead… Read more »
Camera in hand, I went to the see the inspection of the Washington Monument for earthquake damage. It was amazing, a man came out of a hatch at the top of the Monument and began repelling down it. At one point, he even seemed to wave to me. The scene on the Mall was aRead… Read more »
Staged reading of Interview Date, with writer/producer Grant Lyon on right. Last year, I was a judge for the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition. I had the chance to see a staged reading of the screenplay Interview Date, one of six finalists that we selected. The audience voted Interview Date as the overall winner of theRead… Read more »
My post, The Software is Wrong, Not the People, is the most popular thing I’ve ever written. It’s something I wrote after hearing Matt Mullenweg of WordPress discuss his philosophy toward software development. In short: if users are confused by something, then they’re right. A design firm in NY republished it on their site (withRead… Read more »