Posts by Mike Pace
The Starling Murmations
Most amazing natural phenomena like Niagara Falls, the aurora borealis or a beautiful sunset are awe-inspiring, but explainable. The truly stunning phenomena can’t fully be explained. Take the common Starling. The Starling is small—sized somewhere between a sparrow and a Robin. They weigh less than 3 ounces, have an eight inch wingspan, and…
Read MoreRocket Cats (Need I Say More?)
Hey Grumpy Cat, maybe you shouldn’t feel so down. Consider the plans 16th-Century military leaders had in mind for your species (which is also proof that our online fixation on cats is nothing new): illustrated manuscripts from that time have recently been digitalized showing a strategy of what looks to be rockets or even jetpacks…
Read MoreTaking a Mulligan in the Game of Life
Everyday decisions made throughout our lives lead to unknown paths. This we know. It’s these decisions that mold our present standing, and our futures. But it’s only human to reflect on missed opportunities, which, to say the least, can be frustrating, What if there was a decision in your past that you could change?…
Read More6 Reasons Why You Should Read Stephen King’s IT
Stephen King’s IT is the bridesmaid of King’s novels. On every list ranking King’s novels, IT always comes in as number 2 or 3 — never number 1. To me it’s King’s best novel. Quick synopsis: It’s 1958 and something evil is preying on the children of Derry, Maine. A group of seven kids,…
Read MoreThe Scariest Part
As a father of three, what scared me was the core theme of my book, One to Go: Would I really do anything to save my child? It’s very easy to respond, “Of course. A parent would do anything to protect his children.” But put yourself in Tom Booker’s shoes. Texting while driving, Tom causes…
Read MoreUncertainty + 24-hour News Cycle = Wild Theories of Missing Airplane
It’s not often that the biggest story for two weeks and counting also doubles as a News of the Weird piece, but that’s what happened with the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 several years ago. It’s a true, real-life mystery. What happened to a 250-ton Boeing 777 and, more importantly, its 239 souls? Of…
Read MoreFebruary, that Crappy Little Month
The 1986 drama, “The Color of Money,” with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise (and directed by Martin Scorsese, based on a novel by Walter Tevis, who I mentioned in a previous blog) has a line in it that I’ve always remembered. After Vincent (Cruise) misinterprets something Fast Eddie (Newman) says, the older star clarifies:…
Read MoreDéjà Vu
Déjà Vu is a Classic Rock album by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young featuring such iconic songs as: Woodstock, Our House, Carry On and Teach Your Children. It’s also a weird phenomenon that has rattled most all of us. Déjà vu, is French for “already seen.” It’s that dizzying, momentary flash of, “I’ve been…
Read MoreOut-of-the-Box Characters
The traditional plot model–setting, setup, lots of rising action all culminating in a story’s climax and resolution—is not too different from how many of us see our lives; we are the protagonists of our own narrative. Modernist writers like Virginia Woolf and Ezra Pound, and postmodern writers including Vladimir Nabokov, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and…
Read MoreLa Zona del Silencio
Have you ever had a strange feeling about a place you couldn’t immediately identify? Perhaps you felt it at that eerie abandoned plaza of a once-bustling town, or maybe you had a general sense of foreboding when you hit a particular stretch of land while walking through the sprawling acreage of a wilderness. You…
Read More