A. Lee Martinez

I often say that my writing is partly inspired by my inner 5 year-old.

Saw a YouTube video asking “How much money did it cost to beat the original Dragon’s Lair arcade game?”

My answer: 50 cents, if you were good enough.

The result is a zombie nation, like Russia, like North Korea, like so many others that carry on with inertia but lose everything that made them great.

Surrendering power to fragile egos will never result in prosperity. Prosperity is never the goal.

One thing is evident: authoritarian states are doomed to collapse. Certainly, they can harm their citizens and the rest of the world, but they can never sustain themselves simply because the leader’s ego can never be sated.

They will burn a nation to the ground in their endless hunger.

There are approximately 1 million covers of Maniac.

And I will listen to any and all of them at any time.

Are we really still having the “gurls don’t like X” hot takes? Are we still wasting our time with this nonsense? I refuse to engage with such idiocy. This is the last you’ll hear me even incidentally give it oxygen.

Americans want to watch charismatic people solve moderately difficult problems on a weekly basis. That’s it. And a group of fomo execs and techbros who don’t watch TV drove one of the most profitable industries in the US off a cliff rather than accept that.

Authoritarianism is the Cybertruck of political philosophy. It’s ugly. It doesn’t work. No one outside of the in-group respects it.

But if you get someone to buy in, then they’ll say it’s amazing and the best until they die.

hey disney, now that you’ve put tron back in the hard drive for fifteen more years, here’s a little something i have been meaning to say to you for a while - and i do speak for my entire generation when i say this. GIVE US CONDORMAN YOU COWARDS.

trying to explain how THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS is an interesting exploration of class, racism and inequality to my wife.

“so it’s not about cannibals?”

“oh no, to be clear there ARE cannibals in this film”

Watching Vicious Fun on Tubi. It’s from 2020 and its premise is basically the newest season of Dexter. Not exactly the same but pretty close.

About 49 mins in and enjoying the film so far.

Metaphor & symbolism are powerful tools in storytelling.

But having a President post a video of himself shitting on U.S. citizens while demolishing the White House to build a gaudy ballroom as the economy flounders is so on the nose that it’d be out of place anywhere but reality.

“If I had money, I’d be Batman.”

-person who isn’t even a very good version of themselves

Rachel Harrison always gets me reading. Horror with a strong female lead for all her books. I love them all and really enjoyed her recent Play Nice.

Gil’s All Fright Diner is delightful, humourous horror.

They might destroy the world in their endless hunger, and as they stand alone in the ruins, they’ll say “I’m the real victim here.”

And the empty echo that agrees with them will never be enough.

They don’t just want to oppress. They want to be lauded for oppressing, praised for saving us from ourselves, be worshipped as gods for lacking the imagination for a better future.

In their dreams, they walk backwards and everyone sings in gratitude. They’re popular, beloved, culturally relevant.

Rhetoric is harmless when it endorses white supremacy, dangerous when it challenges white supremacy. This is how it’s always been.

They’re “just kids” when espousing Naziism. They’re “dangerous agitators” when quoting MLK.

You’re going to want GOD’S JUNK DRAWER I’m just saying. First book in a long time where I had no idea what was coming next.

I didn’t want to say anything but after calling the president, Machado called me and said, “You should totally have this, too. It’s a shame and scar on the committee that they didn’t give you this award for your amazing writing, which will influence generations!”

I didn’t want to mention it before.

It all comes down to the ending, which I won’t spoil other than to say the dog does not die or even suffer any serious harm, so if you’re worried about that, don’t.

To discuss more would risk ruining things. One day, but not today.

I recommend for atmosphere and style, which does count for a lot

Good Boy: A frustrating experience that I hesitate to criticize. So many great scenes and a great premise, only to drop the ball at the 5 yard line.

And yet, a labor of love, well done in almost every regard. An original film with a great deal to recommend.

A bunch of mixed emotions on this one

I too am outraged that the NFL halftime show is being performed by a musician I’ve barely heard of! It must be because the NFL is out of touch, and certainly not because I’m uncool! Definitely an indication of societal collapse that they aren’t catering to my very specific tastes from 25 years ago!

Every book I’ve written has been made better by editorial input.

YouTube video by Mother Jones A 90-Second crash course in Trump’s betrayal of American soy farmers

Need help understanding—or explaining—how Trump is destroying the US soybean market through tariffs and they using tariff funds to helping to bailout the MAGAlike Argentine president who's selling to China instead of US? Here you go: youtube.com/shorts/8Gm60...

The danger is obvious from the outside. Always looking backward, always fighting changes.

To be fair, changes are not inherently good. Sometimes, subtraction is necessary. Missteps can be made.

But if it is your goto solution, it will always lead to the same place eventually.

The result is a cycle of reversals. Get rid of the transgenders. Didn’t work? Get rid of the gays? Still not working? Get rid of X.

Last in, First out, as the saying goes. Always with an eye towards taking away things to achieve perfection.

Heard it said that conservatism is a philosophy of subtraction. It endorses removing things for improvement, which leads to the opposite of growth.

The world cannot be truly improved. It can only be returned to a less imperfect state.

When that doesn’t work, the solution is more subtraction.

“Everyone with a badge thinks they’re hard.” -Vyper, Deadlock

They’ve betrayed everyone they’ve ever worked with, rejected every belief they’ve ever professed, scapegoated every failure…

But I’m sure that won’t happen to me when I sign up with them.