Expect a late October/early November release of my novel. Perfect gift for the holidays. Right? Right!! I got five three kids to feed.
Expect a late October/early November release of my novel. Perfect gift for the holidays. Right? Right!! I got five three kids to feed.
Well it took a while, but when she was ready, she crushed it. If only my writing was as good as Chelsea Fone’s design.
The Game of Thrones crowd, book readers and show watchers alike, feel as if their skin has been repeatedly flayed for the past week after He has risen in possibly the show’s least spectacular plot reveal.
No one can blame them.
Everyone’s favorite character – an assumed untouchable – was treated as a poor plot device for a season cliff hanger.
Jon Snow’s resurrection seemed so effortless by the red enchantress that it could not possibly satisfy the craving show watchers have had for months and book readers have had for years. It all seemed so unMartin-like. King George does not write like that, they cried. He is edgy and outside the box. Yet it was as old fashioned schlock as old fashioned schlock can get – predictable, rushed and pointless.
Try to understand why the audience was mad. It wasn’t because Jon Snow wasn’t dead – we all knew that – it was just we were expecting something more imaginative to have taken place.
Yet when it comes to storytelling, the fault was not in the resolution of the plot. It was the origin of the plot itself. (Forgive me for attempting to provide logic in a world of dragons and demon smoke babies.) Jon Snow’s resurrection didn’t make sense because his assassination didn’t make any sense. The Night’s Watch commitment to their sacred code of honor to wage war with the wildlings simply does not hold water politically once the wildlings had already crossed into Castle Black.
Thank you everyone for your comments and support in regard to the Mike Tyson piece published last month. Some have asked about some other sections that didn’t make the cut or some other interactions with some fighters. Sometimes, to keep the narrative churning, you have make some tough cuts.
I spoke with Chuck Wepner and Ray Mercer. Unfortunately, I did not get to speak to Bernard Hopkins. I actually had no idea he was at the event until he got on the microphone.
So for those that didn’t get enough of Tyson in their diet…here some of the story that unfortunately I had to cut out.
Chuck Wepner is holding court in front of a dozen onlookers at the Venetian ballroom near the honored guest table. The 6’5 bruiser can’t take two steps without someone reaching for his paw and pleading for a photo. With every request, he offers a quick-witted compliment while the wives of his admirers struggle with the camera zoom.
A fan introduces himself and grabs the Bayonne Bleeder’s right hand, the same one that crunched Muhammed Ali’s ribs and forced him to canvas nearly 40 years ago. He whispers in his ear, “You sparred with my brother, Chuck.”
“Hell of a fighter, your brother,” Chuck answers quickly to the unidentifiable face. “I hope he didn’t hurt me too bad.”
I approach. He is huge. I have been around 6’5 athletes before, but I’m in awe of how imposing he is and how big his hands are.
Today my Mike Tyson feature/essay was published in Sports On Earth.
When I had the pleasure of interviewing “Iron” Mike two years ago, it was for the sole purpose of writing a chapter on him for my yet to be finished book, The History of New Jersey Boxing by The History Press.
So as teaching swamped me, and my wife kept magically producing children, and documents became harder to harder to find, the work is still in progress. Yet I always knew I could put a shorter piece together on my night with Tyson, because I got more from him in an hour than I could have ever imaged. And what a story he told me.
For starters, he was an absolute gentleman. He didn’t try to hide when he was bored of one topic or shy of another. He is a tough interview to prepare for, believe it not. Only for the fact that he has been interviewed a billion times, and asked the same questions over and over. What do you ask the most interviewed athlete of our generation?
Over a steak and a beer, I had an hour to put some questions together from when I first realized he was there. (I had prepared for Marvin Hagler!)
No, that is not me next to Iron Mike. Of course the one picture someone took of us talking didn’t come out.
This story went through a few different phases and magazines. This was the right magazine for it. Editorially, I’m very proud of the work Sports On Earth has produced over the past few years, and it is an honor to be a part of the team.
Call “Iron” Mike whatever you want. Don’t ever accuse him of not being forthright and honest.
Thanks for reading.
