Lest We Forget: A Grimly Amusing Anecdote
We were visiting from L.A., my friend Chris and I. We sat on the covered wood porch, nursing our bottles of beer with his uncles Mike and Johnnie. It was a quiet afternoon in the…
Sawney’s Recommended Reads
Sometimes I imagine people are wondering, “What does Sawney Hatton like to read?” Wonder no more, my harrowed fans! Here is a list of some my favorite contemporary authors: ROBERT McCAMMON Simply put, Robert McCammon…
DEAD SIZE: The Lost Ending
Many years ago, before I began writing my Dark Comedy novel DEAD SIZE, I had first fleshed out the story in screenplay format. I set aside this detailed outline after the book was finished, and…
The Details in THE DEVIL’S DELINQUENTS
I grew up on Long Island, New York in the 1980s/90s, a time when—despite all the picture-perfect middle-class suburban trappings—there was no shortage of salacious scandals and horrifying crimes being committed. I’d heard about the…
Recycled Writing
After finishing my latest novella, part of an anthology of teen-led Noir stories to be published later this year, I realized it is the final work that I have adapted from one of my original,…
WTF Am I Reading?
EVERYONE IS A MOON is my definitive collection of short stories (at least, until I write a bunch more). While I’ve categorized the book as Dark Fiction as a whole, I don’t think that label…
10 Books that Burrowed into My Brain
I read a lot of books, but frankly I forget about most not long after I’ve finished them. While I may well have enjoyed the reads, only a select few titles have managed to stick…
Revisiting “VENT!: The Online Magazine for Disgruntled Filmmakers” (Part 2)
A significant element of VENT!’s raison d’être (see previous post) was demonstrating that even the most lauded filmmakers had difficult, even doubtful beginnings. Below are a few true origin stories I had shared on the website…
Revisiting “VENT!: The Online Magazine for Disgruntled Filmmakers” (Part 1)
Way back in 1997, after I had completed producing my one and so far only feature film on a $60,000 budget, I launched a semi-popular website called VENT! It focused on the flourishing world of…
Interview with James Burns, author of LET’S GO TO HELL: SCATTERED MEMORIES OF THE BUTTHOLE SURFERS
The Butthole Surfers were the most important band I listened to during my formative teen years. They were my Beatles, my Grateful Dead, my One Direction(?). From the first time I heard frontman Gibby Haynes…