Explaining the "Star Wars" films as an exercise in long-form storyworld construction... and really, just to mess with fans.

It makes sense a word game would have some hidden lessons for writers. Here are the top five.

Three great ways to kill the "social" in "social networking."

When I was a kid in the seventies and eighties, I loved comics. For a while there, I was buying three dozen books every two weeks. Many of them were Marvel comics, and of those, many of those Marvel comics were written by Bill Mantlo. It's not an exaggeration to say I've read hundreds of comicbooks Bill Mantlo wrote, including forever favorites like The Spectacular Spider-Man, ROM Spaceknight, and, head and shoulders above all else, Micronauts. In fact, Micronauts changed my life by introducing me to concepts like quantum physics and the physiological origins of consciousness. Today I learned that Bill Mantlo has been physically and cognitively crippled with brain damage since being run over by a hit-and-run driver almost twenty years ago. He can barely talk, or use his hands. His short term memory is nearly non-existent. In other words, the man whose stories inspired me and challenged me, and in no small way led me to tell my own... is silenced. It breaks my heart. And it makes me angry. Read the article in LifeHealthPro and learn how CIGNA in particular and the state of health care in the United States in general has made Bill Mantlo's quality…

Thinking about the demise of Borders book stores and what might arise in their absence.

I know this isn't a new subject, but I've been thinking about it lately. Social media and social networks like Twitter, Facebook and the like are great for keeping in touch at a distance, bringing people together for causes and crises, and maintaining a kind of loose thread between friends and acquaintances. I'm wondering if the ease of communication social networks allow has made people less likely to connect with one another in more direct ways when possible, like over the telephone or in person. It's convenient, after all, to reply to a tweet or a Facebook status or note... but I wonder if it makes us less likely to make the effort when it comes to less convenient but more personal contact? I know I've been guilty of responding to an e-mail instead of making a phone call, or being satisfied with trading comments on Facebook instead of driving to actually see someone. And I readily admit that my recent desire to reach out to people (and, ideally, have them reach out to me) has probably colored my perception on this... but it's made me wonder: does social media make us lazy social creatures? What do you think?

My friend, colleague and former boss Chris Miller wrote a compelling post about the nature and meaning of value when many "valuable" things are made of bits and bytes. You should go read it, then come back here. (The post and site have since been taken down -- Matt ) In his post, Chris asks several questions. My personal rule is if my response to a blog post is as long or longer than the original, you should write your own post. So, here are my attempts to answer those questions. It's likely I'll have a few of my own before I'm done. Chris asks, "Does the fact that (a work) is digital affect its value? How does time figure into the equation?" As someone who sells both digital (non-tangible) goods and material (tangible) goods, I believe many factors enter into the worth of a digital work. It's important to recognize that a particular work is going to have different value to the creator and the consumer. Generally speaking, many of the costs involved in manufacturing, distributing, stocking, returning and destroying a tangible good are just not a factor with an intangible good. So as a consumer, I expect the…

An appreciation of Philip Jose Farmer, master of interconnected storyworlds and pulp adventure, and an influence I don't recognize often enough.

Matthew Wayne Selznick waxes nostalgic about his days as a baby rockstar and lovesick fool in San Clemente, California in the mid-1980s.