I saw the original Star Wars at a drive-in movie theater on opening night (1977) with my uncle and grandmother in lawn chairs in the back of an El Camino. That sentence is so cool, I won’t knock off points for all the unnecessary prepositional phrases. Accept it.
My son, now in his mid-twenties, is legally named Anakin.
I’ve been to Skywalker Ranch.
Now that we have that out of the way…
Let’s see what the fine folks at Wikipedia have to say about this film (please donate to them if you can):
I live in Texas. When this teaser trailer released, the internet – as well as people I know personally – thought it was fake. I remember people screaming to The Midichlorians that there was “no such thing” as a black stormtrooper. Of course, I’m being gentle. Those dolts were using the other word. The internet was a wild place in 2015, and it’s only gotten worse.
Not knowing what I know now, I loved this film with every ounce of my being. The super-fans were still spitting venom about the prequel trilogy and believed the Disney purchase led to a better future. We cried like little kids with skinned knees several times throughout. Then…
…the internet told us all how badly it sucked.
We believed it.
The Trump era began, turning our beloved social media outlets into a cesspool of filth and f**kery. I mean, scum & villainy.
We met The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker with both fear and hate.
The dark side won in real life, but I digress. I’m guilty as well, but I’ve been redeemed. Now, back to Episode 7.
The bloody handprint on the Stormtrooper helmet, Kylo Ren coming on screen for the first time and hacking someone down, stopping a blaster bolt with the force, and then a bunch of randomized WTF’s until Luke’s lightsaber flew past his nephew and into the hands of The Scavenger. Who was this girl?
Luke’s one night stand?
Han’s one night stand?
Obi Wan’s distant spawn?
We didn’t know (and neither did Disney, in hindsight)!
Then, we lost a legacy character in the most poetic, tear-jerking way possible. We end it all with hermit Skywalker pulling his best Kenobi. Credits.
Was it an almost point for point re-skin of A New Hope? Yes, but it was safe. Disney didn’t want to “Jar-Jar” the hell out of this thing; at least not until they’d made back their four-billion-and-change investment.
To be honest, the time between films theorizing on things to come was much better than what we were given. Knowing what I know now from the entire sequel trilogy, plus all the Disney Plus series, it’s a much better film in parts, and a bit cheesier in others. All in all, it’s a Star Wars film, and there’s no such thing as “bad Star Wars”. Some entries are just better than others.
I’ll die on that hill.
I think I saw it thrice in theaters; once in a Seattle IMAX with a friend who’s no longer with us. I still gush over Kylo Ren’s ragged lightsaber and Poe Dameron’s stunt flying. Star Wars is a story comprised of several films, books, and television shows. Not every chapter in every book you read makes you giddy; sometimes, you must paddle through the muck to enjoy the waterfall.
I honestly believe there is a much better trilogy between The Force Awakens and Return of the Jedi, and perhaps we will get to see bits and pieces of it someday. Also, there’s one hell of a movie between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. We get what we get, and we all keep coming back regardless. Stop pretending that you don’t.
Anyone who says otherwise bought the Steel Book special edition and fondles it like his or her ‘precious’ in the bathroom at 3am.
If Revenge of the Sith and Empire Strikes Back are my 5 star saga films, then The Force Awakens is a solid 3.5. It welcomed us all back to a galaxy far, far away with some new characters and some glimpses of what Hollywood chewed up and spit out since the early eighties. It was the best they could do with the tools provided, and it satiated our Original Trilogy hunger; TV dinner style. Any port in a storm, and other similar nonsense.
It’s Star Wars. The end. Gen X kids dwelled on the original trilogy for nearly two decades before the prequels were released. Then, the sequels. NOTHING will ever match Ewoks killing the Empire. Nothing.
3.5 of 5
The Dime Western Returns!
“Reading Jim Walker and the Redemption Hymn is equal parts quirky fun and riveting action. Cloud’s confident, entertaining voice draws the reader in like an old radio western: the perfect bite-sized story with a main character you’re ready to follow through every adventure he finds himself on. So, tune in next time…”
– Megan Stockton, author of Lovely, Dark & Deep
The history books would read that Jim Walker was brutally executed after the Battle of Goliad, but a few promises in the right ear blurred the contrast between blood and ink. Now an aging bounty hunter on the verge of retirement, his services are requested in the Northern Arizona Territory to solve the terrifying mystery of the Verde River Massacre. With guns from a local Deputy, courage from a saloon proprietor, and a deathbed confession from an all-too-familiar Medicine Woman, Jim sets off on what could be his final adventure. Will he lay the ghosts of his past to rest once and for all, or is he simply whistling his Redemption Hymn?
The “comments” section is at the very bottom of the page. That way, if you’re going to be a poon, I can try to sell you a book on the way down.
The Reverend’s Reads
To most, 1865 was an eye-opening year. The American Civil War was officially over and the soldiers fortunate enough to survive the bloody conflict returned home to collect the pieces of their former lives. To young Arizonan, Robert Jack, the fateful desert homecoming marked the end to all he once knew. Forgiveness is overrated. Death is final. Revenge, however, dances between the fine lines of mortality and eternity. Love always finds a way.
“Reading Jim Walker and the Redemption Hymn is equal parts quirky fun and riveting action. Cloud’s confident, entertaining voice draws the reader in like an old radio western: the perfect bite-sized story with a main character you’re ready to follow through every adventure he finds himself on. So, tune in next time…”
– Megan Stockton, author of Lovely, Dark & Deep
The history books would read that Jim Walker was brutally executed after the Battle of Goliad, but a few promises in the right ear blurred the contrast between blood and ink. Now an aging bounty hunter on the verge of retirement, his services are requested in the Northern Arizona Territory to solve the terrifying mystery of the Verde River Massacre. With guns from a local Deputy, courage from a saloon proprietor, and a deathbed confession from an all-too-familiar Medicine Woman, Jim sets off on what could be his final adventure. Will he lay the ghosts of his past to rest once and for all, or is he simply whistling his Redemption Hymn?
“Someone call DC and tell them this is how you write a female hero character!” – Lisa Lee Tone, Bibliophelia Templum
Angel Burns is a young firefighter with a shrouded history. During a routine night at work, she stumbles upon a demonic ceremony that brings her memories out of hiding – as well as her repressed supernatural powers. Angel soon learns her life was intended for things greater than extinguishing fires for mortals. Now on the payroll of the Vatican, Angel embarks upon an epic quest to protect the Gutenberg Bibles from evil. If successful, she will secure peace for generations. If she fails, the power of the ancient books will bestow an eternity of darkness upon all humanity!
Toby Liberman is nearing the end of his rope. After a fateful confrontation with his wife’s lover, he is chased into the woods only to be discovered by an unidentifiable creature. He is attacked and rendered unconscious. Upon waking at the scene of a gruesome triple homicide, Toby is arrested as the sole suspect and thrown into a jail cell with a strange man that knows way too much about his predicament. The stranger reveals to Toby that he now possesses the curse of the werewolf. Using his new-found strength to flee his captors, Toby begins to discover that things are not what they seem in the sleepy town of Twin Oaks, TX. Now hunted by law enforcement, as well as the town’s gun toting civilians, Toby seeks vengeance against his false accusers and embarks upon a quest to clear his name once and for all.
A Curse Beyond Comprehension. A Power Beyond Belief. A Girl Far From Home. Katie Liberman is your typical eighteen-year-old college student…or at least that’s what her family thinks. Picking up five years after the events of A Taste of Home, Katie has dropped out of school and embarked upon a dangerous quest to find Kurt Jimmerson, the New York City attorney responsible for her family’s werewolf curse. Unknown to her, the attorney’s grip on the ‘City That Never Sleeps’ is tighter than imagined and she’ll need any and all help available to be victorious. But… where do you find friends when you’re Far From Home?
Twin Oaks, Texas is at war! Taking place immediately after the Far From Home events in New York City, Katie Liberman has returned to rescue her birthplace from the clutches of her nemesis. As the paranormal battle of North vs. South rages in the shadows, the tiny town must decide to fight against the odds or become one with the darkness. Blood will be shed and only one will survive as the final battle of the Home Series concludes.
I know this is the part where I’m supposed to talk about the book, but I feel as though the synopsis needs its own preface to truly understand. 2023 was quite an eye-opening year! I began it by living my dream as a vintage steam locomotive fireman, but that dream was soon squashed thanks to my writing career. It won’t matter that you wrote your extreme horror offerings years ago and under a pen name. Also, it won’t matter that your publisher and author friends from days gone by express pleasantries and kind, nurturing words to your face, because they’ll clique-up and talk trash the minute you turn your back. F**k the biz, create. Create for art, not clicks. Click for love, not hate. Those are words true artists should have no issues living by, yet most seem to hide behind their keyboard shields, flinging ill-thought words of destruction toward once-trusted ears. Don’t pour something into everything; pour everything into something. Do it all by yourself if necessary. With any luck, 2024 will be the year of The Reverend. I’m not exactly sure what that means yet, but we’ll find out together. Anyway, here are a few short stories and poems I wrote as C. Derick Miller in 2023. I stole them from myself. Fair and square. Enjoy.
Poetry has always come naturally to me. Whether it is an expression of emotion toward someone I care about, or a display of humor pointed in the direction of those I loathe, it is my true outlet. Several of these works were written in a passenger seat while exploring the highways of the United States and somehow managed to survive “The Great Ex-Wife/Ex-Girlfriend Poetry Purge” of 2019. Others were penned during COVID-19 quarantine. Although it may not be the most epic poetry collection you’ve ever read, it all contains bits of blood and soul. You will feel something. Guaranteed.
“This profound collection of horror brings classic monsters into new light in the modern day” – B.L. Blankenship, God Walks The Dark Hills series.
The modern world is a crazy place. Worrying about childish politicians, empty grocery store shelves, and our pending membership to the “global disease of the week” club, it leaves very little time for the average reader to finish an entire novel. This is where Six from Five Seven: Short Stories from a Short Man comes in clutch! A story per day to keep the impending apocalypse away, with a single day left over to contemplate why you purchased this book in the first place. That sounds like an entertaining week when compared to the one you were destined to have regardless. What do a cursed husband, a privileged brat, a curious prostitute, a repressed savior, a vengeful son, and two hell-bound soldiers have in common? Their stories lie within the pages of this collection and invite you to tag along on their journeys of fate, redemption, and demise. When finished, you, dear reader, can hide this book inside your basement with the rest of those important documents you wished you’d never taken home. The FBI won’t be happy, but at least they’ll know you’re a cool person for owning a copy while conducting the raid. That must count for something, right? Let’s hope the judge thinks so!
Also, there’s a few other things not listed here that are floating around out there. Best of luck with the hunt.
Current Projects
Rev. Dare Cloud
Reverend · adjective. worthy of adoration or reverence. synonyms: sublime · sacred.
is a Dallas author, musician, and gonzo journalist. Some of his works include the controversial splatter-western Starving Zoe (written as C. Derick Miller), the Taste of Home trilogy, and the ongoing Jim Walker series. He is also the co-host of the American Justice Podcast and Senior Writer/Junior Producer for AtuA Productions LLC. His literary crushes are (of course) Hunter S. Thompson, J.D. Salinger, and Kevin Smith. Preach truths, toke jokes, and shoplift Amazon.
“You’ve got to press it on you You’ve just been thinking That’s what you do, baby Hold it down, Dare!” – Gorillaz
The Gonzo Wolf 
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