Periscope Depth

this home is more than bricks and mortar

My cell phone buzzed while I was eating lunch yesterday. I didn’t recognize the number, but I’d just called the dealer for some mandatory maintenance, so I took the call. “This is David with Comcast,” came the reply. “Am I speaking to Mr. Perich?” He was. “My records show that you have Internet service with [...]

he put coat and tie on over a fitted shirt

As I passed Bob’s desk yesterday, he cocked his head to get my attention. He flipped his tie at me, pinching it between two fingers and waving the loose end. This was his way of reminding me that it was Tie Tuesday. On Tie Tuesday, a voluntary dress code is in effect: you wear a [...]

bienvenido a la hotel california

More often than it should, the Internet presents me with one of those perfect storms of “political” “controversy” where everyone involved is dumb. To wit: five kids in California got sent home from school for wearing American flag T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. Roger Ebert responded with a Twitter post saying that “Kids who wear [...]

you should hear how she talks about you

I had an epiphany this weekend on why so many Internet arguments end in flames. In the real world, arguments* end in one of four ways: Circumstances force the argument to an end: the server arrives with your food, the subway pulls up at your stop, the phone rings, etc. One side tires from the [...]

I’ve been thinking ’bout something other than you

If you couldn’t make Overthinking It Live last week (and not all of you could; I FORGIVE YOU), you should check out the photo recap in this week’s open thread. Also, those of you who participated in our annual summer movie tagline contest, Clichemageddon, can check out the winners recap. Finally:

there’s a man going ’round taking names

It’s Marine Week here in Boston, meaning the USMC has made a beachhead on Copley Square. Every morning coming into work and every evening coming out, I weave through a Howitzer emplacement, a parked HummVee and an amphibious assault vehicle of some sort. Under normal circumstances, wandering up to a HummVee and snapping pictures could [...]

hold your blindfolds down

Saturday was the black belt test at my dojo for Senseis Danio and Dennis, promoting to fourth-degree black belts. Nick, the master sensei at our school, has never promoted someone as high as fourth-degree before (he’s a fifth-degree, but his brother administered that test, with O’Sensei Joe Puleio supervising). The senseis demonstrated while blindfolded, with [...]

if you’re the nice guy, act like the nice guy

Chuck Palahniuk gave the keynote speech at Muse and the Marketplace 2010. My sole familiarity with him came from reading Fight Club (long before it was a movie; my one bit of literary cred) so I envisioned a seedy man, cynical about the peak of human achievement. But Chuck Palahniuk looks like an optometrist. And [...]

I hope that you’re the one; if not, you are the prototype

When you go to Manuscript Mart at Grub Street’s annual conference, Muse and the Marketplace, you first go into a small conference room with two dozen other writers, equally nervous. Most of them are older than you (if you’re me). In fact, I would wager that Grub Street makes the majority of its Muse and [...]

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  • Periscope Depth

    The website of John Perich, author of TOO CLOSE TO MISS and editor for Overthinking It. He's learning about writing, marketing, publishing and promotion, and he encourages you to learn along with him.

    perich@periscopedepth.com

  • TOO CLOSE TO MISS




    "... opens with a bang and never relents ..."
    "... from chapter one, I couldn't put the damn thing down ..."
    "... already looking forward to Perich's next book ..."

    Mara Cunningham knew that sleeping with a married man was a bad idea. But when her lover shows up in the hospital after his wife and son are murdered, the rumors about her turn dangerous. Now she's the prime suspect in a double homicide, and the real killers will stop at nothing to silence her ...

    Buy the book that readers are calling "a great, suspenseful thriller" at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers.



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