Periscope Depth

I have large, moving shapes covered

Real quick one: Remember a year and a half ago, when I wrote this? That’s what I’m aiming for. I want every new season of American television to have one comedy or drama depicting the savage hypocrisy of representative government. I want The Weft Wing, an Office-style mockumentary about a bunch of ambitious Harvard and [...]

people might need some tension to relax; I’m too busy dodging between the flak

In case you wondered what Mahmoud was ranting about: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday urged the U.N. Security Council to take action over the rioting in Britain, arguing it was hypocritical in its reaction to such events. [...] “The U.N. is silent. Human rights bodies are silent,” Ahmadinejad said on state radio following a [...]

you never give me your money; you only give me your funny paper

I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be; virtuous enough; swore little; diced not above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house once in a quarter—of an hour; paid money that I borrowed, three or four times … – Wm. Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part 1 A few friends shared David Brooks’s [...]

I’ll cut your little heart out, ’cause you made me cry

I’m growing less fond of political labels for several reasons: somewhat due to the growing similarities between the Ruling and Opposition parties; somewhat due to laziness. But the recent dust-up over Nir Rosen illustrates why they’re no longer useful. Following news reports that a CBS news reporter had been sexually assaulted by a crowd of [...]

twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift

I haven’t entirely given up on my libertarian past, but years in Boston have definitely dragged me further left. Getting out of school has helped, too. I’d be hard pressed to say when exactly I crossed the line from “conservative libertarian” to, well, wherever I am now. The PATRIOT Act and the gradual Sovietization of [...]

little pink houses for you and me

Country’s largest banks are foreclosing on people without mortgages; no legal recourse but to sue (AP): People have always loved to complain about their banks. The push-button circus that passes for customer service. The larding on of fees. But the false foreclosure cases are hardly the usual complaints. These homeowners paid their mortgages — or [...]

the art of consent

Politics is (and I know I promised to stop talking about politics for two years; and I meant it at the time, really and seriously; but this was before the new TSA pat-down procedures hit the news; and a groundswell of heretofore silent civil libertarians suddenly discovered that Yes, The Federal Government Can Go Too [...]

everywhere I go, people know the game I’m playing

Every nine months, I start talking about politics again. Roughly six months after that, I stop, realizing that my tone has become insufferable. As I slip further along into adulthood, I put a higher premium on being civil than on being right all the time. People can disagree with me – within earshot! – and [...]

fish like little silver knives

In The Loop: when talking about dark comedy in the past, my benchmark has always been Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove. On the spectrum of absurdity, there’s a line somewhere. For each of us this line is personal. Before that line, our reaction to the absurd is a laugh. Past that line, our reaction is a gasp. [...]

the season opened last July ever since the U.S.A. went dry

A few weeks ago, I got a mailer offering me a nice discount on any purchases from the New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlet. For those of you not from New England: the Outlet is the only chain of stores where hard liquor or wine may be sold in New Hampshire. Since New Hampshire has [...]

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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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