David Dubrow

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    • The Armageddon Trilogy
      • The Blessed Man and the Witch
      • The Nephilim and the False Prophet
      • The Holy Warrior and the Last Angel
    • The Appalling Stories Series
      • Appalling Stories: 13 Tales of Social Injustice
      • Appalling Stories 2: More Appalling Tales of Social Injustice
      • Appalling Stories 3: Escape from Trumplandia
      • Appalling Stories 4: Even More Appalling Tales of Social Injustice
    • Dreadedin Chronicles: The Nameless City
    • Get the Greek: A Chrismukkah Tale
    • Beneath the Ziggurat
    • The Ultimate Guide to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse
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    • Hold On
    • How to Fix a Broken World
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Free Kindle Single!

December 9, 2015 by David Dubrow Leave a Comment

It’s Hanukkah, and to celebrate, I’m offering my Kindle Single Get the Greek: A Chrismukkah Tale free until Sunday!

A comic mashup of Christmas, Hanukkah, and the commercialization of the holiday season, it’s the perfect tale to get you in the spirit of…of whatever winter holiday you celebrate!

Pick up your copy today, and tell a friend!
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Filed Under: Christmas, get the greek, hanukkah, short story

New Kindle Single Now Available!

November 25, 2015 by David Dubrow Leave a Comment

My short story Get the Greek is now available as a Kindle Single in the Amazon bookstore!

To paraphrase the great Mark Twain, “Everyone talks about the commercialization of the holiday season, but nobody does anything about it!”

Had this story been written by populist television personality Bill O’Reilly, it would have been titled Killing Santa. My publisher wanted to title it When Judah Met Santa (though in her Boston accent it came out like “When Juder Met Santer”), but I nixed it because this isn’t a love story. It’s a short, comic tale about Hanukkah, Christmas, and the lengths one historical figure might go to end the commercialization of the holiday season.

Actually, it’s got a few historical figures in there. Plus an angel. And Santa Claus. It all works, believe me.

Get your copy for $0.99 while they’re still so cheap!

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Filed Under: Christmas, get the greek, good book, hanukkah, heaven, judah maccabee, judaism, kindle single, religion, santa claus, short story

New Short Story Published!

September 23, 2015 by David Dubrow Leave a Comment

Revised, expanded, updated, and more relevant than ever, my short story How to Fix a Broken World has been published by Liberty Island!

A blackly humorous tale of creeping insanity, of social media and obsession with current events, it’s a short, punchy read.  And, best of all in these harsh economic times, it’s absolutely free!  What are you waiting for?  Click over and get reading!
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Filed Under: current events, horror, how to fix a broken world, humor, liberty island, short fiction, short story

Hold On Is Live!

April 16, 2015 by David Dubrow Leave a Comment

I’m pleased to announce that my short story Hold On has been published by Liberty Island.

It’s a bit of a departure, as it doesn’t involve the bizarre, horrific, or supernatural: Hold On is a human story about marriage, parenting, and loss in the not-too-distant future, when America’s illegal immigration issues come to a head.

I teased Hold On a little here.  Go give it a read and tell me what you think.

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Filed Under: adoption, hold on, illegal immigration, liberty island, marriage, parenthood, short fiction, short story

Loss and Grief and Writing About It

April 15, 2015 by David Dubrow Leave a Comment

This is a terrible story.  The Andrade family has my deepest condolences.

On the loss of his son Julian, San Antonio police officer Jose Andrade said, “It’s very difficult; it’s the hardest thing I think anyone can go through. I think it’s the hardest thing in life. I don’t think there’s anything harder.”

Before I became a parent, I could understand this in a detached, almost academic fashion. After all, I’ve been familiar with grief.  We’ve all lost somebody.

Now that I’m a dad, I don’t think I could ever understand the breadth of the Andrade family’s loss, and I pray that I never have to.

I’ve talked publicly about adoption before, here and elsewhere.  In those pieces, I’ve touched briefly on our failed adoption, where we took the baby home, cared for him for a night and a day, and got a call from the agency that the birth mother changed her mind and decided to parent instead.  The details of that experience are too personal to put in writing.  It was extremely difficult, even life-changing, and not entirely in a good way.

But it wasn’t the same as the death of one’s child.  I suspect it’s not even close.

I did reference that experience in my novel The Blessed Man and the Witch.  To illustrate one of the symptoms of a strained marriage, I had my protagonist Hector deal with something similar.  It became a triggering event in his past, and the implications of it have stretched into the novel’s sequel (which I’m still writing).  This is not to say that it is the defining moment for him; after all, he’s as complicated a figure as any person, and as such is subject to many significant experiences.  But it did mark him and push him in a certain direction.

On Thursday, April 16, my short story Hold On will be published on Liberty Island.  Unlike my other material, it doesn’t deal with the bizarre, horrific, or supernatural in any way, though it is set in the near future.  The story addresses themes of marriage, parenting, and loss within the context of America’s current illegal immigration crisis.  As always, the intent is to tell a good story, not proselytize, and I believe I’ve done that with Hold On.

Sometimes, losing someone doesn’t make you stronger.  The cracks don’t always get repaired.  And the universe doesn’t just stop when you’re grieving, even though it should.

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Filed Under: adoption, blessed man and the witch, grief, hold on, liberty island, parenthood, short story

Get the Greek: A Chrismukkah Tale

December 19, 2014 by David Dubrow Leave a Comment

My hybrid Christmas/Hanukkah story Get the Greek: A Chrismukkah Tale, was published by Liberty Island!

It’s got comedy, pathos, excitement, and the most incisive social commentary you’ll ever see outside of a gas station water cooler conversation.  If you’ve ever been interested in what Judah Maccabee really thinks about the holiday season, then this is the story for you.

There’s a little bit of rough language, some implied intimacy, adult situations, mild violence, and angels.  Which reindeer takes a bullet?  What does Heaven’s VFW post look like?  Where do cat souls come from?  These questions and more are answered in Get the Greek, free to read on Liberty Island!

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Filed Under: angels, chrismukkah, Christmas, comedy, get the greek, hanukkah, judah maccabee, short fiction, short story, surreal

Here's a clip from a recent Tucker Carlson Tonight episode that features Kelly McCann. During my time at Paladin Press, I produced several instructional videos with Kelly on subjects like knife fighting, combat shooting, and unarmed self-defense.

Sports Illustrated is following the current tradition of discarding the customer base they have in favor of chasing the customer base they want. That this is a strategy that has always resulted in significant loss of revenue is not a factor in the decision-making process. They're signaling virtue, not seeking more money.

A review of this touching and thought-provoking movie is coming soon.

Rest in peace, René Auberjonois. I remember you from Benson as a kid. As an adult, I remember you as Janos Audron in the Legacy of Kain video game series. You made every role you were in a classic.

Elf on a Shelf Follies, Part 2:
8-year-old: I wrote the elf a note! I hope he writes back.
Me: What did you write?
8yo: I asked if he has any friends.
Me: What if he says it's none of your business?
8yo: *eyes grow dark and glittering* Then I'll...touch him.
Me: Ah. Mutually assured destruction, then.

Elf on a Shelf Follies, Part 1: My 8-year-old got an Elf on the Shelf the other day. The book it came with tells a story in doggerel about this elf's purpose, which is to spy on the kid and report his doings to Santa Claus, who would then determine if the kid is worthy for Christmas presents this year. The book also said for the kid not to touch him, or the magic would fade, and for the family to give the elf a name. I wanted to name him Stasi. I was outvoted.

Actor Billy Dee Williams calls himself a man or a woman, depending on whim; his character Lando Calrissian is "pansexual," and his writer implies that he'd become intimate with anyone or anything, including, one presumes, a dog, a toaster, or a baby. J.J. Abrams is very concerned about LGBTQ representation in the Star Wars universe. This is Hollywood. This is Star Wars. This is what's important to the people in charge of your cinematic entertainment. Are you not entertained?

The funniest thing on the internet today is the number of people angry over an exercise bike commercial. Public outrage is always funny. Always.

One of the biggest mistakes the United States has ever made since WWII was recruiting for clandestine and federal law enforcement organizations at Ivy League schools. The best talent pools were/are available from local law enforcement and military veterans, with their maturity and, most importantly, field experience. We've been reaping the costs of these terrible decisions for decades, culminating in a hopelessly politicized, sub-competent FBI and CIA.

I love Christmastime, despite being Jewish. The lights, the presents, the spirit of generosity. I do feel left out, however; my neighbors have nice Christmas lights, inflatable Santas, animatronic reindeer that crop the grass, and illuminated Nativity scenes. As Hanukkah isn't a big holiday for Jews, we just don't have those kinds of decorations. However, if someone crafts an inflatable scene of a Jewish guerrilla warrior caving in a Syrian Greek's head with a hammer, I'll buy it and put it in the front yard.

Watching Fauda seasons 1 and 2 again in preparation for season 3 to be broadcast, one hopes, in early 2020. Here's my back-of-the-matchbook review of season 2.

Every day I try to be grateful for what I have, even in the face of the petty frustrations and troubles that pockmark a day spent outside of one's living room, binge-watching Netflix. We live lives of ease in 21st century America, making it enormously difficult to do anything but take one's countless blessings for granted. Holidays like the just-passed Thanksgiving are helpful reminders. There's a reason why people call the attitude of a thankful heart practicing gratitude, not just feeling grateful. You have to practice it. You have to remind yourself of what you have. It's the work of a lifetime.

Held Back: A Recent Conversation.
8-year-old: Oh, and Jamie was there, too. He was in my first grade class two years ago.
Me: Wasn't he held back a year?
8yo: Yeah. It's because he kept going to the bathroom with the door open.
Me: No way!
8yo: And girls saw.
Me: That's not right. They're not going to hold a kid back a whole year over that.
8yo: Well, that's what he told me.
Me: Sounds fishy.
8yo: I believe him.
~fin~

It's right and good to push a raft of politically correct social justice policies on everything else under the sun, but when social justice invades Hollywood, that's just a bridge too far, says Terry Gilliam. Sorry, Terry: you helped make this sandwich. EAT IT.

Well, it makes me feel gross to be coerced into participating in a mentally ill person's sexual hang-ups without my consent, so I guess everyone's unhappy.

Let's hear it for adults taking time out of their day to help kids play team sports! Or...or not, as is the case here. I'd be pretty embarrassed if I was one of the parents, but there may be more to this story than we can see in this video.

They'll be doing Drag Queen Story Hour hosted by Desmond is Amazing in your local Chick-fil-A by 2025 at the latest.

Episode 45 of the Red Pilled America podcast is a disturbing look into a court case that raises the question: can you really tell if someone is lying?

Rob Henderson's piece on luxury beliefs will have you nodding your head over and over again...unless you subscribe to these luxury beliefs, in which case you'll get mad.

I'm late to the #FartGate controversy, as I no longer use social media, but it's a truism that when you have one asshole talking to another, you're going to get fart noises.

I've made the Saturday bread from Flour Water Salt Yeast so often that I've memorized the recipe. It never disappoints. Never. The same recipe works well for pizza, too.

Robert Lopez tells a disquieting story that suggests that there are no safe spaces for literature among the left or right.

The best part of the "Mon Laferte exposing herself story" is the wide variety of digital pasties that online outfits provide her. Flowers, dots, digital artifacts and, in creepy fashion, pure erasure.

Liberty doesn't mean the freedom to do anything you want. The true definition of liberty is the ability to choose the good. Anything less is libertinism.

“I was confused at first and then I started to doubt whether or not I should be offended.” No no, be offended. At everything.

Andrei Serban quits a tenured professorship at Columbia University because the college began to resemble the Communist country he fled from. Everything that's good and decent will be forced out in favor of woke box-checking. Are you not entertained?

Boris Zelkin elucidates a concern and proffers a solution to a problem that almost all parents of young children will have to face.

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