Writing

Image credit: From the Mark Talbot-Butler collection on pota.goatley.com. The sun sags in its low October arc, eclipsed now and then by the Douglas Firs that line the rural two-lane highway in Washington’s Snohomish Valley. Our destination: Bob’s Corn, a working farm that annually transforms into a fall-themed amusement park. Hundreds of cars park haphazardly … Read more

I had a note to get this out by end of January, but what’s the point of a deadline if I meet it? Only by my being three months late does my deadline truly attain fulfillment. Break the deadline, be the deadline. It’s not like I didn’t have an excuse. Let’s see. Mother-in-law passed away. … Read more

Fresh off the North Pole workshop assembly line: Thirteen Christmas-themed sci fi flash fiction stories, just in time to stuff the stockings of the sci fi fan in your life. The reindeer scientists at Blitzen Genetics Laboratory have discovered why noses turn red, and they present their research in my very short story, Mutations of … Read more

The three end-of-year holidays I remember from my youth—Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—are upon us in the usual frenzied blur. But early writing deadlines have added a unique twist to this festive season. Finish my Halloween story by June? Are you kidding? How can anyone visualize a trick-or-treat mass-murder scene while spring flowers are in bloom? … Read more

If you’re one of the faithful half-dozen who takes the time to read these blogs, I should first thank you for enduring my unedited musings and many typos. Thanks! I wonder, though, what you might think of my productivity. I often feel like I’m spinning my wheels. I’ll wake up and declare the day has … Read more

There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.—George Orwell Every day, minions labor in the clouds to come up with some new meteorological phenomena. A polar vortex, a microburst, that sort of thing. But when they’ve lost their creative mojo … Read more

We’re watering our trees again. While the mild weather facilitated this morning’s pre-dawn bathrobe-and-slippers dog walk, at this point I’d prefer a foot of snow. I can keep wishing. Colorado’s second-worst drought since 1895 is unlikely to break anytime soon. Like the weather, my writing has dried up. I’ve done nothing but rough drafts for … Read more

First Encounters. A Speculative Fiction Anthology. After numerous late nights laboring over word choice, endless debates regarding the Oxford comma, and scratching our heads raw as we navigated the self-publishing industry, my critique group has produced its first annual anthology. Read my story Jimmy’s Hat, then tell me who did a better job portraying Jimmy … Read more

It’s been five months since my last blog. Instead of writing to you, my faithful half-dozen readers, I watched my dad desiccate like an autumn leaf. It’s easy for me to forget he’s gone. If I hear a good joke, I imagine sharing it with him in that brief moment before I realize I can’t. … Read more