This Blog Intentionally Blank

A Girl Named Serenity Sea

Here’s an excerpt from the story, “A Girl Named Serenity Sea,” part of my upcoming short fiction collection entitled Beyonder and Other Tales, to be published by Panthera Press in early 2018. Serenity Sea was born in a parking lot near Lagoon Creek Picnic Ground in Klamath, California, in the back of a poorly restored…

Part 2: The 40 Best Tips from Successful Authors & When to Ignore Them

Here’s Part 2 of my massive article on writer’s tips on writing. You can read Part 1 here. 21. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” –Anton Chekhov, playwright and short story writer Chekhov is widely accepted as one of the greatest writers in history. If…

Part 1: The 40 Best Tips from Successful Authors & When to Ignore Them

Due to the length of this post, it’s being presented in 2 parts. Part 2 (numbers 21-40) is presented here. For longer than I have been writing, I have been reading quotes from writers on writing. Some are clever, some schmaltzy, a few invaluable, and quite a few utter bollocks. I’ve decided to spend part…

The Stubborn-Ass Birth of Jesse Ed McKinney

This is the opening of a novelette entitled “The Stubborn-Ass Ghost of Jesse Ed McKinney.” It’s the first draft, to the extent that one can assign a ordinal number to my draft. I’ve read plenty of advice that says one should never edit while one is attempting to write. That is absolute nonsense. I firmly…

Whish! Whish! Whish!

Here’s an excerpt from a book I’m working on (one of 4) narrated by my main character, Hank Waters. I was raised by my grandma Cole, who used to whip me with an old-fashioned switch made of fresh hickory. It couldn’t be just any old stick, ‘cause grandma insisted on hickory, the greener the better….

Books and More Books

Now that I have time, and with my wife’s encouragement, I’m thinking about (re)releasing my books. All of the ones that were previously available (before I pulled them a few years ago) I’ve re-written, and I have 3 books that have never seen the light of day, including my new short fiction collection (11 short…

Trattoria Italiana

table for one away from the kitchen back to the world not under the plants skylight’s too bright too much limoncello the fat lady farted plus twenty percent 07/87 – 0 5/17

Redecorating

still in love. you’d think that after all these years of forgetting I’d have finally gotten it right. can’t wait to forget you, to have that space in my memory match the hole in my heart. i’ve always hated dissymmetry.

Le Journal de Das Book, Day 0

I am seldom subject to self-delusion. It has been the bane of my existence, this longing for rationality. No, it is not the desire of my dear, sweet frontal lobe, that tattered handmaiden burdened to my subconscious’ longing for prime numbers in all things. The poor dear is merely slave to its master, doing the…

We Should Come Back

It has taken me years to find my writing voice, or, rather, to assimilate the myriad voices in my head into a mélange that fits the literary version of myself. I prefer to write in the first-person Point of View, as it’s easier to hear my characters if I allow them to take the pen…

ode to a decade of art (or, i wish i could push rewind)

ten years ago i took up the knife held it to my eye and with a flick felt it cut; just a trickle and a speck, though and the city barely felt it but it was reddish-blue, a royal hue (though lacking you) and i cut again, and often. four-score and seven years ago minus…

Good Jazz

The way to tell good jazz is that you don’t notice him till the song’s ‘most over. Good jazz sneaks up behind you and pulls down your shorts and then drinks your beer when you to turn to see what’s happening. You stumble and fall, wondering who did the dirty deed, and you look back,…