Short fiction and non-fiction essays for your entertainment and inspiration.
SHORT STORIES
CATAGORIES :
Launching Art of the Kill
This is my seventh self-published novel. I believe it’s my best. How many novels have I written? More than that. And how many stories? Countless. That includes the story I labored over for hours and weeks and months after long working days as an accountant. Finally finished, I bundled the pages into my motorcycle bag and drove them home to my then-wife. However, I forgot to fasten the buckle on my saddlebag, and the papers blew all over I-5 in Portland. That was probably for the best.
Encountering Writer’s Block Head On
I hate to call it writer's block, because extended, incapacitating writer’s block is incompatible with the role of the professional writer (my income depends on my productivity). However, momentary blockage is normal and expected. Experienced writers don’t eliminate writer’s block; they design around it.
Buttermilk Cinnamon Puppies
For two years, without success, I had been trying to produce a cinnamon roll that was soft, smooth and cuddly like a new puppy. But instead of getting a chewy, moist bakery roll, I kept getting something like a supermarket roll that seemed a little coarse and even dry – more like an old dog than a puppy.
Ask Me
My father simply spills out of my mouth from time to time, causing me great embarrassment.
I hadn’t seen Dan in twenty years, and he had barely changed in all that time, while I have gone from a robust forty-something to a bald old version of Joe Sr., who, in fact, died just a few years ago with a full head of wavy white hair.
A Tepid Cup of Coffee
I’m currently transitioning from my nth career as a college professor to a full-time fiction writer, and it’s a scary transition.