Category Archives: Uncategorized

Truth or Dare?

Acceptance and rejection letters come in many forms. For the latter, there are form letters and postcards with checkboxes. Sometimes these come with a handwritten scribbled note at the bottom. Sometimes the rejections are personalized and constructive. I once received … Continue reading

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Social activism

I’ve gone on two protest marches so far this year. I’ve contacted my congressman. I joined the ACLU. And I’ve written to complain to a cereal company! I’ve always been a big consumer of cereal. Growing up, I ate it … Continue reading

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March for Science

On Saturday, I took part in the Houston satellite March for Science. The organizers expected 10,000 people to show up, but the semi-official estimates suggest that 15,000 people showed up. There were a lot of scientists from academia and industry, … Continue reading

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Comicpalooza 2017

In anticipation of the new Twin Peaks series, I’ve been watching the original. I remember how eager we were to see it when it first aired in 1990. There was big buzz around it, and each week we dissected the … Continue reading

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Pain-Man has a date

The story was accepted last May, but I found out this morning that “Pain-Man” will be included in the July/August issue of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. My first appearance there. It’s about a man of a certain age who decides … Continue reading

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The Halloween Tree

I’m happy to reveal that my original short story “The Halloween Tree,” will be in Volume Four of Halloween Carnival, an anthology edited by Brian Freeman for Hydra/Random House. One of my Necon friends made the connection between the story … Continue reading

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When Death Answers Your Letter

A funny thing happened yesterday. I was working on a short story and I reached a point where I was convinced I had written myself into a corner. I had conjured a scenario so specific that I couldn’t see my … Continue reading

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Sense of an Ending

We saw the movie adaptation of Julian Barnes’s Man-Booker Prize-winning novel The Sense of an Ending last weekend. I haven’t read the book (I will now), but the cast alone was enough to convince us to see the film. It … Continue reading

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Jackie and Ove

I finished the first draft of a 4400-word short story yesterday, sitting at the bar in the local Mexican restaurant while drinking a margarita. I wonder if that makes the margarita tax deductible? Then I dictated it into the computer … Continue reading

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If I say it enough, it will become true

My interview with Stephen King and Richard Chizmar about their collaborative novella, “Gwendy’s Button Box,” is up at CD Online. We were familiar with the name Seretse Khama from the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels by Alexander McCall Smith. Mma … Continue reading

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