The story below is a work of fiction. I notice the short guy that works in my building. Middle aged. Beige yuppie trenchcoat, untied. The hem probably grazes bottom shelves. Not fat; blocky, not stocky. He always orders “hot coffee” at Starbucks, never mentions a size. Unmarried. What does the guy do outside of work. … Story: Coatman
Art, you doing okay, big guy? I get it, though: “small” things can be “massive,” in a technical sense. It would mean they are dense, since there’s a lot of matter stuffed into a noticeably small space (volume). But people don’t use “massive” in that sense when they’re reading a fictional narrative, even when it’s … A Small But Massive Table
I got third in the spitting competition at Speculative Faith. It wasn’t even close, but I don’t know how close these things tend to get. As a reward for reading this post so far, you get to look at their past competitions and write up a detailed report for me, please. You won’t get paid, … Bronze Place Is Last Place
My short story made it to the finals in the Spec Faith writing challenge, and you can vote on the round here. My favorite story entry besides mine (c’mon…we all like our own stories the best, by default), this one by TJ Marquis, didn’t make the finals despite being rated highly in the first round. … Be a Guy and Don’t Vote for My Story in the Final Round
Breaking my blog hiatus to point you all to the Speculative Faith’s winter writing challenge. I hate doing these contests, but the writing prompt immediately sparked a complete story in my head. There you have it. Read the other stories before voting, though. There’s some good ones there. Anyone can enter, too, so if you … Definitely Don’t Vote for My Short Story
The story below is a work of fiction. A light rain. He offered the guy space under his umbrella, but he said he was okay without it. He wondered if it would seem kind of gay to the guy, since it seemed like that to him. What kind of unfortunate linguistic determinism is it that … This Story Won’t Turn You Gay
I had a different post scheduled, but this matter is heavily time sensitive. Jill’s The Minäverse is on sale now on Amazon for 99¢, until the end of July. A few facts: 1. The HTML entity for the cents symbol is ¢. 2. I had to Google whether the cent symbol came before or after … The Minäverse On Sale for 99 Cents
Some book reviews I’ve left on Goodreads. Kim I’m sure this is an excellent book, if I could understand it. Kipling stuffs it to the gills with so much colloquialisms and British-Indian cultural in-jokes that I may as well be reading Greek upside down and from the back. Much of the humor and significance is … Hella Book Reviews, Part 1
In addition to the Pale Blue Scratch review, Ivana also did an interview with me, about the book, writing in general, and a new book I’m working on (!!!): Where did you get your idea for Pale Blue Scratch? I was toying with the premise of an odd couple-type pair of sleuths trying to track … Interview Up at Diary of Difference
The story below is a work of fiction. A trained actor with an endless parade of stupid ideas. He would voice the most ridiculous, unrewarding ones and immediately criticize them before his friends could. “Here’s one: I’ll transplant to a different part of the country, out of the Valley. No one knows me. I’ll pull … Story: Something Persuasive
Ivana over at the Diary of Difference blog reviewed Pale Blue Scratch: I was lucky enough to be approached by Jay DiNitto himself, and he sent me a copy of his first novel – Pale Blue Scratch (you can read the e-book for free here) in exchange for an honest review. This is a book … Pale Blue Scratch Book Review
The story below is a work of fiction. Visiting her relatives is her secondmost hated event. They stumble over to her with their ethnic hair and diabetic knees. Their collective scent isn’t unpleasant but borderline inhuman; it triggers her disgust reflex. She leaves when she wants to. Trips to the grocery store are degrees worse, … Story: Despair in Two Parts
I made the Pale Blue Scratch ebook free for download over at Smashwords, and removed it from the Kindle store. Amazon doesn’t give the option to make your ebook free by default, so you have to request that they make it free, and it doesn’t always work. I don’t have the time or energy for … Pale Blue Scratch Ebook Now Free
The story below is a work of fiction. Another semester and another set of students, shining bright like Kubrick tiger eyes. He has enthusiasm for the job despite the contagion protocols of the classroom. They’ve all got superpowers but there’s no defense against the enemies we can’t see.
I hate writing book reviews, but this one may prove to be useful, and perhaps important, in the future. The last time I read The Minäverse, I compared it favorably to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. This was a mistake, not because neither were favorable, but because it bears little to Hitchhiker’s except for … Book Review: The Minäverse by Jill Domschot
Christine’s comment on my last post inspired me to throw out some song lyrics, as a type of poetry appreciation. The video for the song is at the bottom of this post, but don’t click play unless you’re prepared. At the very least, you can admire Mark deSalvo’s artwork in the video thumbnail, which appears … Other People Write: Advent of a Miracle by Strongarm
Men, arrayed on rays, vertex to vertex Reach across the plane with probisci Sleek and curious but blade-grass frail A lateral-diagonal intermingling God, as capstone, pours it downward Perpendicularity, liquid, and unpredicatable Few could apprehend from whence to where Most retract their probing lines, prophesying danger Only a few stay their hand to catch the … Story: Platonic Solid
The story below is a work of fiction. Initially, the object was only perceptible to the array of sensitive instruments focused onto the area, though it soon became visible to those gathered: astronomers, linguists, physicists. It emerged from the blankness of dead space, like a chick from its shell, at the exact coordinates and time … Story: Duality Erased
The story below is a work of fiction. “You and your inventions!” Talia shouted at Thomas, as she blasted away a few more of the large, crab-like, training room drones with her pulse rifle. “And now of all times!” “Those were the last ones, I think, for now,” Thomas reported from his crouched position next … Story: T.H.O.W.A.C.K.
These were published way back when I had a Xanga account. I was totally on point with these. Not sure what happened to the #1. Click to embiggen and make bigly.