On Writing Stories

I started writing fiction when I was nine. But I didn’t write what I considered “serious fiction” until I was fourteen. They were baseball stories about the struggles, triumphs, and defeats of the game. There were no personal struggles in those stories that went beyond a weak pitcher trying to defeat a strong lineup of … Continue reading On Writing Stories

Being a Self-Published Author

Not that I never tried to become a published author in the traditional sense, but I’m too impatient to wait for something I can do myself. After all, I self-published my first short story in book form when I was fourteen. Ten years later, I self-published my own comic book. By the time I was … Continue reading Being a Self-Published Author

Book of Stories

Anyone interested in reading my latest book Night of the Hell Hounds and Other Stories from the Ridgewood Chronicles, Kindle Edition at Amazon, can follow this link: https://www.amazon.com/Night-Hell-Hounds-Ridgewood-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00AY2K1H6. Anyone interested in the paperback version can follow this link: https://www.amazon.com/Night-Hell-Hounds-Ridgewood-Chronicles/dp/B0CQHDH44C/. I also have an author site via Amazon. You can view it at https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00B356PPU to see … Continue reading Book of Stories

New Year, New Ideas, New Goals

I love writing fiction. It brings out my inner child. The story world of my books is a playground in my mind where my characters can run as fast as they can, jump far, fly if they need to, fall and skin their knees if they must, and end up heroes if I want them … Continue reading New Year, New Ideas, New Goals

A Bit on Writing and Art

With NaNoWriMo in full swing, I’ve been seeing a lot of fiction writers write about plot. I’m a short story writer, but I’ve been through plenty of classes for novelists that teach Aristotle’s 3-act structure of Beginning, Middle, and End, and the popular 4-act structure (which lengthens and halves the Middle section) for novels. I … Continue reading A Bit on Writing and Art

Bones In the Sand, Story 2022-1031

It’s Halloween. “Bones In the Sand” is another short story from the 1990s. I wrote this one in 1991 for my children, especially for my son. Now it’s here for the rest of the world to read. And it has skeletons in it for all you bone lovers to enjoy on this Halloween. Enjoy. It … Continue reading Bones In the Sand, Story 2022-1031

Secrets and Haunted: Two Stories, 2022-1030

Tomorrow is Halloween. To prepare for the occasion, I perused some of my old spooky tales, and now I’m posting two stories for your reading pleasure. “Secrets” is a quickie about someone with secrets sitting with a fortune teller. It began in the 1980s and grew only so far and stopped, so I left it … Continue reading Secrets and Haunted: Two Stories, 2022-1030

The main character is based on some authors I know. Some are full of self-importance; some aren't. Some just write…

Healing implies an end, but writing Hadestown was more like learning to walk with a limp. You don’t fix the damage, you…

Thanks, purplegoatee, glad you're enjoying this.

I make comments as I read. Lines I particularly like. For example, "Mark would’ve called that “too on the nose,”…

Great observations, Joseph, and sadly, so true about writers. The writing group I presided over for many years ended up…

I used to attend a writer's critique group and I always tried to frame comments in a positive manner and…

Thanks Joseph. Wishing you a wonderful 2026.

Congrats on the getting the new book to proof reading. We have been getting a lot more snow than normal…

Thanks Max. I like the rocking Kenny too.

Glad you are getting it done Steve! Love that Kenny Rogers song as well...I like the rocking Kenny.