Well Sea

A quick trip to see the ocean often reveals the simplest possible truths. You might hear seagulls, ride in the historic Mt. Washington steam train, climb said mountain in a car (though without racing) and, in the banality of basic tourism, find a few moments worth remembering: that most essential something which seems to live […]

Beamed Up, Up and Away

Two anthologies out, two days apart.

Beamed Up!

Whose name is that on the cover? Why, it’s mine! I’m thrilled to be part of this amazing space team! I hope you’ll pick up a copy! Or if you prefer other sellers besides amazon: https://books2read.com/u/3R11ev The publisher, Amphibian Press, is doing a pre-sales promotion, giving away artwork of the characters if you take a screenshot […]

Four Rules for Surviving a First Draft

A first draft is a battlefield of ideas tearing themselves apart. As you charge for the objective, injured ideas beg for your attention, plotting errors lead to landmines going off seemingly at random, research fox-holes beckon you to take a break and dive into something safe and intriguing, and critics (internal and external) direct bullets of self-doubt and flamethrowers of fear.

Cold Morning Launch

Howdy! I’m launching an online, free to read, web-serial at cold-morning.com – a globe-trotting, knuckle-popping, urban fantasy set in 1935, following the trials of Mark Simmons, who wants really badly to be called Markus Summanus, Professional Adventurer. This blog will still see updates from me, mostly when I travel. which I haven’t been doing much of […]

Eight Poor Words, and How to Enrich Them.

I see these words used frequently by my students. They seldom improve a sentiment. Some muddy clear water. Others waste opportunity. Editing for them provides eight ways to improve the next draft.

New Fiction: Last and Alone

I’ve posted a new short story over in the fiction section: Last and Alone is the narrative of cloned soldier marooned on an alien world when the last human arc ship dies.

Blog Update Schedule

This blog is updated when I travel. When not traveling, my writing emphasis weighs firmly upon fiction, which I may post on this site when the mood strikes me (but will be in the fiction section, not the blog). I have two lives: the interesting one in which I prepare to write, and the uninteresting […]

Korakas

For one month I lived in this abandoned shack, surrounded by counterfeit life-vests, cast off clothes, wrecked boats, and the Aegean sea.

Landing on Lesvos

The Syrian family had strikingly clear eyes. A refracting blue like crystal – hard and bright and the color of the shallow waters off Korakas or the eastern sky before dawn. But I didn’t notice. I didn’t notice when I met the family of four on the beach, surrounded by thirty Afghanis who didn’t speak […]