The Fanatics of Utrum

I was not kidding when I said I have a lot of ideas for stories with vampires. This is the opening of another that I worked on somewhere around 2016, I think. Admittedly, this story was going to include a wide range of fantasy creatures and be more reminiscent of a setting you might find … Continue reading The Fanatics of Utrum →

Fiction Sample

I've been just a little obsessed with vampires since I was 9-10 and had a nightmare that woke me in terror and sent me running to my parents' room for comfort, something that almost never happened because of a dream. I loved reading vampire novels, watching vampire movies, and the occasional vampire TV show, like … Continue reading Fiction Sample →

War of the Soul

I have to apologize to Tolkien for the following story, as I have indulged in allegory. It's not a great story. I don't read it and think this is the best I have done or can do. It's a very, very personal story. It tells what happened to me through the language of fiction and … Continue reading War of the Soul →

A Certain Way of Seeing the World

I like to browse used bookstores from time to time. I used to collect anything that looked interesting, but lately I've pulled back from that for mental health reasons. When I have the focus for it, fiction reading is very much an escapist activity for me right now, and I don't want to be surprised … Continue reading A Certain Way of Seeing the World →

Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t

I'm up to 144k words on my rough draft. I know what the ending will be. I have already started reorganizing the material so that I can split and expand it into a trilogy for the second draft. And yet, here I am, not having touched it in days now, perhaps weeks. I have writer's … Continue reading Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t →

I’ve Been Blessed By The Elder Gods

I was taking a bath - all stories about Elder Gods should begin in a maddening, circuitous fashion, so you'll just have to bear with me - anyway, I wasn't a fan of baths for most of my life, as I found them time-consuming and boring, but after spraining my ankle, I started soaking with … Continue reading I’ve Been Blessed By The Elder Gods →

I Don’t Think I Can Add This Job To My Resume

I've never exactly been in step with society or people in general. I'm off the beaten path, marching to the beat of my own drum - however you want to say it. That's usually not intentional. I'm pretty sure it would have happened with or without the homeschooling and religious brainwashing. I come from a … Continue reading I Don’t Think I Can Add This Job To My Resume →

Everybody Poops Poetry

I used to say my soul was full of prose, not poetry. I said this because I was afraid that deep down, there was a poet residing in me, a bad one with more fervor than skill, and that he was just waiting to drip overwrought melodrama onto a page. With prose you can build … Continue reading Everybody Poops Poetry →

Reading that Shapes the Writer: Pride & Prejudice

Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice is my favorite classic and probably my favorite novel that is not in the speculative fiction genre. I can trace my love of entertaining dialogue, social interaction and skillful mockery of human foibles to Austen, before I ever found my way to Pratchett or Adams. This book is often thought … Continue reading Reading that Shapes the Writer: Pride & Prejudice →