So I’m working on revising the Short Story that Wouldn’t Die, the Thing in the Box story, which has survived 13 rejections (and one acceptance/’zine tank) to date. (The name started out as “Things You Don’t Want but Have to Take” and changed to “Fragile” when I thought it would sell better that way and […]

Among other things, summertime is about eating yourself stupid on fresh vegetables and fruit from the farmer’s market. And basil. Pesto 1 large bunch basil4 cloves garlic1/3 c (pre-grating) freshly-grated, extra-good Parmesan or Romano1/3-1/2 c. pine nutsHigh-quality extra-virgin olive oilRed wine vinegar (optional) I like rougher pesto; the smooth stuff just doesn’t do it for

I realized a couple of days ago that I’m good at my job. Sad, isn’t it? I can sling commas with the best of them. I can argue quotation marks until I’m blue in the face. I can stand toe to toe with rocket scientists (well, engineers) and tell them they may not include metaphors

I’m tired of waiting for my daughter to come home. –I was doing just fine until about half an hour ago, when I saw some pictures of her fishing with Grandpa & co. And now I am not doing fine. Done being patient!

Happy Independence Day. While a lot of people will be exhorting you to remember the sacrifices other people made to make this country what it is (usually so you will shut up and stop disagreeing with them for five minutes), I would like to exhort you to remember to be independent. You are not your

Ray’s getting older. For better or worse, she’s grown away from the sugar sweet innocence of babyhood. She isn’t sour, but she’s tarter – wittier – able to stand just the tiniest bit back from the events happening around her and see them from her own perspective, not just her parents’ or friends’. It’s still

So this kid tells his father a bad joke. And his father tells me. And I, admittedly not the best joke teller (or rememberer; I only have two long jokes and two short ones at hand most of the time) in the world, tell my daughter. Here’s the joke: “An actor wants to get a

The last few weeks have been rough – too many projects going on, too many possibilities. Too much editing. So instead of trying to accomplish it all as fast as I can, so I can fit more in (my usual mode of operation), I’ve been trying to (face it; something in the back corner of

I took a floating holiday on Wednesday. That morning, I tried to do edits, but realized I still didn’t have a plan on how exactly to fix something, so I used the morning working that out. I hate rebuilding plans during editing time – it works much better to brainstorm during meetings. But I couldn’t

A Betrayal in Winter, by Daniel Abraham.The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson, edited by Richard Dalby.So far on the Gene Wolfe Solar Cycle… — My only complaint with A Betrayal in Winter was the fact that most of the action (all but the epilogue) occurred in SUMMER. SUMMER. I think this is a valid