The idea for CommWealth came from the first part of these notes from a dream (“Their Satanic Majesties Computer Software Guide”), although successive revisions changed much of the plot. The second part, “The Tremendous Romance,” wasn’t used in the novel. … Continue reading →
I’ve always thought of the characters in CommWealth as an ensemble cast in a movie, where accomplished actors divide the plot between them and no one actor has the lead role. I didn’t intend this approach from the beginning, but … Continue reading →
I’m not sure this is the protagonist, Harry Allen, but I drew him or someone today and there he possibly is. The novella chronicling his first day out of prison, The First Twenty Steps, is now available in paperback from … Continue reading →
Sortmind Press is participating in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale which runs through July 31. As Smashwords points out, it’s winter in the southern hemisphere and this is a global enterprise, thus Summer/Winter sale. You have proof of this in that … Continue reading →
I haven’t posted a blog entry since the North Texas Book Festival entry of April 7, an unnervingly long time to go dark. However, the seed of darkness came the day of the April 9 festival itself; in order to … Continue reading →
Once again I’ll have a table at the North Texas Book Festival in Denton, Texas, on Saturday, April 9. The festival takes place at the Patterson-Appleton Center for the Visual Arts, 400 E. Hickory St., Denton, Texas 76201. Hours are … Continue reading →
Although Moolka Waxtor’s romance with Derrick Dexter is central to The Soul Institute, Himal Steina, the bombastic new writer in residence who’s inexplicably appointed to the secret ruling council of Overcrons, develops an obsession for this eighteen-dimensional goddess, eventually getting … Continue reading →
It hasn’t quite sunk in yet that I’ve published a literary, adult novel. This is not to denigrate my Jack Commer science fiction novels or CommWealth, which is also a literary novel but borders the science fiction and dystopian genres. … Continue reading →
I was pointedly hard-nosed about Jipo Jarg in the first version of The Soul Institute as I strove to delineate Jipo and Derrick’s bitter corporate marriage. Maybe Jipo was all shadow-projection on my part, and the below excerpts probably reinforce … Continue reading →
A small coastal college promises sanctuary to a downtrodden midlevel computer technician who inexplicably finds himself named writer in residence at the Soul Institute–but quickly finds that he’s blundered into chaos and tragedy. The Soul Institute, published by Sortmind Press, … Continue reading →
