So What Did I See on May 13, 1968?
I don’t think I’ve ever written in any detail the story of May 13, 1968 at the Art Institute in Chicago, the day I realized I was an artist. May 13, 1968 was a Monday, and I rode a bus … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Writing
A Writing Biography, Part VI: Failures, Successes, Rhythms and Swerves, 1983-1994
I’m struck by the veering between successes and failures in this period, losing control and skidding across all four lanes until I’d finally get enough sense to stop the car and take a good look around. Had I never learned … Continue reading →
Supreme Commander Laurie: Manuscript Status and Spaceships
Sometimes this novel still feels like a rough draft, sometimes a finished work close to publication. But I finally decided that Draft 2 is done and that I’m working on successive edits of a final manuscript of Supreme Commander Laurie. … Continue reading →
The Fools of Supreme Commander Laurie’s Fire
During Draft Two edits I’ve been struck by how nobody wants to pin a solid name on the central anomaly of the universe as posited in the final Jack Commer book, Balloon Ship Armageddon: The n-dimensional sphere represents contradictory and … Continue reading →
Supreme Commander Laurie: Draft Two Territory
Supreme Commander Laurie Draft Two, still in progress, is already 27 pages and 7,858 words lighter. Overall the energy’s high and the story arc’s where I want it; I don’t see holes, extraneous junk, or need for major architectural work. … Continue reading →
Supreme Commander Laurie, Draft 1: Completed
Rough Draft Synopsis of a Rough Draft Colonel Laurie Lachrer, just appointed Supreme Commander of the USSF, inexplicably transports to the new Typhoon VIII spaceship where former SCUSSF Jack Commer leads a no-return mission to the Unknown Anomaly at the … Continue reading →
The Characters Table
For a while I’ve been compiling a list of similar characters in my fiction; for instance, why is Michelle Morgan, graduate student, philosopher, and Sunday supplement author in Akard Drearstone, so much like Moolka Waxtor, writer in residence and secret … Continue reading →
What If?
Aren’t most novels inspired by a central What If? Investigating the original What If of my novels or long stories has required a lot of thought. It’s possible that some really never began with a real What If. But I … Continue reading →
A Writing Biography, Part V: Space, Time, and Tania through The University of Mars, 1974-1982
It’s time I brought this series further up to date; ideas for it have been kicking around since 2014. Though it’s seemed unnatural to try to split my life up into these various parts, which I keep rearranging as I … Continue reading →
The Unknown Ending for The Martian Marauders
This post is incredibly introspective and self-absorbed, but at least one of us is finding it interesting. I won’t say the final page of the incomplete, handwritten eighth-grade draft of The Martian Marauders ever deeply fascinated me, but in looking … Continue reading →