I’m Glad I’m Not in Dixie

* sung to the tune of “(I Wish I Was in) Dixie’s Land” I’m glad I’m not in the land of cottonwhere subjunctive’s long forgotten.Stay away! Stay away!Stay away from Dixie, man. In Dixie Land, I’m not a kingI’m just a brown-skinned ugly thingStay away! Stay away!Stay away from Dixie, man. ‘Cause I’m not a...

Pantsing, Plantsing, Planning & Proficiency

After having finished nineteen books over a period of thirteen years, with questionable success in marketing them, I am taking a needed break from writing. It's a shame, as I feel as though I have just achieved some level of mastery over my art. To fill the creative gap, I have taken up (very amateurish)...

The Edge

Here is an excerpt from my latest novel, Trinity's Redemption. It is the start of Chapter Two, "Birth and Rebirth" and in some way is meant to repudiate the hackneyed and overused 'show not tell.' I prefer 'interesting, not boring.' Apparently, they stopped teaching that in writing school.In any case, here goes.My first memory is...

Don’t “Show” or “Tell”

I attempted to free my writing self by "channeling" advice on how to improve. Specifically, I asked my muse(s) about the concept of "show, not tell." This is what I got. Would you mind very much if what we show you becomes the basis for twenty-first century writing? I didn’t think so. Here it goes:...

First Lines

I've just become curious about books' first lines and whether they truly indicate what is to come. After some consideration, I still don't know the answer to that, but I have pulled together the first lines in all 16 of my published books. At least that was an interesting exercise. Grandfather Time - "Charlie hated...

Eddie Daley Escapes

There is something about driving on the open road that brings a man peace. I don’t mean the type of open road you find squeezed in between rubber-stamped suburbs along the U.S. east coast or the hilly off-limits-to-most rolling greenery of much of the UK. I’m talking about the American west, where the only thing...

A Pregnant Trint Is Still Formidable

An excerpt from Hard As Roxx, "Who's Your Daddy?"“So, your brilliant plan is that you kidnap me, Roxx rushes off to rescue me in a fit of rage and you kill her.” “Something like that,” he answered. He had the disconcerting habit of talking with his hands, gun hand included. “Yeah, well, I’ve seen that...

Excerpt: Hibi – Human Brainwave Interface Device

I am writing a novel and a collection of stories that serve as a sequel and adjuncts to my Aligned Worlds series. However, I don't intend on publishing either, but will instead send them free to my few very dedicated readers. The novel, Trinity's Redemption, manages to be the prequel to Hard as Roxx, and...

From Whence Come Titles

Titles--book titles, poem titles, story titles--come from a variety of places. In their purest form, they emerge from the work itself, encapsulating the theme in a few words. However, they can bend the light to the piece to the extent that people occasionally struggle to understand how the author came up with his title. In...

Herk Meets Jemini Starr

Here's an excerpt from 20 Million Billion Leagues Past Detroit, wherein Herk Delacroix meets Jemini Starr for the first time. Herk Delacroix Five minutes later, Herk reached the door of his penthouse, apartment B-113 South, the number representing that he lived in the second of two towers on the south face of the 113th floor....