Some days, Batman once said, you cannot get rid of a bomb. Occasionally, I’ll have a story idea like that. It’s something I just cannot get rid of. Recently I’ve had four abso-smurf-ly killer story ideas. For Boston Legal. And absolutely nothing I can do with them–though I could write a teleplay on spec, I’dContinue reading “On Ideas”
Tag Archives: Writing
On Invitations
An interesting e-mail arrived today–an invitation to a blogger conference/get-together in Raleigh, hosted by the local NBC station there. I’ll admit, it’s intriguing. I’ve never thought of myself as someone who got noticed in the blogosphere. The NBC station wants to have a sit-down with bloggers to talk about the role blogs can play inContinue reading “On Invitations”
On The Things I Write
I wrote a short story today. It stars two kidneys. Yes, the organs, kidneys. The ones that filter the blood and produce urine. It’s a story about two kidneys, and their kidney-adventures. They talk to one another. One of my favorite lines is: “Okay!” said the other kidney, in that excitable way that kidneys do.Continue reading “On The Things I Write”
On Plato
Lately, I’ve been reading Plato. I haven’t thought about Plato since college. Ten, fifteen years. Reading Plato. I’ve read the Critias, Plato’s incomplete account of Atlantis. I’ve read the Apology, his account of Socrates’ trial. For good measure, I’ve also read Xenophon’s Apology, he take on the same event. I’ve read a little bit ofContinue reading “On Plato”
On Grand Designs
Grand Designs, the Star Trek: Corps of Engineers compilation containing my novella Ring Around the Sky, will be published by Pocket Books in July of 2007. The cover for it was unveiled today: The cover image is of the world Kharzh’ulla IV, seen in my story, as rendered by artist Chris Moore. Kharzh’ulla boasts ofContinue reading “On Grand Designs”
On An E-Mail Received
Today I received an e-mail I've been expecting for about six weeks now. It's from a reader of “Make-Believe.” The story hit close to home for him. He lost his brother-in-law in Iraq. The characters, the emotions rang true, he wrote. He said he was touched. I've written back to everyone that's written me aboutContinue reading “On An E-Mail Received”
On a Great Quote
Garrison Keillor had a fantastic line in his most recent newspaper column: When I was in college, I read Kafka and Camus and tried to write like them, in flat non-American English, as if written under the influence of a migraine, until it slowly dawned on me that I was missing the basic experiences thatContinue reading “On a Great Quote”
On Head-Thumping
That sound you hear? Those are my screams. I’d started a short story last week. It wasn’t much, I wrote two pages in the heat of the idea, and I wasn’t sure if I’d get back to it. If I’d want to get back to it. It was, suffice to say, a little strange, andContinue reading “On Head-Thumping”
On Editing
Yesterday a friend e-mailed a short story he’d written for a college course. Could I look over the story and make grammar and word suggestions? he asked. It was no problem, I said, and I’d be glad to do it. I read through the story last night, making a few notes as I went. TheContinue reading “On Editing”
On Desks and Work
Today I got my IKEA-styled, bought at Target, computer desk back. It has sat, on the side porch, for about two weeks. The room upstairs that was to be my office didn’t quite have the room to accomodate the desk, so I worked for two weeks steadily on the room clearing out the various andContinue reading “On Desks and Work”