One textbook from my USF days was the 1992 edition of Flash Fiction, featuring 72 short stories under 1000 words. Although I didn't give it much thought at the time, since I was only interested in writing novels, I have since found really short stories ideal for the attention-deficit, information-saturated internet age. And so let me introduce... Continue Reading →
I went to my parent's house last week to interview my father for his biography, and I ended up rummaging through the attic again to find a real treasure, the Writer's Market 1991. It was from my first real stab at publication. I sent four query letters for my first novella, Dynotus Adventures, the story of... Continue Reading →
Arthur Alimonos in NYC, 1952One day my father called me at work to tell me about Bill Clinton's new autobiography. "He made 10 million dollars!" he told me. "You see, that's what people want to read, true stories!" For decades, my father has harped on me about how people don't want "fake" stories. In his... Continue Reading →
The first story I wrote for Mrs. Ciresi's Creative Writing class at USF was called The Post Office. When I was done reading it, many of my classmates urged me to submit it to a contest, and stupid me thought that would be a waste of time. Now, ten years later, I deeply regret that... Continue Reading →
You know, it's strange, because getting these is a lot like a roller coaster, in a bad way, because I am not too fond of sudden ups and downs. It's remarkable to think with how little ceremony it sits there, with all the other garbage from your mailbox, a plain white envelope on the kitchen counter... Continue Reading →
In the 2004 film, Troy, Achilles kills Hector after a climactic battle, and Andromache, beset by grief for the death of her husband, basically does . . . nothing. The actress gives a performance of subdued shock, blinking heavily before slacking against the parapet wall. This is in stark contrast to the way Homer describes the... Continue Reading →
Wow. That pretty much sums up my review of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass. I just finished it, oh, about 5 minutes ago and couldn't wait to write about it. My interest in the book started after the controversy surrounding the movie. Apparently, Pullman is an atheist, and His Dark Materials trilogy, of which Compass... Continue Reading →
There are many powerful swords in the fantasy world: Excalibur, Icingdeath and Twinkle, the Sword of Omens, Emmaxis, the +5 vorpal sword of annihilation---but none compare to the mightiest blade of all, Editor. Editor can do more than kill a character; it can wipe out entire cities, whole civilizations, threads of reality from ever having existed at all! Such is the... Continue Reading →
The Delian people have a very different creation myth than that of Eldin. Their myth, told in song, reflects the values of their people: namely strength and courage. It is written in the style of the epic poem; I have done my best to emulate one of my favorites from antiquity, the Kalevala: Epic of the Finns, which... Continue Reading →
For two decades, my family and friends have struggled to understand my need to tell stories, and to have those stories be recognized. They sometimes see it as just a need for approval, or praise, or fame. While praise does motivate me, what really drives me to write is much simpler: we who suffer from... Continue Reading →
The Art of Storytelling 
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