If you listen to interviews of authors, one of the questions you’ll hear most often is: “Where do you get your ideas?” I hear a plaintive note in this question. It is asked so often. Sometimes with reference to a specific work or series (like with George R. R. Martin and A Song of Ice…
Tag: fiction
Twist Endings (Caturday Questions)
Little Cat has been seeing versions of this joke all over the internet these days. And why not? It’s a classic. It’s the basis for a lot of Emo Phillips’s material. And of course, twist endings are having their day in the sun in Marvel movies, horror and thriller films… And was it only a…
The World is Big. Keep Going, Son.
In our first delivery we find Stuart with Aleena soon after their marriage, in their beachside house together, sharing breakfast after a night of lovemaking. We get the sense they are living a life of privilege and of exploring affirmative mind-states. Since that opening delivery we jumped back in time to dig around in Stuart’s…
Another Thor Story
It’s been less than a week since I returned from India. In five days, I should have been accosted at least three times by a tiny person with huge dark eyes. He should have hit me with his tiny fists and insisted: “Tell one Thor story!” I am referring of course to my nephew, Dr….
Textures (Caturday Questions)
Florida is not known for its winters, but Human-Mom did take to wearing her long sleeves when those nights started getting a bit chilly. Big Cat likes the feel of cotton under his paws. But Little Cat maintains he likes nuzzling against the bare forearm a bit better. The cats love their textures. Actually your…
To the Future – Where We Know Ourselves
An Archaic Concept of Me. Recap In previous deliveries we meet Stuart and Aleena, as they begin married life together. They lead a life of comfort, and prospective wealth, and they take that privilege for granted, as their due, through their affirmative mind-states. They congratulate each other on the manifestations of abundance arising from their lithe…
An Archaic Concept of Me
Incremental Delivery #2 Editor’s Note: This is the second “Delivery” in the series. If you would like to catch up, you can do so here. The opening: I was young; I was anxious; I was bound to an archaic concept of me. She smoothed my mind and body with her sunny day thoughts and yoga…
Peek inside the Rare Book Room
I want to talk for a bit about what was truly magical about being an academic: the rare book room. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I feel a bit dismal about my own PhD journey. Huge swaths of American Academia are a scam. I’m not alone in thinking this. But. But! There…
Girls*
Girl No. 1 Did you brush your teeth? Did you put cream on? Did you wash your face before you put cream on? I told you to have the pro-bio before having breakfast. Now what about water? Drink water before food. How many times have I told you that having a bottle of water is…
Baggage
This is the draft of a story I wrote in almost a single breath, and then submitted to a couple of literary magazines. The rejections were polite. One said that there was not enough development of the secondary characters, particularly the father, and that showing up to a party in the wrong clothing felt too…