I must have been about eight years old. Our neighbor, a grandmotherly type whose children had all grown up, was cleaning out her garage and brought over a box of books, mostly Whitman Classics hardcovers. I could have them if I wanted them, she told me. I wasn’t a big reader at eight, but it…
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I’m offering my science fiction novel, Strictly Analog, as a FREE download today at Amazon. Ted Lomax does his best to get by as a private detective in a society where almost nothing is private any more. He lives in a near-future California that has gained independence from the economically collapsed United States and where…
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When you think of E.M. Forster (if you think of him at all), you probably think about British novels that have inspired Oscar buzz-worthy films like Howard’s End, A Room with a View, and A Passage to India. All good, but the kind of thing most science fiction fans don’t jump to as their next…
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When I was about 5 years old, my favorite book was Captain Kitty. And by favorite, I mean I had my mother read it to me so many times that 35 years later I was still able to recite the first several pages even though my copy of the book was long gone, probably in…
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You know who I’m talking about, right? The mustachioed miner from the Rankin & Bass claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer from the mid-60s. He’s a bit rough around the edges but helps Rudolph, ends up on the Island of Misfit Toys, and finally helps save the day in the end. The thing I keep…
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I’ve just finished listening to the audiobook version of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, the preferred text read by the author. It’s been said that writers are often the worst readers of their own work, which may be true in some cases, but not this one. Gaiman’s rendering of the different characters’ voices is brilliant, vivid, and…
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When I released my first book in paperback and Kindle editions earlier this year, I had the nice opportunity of being able to sign some copies for friends. One person joked about whether I’d sign his Kindle for him. I kindly offered to scratch my name into the cover. When my second book came out…
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