I've been writing, on and off, since the fifth grade. There are long periods of "off," the most recent of which has been Altogether Too Long. Putting up this site is my attempt at changing that, by taking an inventory of my output to date. So here we are; take a look and let me know what you think, if you're so inclined. Amazingly, there are a few pieces that are so bad they aren't listed here.
Il Santo: Written September 20, 1994. Second person storytelling is always at risk of pretention; you may judge whether or not I succeeded in avoiding that trap.
The Boy, the Monkey, and the Well: Written August 20, 1997. I'm rather pleased with this one; it could probably benefit from a few more redrafts, but it's a nice solid core.
Give Us This Day: Written December 2, 1997. A short story about bread and its manufacture.
These two short stories are based in a fictional Middle America town and most likely serve to illustrate my vast ignorance of Middle America. Blessings Exchange is a weird little place, and I may well build it up into a proper locale later.
Harrower: It was hard and awkward to write, and that's how it reads. There is a lot of salvageable imagery here I expect to reuse elsewhere, though. This took third prize at the 1994 Short Fiction Competition sponsored by the USC English Department.
Eightball: Written April 7, 1995. This won the 1995 Short Fiction Competition of the USC English Department, for what that's worth. They were probably having a crappy year for submissions. I'm not too happy with this piece; it lacks focus. I'm sure characters and situations will get recycled into something else eventually.
Another series, this one incomplete, where the original intent was to write a short piece relating to each of the ten Sephira -- I was going through a Qabbala thing at the time.
Binah (Wax): Loose plotting in this one, and indifferent characterization. I suppose I could rework it, but there are other things I'm frankly much more interested in.
Chesed (Edges): Short vignette, fairly straightforward. Really more of a 'Little Bit' than a short story.
Gevurah (The Forging): This short story will eventually become a longer work; this is one of my current projects.
Tipheret (Danseur): This is the first one I wrote. It's unfocused, but not entirely charmless. Quick vignette, should also go under 'little bits.'.
Yesod (Rivets): An exercise in voice, this steelworker gets a little purple-prosed, but it's a decent enough little Twilight Zone pastiche, sort of thing.
Malkuth (Imago): I'd almost forgotten I'd written this; it's moody and has some obvious symbolism of the Linkin Park OMG CRAWLING IN MY SKIN variety, but, again, there are salvageable bits that intrigue me and may wind up elsewhere.
Neither short stories nor poetry, 'little bits' are short prose pieces that don't fit well into a category.
Hunger: November 2, 2002.
Weather: November 3, 2002.
Fish: November 5, 2002.
Duties of the Prisoner: March 20, 2003. The phrase 'duties of the prisoner' has been rattling around in my head for at least 8 years now, and I guess it accreted this around itself. Still want to expand this into a short story proper, possibly more.
The Arcana series is a collection of short prose pieces; each piece describes a hypothetical extension to the 22 regular 'major arcana' of the Tarot. I'm pretty sure this was at least partially kicked off by the extra Majors Roland of Gilead sees in Stephen King's 'The Gunslinger.'
Arcanum 23 (Bearer of Fulfilled Needs): The central image came in a dream, as these things sometimes do.
Arcanum 24 (Hunger): There's a lot of embarrassing juvenilia here, and this is a pretty sterling example.
Arcanum 25 (The Embrace): I don't really have a lot to say about this one. File under 'juvenilia'.
Arcanum 26 (The Mender of Faults): This is a fairly direct statement of a recurring theme in stuff I write -- redemption. Not stellar, but an example of its type, I suppose.
Arcanum 27 (Contentment): There's something in this one I kind of like; I may develop it into something a bit more substantial.
Arcanum 28 (The Soldier): Again, there's something here I'd like to develop further in here.
Arcana Descriptions: These are descriptions of the pictures on the cards above. The original descriptions only go up to 26; I've added descriptions of 27 and 28 recently (March 10, 2003).
Neglect: Written November 4, 1993. I want to say this is 'embarrassing juvenilia,' but 'twee' is perhaps a shorter way of saying the same thing.
She, Again: Written November 4, 1993. Oy. See also 'twee, embarrassing juvenilia.'
The First Monday: Written March 17, 1995.
Scars: Written September 27, 2001.
Prayers of Prey: Written September 28, 2001.
Faithless: Written January 30, 2002.
Treason: November 1, 2002.
Dance: November 4, 2002.
Inventory: November 18, 2002.
Mornin' is the coldest time: April 29, 2003.
Love Song For A Murderer: July 23, 2003.
Entering the Plea: July 10, 2004