Grumpy book review: Lapvona
I don’t fit into the intended audience of most contemporary fiction reviewers so I try to avoid them. But a recent YouTube reviewer had one of my favorites, Blood Meridian,…
Book review: Ink Black Heart
I recently listened to the audio version of the detective novel The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith. Galbraith is the pen name used by J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter…
Review: Killing Commendatore
I became familiar with the Japanese author Haruki Murakami during my current fiction-gorging phase. How could I have been unfamiliar with such a gifted author? It’s not an excuse but…
Poem: From the backseat of my aunt’s Chevy
From the backseat her red hair an accusation. Thin, careworn, and cunning burnt forever by that long-ago season; she knows the wrong things. Dissolute pools trapping the blue sky, her…
One paragraph story: First day with The Betty Jane
Here is a short–one paragraph(!)–story I wrote: The day was sunny when we launched our new boat on the Huron River. But Lake Erie weather is notoriously changeable and by the time…
Poem: On and on played they
In the corner of the ruined room, she was crying, frightened of herself and angry at us. ‘Freedom is full of monsters. Just get out.’ Read moreRobert SmithI ran to…
Poem: Why do I remember this?
Why do I remember? I’ve carried this, and now–see?–here it is. Guided by a compulsion (that has never left me) I painted the walls of my mother’s house the entire…
Poem: Full-Blood Moon
Through the narrow window, the full-blood moon floated in the black water of the bathtub, next to where you laid with your face against the wall sobbing. Pressing my cheek…