My wife, years ago, wooed me into the long vacation. I’m aware that the John Cheever gentry might have seen vacation or “summering” as something that extended out for three or four months at the shore, but for me, as a child, the “long vacation” was two weeks. It was a mythical thing. We never..
Heavenly Village and Environs South Lake Tahoe. I officially like this place. It’s got a pronounced Emerald City vibe. The shuttle driver drove me past several Tin Men getting re-polished and Scarecrows getting re-strawed on the way to the Driftwood Cafe for breakfast. He connected me, mentally, to my family who took the same route..
If road trips were pretty girls, the drive from Chester to Lake Tahoe, along the 70 and the 89, would be Donna Reid in overalls, with straw in her hair and a dozen children in her eyes. The forest is dense, green, and endless, opening up onto storybook meadows with cattle grazing and century-old barns..
More Tyler stuff.. The twins could be into careless hacking, using computers to screw up peoples’ lives. This sends Tyler into an absolute frenzy. I’ve always wanted to see a story where mindless, vicious hackers get it badly in the chops. The twins could be aliens sent over to take over souls and bodies. The..
To get up to speed, read this first. Writing a short story, in public this way, is good and bad. It’s good in that you get a little feedback and encouragement. You see if anyone reads their way through it, if anyone seems to have an idea of where you might be going. But asking..
Trash Fish Part I Julie set down the Portobellos and the salmon with her usual delicacy. Clearly, she enjoyed presentation. There were nights where Julie was in and out of Tyler’s condo without his hearing her entrance or departure. He could be in the shower and when he stepped into his dining room, there would..
When he finally made the phone call, Tyler had trouble sounding as though he weren’t out of breath. He could hear the phone ringing on the other end and that only made it worse, so when his friend Nathan picked up the line all Tyler could say was “wait a minute” while he covered the..
I’m finally getting around to reading Puritans at Play by Bruce C. Daniels. It’s been in my library for a decade or more, and right from the start it speaks to a concept I’ve struggled with, in one way or another, my entire life. The New England Reverend Benjamin Colman called it “Sober Mirth” —..
Characters Chase Bagnall saw no great virtue in confession, the endless parade of self-justification that announces itself on social networks, and over beer, and in emails with the subject line, “Can I just tell you something?” Whatever happened, he thought, to suffering in silence? Where did that go? Did it ever exist? Without question,..
I watch way too much television and streaming film, I know. My Bay Colony ancestors — if they could anticipate this technology — wouldn’t approve, but what I can’t figure out? I can watch a fair amount of violence — the Normandy scene in “Saving Private Ryan” for example or the Michael Corleone restaurant vengeance..
