Blogging Toward Bethlehem

R eally, I did. Four days ago I sold a short story, one that I had put a lot of work into. It was originally written in 2019, and got some nice personal responses from a few magazines, including Analog and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction . (Gratifying, but neither  bought it.) However, it has sold, to an anthology. More details later. I can't even reveal the title just yet. I also sold a novel, to Readict: An End to Housework , which is more or less mainstream with some speculative elements. I wrote the book ahem cough  years ago, and have occasionally revisited the manuscript to update it. Housework  was definitely experimental. What actually kicked it off was my reading of Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. That, plus the underground comics of Dave Sheridan and Fred Schrier. The novel (mine, not  Solzhenitsyn's) has three interlude sections that were originally meant to be drawn, like a graphic novel. But it would have taken me too long to do that, so I ended

T his time out, I’m going to try something a little different. I’m going to describe, to the best of my ability, how I intend to go about producing the cover art for my first self-published book,  Before Baker Street  – a collection of stories starring Sherlock Holmes as a teenager. It was great fun writing these, and several of them have been published, here and there. After I finished a couple I began toying with the idea of collecting them into one volume. My wife, Grace, suggested  Before Baker Street  as the title, because I couldn’t come up with a good one. I doubt I could come up with anything better, so I’m going with it.   Inevitably, given that I’m also an illustrator and have created several covers for books I’ve written, I started thinking about cover art. The time period is the 1880s, so that means a period piece. Looking at the content of the stories, I have Sherlock encountering a few people who are well-known historical or fictional personages, including Tommy Stubbins.

Y es, I said another.  That's because grace and I were diagnosed with Covid earlier this year. Shortly after that we received monoclonal antibody infusions, and did the social isolating thing. We were okay. But this past week or so I have felt poorly, and wasn't sure if I had picked up Covid somewhere. Grace was a bit under the weather as well, but I was running a slight temperature, had very little appetite, and was suffering recurring headaches. So I hied myself off to get a test yesterday, June 1 -- and today it came back negative. Something of a relief. But I was very low-energy for a few days and have fallen a bit behind in my work. Tomorrow I'll have to start writing my latest cozy mystery, after telling my client that I was a bit behind. Also to that end, I didn't get a blog post done on Sunday -- except in a way. What happened was, I did a guest blog post for my friend Stoney de Geyter, talking about my ghostwriting experiences. And here is the link . So I actua

T he basic outline for my 4th cozy mystery has been approved by my client. I am a step closer to being paid by Readict for the two books of mine that they're publishing, having filled out my W9 and an invoice. I submitted a revised sketch for a cartoon to another client. We got our screen door fixed, and some of our windows measured for new screens. Our friend John was here for a few days, but he left sooner than we expected he would. I haven't done any work on the cover for Before Baker Street , but I will -- possibly tomorrow. And that's all for tonight, because I just got a short story rejection and am feeling grumpy. Prallsville Mill , 2003, oil on board, about 24" x 18"

A llergies are kicking my butt, yet I soldier on. I'm outlining my third paranormal cozy mystery, and getting ready to ramp up marketing efforts for my first self-published book, Before Baker Street . It's a collection of short pieces, some of them previously published, about the adventures of teenaged Sherlock Holmes. He's joined for a couple of them by his cousin, Tom Stubbins -- formerly assistant to Dr. John Doolittle, the man who could speak with animals. So, yes, there are animals involved. I enjoy doing these "mash-ups," and I think these came out quite well. Holmes also interacts with some other literary figures, but I'm going to keep their identities secret for now. I will drop one name -- Bram Stoker. No, not  his best-known character, Dracula; Stoker himself, who was something of a character in his own right. I'm also including a couple of familiar names from the works of Jules Verne. And in closing, here's another painting I did about 15 ye

B ecause I'm a writer! So how can you be sure you know that anything I say in this blog is true? Well, you can't. The best way to get any insight into me is to read some of my work. Yes, this is a rather underhanded way to get you to check out some of the stuff I have online. Kronkheit! - A super-rat from the future tries to recruit some contemporary street-smart rodents. Funnier than most stuff I write. Itinerate Pandemonium - A flying nightclub lands outside of Doylestown, PA and tangles with local environmental agents looking to shut it down. A Tune Played Coldly - Looking to confront a reviewer after she trashes his latest effort, a vengeful musician gets more than he bargained for. Halieis Anthropon - Investigating the decline of civilization on Earth, a Martian cultural anthropologist uncovers a bizarre mystery. Baking Day - A young woman who has illegally been taught to read and write seeks to escape from the constraints of her life. March 11, 1936, 5:30 AM - An as