Enter at Your Own Risk

It's very tempting sometimes to try to rush a story for one reason or another. Case in point: I'm currently working on a story that I think would probably fit the guidelines for the Chizine short story contest, but with two days left, I just don't think it's going to happen. It would be far too easy to try to force the story or manipulate it into something that it's not, just for the sake of entering the contest. I think this story has the potential to be pretty good, but there's still a lot to be worked out and it needs to be more organic. I feel like I'm forcing, so that's probably an indication that it won't turn out as well as I'd like. Besides, it's just a contest. There's one on just about every corner. Or maybe that's a Starbucks I'm thinking of...

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Today's top book find: a signed first edition hardcover copy of Bernard Cornwell's Enemy of God. Not bad at all.

The Unforgiving Middle

No, not my unforgiving middle, although after a few days of Cindy's birthday cake, my middle is also quite unforgiving. It's the middle of my current story that's unforgiving. I'm very pleased with the story's opening (slightly over 1000 words) and have a pretty good idea of how the story will end, but the middle could go in several different directions. Could be that I'm afraid the middle might lead me to a different ending, which might not be a bad thing. We shall see.

Playing Favorites, Installment # 6

Installment #6 - "Dallas" (Jimmie Dale Gilmore) - The Flatlanders (1972/1992)




Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Well Dallas is a jewel, oh yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight.
And Dallas is a jungle but Dallas gives a beautiful light.
Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?

Well, Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you're down.
But when you are up, she's the kind you want to take around.
But Dallas ain't a woman to help you get your feet on the ground.
Yes Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you're down.

Clearly Jimmie Dale Gilmore has a wonderful love/hate relationship with the city. If the lyrics leave any doubt, listen to the song. It starts as a sort of upbeat alternate country (before there was such a thing) song, but the more you hear, the sadder – heck, almost tragic – the song gets. Then the saw starts. No, not a chainsaw, but an actual warbling saw, giving the song an otherworldly (if not underworldly) feel. By the time we get to the song's bridge, you really feel for the poor schmuck singing it:

Well, I came into Dallas with the bright lights on my mind
But I came into Dallas with a Dollar and a dime.

And the third verse leaves no doubt – Dallas is one cold, heartless dude:

Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eye
A steel and concrete soul with a warm hearted love disguise
A rich man who tends to believe in his own lies
Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes


Says writer Gilmore: "The hook line of the song occurred to me while I was actually flying into Dallas. The line just presented itself to me. I had all those mixed feelings about the city and the song just came gradually. I've never felt that I've got it down right, though. I've always been a perfectionist about that song.... I've had a strange relationship with the song. I've had periods when I wish I'd never written it, then I've rediscovered it, looking at it through different eyes."

The song (and several others) was recorded in 1972 for an album, but the record company released a promotional single of "Dallas" first. It did nothing. The album was abandoned and available only in the 8-track tape format until Rounder Records bought the rights and released it on CD in 1992, creating an immediate fan base and a huge problem: The 1992 release was warmly embraced by the alt. country crowd, yet they forgot that the music they were hearing was already twenty years old. The Flatlanders, while still around, have stylistically moved on.

They've released other discs, none of which have matched the popularity of the album which "Dallas" opens, appropriately titled More a Legend Than a Band.

Contest News

I just found out that my YA novel Fortress came in second place in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Speculative category in the Maryland Writers' Association 2007 Novel Contest. (Scroll down - SF/F/S is at the bottom.)

Second prize carries no money, alas, but that's okay. The contest normally has several entries, a number of them from out-of-state, so I'm very pleased. I'll get critiques back from the judges that hopefully will help me polish the novel before trying to sell it.

Whoot!

AFI's Top 100

Here's AFI's latest list of the 100 greatest American films of all time. Sorry, I just can't give full credit to any list that includes Titanic (sorry, Dr. Phil) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. But with most of the other choices, I can't complain.

So what films aren't in there that you'd include? Off the top of my head, I'd put in

My Darling Clementine (1946)
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
The Conversation (1974)

Let your voice be heard!

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Good progress this morning on a new story. It's nice when things start to come together. It's not so nice when you hear the trash truck coming down the street and realize you've completely lost track of time.

Writing, Talent and Mozart

I was somewhat stunned yesterday when I opened my "Stories Sent" spreadsheet and saw that I have only two stories (and one novel) in the pipeline. Could be that I'm taking more time with stories, more than I used to, which for me is a good thing. In the past I've been too quick to send something out before it was in sendable shape. Some people might think it's a good idea to send out stories that aren't quite polished, thinking that they'll get some good comments on how to tighten them up.

For my money, it doesn't work that way. First of all, it's not the editor's job to critique your story for you. Second, they don't have time for it. Unless you're working on a story for a specific contest, what's the hurry? I've been teaching myself to take it slow, to make sure I really know the characters/setting/tone/etc. before putting stamps on envelopes (or hitting the "send" button).

But I still write stuff, either freewrites or exercises that will probably never develop into publishable ideas or see the light of day. But that writing is still important.

On a somewhat related note, I read something interesting in Steve Olson's Count Down: The Race for Beautiful Solutions at the International Mathematical Olympiad. Olson cites several studies comparing talent vs. hard work. University of Exeter psychologist Michael Howe (author of Genius Explained) argues against "the idea that just a few people are born with a special mental capacity that enables them to achieve high levels of performance in a particular field." Hard work and persistence are what matter, says Howe.

Howe notes that even with the advantages of growing up in a musical household, Mozart had to work and work hard. He gives Mozart's practice time a very conservative estimate of three hours a day. From age three (when he supposedly began to play) to age six (his first musical tour of Europe), Mozart would have had 3,500 hours of practice. "That's about how long it takes for a young performer to become a very good amateur," says Howe.

Howe goes on to state (This is paraphrased, mind you.) that to achieve a recognizable level of mastery in any field requires roughly ten years of methodical, disciplined practice. After all, Mozart's first concerto that was recognized as a masterpiece is his Piano Concerto No. 9 in Eb Major (K. 271), written when he was 21, well more than a decade after he started composing.

If that's true, that it takes a good ten years of work before you produce anything good, then I've got about a three-year grace period. I don't know if I'd put all my eggs in Howe's basket --- I tend to agree more with Ray Bradbury's assessment that it takes writing a million words (which hopefully would come to pass before ten years would) before you produce anything good. Whatever the case, I know that I'm gradually getting better at this writing thing and that it takes time; you can't rush it.

So...what's the word count for today?

Post-Vacation Post

Back from a true family vacation consisting of Cindy and me, Cindy's two sisters and their families and Cindy's parents all staying in a rental house on Cape Cod, Mass. In addition to Cape Cod, Cindy and I hit a few other places including a bit of Boston (Pizzaria Regina is well worth your time.) and Plymouth (Plymouth Rock isn't.)

One of the major highlights for me was at the Chatham Seaside Links, where I played nine holes of golf. It was the first time I'd played golf since 1980. I've always given my brother-in-law Dave a hard time about golf, saying that it isn't a sport, it's a game of skill and you don't have to be an athlete to play, and other such derogatory statements. But he asked if I wanted to try it and even brought along extra clubs for me, so how could I say no?

I must admit, golf is highly addictive. And I did okay, at least that's what Dave told me. I still contend that golf is more a game of skill than an athletic activity (I'd put it at 60% skill/40% athletic ability.), but it does require more athletic ability than I'd originally thought. Who knows? Maybe I'll pick up a set of clubs soon and see what happens.

Food? Yes, food. Lots of it. Ridiculous amounts of it.


Here's a breakfast of cinammon swirl pancakes with strawberries that I had one morning. When I ordered I figured there would be maybe four strawberries. Wrong.

We also had lobster rolls, tons of other seafood, desserts, you name it. Man. My stomach hurts just thinking about it.

A few other shots for your viewing pleasure. More on writing next time.

Sale!

Ballista, a British magazine of supernatural short fiction, just bought my story "Your Picture with Satan" which will appear in the April 2008 issue. A nice way to start the weekend!

May Books Bought and Read

Okay, so I didn't get as many books read in May as I did in April, but I didn't buy as many either, which is a good thing. All of the books bought were purchased "on the cheap" (half-price or better) which is also a good thing.

Just for fun, I thought I'd give my justification for each purchase plus a little about each book I read. As always, recommended books are linked.

BOOKS BOUGHT

The King in the Window (YA 2006) - Adam Gopnik
This purchase was based solely on Elizabeth Hand's review in F&SF a few months back. In most cases, her recommendation is good enough for me. For more on Hand, keep reading.

Last Summer at Mars Hill (collection, 1998) - Elizabeth Hand
Well, here she is! I enjoyed Hand's latest collection Saffron and Brimstone so much that I strongly suspected I'd like this older one. I stood inside Wonder Books in Hagerstown, MD reading the first two paragraphs of the title story and knew it was worth the $5.95 they were asking.

Some of Your Blood (1977) - Theodore Sturgeon
I'd read good things about this one when Millepede Press came out with a new edition last year. Unfortunately this is an old mass market paperback without the Steve Rasnic Tem introduction, but I was still glad to find it. Plus my friend Kelly told me this one's a winner.

The Faces of Fantasy (NF/photography, 1996) - Patti Perret
Apparently a companion volume to The Faces of Science Fiction, The Faces of Fantasy includes photo portraits and short thoughts from several important writers in fantasy. Interesting to see how some of these people looked 10 years ago. Some haven't changed much. Some have.

The People of Paper (2005) - Salvador Plascencia
Matthew Cheney had some very nice things to say about this one on his blog. That's good enough for me.

The Millennium Problems : The Seven Greatest Unsolved Mathematical Puzzles of Our Time (NF 2002) - Kevin Devlin
Anyone who knows me well is rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically at this point. Like I'm gonna solve one of these.... But I've been reading a few "Math and Science for Morons" books lately and I thought I might enjoy this one.


BOOKS READ

Lisey's Story (2006) - Stephen King
Many people panned King's latest novel, but I think it's very good. In fact, I'd go so far as to put it firmly in King's Top Ten. It's a superb mix of fantasy and reality, something King has always done pretty well, but the emotional impact of Lisey's Story just never lets up. I don't think I've cared this much about a King character since Johnny Valentine Smith in The Dead Zone. You'll read reviews saying that this one's too slow, too touchy-feely, King getting in touch with his feminine side... For what it's worth, I saw it as a lovely tribute to his wife Tabitha.

The Speed of Dark (2002) - Elizabeth Moon
Although there's a good bit of science in this novel, Moon (the mother of an autistic son) focuses mainly on what it's like to be an autistic person trying to make sense of the world. Very moving, very well-written.

What the Dead Know (2007) - Laura Lippman
When I travel outside the Baltimore/Washington area, I'm always stunned at how many people don't know about Laura Lippman, one of today's best mystery writers. What the Dead Know is a stand-alone book (not part of Lippman's Tess Monaghan series) and one of her best.

How to Think Like a Millionaire (NF 1997) – Mark Fisher with Marc Allen
I literally read this while brushing my teeth. (Not all at once; that would be a record.) Really. It's very short. In spite of the title, the book has very little to do with money and more about goal-setting, visualizing success, that sort of thing. Not a bad read. My teeth enjoyed it.

Mississippi Sissy (memoir, 2007) - Kevin Sessums
Kevin Sessums and I both grew up in Forest, Mississippi, but he was a few years older than me, so I didn't really know him very well. This is an outstanding memoir of loss (Kevin and his two siblings lost their parents at an early age) and growing up gay in the Deep South. A bit graphic sexually, but an extremely moving memoir by an outstanding writer.

Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith (NF 2005) - Rob Bell
What does it mean to be a Christian? Bell has some interesting and somewhat controversial things to say on the subject. A good book to read after you've read Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz.

You Don't Love Me Yet (2007) - Jonathan Lethem
A bit of a disappointment. Some good moments, some very funny stuff, but not his strongest. I don't know, maybe he wanted to do something different; he's entitled to that. Motherless Brooklyn and Gun with Occasional Music are two of my all-time favorites - maybe I just set the Lethem bar a little too high.

The Green Glass Sea (YA 2006) - Ellen Klages
An absolutely beautiful book; I loved every page of it. It's the story of two girls living in Los Alamos during WWII. Their parents are scientists who can't talk about their work when they come home, which isn't often. All the girls know is that they're helping to build some type of "gadget." While the adults are building to destroy, Dewey and Suze are building something more important and permanent: friendship. Everything about this book works and it works without being sappy or sentimental. A must-read.

Not a bad month. More next time.

Update

Thanks to everyone who commented, emailed and called about my mom. She's doing much better. Thankfully nothing was broken during her fall, but recovery from any kind of fall when you're 77 is a challenge. Cindy and I have taken several steps to help prevent another fall, but if one should happen, we've made it easier (and faster) for her to get help.

I could probably write a book about caring for aging parents, but each case is different. And you learn something new every day. Maybe I'll post about that some time, but for now, we're just thanking God that this instance wasn't any worse than it was.

No posts for the next few days - My mom fell and is going to need some help from me and Cindy until she's better, so that's where I'll be.

Weekend Bummer

I didn't realize until several hours after we got home from Six-Flags that my cell phone was in my pocket during one of the water rides. It's one of those rides that completely soak you...and your phone.

Okay, here's the question for those of you with tech expertise: I've got a Motorola RAZR V3 (with Cingular service). I removed the cover, the battery and the SIM card, wiped away a little corrosion and put everything back in place. The phone will turn on (as you can see from the photo); I can turn the phone on and off with the keypad, but that's the only keypad function that will work. I can also receive calls. (Cindy called to check - We even talked on the phone, so that function works.) I had the phone on vibrate before the accident and it still vibrates when I get a call. I can receive calls, but not send them. The screen tells me I've got voicemail messages - I just can't retrieve them.

So apparently some parts of the phone work. I just want to avoid buying another one if at all possible. No, I didn't get insurance. Yes, I'm an idiot for forgetting I had my phone in my pocket during a water ride.

And did I mention the AC in our house went out yesterday?

But at least my friend Doug had an outstanding wedding yesterday. And my good friend George returned safely from New Zealand.

Let me know what you think the phone's chances are.

Anniversary Weekend

Despite a disappointing trip to Six Flags America, our 11th wedding anniversary weekend is off to a good start. Cindy and I have lived here in Maryland for nearly seven years and have yet to go to Six Flags, about 20 minutes from our house. I'm glad we went, but we won't go back. Four of the rides - Two-Face, Batwing, Mind Eraser and one of the raft rides shut down while we were in line. (Some of them left people stranded ON the rides.) Several of the rides/shows/etc. weren't even open. Sure, it's early in the season, but the park has been open weekends only for the past six weeks. A pretty big disappointment. Still, we had fun, especially on The Joker ride.

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Cindy bailed on the third season of Lost several weeks ago, but I've been pretty faithful despite suspicions that the show may be tanking. I must say that the season finale was not what I expected, especially the big revelation at the end. This changes everything. There's certainly the potential for something special in Season Four. We shall see.

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Really enjoying The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages. More on that one when I'm finihsed.

How Does It Feel?

As all music fans (and people with a heightened cultural awareness) already know, today is Bob Dylan's birthday, always a cause for celebration. (Bob turns 66 today, for those of you keeping score.)

So you ask, "How can I celebrate Bob's birthday?"

There are several ways. Here are but a few. Yet, if you feel a bit more daring, you might try one of these:

Walk up to a stranger and snarl, "How does it feeeeeeeel?"

Hang out on Highway 61. (This, of course, depends largely upon your geographical area.)

Dress up like Shakespeare and stand in an alley, any alley.

Depending on the weather in your area, stand in the middle of a clear, sunny spot and exclaim "A hard rain's a-gonna fall." (Sackcloth and ashes optional.)

Dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free.

If you're in the Washington DC area, go visit the Masters of War and sing any or all of the song. (Prepare for at least one night in the slammer, depending on the intensity of your performance.)

Get stranded in Mobile.

Rehearse with tuba players around the flagpole.

Look for places with music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air.

Hang out with a trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field (one of my all-time favorite Dylan lines).

Serve somebody. (You gotta do it, you know.)

The possibilities are endless. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Bob!

Goodbye, Veronica

That's it. After three seasons, Veronica Mars is done. And, yes, I'm a little sad.

Now I've never seen a single episode as it aired, but I rented Season One and thought it was great - definitely good enough to buy, which I did. I rented Season Two, and while I enjoyed it, I thought the quality of the writing slipped quite a bit from Season One. I haven't seen any of Season Three.

There's a lot to like about Veronica Mars. It's funny, sassy, class conscious, often exciting, and (especially during Season One) smart. The acting is generally very good, especially Kristen Bell. I can't imagine anyone else in the lead role. Consequently, I can't imagine Bell being able to fit into any other role so well. (Of course she can - she's talented. But I saw her in a couple of episodes of Deadwood Season One and kept thinking, "Cool! It's Veronica Mars in the Old West!")

If this show had aired when I was a teenager, I'd probably have been in love with Veronica Mars. I'd definitely have wanted to hang out with her. She's smart, funny compassionate, tough, and would kick your butt if you got out of line. She comes from a broken home, but doesn't use that (or anything else) as an excuse. She's focused, driven, tenacious. Plus she's got a cool dog.

But three good years isn't a bad thing. It's a lot better than three good years and two lousy ones. And as my friend John is fond of saying (I'm paraphrasing a bit, John), "When you've told all the story you have, the show's over."

And now it is over.

Goodbye, Veronica. It was fun.

Upgrading

I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, but I take a certain sort of weird delight in "upgrading" my books. By upgrading, I mean finding and buying a better copy of a book I already have. Yesterday I found a very nice first edition hardcover copy of Jeffrey Ford's The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, which will replace my old ex-library copy. I also found a first edition hardcover of Steven Millhauser's In the Penny Arcade. (Only to find when I got home that it's got a remainder mark along the bottom edge.) My other copy is a trade paperback.

Will I keep my old copies of these books? Well...yeah.... I'd like a nice copy of the Ford because it's a book I really like and maybe I can get Jeff to sign it the next time I see him. And it's nice to have the other as a reading copy. The Millhauser? I haven't even read the thing! But from what I've heard, I'll probably like it. So there.

I know. I understand that concepts of space and time are limited. If I owned a reading copy and a "collector's" copy of every book I own, I'd have to buy another house (or two). And with all the books I have (and I sure as heck keep getting more of 'em), I'll probably never read them all. Plus, when I have gone the way of all flesh, what's going to happen to my precious "collector's" first editions (as well as the "reading" copies)? I've heard that you can't take this stuff with you. Man... That sure presents a problem.

Playing Favorites, Installment # 5

Installment #5 – "Blue Orchid" (Jack White III, Meg White) – White Stripes (2005)


"Blue Orchid" is the type of song that, as Stephen King says, would've "turned my dials all the way up to 10" in high school. To someone now in his 40's, it still provides a pretty good kick.

The song is raw, unrefined, driving, loud, hard to ignore. And simple. I don't say this in a derogatory way, only to note that when you isolate the song's elements, you've got Jack White's falsetto vocal, distorted guitar riffs (not even chords) and drums. That's it. (To my less-than-expert hearing it appears that White has added a second guitar that's just slightly behind the other track, adding a little more power and energy.)

I haven't listened to all the White Stripes albums (although I'd like to), but from what I have heard, Jack and Meg do a masterful job of writing fairly simple melodies that stay in your head for days after you hear them. Not many people can do that, and even fewer can do it on a consistent basis. Several days ago I played "Seven Nation Army" (from Elephant) for this friend of mine and he was humming it the rest of the day. The same thing happened to me after hearing the opening riff in "Blue Orchid."

While the music may be somewhat simple, the lyrics are a very different story. Although "Blue Orchid" opens the album Get Behind Me Satan, and the words "get behind me" are in the song, Satan is never specifically mentioned. So is Jack singing about Satan or about a really wicked woman? It would seem that whoever it is, he or she has the power/ability to screw up (with pretty malicious intentions) something that was once good:

You got a reaction
You got a reaction didn't you?
You took a white orchid
You took a white orchid turned it blue

Something better than nothing
Something better than nothing, it's giving up
You need to do something
Try keep the truth from showing up

How dare you
How old are you now, anyway?
How dare you
How old are you now, anyway?

White has commented that he sees the entire record as an exploration of "characters and the ideal of truth."

Interesting stuff. Then you watch the video.... (You can see it here.) Man. A dilapidated house, a red-head wearing lace and impossibly high heels, Jack and a piano with its guts ripped out, a white apple, Meg drumming on stacks of dishes, a white horse, and Jack's cane that becomes....well, just watch. David Lynch would be proud.

As weird as the video seems, it does give a more dismal interpretation to the song. Here are things ruined, degraded, coming apart, fallen. And what can you do besides ask "How dare you?"

"Blue Orchid" appears on the album Get Behind Me Satan.

I Know You're Not Supposed to Do This, But...

I did it anyway. After reading the first several stories in Brian Evenson's Altmann's Tongue, I read the author's afterword. I didn't want to find out about the stories as much as I wanted to find out about Evenson.

Why? Because the first several stories in the collection (maybe all of them) deal with killing, not in a typical murder/slasher/psycho sort of way, but in a detached, unemotional, yet oddly disturbing manner. Says Evenson,

So violence is depicted but then superseded by style operating as a kind of violence toward the reader: the two working sometimes concertedly, sometimes in tension, to create a world that feels at once stark and yet stylized, in slant relation to the actual world.

Would you guess that Evenson was a Mormon? Not only that, he taught at BYU and got in a lot of hot water over this book. Read it and you'll understand why. But it's great stuff filled with stories that demand a second (or third) read. In fact, a little later in the Afterword, Evenson states,

Altmann's Tongue is meant to be a challenging book, is postulated as a challenge to the reader. The stories in it are meant to function beyond their initial reading, in the way readers choose over time to process the reading experience and supply their own moral response to the absence of response within the text proper. A sort of virus, as it were.

Can't wait to finish this one, then read it again.

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Started a new story this morning - only got a couple of hundred words down, but I'll have time to think about it while I'm in the dentist's chair later today. Wish me luck. (For my teeth and the story.)

The Vampire plus a Little Story News

I ran across a hardcover edition of this book yesterday (no dust jacket) and saw simply The Vampire (with no subtitle) on the spine, thinking it was a horror novel or maybe even a look at vampires in film or literature. Not so.

Rather than an examination of the vampire in film or literature, The Vampire: A Casebook is a scholarly work dedicated to traditional legends and folklore associated (for the most part) with eastern Europe. The book is published by the University of Wisconsin (Now I know what you guys are really doing up there, Trent.) and includes essays by eleven academic scholars. Some of the essay titles are:

The History of the Word Vampire

The Romanian Folkloric Vampire

South Slavic Countermeasures against Vampires

The Killing of a Vampire

Forensic Pathology and the European Vampire

The Vampire as Bloodthirsty Revenant: A Psychoanalytic Post Mordem

Very interesting stuff. This one will soon be at the top of my "To Read/Non-Fiction" list.

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On the story front, this past weekend I was contacted by an editor who expressed an interest in publishing one of my stories and has asked for a revision of the ending, so that's been my recent focus. Keep your fingers crossed.

April Books Bought and Read

For once, I actually read more books than I bought...but just barely. The first three books bought were either ex-library copies or thrift store purchases, so I didn't spend much for them. The rest of the books were purchased on my recent Texas trip.

I hadn't realized that April was such a month for mysteries - I read three of them. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries. I've read them all, but it's been two years since I read one. I'm taking my time, reading them in the order they were published. If you haven't read any of the Nero Wolfe novels, I'd recommend trying one of the collections of novellas. (You can see the complete list here.)

As always, highly recommended books from "Books Read" are linked.

BOOKS BOUGHT

The Ragamuffin Gospel (NF 1990) - Brennan Manning

Duel: Terror Stories (collection 2003) - Richard Matheson

H.P. Lovecraft Tales (Library of America 2005)

Altmann's Tongue: Stories and a Novella (1994) - Brian Evenson

The Bride of Hell & Other Stories (1949/2006)- Marjorie Bowen

The Girl in the Flammable Skirt: Stories (1998) - Aimee Bender

The Haunted Hotel & Other Stories (1941/2006)- Wilkie Collins

Microcosmic God: Volume 2 of the Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon (1995)

The Green Glass Sea (YA 2006) - Ellen Klages

Invitation to a Beheading (1959)- Vladimir Nabokov

The World of Nabokov's Stories (NF 1999) - Maxim D. Shrayer

BOOKS READ

Seven Money Mantras for a Richer Life (NF 2004) – Michelle Singletary

The Door Within (Juv. 2005) – Wayne Thomas Batson

Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture (NF 2006) – Walt Mueller

Fledgling (2005) – Octavia E. Butler

Art & Fear (NF 1993) – David Bayles and Ted Orland

Heart-Shaped Box (2007) – Joe Hill

Marley & Me (NF 2005) – John Grogan

Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories (2007) – Elizabeth Hand

School Days (2005) – Robert B. Parker

The Ragamuffin Gospel (NF 1990) – Brennan Manning

The Silent Speaker (1946) – Rex Stout

Baltimore Blues (1997) – Laura Lippman

And there you have it.