On every planet I have lived, and in every time, there have always been women chasing the broken wastrel. They make no secret of it. In fact, the more a man sings of his pain, […]
Category: Fiction
(Fiction) The Shotgun in the Bathroom
01Oct I could tell it was serious by the tone of her voice. Lieutenant Miller called me to her office where Craig Hammond, my old partner, was waiting in one of the chairs. His block […]
(Art + Fiction) Visions of the Labyrinth
In classical Western myth, the labyrinth, in which the Minotaur stalked, is symbolic of the universe, of the search for God, or our psyches, while the Minotaur himself — half man, half bull — is […]
(Fiction) Babylon Eternal
The old ones are patient, and not so easily fooled. After the death of Solomon, wisest of rulers, the kingdom of the Hebrews was distributed equitably among his heirs, who distrusted each other as mightily […]
(Fiction) I will set you free!
People. That was the difference. If they had a mission, they would have put him somewhere secret, somewhere no one would see. Given him orders. When they put him in the middle of a crowd, […]
This tower, patched unevenly with black ivy, arose like a mutilated finger from among the fists of knuckled masonry and pointed blasphemously at heaven. At night the owls made of it an echoing throat; by day it stood voiceless and cast its long shadow. —Mervyn Peake, “Titus Groan”
—a description of the Tower of Flints, part of the aging castle Gormenghast, from Mervyn Peake’s Gothic fantasy “Titus Groan.” Neil Gaiman and Akiva Goldman are bringing a series based on the unfinished novels to […]
(Fiction) The Only Spell You Can Touch
Knocking. Ugh . . . More knocking. Harder this time. Then again. Over and over and over and over. “Fuck off already! It’s busted!” I called without opening my eyes. My fucking flat was turning into fucking Grand […]
(Curiosity) Let’s Fight!
I had a couple conversations recently about writing fight scenes and how abysmal they usually are to read, even to watch. Action is very tedious, after all. Think of how quickly a car chase gets […]
(Fiction) In the Web of the Maze Master
I wasn’t then entirely sure where I was, but it seemed clear we had reached our destination, for a congress of cats waited. Felines of all breeds and colors—a few with collars, like my tabby, […]
(Fiction) The Keep of the Mage-King
The base of the island, worn smooth by the waves and crusted in barnacles, was slightly narrower than the rest. An uneven triangular cave exposed the grotto that was the only ingress to the interior, […]
