Short Prose

I've been writing stories since I was in the fourth grade. Don't worry, you won't find any of my really early efforts here. What you will find, however, are some of my short prose pieces, spanning a forty year period, that I feel brave enough to share. These are my efforts that I feel have potential entertainment value, even if the quality in some cases is a bit spotty. I've written over a hundred short stories and personal essays, and have just begun submitting them for publication.

I've organized these pieces into "collections" of generally similar topics or that cover a period of time or that fit together in some hopefully obvious way. However, this does not imply that the style within any one collection is consistent from piece to piece. In some cases short stories and personal essays are mixed together.

As always, I am interested in your thoughts. If you have comments or constructive criticism, send me an e-mail. In addition, before printing or copying any of the manuscripts presented below, please read my Rights Notice.

Warning: Some of these manuscripts contain adult language and situations. If you are offended by such content, I suggest that you exercise your freedom of choice and browse on to some other potentially less offensive literature.

Collections

Capacity and Resistance (Collection)

Personal essays and short stories based upon the first two decades of my life. This collection is still a work in progress. Note: I still have several stories that I'd like to add to this collection. Most are either in draft form or are still only outlines. They will be added as they are finalized.

Crossing the Chasm (Collection)

Personal essays and short stories based upon my notes from visits to and journeys across the great chasm of the Grand Canyon. Note: This collection is still a work in progress. Many more essays and stories have been written, but they are still in draft form. As they are finalized they will be added here.

Misc. Etc. (Collection)

Short stories and personal essays that so far don't fit with any specific collection of my work. This work in progress isn't intended to be a cohesive unit, but rather as sampling of a wide range of topics and experiments in style and genre.

Nevada (Collection)

Odds 'n' ends pieces written during my years working and living in Nevada, mostly focusing on mining and nature.

Parker Street Trilogy (Collection)

This trio of stories was inspired by events in the 1970s witnessed along Parker Street, Anywhere, U.S.A.

Unfolding: Meditations on a Space Blanket (Collection)

This group of personal essays are a reflection on the life of a single Space Blanket over the course of its life. It may be best to read these short pieces in sequence as presented here, yet they can be read in any any order as independent stories.

Wellen Chronicles (Collection)

This little trilogy of short stories revolves around the characters and situations at Wellen Laboratories, a small animal pharmaceutical company struggling for its place in the market in the early 1970s. These stories were written early in my carrier and are a bit stiff, awkward, and sometimes didactic and are not intended as higher quality examples of my work. They are just here for those who may be curious.

Zen Warehousing and the Art of Lucid Dreaming (Collection)

This collection of short stories revolves around people who work as stockers, pickers, receiving clerks, loaders, drivers, managers, purchasing agents, sales representatives, and general laborers in warehouses in several different industries who fly around the rafters, come from the future, and journey off to Jupiter.

Odds 'N' Ends

These are pieces that just don't quite make it. Some are simply exercises, some are just for fun, others are early attempts at serious works that don't flow or have no depth or lack soul. Some just plain fail at what I was attempting to accomplish. But over the years some readers have found an image or character here and there that they've found appealing. For what they're worth, here are some odds 'n' ends.

 

"... the fictitious character of reality."

—J. L. Borges

 

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