Monthly Archives: February 2008

The Perils of a Fortunate Existence

I won the lottery. Two dollars. A one hundred percent return on my investment. I was flush with smugness and contentment. Until my relatives found out. Then I had no peace: Can you lend me a dime? Just until payday? … Continue reading

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Rewriting

Here’s Eileen Gunn, in her book Stable Strategies and Others, quoting William Gibson on the secret of writing: “You must learn to overcome your very natural and appropriate revulsion for your own work.” When I read that sentence I was … Continue reading

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Notebook 4

Another enigmatic entry from one of my old notebooks: 6 January 2003 He Walked with a lisp. She Talked with a limp. Their children went into A list that must have amused me: 17 Feb 2003 Monday 12:20 a.m. spots … Continue reading

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The Perils of a Covert Existence

We were a close knit group in those days, spending our working hours several floors underground. We knew close to a hundred languages between us, which allowed us to translate any document that came our way during the conflict. That … Continue reading

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The Unrepentent Joy of Sisyphusian Struggle

If you haven’t seen “Shelf Life” by Adrian Tomine, the hilarious cover of the current New Yorker, it’s worth seeking out. There’s a teeny tiny version of it on this page and a bigger version on the artist’s website here … Continue reading

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The Perils of a Nocturnal Existence

The eclipse stained the moon copper, then the color dripped from the moon’s face like water streaming over a stone in a river. We watched as velvet folds of red light draped the sky then slowly descended over us and … Continue reading

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Notebook 3

Continuing my wanderings through some of my old notebooks. I’ve learned it’s usually best to write down things that strike me as very interesting. Which doesn’t necessarily mean that eight years later it will make much sense to me: 24 … Continue reading

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We Have a Winner

Drum roll please. The winner of the first Conditional Realities give away is…… melissa. Melissa, please send your mailing address to mm@gorge.net and I will send you your free book. Thank you all for entering. Stephanie: Yes, I used a … Continue reading

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Notebook 2

You still have time to enter the first Conditional Realities give away. Just throw your name into the hat at this post by midnight and you’ll have a chance at a free signed copy of my novel. I’m deep into … Continue reading

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Free Book

This article by Douglas Goetsch in The American Scholar from last year is a marvelous piece about a group of high school kids who learned how to write poetry then set up a stand where they wrote poems on demand … Continue reading

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