The editor of this newsletter had recently sent me an urgent request for an article. I don’t think it was caused by an outcry from his many readers who missed my column; I doubt many remembered me. In his email he asked if I was still alive; if there was anything wrong; how’s my health; etc.  His note surprised me because I thought he received plenty of stuff from me. I figured that my column could go on for years; if he wasn’t too particular about what he published. I became worried. This column is the only publishing credit I have. After 10 years of writing, he’s the only one in the business who has the guts to put what I’ve written on a page or in a book.  So, I apologize for being neglectful, but offer this excuse:

For many years I’ve had an interest in UFOs and extraterrestrial alien abductions. The thought of a full-body cavity probe by little gray beings with large almond-shaped eyes isn’t a pleasant one, but yet, I thought it would be a small price to pay for a trip across the universe to an alien planet where one could observe and be observed by an unknown culture.  Wow. “What if?” I thought. I was willing to bet the entire world was just as curious. So I decided to write a novel with alien abduction as my central theme.   Continue reading →

I’m not a dog lover, but my wife, Mary, is. I have to paint my nose black just to get her attention.

Soon after our kids left home for college, Mary brought home Daisy, an Italian Greyhound puppy. She became a Mom again and smothered Daisy with gratuitous gifts and affection. She should have named the dog Princess.

Unlike Mary, I kind of enjoyed our empty nest. I took over my son’s room, converted it into my den and spent hours there writing novels. Oh, life was good. But things changed after that dog arrived. It became my job to care for Daisy on evenings because Mary keeps late office hours. On our first evening together, I informed Daisy that she was essentially on her own, but I would check on her to remind her to go potty. If she needed coddling, she’d just have to wait until Mom got home. Everyone knows the first rule of animal training is assertiveness.  Continue reading →

For me, part of the fun of writing is learning about new stuff. Setting, character, even dialog has to be researched so that it’s believable. It has to be right.

The Internet is a perfect tool. Anything you want to know is out there in cyberspace. And libraries have been providing curious writers with answers for centuries. But I like to take my research a step further. I need to observe and study the people, places and things that I write about firsthand. I want to experience it – to feel it.  Continue reading →

Some time ago I attended a writer’s workshop. After the morning sessions, I tagged along with a few of the others for lunch at the student union. We all chatted while standing in line with our food trays and dinnerware. Walter, a writer in our group, came over and introduced himself while I searched for a clean utensil from a metal cup.

“You sure ask a lot of questions,” he said.

I found a clean knife. “Yes. I know. Sometimes it just doesn’t come easy for me, especially that diagramming plot stuff. I write like I drive – reckless and without a map.”   Continue reading →

I write about UFOs and extraterrestrial aliens. The fictional story possibilities are endless – as infinite as space.

Every mystery can be answered by the alien invasion, any body abnormality, too. Ever have a ringing sound in your ear? Sure you have. Everyone has at one time or another. That ringing you hear is a message from a UFO. Plausible? Sure. Why not? No doubt there are wards full of people at this very moment trying to decode the alien message. They are prevented by a continuous diet of Clozaril, Loxapine or Mellaril. Are they being confined in state hospitals because of a government conspiracy?

See how it works? All kinds of story ideas.  Continue reading →

I’ve been attending writer’s conferences for many years and have learned something new and valuable at each of them, but my experience at a particular conference taught me a lesson I’ll never forget.

It took place on a warm weekend in spring. Madison was alive with students who welcomed the weather in shorts. Shirtless joggers passed hand-holding couples in a snake-like dance on the sidewalks, and keg parties spilled out onto the scruffy lawns of student flats and apartments, day and night.  Continue reading →

I’ve recently gone from unsuccessful novelist to unsuccessful screenwriter.

I found out why so many novelists complain about screen adaptations of their work. A full-length feature film should be written in a maximum of 130 pages. Try cutting a 350-page novel down to that. I did. I tried to take a lousy novel and turn it into a better screenplay. I took out everything but dialog. That only cut it down to 200 pages – so I slashed and carved some more. I think I’ve ended up with what some people might call an “art film”.

Now I’m writing another – a work that is intended to be a script from the start. It’s a horror story and I’m about halfway through. Tonight, I realize that the only way I can hope to save this thing is if I make it into a musical.  Continue reading →