As I announced two weeks ago, I have a new book out, Brief Lives, available both as an ebook and a print on demand paperback. Brief Lives is a collection of 32 short stories, many of them quite short, only a few pages, but some of them run on for a dozen or more. An “Afterwords” includes (usually) brief descriptions of how the stories came to be written. I ran the first10 two weeks ago, and 10 more last week. These are the remaining 12. Enjoy!
Go here to check out my other books—Vorak of Kolnap, Author! Author!, Sherlock Holmes and the Hapsburg Tiara and Sherlock Holmes and the Giant Rat of Sumatra. Vorak and Author! Author! are both ebook/print on demand paperbacks, while the Holmes books are dead tree only—well, pretty much. Sherlock Holmes and the Hapsburg Tiara is also available in a complete audio version, ably recorded by noted British actor Simon Vance.
In addition to all this pay to read stuff, I have a complete freebie, Three Bullets, an exercise in fan fiction, recreating Rex Stout’s renowned fat detective, Nero Wolfe, available as an ebook only. Again, enjoy!
Brief Lives—the story behind the stories
Getting Started
“Getting Started” is again quasi-autobiographical, in parts, though I’ve never been in a car when it’s flipped over, nor have I ever worked full time operating a copy machine, which, in the pre-computer era, were far more busy than they are today.
Across Route 50
“Across Route 50” is a story I wrote only a few years ago, about a young man I saw in a 24-hour supermarket. I’m not sure if he was as unhappy as I’ve made him out to be. Maybe not.
Men At War
“Men At War” draws on my brief experience in the U.S. Army’s Officer Candidate School in Ft. Benning, Georgia. It was an experience worth having, but as an officer candidate I was not a success.
Mom
“Mom” is a fairly brief piece inspired by a woman I knew who had a close relationship with her son. “Mom” is a bit cozily upper middle class, I’m afraid, and I display the utmost in unoriginality by playing the cancer card. More people have gotten cancer in short stories than in real life, I believe. But a short story will turn out the way it will turn out, and the writer just has to live with the result.
At the MoMA
“At the MoMA” is a fairly long short story inspired by a woman I saw at the MoMA. A year or two later, I read part of an autobiography of an English writer who seemed to take particular pleasure in confessing his sins. In fact, he seemed to be rather proud of his wickedness, which I recycled in “At the MoMA,” though in fact my protagonist seems to incline fairly strongly to virtue. I thought about turning this into a novel, but ultimately decided that my characters weren’t interesting enough for that, so the story ends rather abruptly.
Dinner at Our House
“Dinner at Our House” is another quasi-autobiographical piece, except that I was a confused guest, rather than an intriguing host, at an academic party in Baltimore, which fortunately did not end in a visit to the emergency room.
Southern Comfort
“Southern Comfort” was based on one of my brother’s many colorful friends. The members of the Northwest Fiction Writers’ Group didn’t seem to care for my protagonist very much, perhaps because he lacked degrees. But we need to have room for everyone in this world.
Death of a Sergeant
“Death of a Sergeant” is one of the first short stories I ever wrote—one of the first that I wrote that’s worth reading, at least. To my mind, it’s also the only one that betrays an obvious influence—William Faulkner. For a suburban white boy from Falls Church, Virginia to write about a black boy from Mississippi, well, you need some help. This piece could easily be described as “William Faulkner goes to Vietnam.” Unlike Bill, I have to say, I saw action, not a lot of it, but some, and I knew dozens of black sergeants for whom the Army was a far better place than Mississippi.
Government Girl
“Government Girl,” like “The Meaning of Life” is more of a sketch of a state of mind than a short story. Again, I let it step over the bar.
A Pound of Turkey Chest
“A Pound of Turkey Chest” is another quasi-autobiographical piece, with someone else doing the writing.
3 AM Zurich Time
“3 AM Zurich Time” is not autobiographical. I was once in the lobby of the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC and I was struck by the profoundly unoriginal thought that you don’t have to belong in a place like this as long as you look like you belong. I may have been further inspired by a biography I read of Truman Capote, which included an account of a trip young Truman took to Europe once he became famous, during which he made a point of meeting all the famous kept boys of the time. “3 AM Zurich Time” first appeared in Gulf Stream Magazine.
Looking for Strawberries
“Looking for Strawberries” is another quasi-autobiographical piece. Again, I seem to have given my family a summer home, which we did not have, although we often did rent a cottage for several weeks. “Looking for Strawberries” was one of the first stories I wrote. It took me almost 20 years to get it published, in Oasis.
