Thompson gathered his gear and walked over to the changing station, and started the laborious process of suiting up. Kim helped hold the power pack and temperature control up as he shrugged his shoulders to settle the weight. Some awkward work with his hands on the inside, and Kim on the outside, sealed the suit. He trundled into the air lock as Kim slid the ammonia and the toolkit in with him. The outer starboard radiator had been losing pressure, indicative of a micrometeorite hit. He stepped out onto the truss, hooking his safety line up to a handy eyelet, … [READ MORE]
A World’s Eye View – 1
This is a post of the beginning of ‘A World’s Eye View’, a story that I’ve been working at off and on. It’s somewhat in the vein of the ‘Last Man on Earth’ idea.
Entry 1:
I can’t believe what just happened. I can’t believe anyone didn’t try to warn us. The first thing any of us up here had a clue about was when the bombs started landing. There’d be this small flash, and then another. They were always around major cities all over the world, and dust would make everything hazy. We could see the dust, spreading … [READ MORE]
How to stop worrying and love the bomb…err, story
As a writer, I am a bit neurotic, and prone to worrying if I’m doing the job of writing right. I want to be perfect, (which will never happen) and write a story that doesn’t need one edit (which also will never happen). The thing is, these worries, and fears of my own inadequacy can clobber my writing on their own, wrapping me up in so much anxiety I begin to hate writing. Honestly, its happened a few times. But the big thing that’s kept me going is that the story has been started, and now it wants to be … [READ MORE]
Background and Worlds – some of the ‘science’ of Writing
I may be an off-the-cuff writer, but I don’t apply that to the world that the story is based in. I love the idea of making worlds. The world is the ulitmate setting for the story, and to me is crucial for developing stories and the directions they work towards. Every story has to have a reason for it. Just writing a story is, at least to me, incomplete if I don’t have a reason and direction that the story is moving towards.
The Glass Bottles series is working towards a definitive ending, and beginning. A world, like our own … [READ MORE]
Redleg part 3
The gin was his way of hiding from the world, and Archie very much wanted to hide. He wanted to hide from his memories, from the nightmares, and from the ‘concerned citizens’ that attempted to make his life better by telling the things he should do for himself. He often thought of asking them why in god’s name did they think he could do those things? If he was capable, he wouldn’t be in this absolute craphole now would he?
Instead of screaming, he would duck his head, nod at the right moments, and then move on as soon as … [READ MORE]
The Deep End
Here is the star of a new Glass Bottles related short story. It stars Dean Youngwood from book III as the main character, and details the heroic rescue that cemented his reputation as a hero.
Welcome to ‘The Deep End’
“Hey Dean, how did the test go?” Carny Weston walked over to Dean Youngwood, giving him a fist bump as a greeting, and falling in next to him as Dean walked to his car. The sidewalk was full of pedestrians in a hurry to get lunch. The noon whistle had blown only a minute before Dean had exited Precinct Four … [READ MORE]
A word from the Author
With the third book being released, I’m certain there are a few wondering what all this is leading to. A snarky author would say, a climactic last book! Well, snarky or not it’s true. At some point in the future, this series will finish up and a new one will begin. I expect this series to be five or six books long. ( I know which the publisher would like 
)
As it continues, I will be adding more and more about what’s been going on, and back-linking to the earlier books. There is a reason for everything. … [READ MORE]
OFFICIAL RELEASE – BEGUILING WORDS
This is the official release date of Beguiling Words, the latest of the Glass Bottles storyline. It’s been a great honor to be able to keep writing stories and I want to thank Paper Angel Press for their belief in the story, and Niki Lenhart for the fantastic cover!
To those of you who have read the previous volumes, thank you and I hope this story entertains you as much or more than the others. See you in NaNoWriMo! Just look for JDark, no spaces. That’s me!… [READ MORE]
Redleg
This is a few opening pages to ‘Redleg’. comapred to ‘Skid Style’, it is darker and less light-hearted.
Archer ‘Archie’ Gunnison woke that morning to the strident buzzing of his watch. The cicada-like screech jolted him from sleep and his hands flailed about, seeking the offending noisemaker. His right hand finally caught up with his left and pressed the delay button, giving him a ten minute window to wake up and turn the alarm off for the day. Archie sat up in bed, letting the beige comforter droop into a pile on his lap. The dark blue curtains over the … [READ MORE]
The Power of ‘What if’
Two words in writing have so much power. ‘What if’. These crystallize and encapsulate all that is possible, might be possible, or already is happening. It’s the impetus to see what follows the question. For me, they are my favorite words to start a story in my mind.
Another favorite thing is ‘And to think I saw it on Mulberry Street’.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_to_Think_That_I_Saw_It_on_Mulberry_Street
If there is any story or poem that displays the imagination so thoroughly about writing, I’m not certain what it is. It is boundless imagination starting with a simple beginning, and it builds, and builds until a horse … [READ MORE]