I'm pretty proud of this one. I think it is one of my best structured stories. I was heavily influenced by John Irving on this one. It has a lot of the John Irving elements including missing body parts (in my case, extra body parts), strange animals (a goat instead of a bear), having a writer as one of the characters and the fact that it is a sex farce. But this is a sex farce without any sex. Unless you count a little gay groping. On reading it again, I think maybe it did end a little too suddenly. But it is such a great ending. Kind of a redemptive Christmas stroy.
Please leave a comment. I would love to get some feedback, good or bad.
A Little Something on the Side
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Cat Scratch Fever
Yes, I know, I stole the title from the Ted Nugent album of the same name. But Ted stole it from an actual disease caused by a cat scratch or bite. So I don't think old Ted can complain. And the title fits so well.
This is a heavy duty sex story. And unlike virtually all of my other stories, the sex is actually consummated. Although many of my stories have a sexual component, Cat Scratch Fever is the most pornographic. Why the difference? After Orbiting a Strange Attractor, I wanted to write about a character who was nothing like me. MacAree is nothing like me. I am short, little, talkative, brainy Jew while MacAree is the strong, silent, goyish type. MacAree is also the type who gets laid indiscriminately. Enough said.
But I have been known to do odd things for no apparent reason. At one point I took to wearing sunglasses night and day, inside and out, much to the annoyance of my friends. I'm not sure why I was wearing sunglasses but it made its way into this story.
MacAree is the first of many Grinders who give this collection its name. He grinds out a living, wanting little out of life and getting little in return. During the course of the story, he has a little adventure but, in the end, his life goes on as it did before. Maybe a little different, but not much. Such is the life of a Grinder. Perhaps that's why my stories end suddenly. The adventure ends and life goes on.
Once again, the story is a little dated. Cars don't come with tape decks any more.
Cat 2
This is a heavy duty sex story. And unlike virtually all of my other stories, the sex is actually consummated. Although many of my stories have a sexual component, Cat Scratch Fever is the most pornographic. Why the difference? After Orbiting a Strange Attractor, I wanted to write about a character who was nothing like me. MacAree is nothing like me. I am short, little, talkative, brainy Jew while MacAree is the strong, silent, goyish type. MacAree is also the type who gets laid indiscriminately. Enough said.
But I have been known to do odd things for no apparent reason. At one point I took to wearing sunglasses night and day, inside and out, much to the annoyance of my friends. I'm not sure why I was wearing sunglasses but it made its way into this story.
MacAree is the first of many Grinders who give this collection its name. He grinds out a living, wanting little out of life and getting little in return. During the course of the story, he has a little adventure but, in the end, his life goes on as it did before. Maybe a little different, but not much. Such is the life of a Grinder. Perhaps that's why my stories end suddenly. The adventure ends and life goes on.
Once again, the story is a little dated. Cars don't come with tape decks any more.
Cat 2
Friday, January 8, 2010
Orbiting a Strange Attractor
Orbiting a Strange Attractor was my first real story written about 15 years ago. I'm not sure it is a good choice to start the blog. It's not one of my best stories and I'm a little worried that I might lose my audience before I even get going. So please stick around, if you're following me, because the best is yet to come.
The title comes from a term in Chaos Theory. It refers to a particle that moves in an otherwise unpredictable manner but whose movements are still bound within a predictable space. So in a sense the story is about the chaotic things that happen to the unnamed hero of the story. But really, I just thought it was a cool expression.
I took a lot of what was happening in my life at the time and put it in this story. We did have to change the knob & tube wiring as a result of an insurance company inspection. My house is in a state of constant disrepair and I am an old fashion kind of guy who is tight with a dollar. But I do not avoid change. In fact, I thrive on it. Nor do I pump out a lot of stomach acid. I handle stress quite well. So I would say that I am not the same man as the main character despite our numerous similarities.
A lot of my recurrent themes show up in this first story including sex, drugs, and rock & roll. The rock & roll is usually Beatles music. In fact, I wrote an entire story about John Lennon that will be posted in a later blog. The sex however is usually unconsummated sex. Why do my characters always have a difficult time 'closing the deal', so to speak? My stories are supposed to be funny. Having sex can be romantic or pornographic or even dramatic. But unconsummated sex is funny. It's as simple as that.
When I wrote this story I was still making up stories around the dinner table to entertain the kids. The dream sequence in the middle of the story is one of those stories. In retrospect I see that it is the start of a standard technique in which I change the prospective within the story. I think I do it much better in later stories.
Finally, upon rereading the story, I notice that it's a big deal that the female lead is carrying a cell phone. It seems odd that this is an issue in 2010. But the story was written in 1995 when carrying a cell phone was more rare and reserved primarily for people who needed one for legitimate business purposes. It's rather sad that my stories are becoming dated already. All the more reason to post them before they become hopelessly antiquated.
Enjoy.
Orbitting a Strange Attractor
The title comes from a term in Chaos Theory. It refers to a particle that moves in an otherwise unpredictable manner but whose movements are still bound within a predictable space. So in a sense the story is about the chaotic things that happen to the unnamed hero of the story. But really, I just thought it was a cool expression.
I took a lot of what was happening in my life at the time and put it in this story. We did have to change the knob & tube wiring as a result of an insurance company inspection. My house is in a state of constant disrepair and I am an old fashion kind of guy who is tight with a dollar. But I do not avoid change. In fact, I thrive on it. Nor do I pump out a lot of stomach acid. I handle stress quite well. So I would say that I am not the same man as the main character despite our numerous similarities.
A lot of my recurrent themes show up in this first story including sex, drugs, and rock & roll. The rock & roll is usually Beatles music. In fact, I wrote an entire story about John Lennon that will be posted in a later blog. The sex however is usually unconsummated sex. Why do my characters always have a difficult time 'closing the deal', so to speak? My stories are supposed to be funny. Having sex can be romantic or pornographic or even dramatic. But unconsummated sex is funny. It's as simple as that.
When I wrote this story I was still making up stories around the dinner table to entertain the kids. The dream sequence in the middle of the story is one of those stories. In retrospect I see that it is the start of a standard technique in which I change the prospective within the story. I think I do it much better in later stories.
Finally, upon rereading the story, I notice that it's a big deal that the female lead is carrying a cell phone. It seems odd that this is an issue in 2010. But the story was written in 1995 when carrying a cell phone was more rare and reserved primarily for people who needed one for legitimate business purposes. It's rather sad that my stories are becoming dated already. All the more reason to post them before they become hopelessly antiquated.
Enjoy.
Orbitting a Strange Attractor
Friday, January 1, 2010
Welcome to my blog
I have been writing short works of fiction for about 15 years and managed to accumulate about 25 stories. I kind of like my stories. They are amusing and I enjoy reading them when they're done. I also like the writing part. My mind tends to race and to quiet it down, I like to have a story in the works. It gives my mind something constructive to do, rather than spinning aimlessly. I also get a great sense of accomplishment when I've completed a story. But most of all, I love getting feedback from my wife, family and friends who have been my only audience up to this point. I crave a larger audience and so I intend to post a short story on this site every two weeks or so. I would love your comments.
Most stories are humourous. Even the serious ones are really just black humour. They range from 12 to 50 pages in length but are very fast paced. I live in fear of boring my audience so I race through the story at breakneck speed. Most people say my stories are very engaging but end too suddenly. But doesn't everything end suddenly? Things just end sometimes. As do my stories.
I have some frequent themes running through my stories. I like to write about people suffering various forms of mental illness. Characters frequently exhibit signs of paranoia, schizophrenia or obsessive compulsive disorder. Because some of the stories are seen through the haze of their mental illness, the reader is sometimes left to wonder what is really happening and what is just part of the character's psychosis. I hate to resolve this confusion and try to leave the reader wondering at the end of the story. At their best, the stories are wild and wacky and maybe a little bit like John Irving (I hope).
Every couple of weeks I'll post a story as a Word file. Just download and read. I'll talk a little bit about what the stories are about and what I was thinking about when I wrote it, just to wet your appetite and fill up a little space on the blog. Otherwise it would just be a Word file each week and that would be boring.
Watch for Orbiting a Strange Attractor soon.
Most stories are humourous. Even the serious ones are really just black humour. They range from 12 to 50 pages in length but are very fast paced. I live in fear of boring my audience so I race through the story at breakneck speed. Most people say my stories are very engaging but end too suddenly. But doesn't everything end suddenly? Things just end sometimes. As do my stories.
I have some frequent themes running through my stories. I like to write about people suffering various forms of mental illness. Characters frequently exhibit signs of paranoia, schizophrenia or obsessive compulsive disorder. Because some of the stories are seen through the haze of their mental illness, the reader is sometimes left to wonder what is really happening and what is just part of the character's psychosis. I hate to resolve this confusion and try to leave the reader wondering at the end of the story. At their best, the stories are wild and wacky and maybe a little bit like John Irving (I hope).
Every couple of weeks I'll post a story as a Word file. Just download and read. I'll talk a little bit about what the stories are about and what I was thinking about when I wrote it, just to wet your appetite and fill up a little space on the blog. Otherwise it would just be a Word file each week and that would be boring.
Watch for Orbiting a Strange Attractor soon.
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