Category: fiction

Tapped Out

     That’s me. Pounding these keys has used me up, at least for the moment. (Memo to me: Remember to unclench your fists next time.) I’m going to use the day for things that won’t involve me with computers. However, I dislike to leave my Gentle Readers with nothing, so have an old short story …

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Love, Possibility, And The Fatal Hesitation

     Writers are constantly on the alert for other writers who can teach them something. I’m no exception. I know my descriptive skills to be sub-par, so when reading I’m especially alert for a display of exceptional power in that aspect of the fiction writer’s trade.      And today, I encountered one in the work …

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Once More…

     …The Big Based Book Sale is underway! A large number of ebooks of all kinds, written from a pro-freedom, pro-reality perspective, are available for $0.99 or absolutely free, and are guaranteed to remain so through June 27. (Yes, my crap is in there again.) If your reading stack is getting short, surf on over …

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The Strike

     [A short story for you, inspired by an observation from retired World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. — FWP] ***      “We’re not getting anywhere,” Percy growled.      “Did you expect to?” I said. “I’d say that was rather the point.”      “But why? “Don’t they have as much to lose from this as the …

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Inherit The Wind, 2023 Edition

     If you were fascinated by the clash of issues and titans in the Scopes Monkey Trial, whether the movie version with Frederic March and Spencer Tracy or the original “starring” William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow, you can’t fail to be mesmerized by this modernization by Hidden Truth author Hans G. Schantz:      I …

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A Change Of Scene

     [A short story for you today. A dear friend recently told me something I hadn’t expected to hear from her. It was a sad disclosure of a variety I’ve heard before, about a form of abuse the proudly pious often inflict upon those who haven’t yet received the gift of faith. I consider it …

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Free Fiction 3/5 Through 3/11!

     As of this morning (March 5) at Midnight Pacific time, all my novels are free downloads at Smashwords. If you haven’t overdosed on my fiction yet, here’s the link to what I have available there. They’re available in all the currently popular formats.

Terminal Guidance

     [It seems a good moment to post a little fiction. I wrote the story below more than twenty years ago. It holds the dubious distinction of being my most-plagiarized piece. Despite the offense done to it — and to me — I’m still rather fond of it. — FWP] Terminal Guidance      Darius Culloden …

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New Fiction!

     This is a day of rejoicing:      Liberty’s Torch Co-Conspirator Margaret Ball has released a novel that truly has it all: magic, history, intrigue, action, and a delicately paced romance. I was privileged to be her proofreader, and I tell you, quite sincerely, that I have never read anything like it. It is simply …

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Side Effect

     [It’s time for something light-hearted, as I’ve actually been depressing myself with the public-affairs commentary. So have a story about a young man who works at a quack-remedies mill who discovers something that actually works…and finds love in the bargain — FWP] ==<O>==      Harley Crandall is a Texan émigré and a businessman of …

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This Writer Has An Uncanny Foresight

     I’ve mentioned Mackey Chandler’s April series more than once here. I liked it enough that I’m now reading his other works. Just now I’m enjoying his 2011 novel Paper or Plastic, an unusual first contact story in several ways. A moment ago I encountered this passage, in which a very human alien is explaining …

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Conditional Hypotheticals

     “Say, what if there were no hypothetical questions?” – Originator unknown      I found this at Ace’s place:      I can’t speak to whether the figures cited are accurate. However, the suggestion that persons of below-average intelligence would have trouble understanding such propositions seems like that most uncommon of all things, “common sense.” Moreover, …

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Names

     [My Christmas story. Someone – apart from Joseph and Mary – had to be first on the scene. But who might that have been…and what did he take from being first to lay eyes on the Christ Child? – FWP] ***      Census has always been an irritant. There are many — I am …

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Free Fiction!

     Starting today, through January 1, all my novels without exception are free downloads at Smashwords. You can get them in any and all popular formats, suitable for reading on your handheld device or your computer.      Amazon won’t allow me a giveaway promotion any more, so hie thee to Smashwords for the freebies.

“Freedom: I Won’t!”

     This will be an extremely trying day here at the Fortress, for doggie reasons: our Newf must go back under the knife yet again, this time to correct a dangerous abdominal hernia. So I doubt I’ll be posting anything much.      Accordingly, I’d like to recommend that anyone who hasn’t yet read Eric Frank …

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The Adventure Of Love

     A number of my fiction readers have commented that the romances I write are “different.” Well, I should hope so. Why write what everyone else is writing? Why not follow a unique path that persons bored with “the same old thing” can use for their refreshment? All the same, it raises the question of …

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Teaser Time

     Remember what I said about too many projects? It’s one of the reasons 2022 is likely to be the year I don’t release a new novel. Anyway, here’s the opening of a new Onteora County Romance. Working title: Doors. (This makes five separate novel-sized projects on the anvil. Is there a twelve-step group for …

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A Sentiment I Have Often Felt

     It was unusual to see anyone in a p-suit in the corridors. Walking back suited up with the machine pistol and her sword in her left hand might get a few looks. She was way past caring.      April put the badge back in the bag and tossed it to Bob. “Take care of …

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May I Or Mustn’t I?

     On this third day of November in this Year of Our Lord 2022, I refuse to talk about the upcoming elections. I refuse to talk about the attempts to pre-anesthetize us about the massive, nationwide act of vote fraud we must anticipate. And I flatly refuse to talk about the whining for “pandemic amnesty.” …

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Teaser Time

     Yes, friends, relatives, and assorted creditors: It’s that time again! Many people have written recently to ask about what fiction projects I have on the anvil. The answer is: Too BLEEP!ing many! And whenever I try to work on any one of them, the others all start to whine that they’re being neglected. It’s …

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