The Day The Big Top Came Down

This was the original post for my short story The Day The Big Top Came Down. Look for it soon in M. K. Dreysen Collected: Volume 4, coming August 2020.

And for your reading pleasure this turkey-induced weekend, return here soon for "The Day the Big Top Came Down".

Do you love me? Like I love you?

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Do You Love Me?, Martyn P. Casey and Nick Cave, songwriters

The Dark Art Of Starlight

This is the original post for my short story The Dark Art Of Starlight. Please look for it soon in M. K. Dreysen Collected: Volume 4, coming August 2020.

Stay tuned later this evening for "The Dark Art of Starlight"...

... it was the roughest place, I'd ever been ... Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Tin Pan Alley, Bob Geddins songwriter

Degrees Of Shade

This was the original post for my short story Degrees Of Shade. Look for it soon in M. K. Dreysen Collected: Volume 4, coming August 2020.

Heh. (If you're a carpenter's kid, an electrician's kid, etc, you'll have variations of this I'm sure...)

Words not of wisdom but of fair warning: Never tell a plumber you've had a shitty day... I once had my grandfather describe to me the joys of eating a sandwich when you're covered in it.

...never heard a word I said... Paul Robeson, Lazybones, Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael songwriters

The Things On The Barrelhead

This was the original post for my short story The Things On The Barrelhead. Look for it soon in M. K. Dreysen Collected: Volume 4, coming August 2020.

Incoming soon, a story for this week called The Things on the Barrelhead. Blame it on Phillip K. Dick, at least a little, at least a little, but it's a what if? that I see, if not possible, then as a dream of HR departments soon to come...

Thelonious Monk, I Should Care

Ah, and here we are in November, a few frosty mornings to hint of things to come. I've been fortunate these last three days, I've had time away from the day gig, and time enough to sit and do nothing but read. It was fortunate timing all around. We had a busy week last week, for a variety of reasons, so the three days recovery was a delight. I finished three books these last few, two by L. E. Modesitt and one by Seanan McGuire. The two by Modesitt were the latest in his Recluce series, now closing in on 30 years running and 21 books at time of writing. I've read most of the rest of Modesitt's books; I picked up The Towers of the Sunset in Waldenbooks way back when, and have been keeping, more or less, since. I enjoyed this latest cycle in the Recluce series, Modesitt's going back and thinking through some nuggets of the series that appear to have been on his mind for a good long while. The hints have been there, at least. From these, I've learned to let those things that look like they dangle, unresolved, age well. I've known of it, that this is one of the joys of a series, the idea that you as writer get to go back and look for the clues you've left yourself. These last three in Recluce, Mongrel Mage through the Mage-Fire War, are a good example of that. In fact, the whole series is a good example of that. That said, if you're interested but don't know of Recluce, I'd suggest a few different starting points instead of these last three books. The Magic of Recluce, The Towers of the Sunset, Fall of Angels, or Magi'i of Cyador would all be good starting points. Just be wary, if you're the type who gets hooked on intricate, long-running series, and you haven't already read Modesitt's works... well. You're in for a treat, dear reader. Seanan McGuire is, by comparison, newer to me as a reader, though she too has a fair list of works to dive into. I've got Discount Armageddon and a couple others of her books sitting on my shelves, and I've read at least a few of the stories she's published with Lightspeed Magazine and a few other places. In this case it was one of McGuire's newer ones, a standalone called Middlegame, that caught me, and how. What did I learn? The joys of the occasional inside joke (red right hand, ahem...), pace and the joy in it. Don't stop to explain, that moment will come. Most of all? Go for it. Get tangled up in the idea and let it run. And since Middlegame is a standalone, I don't have to give any warnings in terms of diving into a new series. Middlegame is a treat.