I'm a writer, as you've probably already figured out if you're this far into the page. Here are some samples of my work: first chapters, stories or story fragments, and whatever else I decide is worthy of such august company.

Something to be aware of: everything I currently have on this page is quite old, and will probably never be published in exactly its current form. I thought it was all brilliant when I wrote it some years ago; now I think it's merely okay, and the stuff I'm writing now is brilliant. In a few years ... This is a common problem.

But I do believe they're good stories, and deserve to be told. Someday, they'll be told better than they are now. And there's more to come. Count on it.


The Killing Jar took me longer to complete than any other novel I've ever written -- I started it in 1989 and finished the final version in 1994 -- and in some ways it's still an evolving story. This is what happens when you base a novel on personal events. It's worth it, but it takes a while reshaping your life to fictional ends. Sometimes the results surprise you.

Codes started as a reaction to the bad sub-Frankenstein genetic engineering thrillers that came out a while back. Remember those? Tons of 'em, all sloppily retelling the theme of There Are Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. Forget it: Shelley did it best. And genetics holds out more promise than perhaps any other science in history ... The scientists are the good guys. Really.

The Unquiet Fields, OTOH, is designed from the beginning to be Really, Really Big in scope. Alternate history starts with a "what-if;" in this case, it's "what if the Civil War hadn't happened until right now?" Yes, yes, the Civil War is one of the two most over-written wars in history, real or alternate. I like to think this is a fresh approach.

Shadow City (working title) is one of my current, though dormant, projects. It's a departure for me, writing in a strict fantasy format -- even though the novel isn't really fantasy at all. (It's science fiction, I think. But it feels like fantasy.) Comments on all of the pieces here are welcome, but I'm particularly eager to hear what people think of this one.