•May 19, 2012 •
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“I can’t recall if you take coffee or tea, Mr. Quinn,” Mabel said.
“I am offended, Mabel, long as I’ve been coming here. I thought I’d have made more of an impression.”
“You’ve only been in town three days, Mr. Quinn. Most of my customers have been coming in here every day for twenty years or more. Besides you spend all of your time sweet-talking Betsy, and she hardly ever lets me even bring you a glass of water.”
“Aw, well, Betsy’s a nice girl, and I try to be polite and all, but we both know you’re the reason I keep coming back here.”
Mabel shook her head. “You aren’t the first salesman to come in here, Mr. Quinn.”
Jefferson smiled. “Maybe everyone who ain’t a salesman just gets tongue-tied around you, darlin’. Coffee, please.” Continue reading ‘Serial Saturday: The Figurine, Part 7′
Posted in Serials
•May 15, 2012 •
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Like many finer points of grammar, it can be difficult for neophytes to know when to use “who” and when to use “whom”, so I present a link to the great James Thurber making it all clear.
Posted in Grammar Gripery
•May 12, 2012 •
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Chipper stood and strode from the study without a word, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor as soon as she’d cleared the threshold of the carpeted room. After a few seconds, Jefferson stood and wandered over to the bookshelf. He browsed the titles for a time, sipping his bourbon, until a squeaking and rumbling noise made him turn.
Chipper pushed a wheelchair through the doorway. She had a moment’s difficulty in getting it over the threshold and onto the carpet of the study, but Jefferson was too startled to help. Continue reading ‘Serial Saturday: The Figurine, Part 6′
Posted in Serials
•May 11, 2012 •
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•May 8, 2012 •
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•May 5, 2012 •
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The previous time Jefferson had been at the old house up on the hill, the butler had been a military man, but since his last service had been in the war between the states it had been a bit of a struggle for the man to maintain a martial bearing. The new butler who opened the door for Jefferson looked like someone who knew a thing or two about scrapping too, and was a lot more ready to set to it at a moment’s notice, since he was a much younger man. He wasn’t built to fit in the suit he’d been crammed into, in Jefferson’s judgment.
“Yes?”
Jefferson had a feeling the butler was a bit put out by his inability to loom over his guest. “Here to see Miss Tacy.”
“Are you expected?”
Jefferson rubbed his chin. “Well, she ain’t often surprised. But we didn’t set up an appointment, if that’s what you mean.”
Continue reading ‘Serial Saturday: The Figurine, Part 5′
Posted in Serials
•May 3, 2012 •
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Whenever I submit something to Fantasy and Science Fiction, packing something into an envelope to send to Hoboken via surface mail to meet their quaint submission requirements, I can’t help but think of Bugs Bunny at the end of “8 Ball Bunny” when he realizes that the baby penguin he has worked so hard to get to Antarctica was actually born in Hoboken. I literally can’t print the mailing label without saying “HoBOken!” with the emphasis on the second syllable like Bugs does. It never fails to cheer me up. Perhaps that’s why they don’t allow online submissions.
Posted in General writing things
•May 1, 2012 •
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•April 28, 2012 •
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The village looked a little more lively than it had the first time Jefferson had been through, but that wasn’t saying much. A few of the houses on the main street looked like they were being refurbished, and someone was making a go at re-opening the grocer’s, although the filling station was still abandoned. There were still a lot of empty houses, windows boarded over or just broken, paint peeling and lawns gone to weeds. In his memory, the village had always been gloomy and dank. It was a comparatively bright summer’s day now, but still oppressively humid and overcast, with high gray clouds in the distance that threatened rain.
He had the feeling he was being watched as he drove through the quiet streets, and told himself it was just that folks were curious about the Cord–there weren’t a lot of cars in the village, and most were old and battered. On impulse, he turned just before the road would have taken him out of the village, and swung down a side street. Continue reading ‘Serial Saturday: The Figurine, Part 4′
Posted in Serials
•April 26, 2012 •
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If there is any justice in the world, the next time I check into a Holiday Inn, one of these generic landscapes with a monster painted into the foreground will be hanging on the wall.
Posted in Uncategorized
In honor of the 