Writings

What are you in the mood for? A historical thriller set in the Pacific Theater during World War II, providing a glimpse into civilian life in wartime Japan? A Japanese-American girl who infiltrates a POW camp to free victims of medical experiments? Try RIPPLE IN THE SEA or Kindle version

Or maybe a medical thriller about desperate researchers who hide from authorities and resort to unethical means to fight a uniquely virulent plague? SCOURGE

Then again, perhaps you just want to relax with Pythonesque humor . . . and find out the truth about Robin Hood! THE MARIANATED NOTTINGHAM AND OTHER ABUSES OF THE LANGUAGE

Details of each below. Enjoy!

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RIPPLE IN THE SEA

(historical thriller)

Horrified over her mother’s treason,
desperate to redeem her family’s honor,
a Japanese-American girl infiltrates a
World War II Japanese prisoner-of-war camp
to free victims of medical experiments.

That’s the plan, anyway . . . .

A historical novel that offers a unique glimpse
into civilian life in wartime Japan.

This novel was filled with drama, action,
and well-researched information
that made this an intense yet entertaining read.
Very impressive.

Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews

This is a story I had to write, thanks to my father’s experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II, after which he suffered from PTSD. It’s been 75 years since the end of that war, and in all that time very little has been published regarding civilian life in wartime Japan (Historical Notes at the end list a few examples; they tend to be at least somewhat autobiographical). A more wide-ranging accounting of this era, in a fictional format that could appeal to readers, appeared worthwhile. Part I of this novel sets the stage for it, balancing the things done to Japan with the things Japan had done earlier in the war (which are also addressed in many other works).

To those who feel offended that a person of a given ethnicity should write from the perspective of another, I apologize. “Own voices” may be optimal, but it would seem wrong to suppress a story simply because no one from the relevant culture has chosen to tell it. (As you might expect, at this point few are still alive who experienced the culture of wartime Japan, so I am fortunate to have found one to help as a beta-reader.)

In a similar vein, diversity of characters is desirable in novels, yet options in this case were quite restricted. Even the gender of the protagonist was dictated by the fact a boy would have been swallowed up into the Japanese war machine.

In addition to readers interested in the history of the era, it is my hope that teachers might find this an acceptable way to present details of the period in a manner that intrigues students.

Released 15 August 2020, the 75th anniversary of the end of fighting.

In addition to the Amazon links above, the hardback is available from any bookstore via Ingram Spark. Find a local indie bookstore via: ISBN-13: 978-0997299359

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Medical Thriller

Desperate researchers hide from authorities

and resort to unethical means

to fight a uniquely virulent plague.

Available from your local bookstore via Ingram Spark.

ISBN 978-0997299328

Stacy Romani becomes titular head of a Gypsy clan when her parents take ill and die. She moves in with her uncle at the clan factory in upstate New York, where they make both legitimate chemicals and street drugs. Historically persecuted, the clan makes money to ensure their security. Stacy grows up fast, loving the chemistry and hating what her relatives do with it. But family loyalty trumps principle, so she betrays the outside world through silence. She leaves home and buries herself in biochemistry, furious that people know so little about medicine after studying it for thousands of years.

Aatos Pires grows up wanting to cure animals, but gets seduced by gold. He joins a rich bioengineering firm and invents equipment that is not so much cutting-edge as tip-of-the-spear. Trinity, the owner’s disaffected daughter, falls in with an eco-extremist doomsday cult out to “cleanse the world, let God start over.” She uses Aatos’ equipment to genetically engineer a virus more complex and subtle than anything seen before.

Trinity’s plague takes off, deadlier than AIDS and faster than flu. The death toll goes exponential. Survival rate: zero. Aatos panics. Trinity used his gear, so police think he’s responsible. But he’s the only one who understands the technology to craft a remedy. He recruits Stacy, now a world-class immunologist, and she takes the lead in a desperate plan—use Aatos’ computational chemistry to craft their own virus to infect the world, modify the human immune system, and destroy the plague.

It looks fine on paper.

 


A comedic concatenation of 25 skits, short stories, and ballads (solid meter, strict rhyme, and no redeeming social value; do not confuse this with “poetry” [heh, heh]). A little fantasy, a dash of SciFi, and most all of it quite off-the-wall. And the title piece? A full-length screenplay, because, well, it’s about time someone told the truth about Robin Hood.

Killer Nashville Writers Conference “Silver Falchion” winner for Best Anthology (2017)!

Samples, anyone? OK, I recorded the ballads during the August 21, 2017 eclipse. Only got to 0.997 here, so not totally dark, but pretty dim. And “dim” may be semi-accurate for these ballads. Youtube links below. (Last is my favorite. Got photobombed by a cardinal near the end.) Enjoy!

O’Connor’s Last Quest

The Wicked Witch of the Yeast

The Pirate Ballerina

Dead Man Malone

O’Connor’s Third Quest, Not Counting the Two He Didn’t Finish

Now out — Available for order at local bookstores or from Amazon.



Other Publications:

A mini-memoir of my time working backstage with the Fairfax Ballet in northern Virginia. Hilarious, so I’m told. Volume 2.1 of the Ocotillo Review, and editor’s choice in the “truth” (non-fiction) category of the anthology, on page 45: “Cultural Descent” http://www.kallistogaiapress.org/shop/

“Interview With a Biochemist” in The Leading Edge (science fiction and fantasy magazine, Issue 22, Fall 1990)
“O’Connor’s Last Quest” in Figment (science fiction and fantasy magazine, #11, Fall 1992)
“Shame” in “Towers of Darkover” anthology (edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley)
“The Stratmoor Bear” in “Sword and Sorceress XI” anthology (edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley)

The latter two have been translated and reprinted in Germany, Italy, and France, so I’ve written stuff I can no longer read. Ha!

Notable mentions:

Several screenplays have done well in various contests, from honorable mention to quarterfinalist status (and grand prize in one tiny contest). In fact, both SCOURGE and Part I of RIPPLE IN THE SEA were first drafted as screenplays. If you’re a writer, this is great training for “show, don’t tell.”

And then, like all writers, there are other things in the drawer. Or on a memory stick. Let’s get with the times, people.  😉

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