I began writing when I was about eight or nine when I discovered the old Royal portable typewriter in our back closet. There was still some ink on the ribbon, and I found some odd pieces of paper, and wrote my first tiny stories, maybe a couple hundred words. I still have them somewhere. It took me forever to find the keys.

I continued to write small stories, most of which are long lost. The oldest one I have is from 1962, called “Sand,” which I wrote as a junior in high school in Arizona. I got an A- on it. It will appear in a collection of other early tales which will come out some time.

I finally published two stories, “Sand Painting” in Amazing in 1983, and “Carrion Troll” in Sorcerer's Apprentice, also in 1983. Much later I contributed stories to the Blood of Ten Chiefs anthologies, five of which were published, the sixth volume was cancelled before publication.

There were also several non-fiction books, computer science for young readers. I have them around somewhere.

The Planet Masters, St. Martin’s, 1979; Sidgwick & Jackson, 1980, ReAnimus.com 2013.
The story came to me as I was walking across the UNC-CH campus. I was inspired. I repeated the story to myself three times, and when I got home Iwrote out an outline, scene by scene. I later added scenes developing the setting, culture, and characters, and wrote 75,000 words in eight and a half days. As I said, inspired. That never happened again.

Also at Amazon

Star God, St. Martin’s, 1980; Robert Hale, 1981
This story was more constructed than inspired. The nature of the planets was carefully researched. I wasn’t quite as pleased with this story, and apparently neither was my publisher, as they declined to publish a third book. My career was over.

At ReAnimus, Amazon, and CreateSpace

Pursuit of Diana, Pinnacle Books, 1984; Gregg Press, 1986?
I hated the mini-series, but we were in debt, so I took the job. It was a tight deadline. I did 85,000 words in fourteen days. I hated that book for years until I re-read it recently, and discovered that I’d captured the essence of the TV shows. It actually works. I still hate the mini-series and the weekly series, and haven’t seen the remake, but the book is quite okay.

The Crivit Experiment, Pinnacle Books, 1985
All the V-book writers were given a sample screen-play. (It turned out that it eventually wound up as a two-minute scene in one of the episodes.) I took the core idea from the screen-play, and set my story on the UNC-CH campus. People recognized it. I think the story worked well, far better than what was left of the original author’s screen-play. It wasn’t his fault.

Jewels of the Dragon, Popular Library, 1986
I was visiting my mother in Michigan, trying to get a handle on a story idea I had, and going nowhere until one day, in my mother’s sewing room, it all came to me. It came off quite well, I think. Years later as I was re-reading it, I remembered why I had been visiting my mother. I had come to attend my father’s funeral. The idea of father lost, father found, then lost again was my inspiration.

At ReAnimus, Amazon, and CreateSpace

Below the Threshold, TOR, 1988
The V people asked be for a third book. The weekly show was a mess, and I was afraid it would be canceled before the book was published. I was right. I wrote it with the idea that I could do a global search-and-replace to remove all the V elements from it. But I had already sold the book, and TOR bought the series and published it. The story actually has nothing to do with the TV show at all.

The Eye in the Stone, Pageant, 1988
I wanted to explore the idea of magic in the real world. If there were magicians in the real world, how come nobody knew about them? If everybody knew about them, it wasn’t the real world. So I created this subtle alternate. My agent made me add the first chapter, and my editor made me change my last chapter. It works pretty well, I think.

At ReAnimus, Amazon, and CreateSpace

Crown of the Serpent, Popular Library, 1989
I asked my editor, after The Eye, should I do a new book, or a sequel? Unfortunately, he told me to do a sequel. I wasn’t prepared, so again it was more constructed than inspired, and has something of the quality of a YA book. I didn’t know what to do with Rikard’s girlfriend as a supporting character, so I just left her behind. That was a mistake, I could handle it now.

At ReAnimus, Amazon, and CreateSpace

Lair of the Cyclops, Warner Books, 1992
I was told to do another sequel, but this time I was prepared, having come up for sketches for a full series of ten novels. I wasn’t too happy with the result, and suggested to my editor that I cut all those scenes where Rikard is dealing with his mother’s family, bit I was told that those were the best parts. I didn’t understand that then. I do now.

At ReAnimus, Amazon, and CreateSpace

Cat Tales, Reminiscences
This was a test of Kindle publishing, to see if I could do it right. Almost. It contains five essays, which were originally presented as speeches at my Toastmasters club, stories about my life with cats. I'm a dog person. I still have three (new) cats, but my daughter takes care of them now.

Available at Amazon

A Closet for a Dragon and Other Early Tales
I wrote these stories over a period of fifty years. Many are somewhat experimental, and most have not been previously published. They are science fiction, or fantasy, or horror, or mixed, or something in between. They range from the Arizona desert to an intergalactic civilization, from the rebirth of daydreams to sadistic revenge. All have been revisited to ensure that they meet my current standards of storytelling. I hope you enjoy them.

Available at Amazon, and from CreateSpace