Wow, is all I can say to this passage about Robert Louis Stevenson Writing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Robert Louis Stevenson [churned] out Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in six days while under the pall of tuberculosis and the…
I have a new article in Mental Floss: 10 Fascinating Facts About Ravens. The raven is an amazing bird. It’s incredibly smart, it plays with other animals, and it can talk. I was so impressed while researching this article, I…
I have a new article up on Mental Floss called 11 Nintendo Games Based on Classic Works of Literature. Turns out there were Nintendo games based on all kinds of books, from Tom Sawyer to Frankenstein to Peter Pan. And…
I have a new article up in Mental Floss: 10 Strange Facts About Hot Air Balloons. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln formed a Balloon Corps during the Civil War? And that the first passengers in a hot air balloon…
I have a short story up on Monkeybicycle called “Undertaker.” It’s about a girl, a ghost, and a sinister prairie dog. That’s right. Sinister prairie dog. How can you resist? Click here to read Undertaker.
Hurrah! I have a second article up in Mental Floss. This one is about forensic facial reconstruction, when they scan the skeletal remains of a famous historical person and make a 3D model of his or her face. For example,…
I am a fan of Mental Floss, so I’m thrilled that they are running an article I wrote … about stilts! In France in the 19th century, an entire town lived on stilts. Stilt jousting is a real thing—an entire…
I wrote a guest blog post at Superstition Review’s s[r] blog about getting stuck on writing fiction. Here’s a sample: Lately, I’ve been getting stuck while writing short stories. I’ll be working on a promising idea with a good set-up…
I have a short humor/satire piece in Defenestration this morning. It’s inspired by toy shopping over the holidays. Check it out: The Lil’ Richy Einstein Play-a-Majig.
Hey check it out! I have a new article in the January issue of Writer’s Digest. “If Walls Could Talk” is about lessons I learned from visiting the houses of Mark Twain, Jack London, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and…
Happy Halloween! Take a look at my most recent article for the Pacific Sun about the last public hanging in Marin County. It resulted in a near-riot as a bloodthirsty crowd watched the hanging of a Chinese man. Sample: On…
I have an article in the Pacific Sun this week. It’s about how the town of Tiburon is looking at putting cameras on the roads going into town to scan the license plates of all its visitors. The fortress of…