Rosemary and flowers in snow.

Fiction Publications

Title Where When My Comments
Title Where When My Comments
Romance, with Mice Dadoism Anthology, Chomu Press 2012 To quote the submission guidelines: "We aspire to edit and compile an anthology that will be the literary and psychic equivalent of a tour around the edges of a dying galaxy in a spectacularly malfunctioning space vehicle." I found this call irresistable and Romance, with Mice practically wrote itself. It would have been unpublishable almost anywhere else, so I was really pleased when they said yes.
Mirror Test Tomorrow Project Seattle Oct 2011 Early this year Intel asked for SF describing the future of some of their key R&D technologies for their Tomorrow Project: Seattle anthology. I combined virtual reality, machine learning and facial recognition to explore what happens when software can tell intimate things about what meatware (that's you) is thinking. The anthology pdf is available here, courtesy of Intel.
The Angels' Share Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine Dec 1996 I had read that single malt whiskey aged the typical decade loses a percent and a half every year to evaporation, and this is called "the Angels' Share". I was so enchanted with the phrase that I sat down to write and this story was born. It's about the ethics of borrowing someone else's body, and it's now available again on Smashwords. (I did the artwork there. That's a bottle of scotch. Really. Like it?)
Payback Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine June 1997 This is one of my most successful stories, by my own standards, gathering a lot of peer acknowledgements. It was also one of those that surprised me. I had no clue how to end it. I remember typing the story, reading as the words came out in front of me, and thinking, "this'll never work" and then watching as, somehow, it did.
And Peace Shall Sleep HarperPrism July 1996 My first published novel. There's a lot of good stuff in this book, and you don't need to be a MtG player to get it. When I re-read it, there's one part where I always end up blinking back tears. I think it's chapter six. This book ended up bringing someone into my life I call my "informally adopted younger brother."
Multiply and Conquer     An essay dressed up as fiction, and based in the plot of A Hand in the Mirror.
Chef's Surprise Anthology Distant Planes, Wizards of the Coast Fall 1995 For Magic the Gathering players, this story is based on the flavor text from the the card Granite Gargoyle. This was so much fun to write. I've read it aloud dozens of times at cons and I have to admit, I just love it.
When Strangers Meet New Legends anthology, edited by Greg Bear Summer 1995 This story wrote itself out of a dream I'd had the night before. I sat down and watched the words come, one after another, and didn't get up until it was done. It was published in this incredible anthology nearly as written. At Clarion West, Waldorp said that most writers get one story as a gift. If so, this was mine.
The Going Price Wizards of the Coast, anthology Tapestries   The seed story for And Peace Shall Sleep.
The Jesus Construct Pulphouse, issue #18 Mar 1995 Religion, consciouness, and cyberspace. This is kind of an amazing story. I am still impressed that I wrote it.
A Hand in the Mirror Anthology Cyberdreams, Edited by Gardner Dozois and Sheila Williams. First publication: Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Aug 1993.  Jun 1994 and 1992 I worked intensely hard on this one, and after it was published continued to work on it, intending to turn it into a novel. I never quite got it done. I still entertain dreams that I might some day.
The Green Expanse Number 3 May 1994 Wish fulfillment. If you grew up poor in a city in an apartment with roaches.
There is a Season Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine Dec 1993 A short, wrenching story that event gets to me.
It Might be Sunlight Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine Nov 1993 This is the one that got written with tears and blood. I still think of this as some of my best work ever. A fan contacted me nearly 15 years after it was published to tell me that he still makes photo copies of his tattered copy to give to friends. Wow.
Motherhood Pulphouse, issue #16 Sep 1993  
The Animal Game Anthology Infinite Loop: Software Development's Own Anthology of Science Fiction, pub. Miller Freeman Aug 1993 I wondered if I could write a story with 6 characters and no dialog. Yes, it turned out.
Eyes of the Beholder Midnight Zoo (Vol. 2, No. 1) Jan 1992 When I workshopped EYES at a convention in 1991 with some eight professional writers, only one of them had a clue what I was trying to do, and she told me that if I went back and rewrote it without pulling punches, she'd publish it. I did, and so did she.
Carnival Willamette Writers Kay Snow Winner 1993 A munchie bit of a story, a snack touching on the theme of transcendent experiences and how fleeting they can be. When you're there, it's all so obvious, so clear, so easy. And then -- it's gone, and you can't get back. This story won me the Kay Snow award for the second year in a row. I was embarassed, so I stopped entering. Available free here on Smashwords.
Blades Quanta Magazine 1989 A very short story, published on-line, in the early early days of on-line, before it was considered a legit medium in which to publish. Until recently, as far as I knew, the story was not to be found anywhere. Now it's available free here on Smashwords.