Believe it or not, this miniature working v-twin motor inspired a story. It was 1998, a time between clients when I gave family members custom stories in lieu of gifts. Very Small Pistons was a ‘lurid’ tale in celebration of Mysterelly’s 82nd birthday. Mysterelly (the name folks in the know called my father) designed and built the 8” tall machine in the picture. And many others.

In those days, my gift stories were printed on paper and often made into book-like objects complete with Wire-O bindings. Mysterelly was quite proud to be the inspiration for the Lost Piston Society and made everybody who visited his house read the story. Since you’re visiting my new Curios page, just click on the icon below to download your very own PDF version (guaranteed to be free of paper and Wire-O pollution).

The whimsical fairy tale called Night Funnels appeared in s1ngularity, a science fiction/fantasy webzine, back in 2003. That novelette had its beginnings as a somewhat cryptic greeting card to my youngest daughter, but you can click the cover, download a PDF and read it even now.

Eventually it grew into a somewhat less fairy tale-ish novel that I submitted to an agent. After her gentle rejection, I set it aside for a few years. But the theme and the planet and fantastical new creatures and characters continued to roil and fester in the dark recesses of my cognitorium.

The little greeting card of yesteryear has now grown up into the three books comprising Falling Sky, which still features a naive, suddenly rude-mouthed copper-top named Glix. Except now she’s a Queen of Niceness. Click on The Deadly Crocus cover to buy it (or read it free) on Amazon.