Closeup of the edge of a book showing the page edges running horizontally, and the quote Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend, inside of a dog, it's too dark to read, Grouch Marx

“The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.”—John Steinbeck

I will post links to some of my other publications--short stories, plays, non-fiction--as they are completed. I do not have too much at this point, but will share what I do have.

Book cover showing three cats in space suits in the entrance to a cave.

This is my latest book, published in September 2022. It is a collection of short fiction that took several years to finally finish (mostly because I got distracted writing Rigatoni). This volume contains not only stories, but also a short screenplay, a one-act play, an entire magazine called Conspiracy Now! and a graphic short story. Also, one of the short stories was inspired by two minor characters from Rigatoni; their tale makes for some interesting reading. The pieces vary in tone, point of view and style, highlighting my ability to handle different subjects--energetically, adeptly and intelligently (hopefully, anyway, but that is up to the reader to decide).

Cover of a book showing a wall made of rocks and behind it a brown undulating landscape

This is a collection of sketches that my wife and I wrote for various gatherings of the Pleasant Places of Florida. The presentations were parodies of the Holmesian Canon, and include ″Sherlock Holmes as Dragnet,″ ″Holmes in Her Majesty's Secret Service,″ ″The Sussex Vampire: An Opera,″ ″Wisteria Lodge: A Talk Show,″ and ″The Dining Detective.″ The book's title refers to the also included rock opera based on The Hound of the Baskervilles. (I should note that my wife is also a writer, and she publishes under the psuedonym Wanda Iola. Here is a link to her first Phoenix and Chen novel.)

Cover of a blue book showing a photo of an open book with a magnifying glass resting on the crease of both pages, with crumpled up paper around the book

Sherlockians might be interested in a publication I wrote for the Pleasant Places of Florida entitled Fatal Habits: An Appreciation of the Literary Sherlock Holmes. I examine the canon in terms of literature and the devices that writers use to achieve their desired effect. Extensive examples from the four novels and 56 short stories of character, flashbacks, foreshadowing, irony and peripateia are presented. Feel free to download the PDF version of it by clicking on the cover to the left.

Cover of a book with old books in the background and a pile of manuscripts in the foreground and the words Holes Rejected in red

In more Sherlockian news, The Crew of the Barque Lone Star Society put together a pastiche entitled Holmes, Rejected. This is a collection of short stories that writers imagine would not be approved by the editors of The Strand Magazine. My story, ″The Adventure of the Music Hall,″ was lucky enough to be included among the works of many other authors, including a few BSI and ASH members. You can visit the scion's website where the book is available by clicking the cover on the left.