About the stories....

Dunno if NE1's intrested, but "On Tour With the Little Green Men" was written back in the mid-'90s when I lived in Wyoming, & got rejected 1/2adozen times Btween then & the early 2000's, which is 1 of the reasons I felt "safe" about posting it here -- nobody's gonna publish it & pay me, tho I think it's funny enuf & diffrent enuf that somebody coulda given it a home. I sent it 2 the most appropriate magazines I could find, back when the science-fiction/fantasy market 4 short stories was 2wice as big as it is now, & I got a coupla nice notes back from them, but....
The 1/2adozen rock&roll-novel sections I posted a month ago were mostly written from 2002 onward, much of it during a period when I was unemployed & wanted desperately 2 B doing SOMETHING productive -- much of it was written before sessions & during intermissions at the bingo hall where my girlfriend worked.
The novel "stars" the dozen closest friends I had during my 5-year "aimless" dead-end-job period Btween highschool & when the Air Force dragged me away -- a period I now look back on often as "The Good Olde Days." At least 4 of my old friends know I've written about them, & nobody has objected yet, tho I imagine they'd B a little suprised 2 find this stuff posted here.
Much of the detail included in the novel sections is based on stuff that actually happened -- tho I think some of it cuts pretty close 2 the bone....
Some of those people actually WERE musicians, the rest I just transformed in2 a rock band. My idea at the time was that at least if I knew the characters & the situation I wanted 2 start from, maybe a novel'd B EZer 2 write.... I got about 25 pgs in2 it when the story ran out. It didn't seem 2 go NEwhere.
1 problem is that 2 work a story needs conflict -- & I hate conflict. Will go FAR out of my way 2 avoid it -- ask NE of my friends. The only real-life conflicts in this bunch were romantic frustrations & breakups -- I couldn't C NE other conflicts, couldn't imagine NE. Was 2 much in love with those Olde Days 2 cast NE shadows over them. Which may B why mosta what the story Xpresses 2 me is nostalgia & regret. Not Xactly good-time rock&roll.
I'm also aware that the novel TELLS a lot (thru my eyes & opinion) without really SHOWING much. The characters don't get 2 B much Byond my opinion of them. If I ever continue it, that's something I'll havta work on.
I think "Little Green Men" in some ways tells the same kinda story in a lot less space, & it probly works better Bcos it's funnier. & it was written strictly 4 fun. Hope summa that came across.
I might post more fiction in the future. There's probly some other stuff that wouldn't Cm 2 out-of-place here. Let me know what U think.

Am currently re-reading 2 novels -- Thomas Harris's RED DRAGON (as brilliant & unsettling as ever, still in awe of how Harris grabs U by the throat on the 1st pg, & I haven't re-read the book in years), & George Orwell's 1984.
What suprises me about '84 is how gray & gritty it is. At least 4 the 1st 50+ pgs it could B a Philip K. Dick novel -- like THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH or MARTIAN TIME SLIP or MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE. The low-keyness of it, the focus on avg people going thru their avg days, the scarcity of the society evoked.... I was bored outta my mind when I read '84 around age 14, & was again when I re-read it as a class assignment later in highschool. MayB I can appreciate it more now, having done my own 20-year stint in The Ministry Of Truth.... We'll C if I can finish it. RED DRAGON I don't Xpect 2 have 2 much trouble with....
I'm probly gonna B on another horror kick here soon. I wanna B jolted, I wanna B shook-up -- from the safety of my own room, of course. U might wanna get ready 4 some more horror book reviews....

I'm sure some of U would like me 2 get back 2 writing about music, that's why most of U visit in the 1st place. But it might B the wrong time 4 me. I tried 2 play some completely-new-2-me stuff awhile back & it really left me cold. But I won't B giving up. Have bn playing Oldies & Album-Rock radio during work nites more&more often lately & that REALLY helps keep me moving when the coffee won't do the job NEmore.... Will naturally update ASAP if some music really knocks me over.
Hope everybody out there is well....