Writing Samples
A Not So Short Story
Aristotle said (in The Poetics) that a work of fiction needs to be as long as necessary to make the characters believable. I accept that. My problem with short stories is that they often exceed the bounds of credibility so that in the end one feels tricked by the author. Conversely, the problem with my short stories is that they are not short. I sent this story to my friend Marjorie Kemper. She showed it to her husband who was publishing the Glendale Focus. Gary published it and sent me a very encouraging note (“Brother, you have the gift.”) from one of the priests at the Hindu temple he attended in Los Angeles. As I said, life can be very strange.
His Fathers house The Man Who Became A Tree