Reading
This is a library and a quiet reading room for essays and stories. Come here to read, pause, and think without hurry. New writing appears when it appears. There is no schedule, only an archive you can return to whenever you want.
Short Fiction & Novel excerpts
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FAULT LINE
Geoff moved toward the freeway exit with the slow, uneven rhythm of a man who no longer expected anything from the world around him. The wind pushed through the loose gaps in his clothes and scraped against his skin, but he did not shiver. His thoughts drifted somewhere far from the cold that crept under his shirt and the warmth he no longer remembered.
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Wander Wide
“Curtis, can you speak to the thermal dissipation concerns on the next-gen housing?” Phil’s voice came; clipped and performative. Curtis clicked his mic on. He knew he shouldn’t. “Yeah,” he said, “I’ve got a few thoughts. I think we’ve engineered the joy out of everything. Honestly? I think I’m rusting.” He heard nothing but silence. Phil gave a forced chuckle. “Was that…a metaphor, Curtis?” He felt a hot pulse of clarity rise in his chest. His brain was alive with activity, with the uncertainty of his action. “You know what?” he said. “I quit. I’m going sailing.”
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COPY ME
Something lifted from Blaine’s mouth then. It shimmered faintly, thin as heat. A trick of cold air. It wavered, rose, and vanished into the fog. When it was gone, Blaine’s face looked hollow. The eyes sunken. The cheeks drawn tight. He blinked. Only a boy’s body on wet gravel. He lowered the gun and reached for the radio. “Dispatch. Need an ambulance at County Eighteen, by the old Hillman silo. One subject down. Possibly.” Static. Heavy and thick. “Dispatch, copy?”
Essays & Articles
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Writing Sci-Fi
Science fiction about emerging technology succeeds when it accepts uncertainty as a feature, not a flaw. The writer doesn’t predict outcomes. The writer observes trajectories of progress and maps the possible. The story does not teach the reader how the system works because there is no system in the lottery of technological development. That is the risk and the responsibility of writing this kind of fiction. You cannot promise answers. You can only suggest possibilities. And you can offer clarity about the cost of pretending we already have answers.
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What the Sea Refuses to Carry
This is where romantic ideas about sailing fall apart. The sea exposes you. It removes the structures that held you up and asks a simple question. What remains when distraction is gone? On land, identity arrives preassembled. Titles, roles, calendars, and feedback loops reinforce who you are supposed to be. Something needs you every hour. At sea, that framework collapses quickly. Wind ignores credentials. Swell ignores intention. The horizon does not widen because you feel brave. You are reduced to attention and action. Look. Adjust. Wait. Repeat.
Nonfiction
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From Steam to Code
The Industrial Revolution changed the world by changing how work got done. Before it, most people used their bodies to survive. Farming, crafting, hauling, and building depended on strength, skill, and time. Artificial intelligence is another major shift, but it works differently. It does not lift objects or burn fuel. It processes information. AI reads, writes, predicts, and analyzes. It handles language, images, numbers, and patterns. Instead of replacing muscle, it replaces parts of thinking.