This blog is a series of fantasy novels in serial form. If you’d like to start at the beginning and work your way through, this post provides a handy list of all the chapters in sequence. The first volume, Man Raised by Spiders, tells the story of Inglorion’s younger cousin Valentine, who was taken captive during […]
My go-to grocers, Time Market and the Food Conspiracy, sell a lot of local produce, meat and prepared foods. This offers handy, tasty shortcuts for hot-weather cooking. The produce is fresher and surprisingly varied; the meat is luscious and better for you. I’ve been meaning to make bolognese sauce, but it’s frankly too hot to […]
Inglorion folds the papers, tucks them back into the little black paperback. He notes that it’s Ernst Junger’s Storm of Steel. He’s been standing next to the bookshelf all this time. He sits down on the couch, sets the book down beside him. It humbles Inglorion to see his father’s burden of sin, and to know […]
Hands trembling, Inglorion unfolds the second slip of paper and reads: He looks forward to seeing her and finds their relations gratifying, though he knows that she loathes him, and that the sight and sound and smell of him sickens her. He relishes forcing himself on her, though he doesn’t find her attractive as a […]
We’ll start a couple of days back, when I was flicking through pictures I’d taken on my phone. Mostly meals and portraits of my cat, Lyndon Johnson, being cute in various ways. I stumbled on a shot that was mysterious, compelling, and utterly foreign. I took it on Saturday at 3:42 a.m. I’m sure I […]
As summer gives way to fall, Inglorion comes to think that his father left no record of his crime and its consequence. He might not have thought of it at all. Inglorion accepts that he won’t learn what he thought he wanted to know. It wouldn’t be the first time the gods answered a different […]
Though I love pasta, for many years I didn’t have a reliable recipe for marinara sauce. This seemed sad and vaguely shameful, since I could make a dandy mushroom sauce, a few different lasagnas, and even a stellar bolognese, which is a remarkable achievement for a longtime vegetarian. I found what would become the core […]
Today was a wonderful day because my beloved Time Market has reopened, and I picked up a framed print from Bob and Wade at Deadwood Framing. I’ve missed the Time Market terribly. A few times a week, I would order a salad and a slice of pizza, and sit in the picture window people-watching, and […]
Inglorion moves into his father’s house, and takes over the garden, bees and chickens. In theory, there’s a satisfying symmetry to this. Certainly Lucius seems unsurprised, and quietly agrees it’s for the best. In reality, Inglorion’s confronted with an immediate, practical task. The walls, ceiling and floor are all spattered and stained to various degrees. When […]
So, here’s a pet peeve of mine. When reporters from major media outlets — think, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and just about every cable news show — deign to report from Arizona, they rarely venture beyond the Phoenix metropolitan area. This article on whether the Latino vote will finally flip Arizona blue […]
I’ve been talking to a lot of people about mask-wearing — it’s one thing most people have in common now — and a number of them report feeling physical distress: Dizziness, lightheadedness, shortness of breath, and so on. It’s rare to have a physical condition that prevents you from wearing a mask. Depending on the […]
