Some stories come easily, some come with great difficulty, but “The Wall” came in the most convoluted way possible. When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President I took it as a joke like many people did. Still, it gave me an idea for a small e-collection of linked stories. I had a world I created for a stalled novel where a war with China drove millions of American refugees into Canada. I decided to create my own anti-immigration demagogue for this world and track the descent of one of his followers.

Story ideas came easily, as every time Trump talked about immigration a new idea came to me. What didn’t come easily were the stories. I discovered writing about ugly characters doing ugly things to innocent people didn’t come easily to me. (I’d make a terrible noir writer) Still, I got them down, though I kept on expecting Trump to flame out and that slowed me down considerably.

Finally I got to the last story of the collection, “The Wall” and realized I could go two possible ways with it, either keeping it in my future Canada or write it as a result of the current election. After some reflection I decided to go with the second option. Everything I was trying to create with the collection already existed in a more realistic, and scary, way in the here and now.

My first try was from the point of view of the shooter. It didn’t work, but gave me the idea for Richardson, the lesser of the two sociopaths in the story. After that it was just the usual drafting process for a short story. Definitely not a quick or easy process and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, but it worked for me, and I’m happy with the result.

You can find it here.

It’s typical of me to start blogging after the blogging trend is well past its peak. I’ve never been trendy though, as anyone who’s seen my wardrobe can attest to. So, here I am.

I wondered what I had to say after all so many millions of words have been written on blogs then decided not to bother trying to be original. I’ll talk about what interests me, whether it’s a book I’ve read, my writing process or a conference I’ve attended. I’ll just be me when I write these. Even if the topic is serious, there’s no reason I have to be.

When I started writing, the first craft book I bought was Lawrence Block’s Telling Lies for Fun and Profit. I’d read his columns in Writer’s Digest and it was like sitting down for a drink with a master craftsman. I don’t have a hundredth of his depth of craft, but I hope to bring that casual feel, that personal voice, to my blog. I want people to feel like they’re sitting down for a drink or coffee and listening to an interesting story before the conversation starts in the comments section.