Old horror writer back from the dead…
In my last post, we wrote about what documentary fiction is and why it matters. Today I want to get practical about the craft itself—specifically, how you build a documentary fiction structure that makes verifiable facts feel like inevitable story. Because here’s what nobody tells you when you start writing documentary fiction: it’s not just … Read more
You know that moment when you’re reading a history book and you think, “This is fascinating, but I’m falling asleep”? And then you pick up a novel and think, “This is gripping, but is any of it true?” I’ve been wrestling with this problem for months while working on The Healing Physicians—a project that tracked … Read more
In my last post, I gave you the brutal truth about freelance writing in the age of AI. Entry-level opportunities are vanishing, the market’s brutal for generalists, and companies want human quality at AI prices. Now let’s talk about what you can actually do about it. I’m not going to promise this will be easy. … Read more
Remember in my last post when I mentioned that AI is creating entirely new writing roles even as it eliminates others? Let’s dig into that, because it turns out there’s a genuine opportunity here that most writers aren’t aware of yet. You see, I’m talking about becoming an AI content editor or AI proofreader—roles that … Read more
I’ve been watching this unfold from an interesting vantage point—as a 77-year-old author experimenting with AI collaboration while also paying attention to what’s happening to working writers trying to make a living. And I’ve got to tell you, if you’re thinking about becoming a freelance writer in late 2025 to pay the bills, you need … Read more
I’ll confess something that’s been nagging at me lately: I sometimes catch myself thinking I’ve missed the boat. That if I was going to make a real go of resurrecting my writing career–I mean really pursue it, not just dabble–I should have started decades ago when I was younger and hungrier and didn’t need reading … Read more
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about writing for money in retirement. Not the starving artist route or the bestseller fantasy, but something in between, the practical question of whether you can actually earn some grocery money by stringing words together after you’ve hung up your corporate badge or closed the classroom door for the … Read more
So there I was last Tuesday morning, sitting at my kitchen table wolfing down bacon and eggs, watching the neighbor’s cat stalk a mockingbird, when it hit me: I hadn’t thought about deadlines, word counts, or monetization strategies in over an hour. I was just… daydreaming. Playing with words. Having fun with writing after retirement. … Read more
Time to Get Personal In my first two posts, I talked about the foundations of horror fiction and what the masters have taught us about the craft. Now it’s time to get personal–and to be completely honest about something I’m attempting that might be foolish, fascinating, or both: AI horror writing. At 77, after getting … Read more
Through the Masters’ Eyes In my first post, I talked about how Frankenstein and Dracula created the templates for modern horror fiction. Now let’s dig into the craft of horror writing and what the writers who’ve actually mastered the genre have to say about scaring readers. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as … Read more