Put up or shut up—we got only these two choices. Otherwise you’re just a whiner. Those who can’t, critique. So I tried to write better stories than the ones by the masters I kept editing in my head as I reread them. I had to be more ruthless with myself than even the snottiest editors might be—though fortunately I encountered few of those. But all of them taught me what I needed to learn.
So I’m satisfied by everything I chose to post here to Substack. I ain’t here just to slap in content.
But the two stories below—and if you choose to read them, best to do so in order—let my reputation as a writer live or die on ’em. Maybe they won’t be to your taste. They sure are to mine.