The Last Mountain Man (Short Story) - 8/29/2015 12:13:42 AM
I'm glad I stumbled over this treasure of a story! Well-told, well-written, and purveying your theme from the moment Fred attempted to walk the walk back home up the mountain from whence he came. I hope you've considered publishing it by now.
The Body Dropper (Short Story) - 2/5/2015 10:54:41 AM
Everybody loves an assassin. My poem, Thrill Killer, gets a lot of views. It sure looks like you could make a novel out of Rizzek's exploits. And, with a successful novel, a movie. Billy Bob Thornton just got a Golden Globe for his role as a murderous assassin in Fargo, the TV series.
Ron
The Nano Nose (Short Story) - 2/4/2015 8:49:13 AM
HIPPA? I laugh in the face of acronymity. However, I loved the story, writing it was a hoot(er). I must admit to an inspiration from a short story I read 20-30 years ago where they used a molecular laser which sliced through the flesh leaving intact flesh behind. Whilst I thought then that was a little far-fetched, I admit today, it's far more likely to be nanites that cut and claw their way through your body. re-shaping and remodeling as they go. Great Stuff. :)
The Nano Nose (Short Story) - 2/4/2015 8:07:16 AM
A likely future, not too far off. While you violated all the HIPPA rules, you have successfully written a story that will be loved by those seeking instant gratification. We all want to be beautiful and loved, and medical science is bringing us closer to it every day.
I, too, like Christopher Reeve, am hoping that their role be a cure for me through stem cell therapy within my lifetime. It didn't work for Chris, and probably won't work for me, either.
Your story brought two personal instances to mind: I was one of the first to get contact lenses while a sophomore in college in 1963, spending a great deal for which my father called me, "moneybags." Upon returning for refitting after a problem causing irritation that was corrected, the eye doctor remarked how he had seen the personalities of young women he gave contacts to, "change." The blue tint made my eyes much bluer, the irritation made the whites much redder, and the contacts did nothing for my ugly pimple outbreaks.
My first hired helper/attendant was a plastic surgeon from Ecuador studying for her test to become a general practitioner in the United States. She was proud of her husband's tummy tuck and breast reduction. She was beautiful and told me that when women came in for a nose job, her husband would often point to her nose as an example of how the client's nose would turn out.
He is serving mandatory 20 years for murder for doing liposuction on the arms of a woman in her home without a license after she later bled to death. He will be out of prison in 2016 and immediately deported to Ecuador. She is a practicing dermatologist for the University of Texas medical school. I asked her if she would like to write a book about the experience, but she declined to protect their children. Still, the children did talk to people from Court TV. Sometimes real-life stories are as interesting as fiction.
Ron
The Spy in the Sky (Short Story) - 2/2/2015 5:30:19 AM
Good one, TR. -. ... .- may be the ultimate, or maybe only the final palindrome.
The Spy in the Sky (Short Story) - 2/2/2015 5:28:36 AM
An eerie feeling came over me as I read and sensed the ending long before I came to it, although hoping that the drone would find something more positive. This morbid tale please more questions than answers so that the reader has to try to determine what really happened.
Perhaps an asteroid had exploded high in the atmosphere and the shockwave had killed everything on the entire North American continent because living matter could not stand the pressure, even underground. However, one would think that a drone like the hawk in the story, would also be destroyed by the event. It may have been damaged, because sophisticated devices like this, with backup circuitry and software tend to last very long time as evidenced by satellites and rovers that have far exceeded their design lifetimes.
In all, I found the story very creative and intriguing, leaving me hanging in the hand, as many good stories often do.
Ron
The WatchTower (Short Story) - 1/31/2015 11:06:32 AM
Up on reading, I would describe what you have written as fantasy rather than science fiction. At first, when you described two moons, I immediately thought of another planet. It immediately piqued my interest, because two moons would rarely have the same orbit and therefore would cause a much stranger lunar cycle that here on earth, and they certainly would be visible together at the same time during nightfall, assuming there is a single sun for providing night and day. Many solar systems are binary.
I realize that much of what is called science fiction like the Dune series is earthly stories placed in fantasy settings, but I prefer stories based on "hard" science.
Ron
The Atheist Burial (Poetry) - 2/9/2015 11:43:14 AM
Just right, except perhaps that I'd have my 'spirit' scattered everywhere. Thanks for the offer. Perhaps we'll find a kindred tree.
Best, Jan
