What I present to you here is an an introduction to the Metafictional Worlds that I've created.
This Idea Mine, which consists of nearly one thousand creative works, has taken some twenty-five years to construct, create and compile.
Many of the works collected in this Idea Mine have been published insuch places as The Paris Review, Creative Computing, and the GnosisAnthology (English and Russian), while the collages have appeared insuch varied outlets as New Letters, Boulevard, and Asimov’s ScienceFiction. (For years I belonged to the Science Fiction Writers of America, but I do not classify myself as a science fiction writer.)I call this Idea Mine, or master oeuvre, Metafiction. Of course, there are logical groupings within Metafiction and a number of these have been published in various guises.In this Idea Mine you can find such works as: The Book of Hours (An End to History, A Death to Consciousness): A wordless novel in seventy-six collages, which examines the endemic and, apparently, inherent conflicts in the male / female relationship. The Divine Comedy: A Post-Modern Commentary: A critique of Dante Aligheri’s thirteenth century epic poem in twenty-six collages. Santa and the Ho-Ho-Ho Zone by the Brothers Payack: A Post-Modern Christmas tale about the manner in which the children of the world get together to save the Earth (andChristmas!) from the environmental disaster resulting from the Hole in the Ozone. (Illustrated with Thomas Nast-type collages.)Children of the Mind: Recounts the tale of a society in which thought is rationed, the imagination is viewed as a disease, and dreaming is considered a subversive activity. The Land of Orth: An encyclopedia-style collection describing this hitherto unknown civilization. The story started as a single tale describing the phenomenon of psychological boundaries, where a boundary exists only because the subjects perceive it to exist. In the original tale the boundary was the Tall Walls, which were thought to be scores of kilometers high and thousands long. The tale is told from the perspective of the one who first postulatesthat the Tall Walls, upon which the entire civilization has based its society, culture, and belief system have, in fact, never existed.Worlds to Shatter: A full-length classically styled dramatic work in nine “episodes”frequently compared in the style and content to Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Of course, this Idea Mine: A Brief Note on Metafiction does not contain my entire oeuvre (hence the name); however, what is does provide is a glimpse into my work as a whole and, hopefully, examples that demonstrate both its nature and scope.
This book is a collection of short stories that depict events in Author's life while she lived in Romania, then in Greece, and last in America. It's a beautiful and very sincere account of a young woman's life and comming to age.
Robert Burns' first daughter was Elizabeth. Her story and the five descendants Scottish lives are recorded here with the Bard's message today as ever in need. Al Quida listen: Then let us pray that come it may, As come it will for a' that. That Sense
Destiny's Daughter by Frances Altman highlights events in the life of Mary Edwards Walker, maverick suffragist, Civil War doctor and only woman Medal of Honor recipient.
