Category: Creative Writing

These are typically longer posts that explore the creative writing process. I try to post one per week. Often times, I’ll include some of my own fiction or poetry to elaborate on the topic at hand.

I Saw a UFO and Wrote a Novel About It

This is a true story. I’ll set the stage for you. I was in high school, so you have to go way back to the early 90’s when Slick Willy Clinton was in office, and the Grunge sound first surged out of Seattle into the Midwest.

It was a calm night in May, and I was out with my buddy fishing on Lake Erie. We were in a little boat with an outboard motor – I’d say about a mile from the shore. The fish weren’t biting, but it was nice just to be on the water. The Moon was out, but there was some cloud cover. A white light suddenly became visible in the western sky. It glowed with enough intensity to show through the clouds. Another white light appeared, this one in the north. The two lights converged on each other at a good clip, then merged into a single point of light in the northwest sky. Then it disappeared.

“What the hell was that?” my buddy asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. There were no landmarks out there to give me any idea of scale. The lights could have been way out over Canadian water, or only a couple miles away. I had no idea.

“You want to keep fishing?” my buddy asked.

“Yeah, might as well. We’re all ready out here,” I said. Pretty soon, the walleye really started to bite.

I didn’t know it back then, but I had already started to write my first science fiction novel. After a quarter century of aging in my subconscious, the memory of those strange lights finally emerged on paper. The result is an eclectic, novel-length narrative that spans time, space, and mind. You can find the book trailer below if you’re interested. I’d appreciate the support.

All the best,

Hawk

https://kellan-publishing.selz.com/item/the-lake-erie-lights

 

Haiku: Spectral Fingers

I just have a quick announcement before I get to my haiku. I’ve got my book out in a couple different electronic formats. The ink and paper copies will roll off the presses sometime in the near future. If you’re interested, you can find it at the following link  https://kellan-publishing.selz.com/item/the-lake-erie-lights

There’s a brief synopsis that will give you a little insight into what the novel is all about. Take a look and see if it’s your cup of tea. Feel free to share the link, too. I’d appreciate it.

Now, on to the haiku. This one’s for everyone who has been hard at work raking leaves in the waning light of late autumn. Enjoy.

panthermedia_16111175.jpg

serpentine shadows

spilling from barren branches

like spectral fingers

Haiku: Snake Eyes

I’ve been to Las Vegas once when I was a young man. I played Texas Hold’em my first night there, and finally walked away from the poker table with an extra $200 in my pocket.

Right before I left the casino, I decided it would be a good idea to bolster my profits at the craps table. After about fifteen minutes, my hard-won earnings had dwindled down considerably. Finally, it was my turn to roll, and I wagered the last of my chips. I rolled a two – an outcome that is also known as snake eyes because the two dots just kind of stare upward from the table like beady little eyes. The odds of that outcome are 1/36, and it results in a loss for the shooter.

Oh well. Easy come, easy go. I went outside onto the main drag, and a guy I didn’t know walked right up to me and said, “See that?”

“See what?” I had to ask.

He pointed in an upward direction and said, “You can tell how your luck’s gonna go if you watch the sky at night. It’s my night tonight.” He took a $100 chip from the Bellagio out of his pocket and held it up. “That’s all the money I got left in the world.”

“Maybe you should just cash it in and buy some groceries,” I suggested.

“It’s too late for that. I’m gonna let it all ride tonight,” he said as he walked away.

“Huh,” I said, looking up into the night sky. All I could see was a neon haze.

I made it a point to look for that guy whenever I was out on the Strip, but I never saw him again. Sometimes I still wonder how his luck turned out that night. I imagine it didn’t turn out well, but you never know. Anyway, I wrote a haiku about the experience. Enjoy.

abstract_2008012618-1113int.eps

 

fortunes coalesce

in the gaudy neon haze

snake eyes pierce my soul

Haiku: Zodiac

I was trying to log in to my Amazon Prime account so I could stream the Thursday night football game. I couldn’t remember my password, so I had to walk down to a neighborhood bar to catch the game.

It was one of those rainy autumn nights that reminds you Winter is in the mail – express delivery, no doubt. I got a Scotch and a basket of fries to fortify me for what was supposed to be a highly contested mid-season showdown between two football powerhouses.

But, by half time, the game had turned into a horribly one-sided affair and I had all but lost interest. Then, something unexpected happened. An attractive woman sat down next to me and said, “Not much of a game, is it?”

“No, I guess not,” I said.

“So, it looks like I got stood up tonight. I don’t recommend internet dating sites.”

“Sorry to hear,” I said. “It’s their loss, though,” I added.

“Well, he’s an Aries. They’re just flaky by nature. What are you?”

I didn’t quite follow the question, but after a moment, I realized she wanted to know my Zodiac sign. “Um, Capricorn,” I finally stammered.

“Oh, too bad,” she said. “I’m a Libra. It would never work. Well, enjoy your night,” she said.

“Thanks.”

After she paid her tab and walked out, the bartender set another Scotch in front of me and said, “This one’s on the lady who just left. What’s her story, anyway?”

“She’s a Libra,” I informed him.

“Oh,” he said.

I sipped my Scotch and thought about Astrology. I thought it’s strange that even now, in the 21st century, so many people consider Astrology to be a pillar of reality. Then I thought about how strange my notions of reality must be to other people. I believe in the feasibility of String Theory, and therefore, I believe there must be extra spatial dimensions beyond the three typical ones. Crazy, huh?

I decided everyone should be allowed to choose which philosophy they subscribe to, free of judgement. And to show I was really serious, I wrote the following haiku on a bar napkin as a tribute to Astrology.

astronomy

 

 

the days bleed into

cold obsidian fathoms

where stars forge our fates