I'm a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude!
Joined July 2008
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I'm going to produce another full novel one of these years, but until then please enjoy this snack.
It's an anthology of all of the short fiction I've done in the past couple years. Tossed in a few poems also.
If you are interested in the Kindle version, wait until next Friday (8/22). When the paperback and hardcover versions are live, I'm going to make the Kindle version free for a few days.
Content warning: dark, violent.
tinyurl.com/yc6mzswu
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Heads up to everyone with a @CapitalOne or @Discover card. Capital One no longer supports Apple Pay verification on Macs.
Obviously I'll be paying my accounts off and cancelling both cards.
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The Crystal Lake trailer makes it look like the @redlettermedia media boys got it exactly right with their speculation about what the show would be.
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Here ya go, @blumhouse . Free of charge.
One Thing Leads to Another
Forty years after Outpost 31, a new shapeshifting plague forces the government to seek help from the only two "survivors"—only to discover that the men they are talking to are the very creatures they fear, and they are humanity’s only defense against a far more aggressive "cousin."
ACT I: The Call and the Camouflage
The World in Chaos: A mysterious infection is sweeping across major cities. It looks like a "Thing" outbreak: people sprouting extra limbs, faces melting and reforming, and total biological chaos.
The Signal: Two elderly men observe the flickering television screen while sipping J&B. After a brief silence, one turns to the other and mutters, "Make the call."
The Rest Home: Dreyfuss (young, smart, and increasingly desperate) arrives at a quiet North Carolina nursing home. He is there to see R.J. MacReady and Childs.
The Meeting: The two men are elderly and frail, sharing a room filled with the smell of old paper and J&B scotch. Dreyfuss explains the global threat, believing these two are the only living experts on how to kill a shapeshifting organism.
The Framing Device: As Dreyfuss questions them, the story unfolds via Princess Bride-style transitions. We see the "lost years" after 1982—how they survived the ice, how they stayed together, and how they managed to pass every human test for forty years.
ACT II: The Synaptic Ghost
The Narrative Thread: In flashbacks, we see that the Thing didn't just mimic their bodies; it mimicked their bonds. The biomass became "trapped" in the identities of MacReady and Childs, adopting their stubbornness and their shared history.
The "Counter-Infection": They discuss the realization that they were no longer part of the alien collective. The human brains they copied were so complex that the alien biomass became "infected" by their humanity.
The Reveal (The Third Act Pivot): Dreyfuss shows them high-resolution footage of the new invaders—tentacled, multi-mouthed horrors. MacReady looks at the screen, not with fear, but with a strange, clinical disgust.
The Twist: MacReady says: "You’ve got it wrong, kid. That isn't us. That’s a 'Swarm.' It’s a mindless, viral consciousness. We’re 'Imitators.' We’re artists. We care about the details. Whatever that thing is... it’s got no soul to copy."
The Truth: Dreyfuss realizes he isn't talking to survivors. He’s talking to the very creatures he’s trying to stop—but they are the wrong creatures.
ACT III: The Mutiny of the Mimics
The Pivot: Dreyfuss is terrified, but MacReady and Childs offer a deal. The "Swarm" is a threat to their "territory" (Earth). The "Imitator" Collective wants to protect its hosts.
The Strike: Dreyfuss facilitates a mission where MacReady and Childs are dropped into the heart of the "Swarm" infection. The audience finally sees the "Real" Thing unleashed—but it’s protective. It uses its shapeshifting to act as a tactical, biological firewall for Dreyfuss and the human soldiers.
The Climax: To destroy the Swarm's "Overmind," MacReady and Childs must fully merge with the alien core. They lose their separate human shapes, becoming a massive, chaotic hybrid of 1982 biomass and the new, aggressive alien tech.
EPILOGUE: "I Guess We'll See"
The Aftermath: The Swarm is neutralized, but what remains is a silent, inert mound of organic matter in the center of the city.
The Nursing Home (Final Scene): A few weeks later, Dreyfuss returns to the room. A single figure is sitting in the shadows. It is a hybrid—mostly human in shape, but its skin has a slight, shifting translucence. It is neither MacReady nor Childs, but a "Synaptic Ghost" of both.
The Scotch: The creature is wearing MacReady’s old hat. It reaches out with a slightly "wrong" hand and pours two glasses of scotch.
The Closing Line: * Dreyfuss: "So... are you... okay? Are you one of us now?"
• The Hybrid: (In a voice that is a perfect, gravelly blend of both men) "I guess we'll see."
The Credits: The creature slumps into MacReady's old chair and takes a sip. The Ennio Morricone "Heartbeat" theme kicks in as the screen cuts to black.
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Great flick. Here is my short review/accolade:
Mixes the best parts of The Martian, Interstellar, and Enemy Mine.
nytimes.com/2026/03/21/busin…
#ProjectHailMary
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What if the new low cost MacBook isn't a MacBook at all?
What if it's a 499 dollar PadBook- a durable clamshell form factor running iPad OS aimed squarely at education and entry level consumers?
It would solve two problems at once– dramatically lowering the barrier to entry for an Apple laptop, and creating a viable education product that could plug into Google-dominated ecosystems immediately. Apple's built in apps alongside dirt cheap education access for the full Apple Creator Studio would make it a far more capable device, with a much longer usable lifespan, than any Chromebook.
Just a thought. #Apple #Macbook #PadBook
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