Category Archives: Impossible Takes a Little Longer

March 11, 2026 · 5:17 am

Is this a weakness or a foundation? Or both?

I am now 26,000 words into this draft of Impossible Takes a Little Longer. I’m wondering if I’m doing it right.

This draft is a big improvement because I relocated it to 1983 and that was definitely right. A lot of the worldbuilding makes much more sense if things happen in the 1980s — the Stardians and Un-Things occupying part of Dallas will play out better if they’ve only been there twenty years. Also the changes to the timeline are more manageable if I shave 40 years off them. They’re also closer to the real timeline which makes them more interesting — when it was set in the present, everything was far more unrecognizable. And I can make better use of pop culture references, such as the 1980s comic book Thriller (almost nobody remembers it, but it has a role to play).

Looking at the first 26,000 words, however, I’m thinking about a critique someone in my writing group made about the previous draft. The early chapters spend a lot of time on KC’s social relationships and unless that pays off down the road, it’s too much.

It does pay off. What happens to Skeeter Powell and Sarah Wyzbecki is vitally important, and I need to establish them as KC’s friends before the crazy stuff happens. And some of the discussion sets up themes that will play off later — violence, compassion, doing the right thing, empowering others, etc.

That said, it still feels like I’m taking too long to get to the meat of the story, the looming threat. It’s out there and KC has already had a couple of intense battles but the sense of menace I want isn’t there. I’m also thinking of the feedback I got on Southern Discomfort a couple of years back: that an urban fantasy needs urgency and tension from the start whereas I’m writing at the pace of epic fantasy, where the build can be slower.

Then again, it may be that I have enough action and menace, it’s just that there’s two chapters in a row that are heavily talky or not focusing on the main threat. If I were in the middle of Chapter Three or Four I wouldn’t feel the same. Perhaps I need some tension in the middle? Which could mean rearranging events, or simply making KC’s reaction more intense.

Not a fatal flaw, I think, but definitely a problem to be aware of as I keep going.

Cover by Trevor von Eeden, all rights to image remain with current holder.

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February 20, 2026 · 4:35 pm

I foresaw the dogs would eat my homework at some point this year

I did not think it would be quite this soon.

Sunday: Plush began pooping in the house. Very runny, too. We gave him some drugs — we’ve accumulated quite a few from past problems of one sort or another (and yes, we throw away the expired ones) and hoped that would be enough. Monday he was still runny and very listless at his PT session (he’s waiting in their lobby in the photo above, taken late last year). Oh, and Trixie threw up lavishly on the bed. She was fine and lively at PT, but kept throwing up and refused to eat. She’s had bad tummies before but as it continued, TYG finally decided she needed a doctor visit (this was the correct move). It was late by this point so we had to hit the emergency. Times past, we’d have driven like a half-hour; recently we discovered Blue Pearl, an emergency vet maybe 10 minutes a way. The doctor was great and I came home with a bunch more drugs for Trixie.

Unfortunately the next day she had a very ugly looking, repeated diarrhea. So first I took her to our regular vet, then we got an ultrasound at Blue Pearl … in Raleigh, so TYG drove a good half hour there and back … and then there and back to collect her.

Wednesday things had improved slightly. More appetite, both dogs; diarrhea constant but smaller; both dogs their usual perky self. Still it was stressful, we’d spent three nights getting to bed late (TYG was out late Sunday so I stayed up late too), and I was half-sleepwalking. Plus the drugs take a lot of time to get into the dogs.

Thursday, we could see veterinary medicine had done its work. Both dogs happier, both hungry for more food and treats than we wanted to risk giving them, digestive problems minor. Still a lot of drugs. Oh, and now that Trixie has her heavy coat shorn, she’s much more comfortable snuggling in my lap.

The end result for my writing? Almost nothing done. I was kicking myself, then I remembered I took that into account in mapping out my goals for this year. Time off for a vacation, time for proofing Watching Jekyll and Hyde, time for something to go wrong. So this week fits in. Admittedly I’d have liked it better if I’d gotten a couple more months of good work first, but over the course of 2026, it shouldn’t throw me off my game.

I did get a little work done on The Impossible Takes a Little Longer. Most of my time, though, went to Local Reporter, with stories on a delayed Chapel Hill road project, public opinion on how Chapel Hill should spend its budget surplus, FEMA reimbursement in Carrboro and the area’s Destination 2055 transportation plan. At Atomic Junk Shop I looked at the option of seeing across time, the mess that’s Son of Dr. Jekyll, and the paradox of Earth-One comic books.

Still, here’s hoping next week plays out better.

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January 30, 2026 · 4:02 pm

On the plus side, we didn’t lose power.

Which was something we worried about during last weekend’s freeze. The predictions were for heavy ice — literally enough weight to snap power lines — along with snow so we charged up our generator and our small chargers, kept the heat up high so it would take longer to freeze inside if the power died.

It didn’t die, like I said. There was some ice but mostly snow.

That big square near the steps is a tarp TYG laid down so the dogs would have an ice-free spot to walk on. It worked, though Plushie insisted on walking on slippery places as much as possible. With four legs he and Trixie did fine; we had to be a little more cautious.

While the storm itself wasn’t a catastrophe, a week of sub-zero temperatures means the ice still hasn’t thawed. It was off the roads by Wednesday so I was able to get to a dental appointment yesterday and physical rehab today, but we still have to exercise caution when going outside, going to the mailbox, etc. And this weekend we’re anticipating another storm — all snow, probably, so we hopefully won’t lose power. But that means no going anywhere this weekend (I got my shopping done today), nor for the first couple of days after. Frustrating.

As we wrap up the first month of 2026, I feel pleased. I didn’t accomplish all the writing goals I wanted — I didn’t have time this week to finish Oh the Places You’ll Go —but I got most of them. I caught up on saving my Local Reporter stories to my computer and saving my blog posts (I see no reason my blog should suddenly vanish but just in case…). I made slightly over my word count for Impossible Takes a Little Longer and Let No Man Put Asunder. I’m 2/3 through with this draft of Savage Adventures. Because of my one colleague at the Local Reporter leaving, I earned slightly more money this month than usual.

On the downside I let the side down (as the phrase goes) on the dog’s daily exercises. Not completely but with Plushie on longer confined by his cage it’s a lot harder to keep him in one place for particular workouts. Yesterday I was using treats to tempt him into an obstacle course; he decided he’d get up on the couch and sleep instead. As the time for caring for them continually increases, I’ve no idea how I’ll work it out once the snow’s gone and Trixie’s back to full morning walks.

I also blew my GOTV effort for the second month in a row, getting half of the 40 cards I’d agreed to write out. I have to get better next month. I did do a good job with the various household/contractor/vet appointment tasks I dealt with.

As for the week itself, in addition to fiction I got in three Local Reporter stories, one on Chapel Hill changing its land-use ordinance, one on a local volunteer rescue service (not up yet) and a companion story about the technical rescue team (they handle water and missing person rescues). At Atomic Junk Shop I pondered whether too many comics are out of continuity, and Earth-Two comics in the post-WW II years.

And yes, the exercises the PT pro recommended did indeed help with my bursitis. Hope for continued improvement next month. And my dentist said my teeth look great, actually improved over last visit. A pleasant surprise, given that I had to delay this appointment two months (no time during the Watching Jekyll and Hyde finishing marathon) — usually that long without getting my teeth and gums cleaned causes (small and fixable) problems. Yay teeth1

Now, another cold weekend. Still, snow is pretty.

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January 23, 2026 · 4:12 pm

2026 introduces its first plot twists

The first twist: I was supposed to be at Mysticon in Roanoke. I was last there right before the covid shutdown; after things opened up again Mysticon didn’t (loss of some of the key conrunners was a big issue). I figured it was gone for good but no, here it is!

Only I’m not because we’re having a winter storm hit and it looks like Durham-to-Roanoke will be fimbulwintered. It’s possible it won’t be that bad but driving on ice is not in my skill set. And the odds look excellent that when I came home, our subdivision would still be unsafe driving even if the main roads had been cleared off. So I canceled.

In a sense, it’s a win. I didn’t have a table to sell books so from a monetary standpoint this would have been a loss. And money has been flowing out too fast the past couple of months. Lots of pet meds, a ramp for Plushie when he was recovering from his CCL tear (turns out we didn’t use it), really steep electric bills … so spending money on what would have been a fun vacation more than a business trip might not be the best thing.

Only it’s not a win because I was really looking forward to going. It’s been a hectic, intense month with lots of writing, doggy care, much of last weekend being solo doggy care (TYG had some alumni activities she attended) so a break would have felt very nice. It’s not like I can come up with some fun activity as an alternative break this weekend because we’ll be snowed in. Sigh.

The other twist is that of my colleagues at The Local Reporter jumped ship for an outlet where he can focus on sports reporting so my editor asked me to take over covering Chapel Hill as well as Carrboro. That’s a good thing — more money — but it will cut into my time for my own projects. This was the first week I blew any of those goals — nothing done on Impossible Takes a Little Longer — though that’s also because I spent one day this week also dealing with errands (get dog drugs and some extra food before the roads are covered in ice and snow) and various household obligations (getting paperwork to our new groomer).

Still, I got stuff done. Some promotional paperwork for McFarland on Watching Jekyll and Hyde, responding to Sam about the new cover design, and several Local Reporter pieces: a Chapel Hill lawsuit settled, prepping for the frozen weather, Carrboro’s plan to close one road on weekends, and other road plans. I worked on Obolos, one of my short stories for the new collaborative anthology, adjusting according to the feedback from my collaborators. Over at Atomic Junk Shop I looked at proposed new costumes for the Legion of Superheroes and discussed the moral implications of Jekyll and Hyde.

I also picked up Oh the Places You’ll Go which I haven’t looked at in months. One of my goals for this year is to get almost-finished stories like this one done and out into the world, whether it’s submitting to others or putting them into an anthology of my own. I got through most of the story but then I hit the ending. It needs fixing; fixing may require killing a couple of scenes that I really like. Due to my newspaper work I didn’t have enough time to decide.

On the dog front, good news. After weeks of Plushie in his cage —

— the vets have told us it’s time to let him out and “let him be a dog.” He’s been having great fun running around and sleeping on the couch (his fave spot) though we’ve carefully fenced him in so he has to use ramp. Trixie had her stitches removed from her biopsy so she’s free to get back to normal too. Yay!

Now comes the weekend and (probably) the ice and snow. Send positive thoughts that our power stays on, or at least doesn’t go off for too long.

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January 16, 2026 · 4:37 pm

No matter the odds, I struggle on to victory!

Which is to say, another hectic but productive week. We’ll talk the hectic first.

We spent the first half of the week dealing with Trixie still caged for her leg surgery. Yesterday we took down the cage. We still want to discourage her from jumping and she still wears the cone of shame for another week, but she can get up and snuggle with me on the couch now, so she’s much happier.

Plush Dudley got the thumbs up from his physical rehab doctor (that’s him in their waiting room above) that he can gradually assume normal activity. We were supposed to get a confirmation from his leg surgeon but they had a schedule conflict so TYG will have to take Dudley in next week (and to the surgeon’s Raleigh office — had it happened on schedule it would have been around the corner at our regular vet’s). Still, we’re comfortable letting him go up and down the outside steps without being carried, which is a load off TYG’s back. (I’m still carrying Trixie but I’ve learned to minimize the strain on my bursitis elbow).

Tuesday we had in an electrician to check out two problem lights in the kitchen. Easy fix (pricey, but preferable to doing it ourselves) but it did take time out of my morning to interact with him.

Thursday I finally had the physical rehab session that got canceled Jan. 2, when I’d scheduled it so I’d be off work. Fortunately it’s quite close, and the session was productive. My therapist mapped out some exercises to do daily, gave me some other advice (don’t rest my shoulder on my pillow, support my elbow better when I’m writing) and sent me home. The exercises feel like they’re working, though obviously one morning isn’t a significant sample.

Less fortunately I’ll have two more sessions this month and two in early February, adding to my already busy schedule. But if it makes the bursitis go away, I’m all for it.

Once again, the writing flourished despite the obstacles. Having gotten around 12,000 words rewritten on Impossible Takes a Little Longer I did the same with Let No Man Put Asunder this week. These are the earlier, more polished chapters so it’s not that astonishing an accomplishment — except unlike last year around this time, I feel there’s significant improvement going on, not just minor tinkering. Let’s hope that continues.

I completed my rewrite of Savage Adventures up through 1940, which is to say I’m 2/3 done. Woot! And I got the latest cover design from Sam, though I haven’t had a chance to think about it yet.

Writing for The Local Reporter was very busy. I had multiple different interviews through the week which isn’t the way I like to roll — it’s much better to have them all squeezed into a small block of time. Still, I got three stories in: a profile of Carrboro’s firefighter of the year; a look at the Carrboro Southern film festival; and an interview with one of the documentarians showing a film there. At Atomic Junk Shop, I posted about one particularly groovy comics ad from 1971.

I also started looking for markets for some of my short fiction only to realize with Bleeding Blue now out I have almost nothing new and unpublished to submit. Perhaps that will change this year.

End result, the week was hectic, exhausting, but productive. And without the dread January sense of trying to super-achieve I get so often — my goals for this month are realistic and manageable, whether or not I achieve them.

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January 9, 2026 · 4:37 pm

Sometimes the only way to make a choice is not to choose

I love cooking. The past year (I’ve probably mentioned this before) I’ve found myself going back to the same recipes over and over; when I try to pick something else, my mind goes blank.

It finally occurred to me that the sheer amount of options available — recipe books, online recipes bookmarked, old copies of Vegetarian Times — is what’s freezing me up. I used to work around this by keeping a list of my cookbooks on my computer and working through it, one cookbook this week, a different one the next. I didn’t have to sit and think about which book to use and not choosing freed me up.

I’ve no idea why I stopped but I started this week by making up the list again. I found it much easier to pick recipes — a potato and lentil dish, chocolate brownies, a chia/raspberry pudding (I have a packet of frozen raspberries I need to use up). I think that’s a good sign.

Now as to writing … last week, as I mentioned, was a mess. I got Jekyll and Hyde out late due to coping with medical stuff, doggy care, little errands, etc., etc. It would have been nice if this week had been smooth sailing … but no. I had to take the car in today for a broken rear light. I opted to Lyft back (the dealer’s shuttle service proved unreliable) which took more time than waiting on-site but hanging out over there is kind of wearying (I’ve had experience). On top of that, we had the dogs get shots Tuesday and Wednesday Trixie went in for a small growth on one of her legs. The vet says it’s not a life-threatening thing but they wanted to biopsy it and get it off her.

Somehow we’d convinced ourselves recovery was no big. Oops. She’s not to jump on anything, run, climb stairs, jump off anything for about 10 days. So now she’s in a cage like Plushie. And if I’m not in it and she’s awake, she looks at me in despair.

Yes, it’s a cone of shame situation too.

Needless to say, I melt and sit in there as much as possible, hence the presence of my husband pillow on the floor. However it’s not comfortable and I have to sit on the couch at least part of the work day to focus, sad stare or not.

Oh, and we had the housekeepers in. Let’s just say that moving those two cages so they could clean was a challenge. It used to be the cleaning didn’t get in the way of work but now I spend it sitting upstairs with Wisp and Snowdrop in the spare bedroom. It’s hard to focus.

Despite which I somehow managed a good work week. I got about 12,000 words on the next draft of The Impossible Takes a Little Longer. This time I’ve set it in 1984 (slightly alternate history) and I think that’s really improving things. The opening is way more intense and my other ideas seem to be adapting to fit smoother than I thought.

I resumed work on Savage Adventures, rewriting the 1940-42 entries and noting where I needed to go back and reread the relevant books. I got in a couple of stories for The Local Reporter, one on Carrboro’s efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the other an interview with Carrboro’s cop of the year. Neither up yet. A bad night of sleep left me flatfooted — I took way longer to write them than I should have — but they’re both good work (though probably of less interest to anyone outside Carrboro. Such is the nature of hyperlocal journalism). And at Atomic Junkshop I blogged about which superheroes you trust and reposted an old post about what Golden Age comics were like on Earth-Two.

Good omen for the year that I got the work done? Bad omen that I faced so much interference? Time will tell.

Doc Savage cover by Emery Clarke. All rights to images remain with current holders.

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April 4, 2025 · 4:04 pm

There is no question that spring has sprung

In North Carolina, mother nature lets us know.

This has been an exceptionally pollinated week. Monday I could see clouds of the stuff blowing along the street; despite taking Claritin, I’ve been coping with occasional sneezing, scratchy throat and watery eyes all week. It still doesn’t wipe me out the way the pollen mix back in the Florida Panhandle did.

Pollen aside, it was a good week. The Local Reporter printed my story about musical duo Blue Cactus. At Atomic Junk Shop I discuss the pros and cons of sticking to the status quo when writing fiction. Unfortunately the site is glitching and not posting illustrations when I upload them so my second post couldn’t be posted; our tech person is AWOL and the hosting company hasn’t answered my questions so far.

I wrote another 6,000 words apiece on the next drafts of Impossible Takes a Little Longer and Let No Man Put Asunder. My decision to shift Impossible to the early 1980s is paying off — it’s working much better — though I’ll need to add more period detail.

I worked on rewriting Savage Adventures and watching more films for Jekyll and Hyde. I also worked on a couple of Local Reporter stories that won’t be out until next week. And I got to read part of Jekyll and Hyde to the writing group, the section dealing with Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde. Strongly positive reaction, though they pointed out that in a couple of spots I was dropping too many movie references without explanation. It’s a common problem and easy to course correct.

TYG’s birthday was this week too. Her birthday wish was to have it free of any responsibilities around the house so I took care of the dogs, including lunchtime drug-dosing while she went off shopping and eating lunch out. For dinner I made her zucchini lasagna, a labor intensive dish that’s one of her favorites. She gave the day thumbs up.

Oh, and I sold one ebook of Questionable Minds and one of 19-Infinity last month. If you’re reading this, thanks for purchasing.

Cover by Kemp Ward.

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February 7, 2025 · 4:04 pm

A weird and disorienting week

And not as productive as I’d hoped. Partly because I had an awful night of sleep Monday which left me zonked the next day and in poor shape for creative thought. Partly distractions from the increasing insanity of politics (here’s a sample).

Snowdrop, however, is not a problem, except in being one more demand on my attention. And sometimes scarfing up Wisp’s food with her probiotics in it — not that it’s harmful but we want them inside Wisp to avoid her tummy troubles recurring. Though as you can see above, Plushie’s not sure what to make of him.

And I had to take Trixie in Monday for a checkup due to her rubbing her butt on the floor all the time. As I half-suspected, the problem is allergies so she got a shot and now she seems fine.

Monday, knowing my schedule was tight, I rewrote another 6,000 words of Impossible Takes a Little Longer and the same for Let No Man Put Asunder. At this point it’s mostly tightening and tinkering. The real challenge will come further out where the story needs more work. Still, I’m pleased with the work.

I got one article in at The Local Reporter about a new rails-to-trails project. Over at Atomic Junk Shop I looked at a cool page of Gene Colan Daredevil art (partial view above), why Big Event tie-in comics remind me of Grease, and a look at some comic-book firsts: first Hulk cure, first person besides Cap to get the super-soldier formula (technically just a reverse-engineered attempt to recreate it), first eco-terrorist (I’ve been pondering how almost all environmentalist characters are bad guys). Below a Sal Buscema splash page from one of the stories.

And we got a look at some of the items in Abebooks’ weird books room.

The rest of the time was spent working on the cover for Southern Discomfort. My cover artist sent some possible mockups as idea generators (like the 1970s paperback cover to the left); it got really hard narrowing down which ones I liked and how I thought she could adapt them to fit the book better. It’s not the kind of creative work I do best but Sam is patient. Today I finally sent back my responses.

Next week, Monday will probably be shot but things should pick up after that. Wish me luck. And I hope we all have a good weekend.

All rights to images remain with current holders.

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January 17, 2025 · 4:15 pm

Thoughts on Facebook, then my work week

As I mentioned yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg has not only given up fact-checking on FB, he’s loosening the rules on content so that insulting women, gays, trans people will be easier. As someone said (I don’t have the link) it’s not just about kowtowing to FOTUS (Felon of the United States) it’s that right-wingers having their speech unrestricted gets them more engaged, which keeps them on FB rather than popping off to X or Gab.

I’m not leaving, at least not yet. There’s lots of people I stay in touch with on Facebook. For “Oh, my wife said a funny thing” or similar trivia, FB works better than an email newsletter or a txt, and I contact more people. The format works better for me than Bluesky though I’m there too. As with X, the whole threads thing feels very awkward if I have a long post to make. And screw it, Facebook is (practically, though not legally) part of my public space. I’m not letting people push me out if I can help.

As someone said years ago when FB started, we need a social medium like Facebook … just not Facebook. However that’s what we’ve got. So unless Zuckerberg works to make it as toxic as X, I’ll stick. But no clicking on ads of any sort.

Now, my work week. Wait, first here’s a photo of my master bedroom, taken at an odd angle.

This was a good week but not as good as last week. I wound up doing three Local Reporter stories which took up more time than I’d wanted. However one of them’s held over until next week so that means less work (hopefully—it’s a council meeting so it might run long). One of the two that ran this week was about Carrboro’s plans to turn East Weaver into a pedestrian mall. The other covered a discussion of how Carrboro can keep up its support for diversity and equity in the face of national trends against it.

We also had our housekeeping people in Thursday. They do good work (and get tipped accordingly) but having to shift the dogs and Wisp around so they’re out of the way and can’t run out through an open door takes some work. And invariably ends up with me sitting in a room with three pets for half an hour. The cleaners came earlier than usual, which is good, but then again it was disruptive enough I was off my balance the rest of the day.

(Our dogs in the master bedroom when they’re not freaking out about strangers in the house).

Wisely I spent Thursday on mundane matters that didn’t require much creativity or thought. That helped balance things out.

The rest of the week I did some work on Savage Adventures, though various distractions (most notably an overflowing toilet) hindered me from focusing. I watched one movie for Jekyll and Hyde and did some rewriting. However I also did some fiction, returning to both Let No Man Put Asunder and Impossible Takes a Little Longer. I made my word quota for January on each book — it’s rewriting the early chapters which is relatively easy — though I may put more time in, depending how the next two weeks shake out.Impossible was the more interesting and challenging rewrite: I’m trying setting it back in the 1980s. This requires changing a lot of the pop culture references, though it also simplifies some of the alt.history.

Over at Atomic Junk Shop I looked at ABC’s Saturday morning lineup from 1969, a bad Wonder Woman story pitting her against three eeeevil lesbians —

— and Roy Thomas on his efforts to shake up Marvel’s Captain Marvel.

Not a stellar week but satisfactory. Art by Mike Sekowsky, all rights to image remain with current holder.

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December 31, 2024 · 5:15 am

2024 takes its final bow

Ever hear of the recency effect? It’s the tendency to make annual evaluations based on recent behavior—”Oh, Cliff has been so helpful this past week, I should give him Exceeds Expectations” rather than the year as a hole. I get it: this has been a good month and a good holiday season so I feel like saying “Hey, this was a great year!”

And certainly it wasn’t a bad year. TYG’s and my policy of having regular dates and doing fun stuff continues to make us a happier couple. Wisp has adjusted to life indoors and both dogs still have a great quality of life. TYG’s in good health, I’m in good health, and we’re currently financially secure. So yay.

However it’s been a lot more effort to care for Plushie since his glaucoma diagnosis back in March. Drops in the morning, early afternoon and evening. Plus more drugs for Trixie for various conditions. We’ve ruled out traveling anywhere together for more than a few hours because TYG doesn’t trust anyone else to administer everything properly (I can’t say she’s wrong). However if that keeps Plushie around and happy for another year or two years, yay again. But it does take more time and energy to get stuff done (on top of dog exercises and other treatments we were already doing).

Now as to writing … I didn’t come even remotely close to my goals for the year. Time for short stories dried up; I’m so close to finishing Oh the Places You’ll Go and yet it didn’t get done. Didn’t complete a second draft of either The Impossible Takes a Little Longer or Let No Man Put Asunder. Didn’t sell anything besides the two stories in The Ceaseless Way.

I meant to finish and publish both Southern Discomfort and Savage Adventures; the former is done but not published, the second still needs work.

I’m not beating myself up over this. Some of my plans were over ambitious. Some of it was starting the Jekyll and Hyde book and having to devote time to that. Some of it was putting in more work than anticipated on The Local Reporter. Which brings in money but isn’t as satisfying as finishing a novel or publishing a short story.

Still, I did finish Southern Discomfort and I think it’s good, as are the two stories in Ceaseless Way. And my reporting. I shall take pride in all of that. And squeezing my work into four days a week with blogging and stuff on the Friday has worked well.

Back tomorrow with plans for 2025.

Cover image by GetCovers based on design by Arden Brooks.

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