Note to readers: Maximum Fiction is on indefinite hiatus while I decide whether to continue the site in it's present form, kill it, or reinvent it in some way.
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Thoughts: Am I an American Writer?
Though born and raised in the United States, I recently found myself asking whether I'm an American writer. I concluded that, based on my approach to fiction and despite having been born here, I am absolutely not an American writer. American writers, with few exceptions, believe you need to get to the point. I'm not…
Paul West: February 23, 1930 – October 18, 2015
Thirty years ago, in the spring of 1985, I had the great fortune to find myself in Paul West’s English 412 class: Advanced Fiction Writing. I think it was likely one of the last times he taught undergraduate fiction at Penn State. Sadly, Paul experienced health problems that knocked him out of commission for the…
Off Topic: Eastwood Guitars Gets It
This post comes from Maximum Fiction's Department of Shameless Self Promotion. One of my sidebar passions is guitar, and I recently had the great fortune of working with Dinosaur Magazine Intl on an article about the groovy vintage designs produced by Eastwood Guitars. The full article appears in the new print edition of Dinosaur, but…
April 25 Plays Nutty Ned’s – Excerpt from Housebreaking the Muse
The following is a draft excerpt from my novel in progress, Housebreaking the Muse. In this passage I present my protagonist, Ray Burke, through the eyes Ubu Reformé, one of the novel's narrative entities. Ubu pays a visit on a more youthful Burke in "them punk rock days o' yore" when Burke headed up an…
