Where Do You Get Your Ideas From?

That’s the question writers hate hearing so much they’ve come up with answers like: a P.O. Box in Schenectady. A better question might be, what was the inspiration for your book, short story, or poem? In the case of my latest novel, Long Journey Home, the answer is fairly long-winded, so if you have a few minutes, pull up a chair, come sit by the fire, and I’ll tell you about it.

It all started when I moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. After a surprisingly strong start, my career ground to a standstill, giving me had plenty of time to contemplate the mysteries of the universe. When a friend of mine told me about a man named Alex Murray who channeled peoples’ spirit guides, I was intrigued. This was around the time that Shirley MacLaine came out with her book Out on a Limb, in which she wrote about her explorations into channeling, reincarnation, and the possibility of aliens visiting the earth. Many actors felt they were being called to become as famous as Shirley MacLaine, so that they could share similar revelations with the world.

'Willow' Now Available

Amy’s short story, Willow, is included in Morpheus Tales “The Ethereal Tales” special Issue, edited by Teresa Ford.

You can download a copy of the magazine here in multiple ebook formats from Smashwords or through Amazon for Kindle..

The magazine is also available in two printed editions via Lulu.com.

boyfriend.com

Amy's story boyfriend.com is available in the anthology "Into the Dreamlands" edited by Jason Andrew and Michael Dyer. Available at Amazon.com.

Operation Mirror

The cab stopped in front of an unprepossessing brownstone. I had expected a gleaming high-tech monstrosity, but the name on the buzzer confirmed that I had come to the right place: The Institute for Psychoanalytic and Robotic Studies. I took a deep breath, buzzed, and entered.

"Mrs. Mandel?" the receptionist asked eagerly. Too eagerly, I thought. I nodded.

"Please have a seat. I'll tell Dr. Estes you're here."

Abducted by Aliens

Bruce Fisher knew his parents meant well. He just wished they’d leave him alone. I mean, OK, he did keep them awake at nights screaming that he was being kidnapped by aliens; he could understand how that was annoying, interrupting their sleep pattern. But why couldn’t they just sound-proof his room or something? Why were they subjecting him to this humiliating torture? Hadn’t they sated their sadistic urges when they named him Bruce?

Kali High

I know, I know. Why did I do it? Right? That’s what everyone wants to know. First of all it wasn’t my idea to come to Kali High. I would have been perfectly happy to stay in public school. Well, OK, not perfectly happy. The only thing that would have made me perfectly happy is dropping out of school altogether, but, in my family, that wasn’t an option. My mother felt since I wasn’t doing well in public school we should take advantage of all the private schools that were cropping up in the wake of the school voucher program. She brought home brochures from about a hundred different schools and dumped them on my unmade bed.