What’s with the spider?

That’s Matilda. She’s a writing spider. She lived on my back porch for a while.

Where did she go?

I’m not sure, but I like to think she’s robbing banks in the Midwest.

That seems unlikely. So, just to be clear, you’re a writer?

Yep.

And Matilda is a writing spider?

Get it?

Oh, I get it, very clever.

I know, right!

Anyways, you write speculative fiction?

Yep.

What’s that?

Speculative fiction is, essentially, fiction about things that probably don’t exist in the real world. It’s pretty much a blanket term for things like sci-fi and fantasy and, to a certain extent, horror. It’s a very trendy term these days but it works. Annie Neugebauer has a great write-up about it.

That’s a funny last name.

Funnier than mine?

Touché.

Indeed. You should check out the rest of her site while you’re there. It’s big fun.

Will do. So, we’ve established that you’re a writer. Are you published?

Nope.

Then, what on Earth am I doing here?

You tell me, big guy. I’m guessing you’re here because you appreciate good writing and you’re dying to support an up-and-comer like myself.

Little precious on yourself, aren’t you?

Not usually, no. You just seem to bring out my lesser qualities.

Yeah, yeah. Tell me more about this “speculative fiction” stuff. It sounds broad.

It is, a little, but I’m into it. I like to write about extraordinary things and how they impact ordinary people. I tend to read big stories and wonder about the smaller things, like what happens when a kid who sees ghosts grows up or how one might balance knowing the future with a day job. I’m interested in character-driven stories that happen to involve fantastic circumstances, whether that means dragons or things that go bump in the night.

Okay, sounds interesting enough. Are you working on a book?

Yes!

Anything you want to tell me about it?

No. It’s very much a work-in-progress.

Why don’t you have any of those neato social media links?

You’ll just have to trust me when I say that you don’t want me to go on my social media rant. Suffice it to say, I don’t like the stuff.

You’re one of those people?

Yup. Now go away, I’m sleepy.