Information

Welcome to writing.idlecircuits.com! Here you will find a number of stories that I've written over the years that you can read.

Why a writing site? Well, simply put, it allows me to publish my stories more or less for free, and they're free for you to read as well - a win/win situation!

Well, let me start by saying that I have been both an avid reader and writer since fairly early in my childhood - I "wrote" my first story, entitled The Magic Cat, via tape-recorder dictation at about six years of age (and have been hunting for the original recording pretty much ever since). Given that I only began writing on a computer during high school, though, all of the stories posted here are from that era up to the present.

There are any number of influences that I could point to, although a few stand out. I am indebted to David Drake's writing for introducing me to the world of military science fiction, which has now been one of my favorite genres for many years. I also learned a great deal from author Dodie Bellamy, who taught an intermediate creative writing course I took at UCSC, and from whom I learned a great deal about the incredible potential of fiction and the written word. I would also mention Gardner Dozois, who edited the "Year's Best in Science Fiction" anthologies, which dominate space on at least one of my bookshelves, and which introduced me to the full range and scope of science fiction.

In any case, here I present a number of stories I have written. I think it would be presumptuous to praise these stories in advance, as I'm hardly objective in that sense. However, what I can say is that I have greatly enjoyed writing the stories posted here, and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading them as well. If you like any of the stories posted here, I'd love to hear your comments - you can email me here.

License Note

I was somewhat reluctant to create the current license for the writing on this site, as normally I am not particularly in favor of such things, preferring openness if at all possible. At the same time, however, I want to protect my rights to these works, and if possible ensure that these writings can be published at a later date should someone want to put them into print. Also, I will admit that I have no desire to let others profit from my own work, and want to make it clear that while I would love for everyone to read what I have written, it's not free to take and appropriate as your own. This is especially pertinent even in situations that have nothing to do with profit - I also want to make clear that my works are not open for appropriation to get out of doing a school assignment, and I want to demonstrate to teachers that I am in no way encouraging such use. Please, please, please, if you are assigned to write a story, gather up some imagination and write your own - I promise you, the experience is more than worth it.

As for the file format, it is simply a way to ensure that people can't simply claim ignorance of the license if confronted. It is an interim format at the moment, as many fo my stories are formatted differently, and I have yet to find an HTML export that I am completely happy with for preserving the formatting as a web page. Eventually, I intend to convert the web page for each story to include the actual text, including the license notice, but until then, this is the easiest way to distribute the original files.

Technical Info: all stories are made available as zip files containing a universally readable Rich Text Format (RTF) document, as well as the license in plain text. Specifically, the story files were saved as RTF text under OSX using a variety of programs. If you have a problem opening any of the files, use the above link to send an email outlining the problem, and I'll do what I can to get the files to work for you.

Updates

Update 3/22/08: The transition to the new frontend is now more or less complete. I'd still like to work on making the story display pages look a little nicer, but for now, everything is functioning, and all of the stories have now been migrated onto the new system. Also, the site has a new look courtesy of CSS, and is the first site on idlecircuits.com to use a stylesheet for formatting in any meaningful way.

Update 11/5/07: Yeah, I... kinda forgot about this project in the midst of everything else going on. Anyway, I'm still working on getting everything ported over to the new interface, as well as extending the interface to contain more useful information. I also have some new stories to add, and I hope to continue to update this site on a more regular basis.

Update 8/25/06: I'm working on a new PHP frontend for better display of story information. You may see some unusual results immediately below as the script comes into being, but never fear, all of the regular links to the stories are directly below.

ATTENTION - By downloading any files from this website, you agree to the terms of the license agreement (last updated 3/22/08).

Stories

Dissonance (General Fiction)

One Point One (Science Fiction)

You can borrow it, but can you own it? (Experimental)

All Saint's Day (General Fiction)

Numbers (Science Fiction)

Narrative (Science Fiction)

Freedoms (General Fiction)

Life from Six in the Morning (General Fiction)

Panopticon (Science Fiction)

Possibilities Upon Finding a Piece of Sea Glass (General Fiction)

Sales Pitch (Fantasy)

Science (A)F(fl)iction (Science Fiction)

Shuttles (Sci-fi/Horror)

The Grid (Science Fiction)

Turmoil (Poetry)