In August of 2001, my first published novel, comprised of three connected novellas, was released.

Red Herring Comments: The basic ideas for Red Herring began in the summer of 1993, with the aforementioned stimulant experiment Hey You Cyberpunks, Get Out of My Yard! I eventually took those notes and turned them into a serialized story in 1997, which I have now, at long last, refined into a novel.

Red Herring is a very personal story. Its protagonist is very obviously based on me, and his fantastic experiences are very thinly veiled allegories for my own experiences. The mantra of any good writer is "write what you know," and now I understand why. What I know has resulted in my favorite work of fiction to date. Finishing it (finally, in late March of 2000) was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life as a writer.

Holy Mackerel Comments: Sequel to Red Herring. About half the size, but I still like this one best of all so far. Apologies in advance if it makes no sense to you— I'd painted myself into a pretty convoluted corner with Red Herring, and this was my attempt to work my way out. One more book to go now, and I'll have a finished trilogy...

Hooked Comments: Sequel to Red Herring and Holy Mackerel, third in the intended Fish Stories trilogy. There's a serious change in tone here from the other two parts— the best comparison (if I may be so bold) is to So Long and Thanks for All the Fish as compared to the rest of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy saga. Either you like the abrupt mood change or you hate it. This story was intended to tie up a bunch of loose ends, both in Otto Stanwyk's life and my own, so it might not make a lot of sense to the uninitiated. How could you possibly resist a story with so many conditionals attached to it??

I’ve always thought more in words and sounds than I have in pictures, so putting together an audio collection of skits (including a few actual telephone calls) was a no-brainer once RealAudio technology made distribution feasible. As with anything I’ve done, Audio Sarcastic Voyage started shaky but got much better once I’d found my rhythm. I don’t think I’ve been more proud of any single finished product of mine than I was with June of 1998’s installment. I still listen to it every now and then just to show myself that I am capable of seeing something through from start to finish that I really like.

I had originally intended for ASV to be a monthly thing, but June 98’s installment intimidated me so much that I was scared to try again for quite awhile. March of 99 saw me pretty much rusty all over again, again taking my necessary two or three months to really get good. This time, however, I brought some friends with me. While it was difficult to coordinate people doing readings from their various homes into one cohesive whole, I think the final product came out pretty well.

The best of my audio material from this period has been collected in the Radio Free AAlgar portion of this site.

The bane of my existence for a large portion of the 90s. I’ve told the story of PressTime ad nauseum, and I cringe now even as I try to write an encapsulated retelling of that story. Essentially, PressTime was a short film that I tried to make for credit during my senior year of high school (1991/92). The end result was of such poor quality that I agonized over "properly expressing my vision" for years after. Only recently did I realize that the original idea was never really worth very much to begin with, and that I should have devoted that time to something that was better written and produced. All mistakes are potential lessons, I suppose.

PressTime was intended to be a biting satire of various science fiction conventions, from Star Trek and Star Wars to the pulp entertainment of the fifties. Unfortunately, it came out more as a collection of in-jokes as my "script" (if one could even call it that; most of what ended up on screen was improvised anyhow) tried harder to impress certain friends of mine than it did to make any sort of cohesive sense. As a screenwriter, I feel that I failed miserably, although I will give myself credit for a few improvised gems. I’m still trying to deal with the fact that I tend to produce better material off the cuff than in a planned format.

Calling myself the "director" of PressTime is done only because someone had to take credit for it, and Alan Smithee was already spoken for. I was only really behind the camera for the final third of the film, though I am quite pleased with how these scenes (location shoots with the entire cast aside from me) came out. I’ve never been a particularly visual person, but some of the shots I put together here showed a willingness for me to learn. I’d definitely like to try some more of this in the future.

Finally, there’s the issue of my "acting." As I was writing the script for PressTime, I thought it would be hilarious to make one character’s lines entirely from other science fiction films. On paper, I thought it was gold. On screen, it just didn’t work, and my performance suffers for it. I know it’s easy to blame the material for shoddy acting, but since I was also responsible for this material, the blame comes right back where it belongs: to me. I’d like to think I have some potential as an actor (I received my share of praise for my stage efforts in high school), but this potential has yet to manifest itself into any actual performance. Only time will tell.