A very short children's science fiction story:Seven year old Mary Johnson met up with a little creature that lost his spaceship. She just thought it was a cute little animal she could take home as a secret pet. Secret because grandma doesn't want pets in her house. When she realized who and what he really was she helped him retrieve his ship so he could return to his mother ship.A very short children's science fiction story:Seven year old Mary Johnson met up with a little creature that lost his spaceship. She just thought it was a cute little animal she could take home as a secret pet. Secret because grandma doesn't want pets in her house. When she realized who and what he really was she helped him retrieve his ship so he could return to his mother ship and from there to his home world in the stars.Recommended age 7-14

This book, in the form of a diary, is a complement to the Tillian 5 Trilogy. The diary starts out as a prequel to “Tillian 5 - A New Beginning.” It continues on the same time line as “Tillian 5 - A New Beginning” but on Earth with no knowledge of the events unfolding on Tillian 5. The diary then merges with the beginning of “Tillian 5 - Return to Earth.”This book, in the form of a diary, is a complement to the Tillian 5 Trilogy. The diary starts out as a prequel to “Tillian 5 - A New Beginning.” It continues on the same time line as “Tillian 5 - A New Beginning” but on Earth with no knowledge of the events unfolding on Tillian 5. The diary then merges with the beginning of “Tillian 5 - Return to Earth.” It covers a period of time when Earth's population is decimated by a natural event well beyond the control any human or android to stop.

The play “Flight of the Soul” contrasts several points of view about eternal life but features a “brain uploading” concept proffered by Ray Kurtzweil and others including the author. In the play Ray Kurtzweil is thinly disguised as Ray Kurtz. Others are archetypes of other points of view except Bob Mover (a Bill Moyers type) and Mrs. Altevine, a rich widow in search of eternal life.When an autopsy finds traces of the banned insecticide Chlordane in the anointing oil on the corpse of a local big-wig, Pittsburgh police bring Lupa Schwartz, an outspoken non-believer, into an investigation focused on a well-liked local clergyman. Worried that the police are planning to use him as a political fall-guy, Schwartz coerces Cattleya Hoskin, a magazine reporter with a connection to his family’s past, to chronicle his process and squelch any misgiving that his world-view influenced the outcome. Suspicion in the case is focused on Fr. Coneely, an outspoken euthanasia advocate who had earlier made the mistake of telling the family of the now-dead man that, hypothetically, he could safely apply poison-laden oil to their suffering father during last rites, and nobody need be the wiser. Was Mr. Hanson the willing victim of a mercy killing, or was a lapsing insurance policy the real motive for one of Hanson’s five children to taint the oil?All of the elements which are to become the unique hallmarks of the Lupa Schwartz series are birthed in this story: Schwartz’s compulsion to flatten the tires of parking rule scofflaws, Cattleya’s frustration with Schwartz’s refusal to carry a credit card or cell phone, their unspoken agreement to never discuss their shared history, and Schwartz’s fondness for comedy movies. We also meet the supporting cast who populate each of the stories: Mia, the feisty mechanic who lives in Schwartz’s large Victorian during the week to work on his car collection, but who visits her grandmother on weekends; Beverly, the cook and housekeeper who may or may not be in love with Schwartz; and Trevor Johns, the Pittsburgh police homicide detective by day, and Jazz/Blues clarinet player by night. We also meet most of the circulating cast of bit-players who appear in stories as needed: Jana, Cat’s friend at Gamut Magazine HQ; the Five Seekers, members of a discussion group Schwartz belongs to; and Victor Jenkins, a newspaper reporter.

On Christmas Eve, somewhere out in the Asteroid Belt, a lonely prospector happens across something he never expected to find.When an autopsy finds traces of the banned insecticide Chlordane in the anointing oil on the corpse of a local big-wig, Pittsburgh police bring Lupa Schwartz, an outspoken non-believer, into an investigation focused on a well-liked local clergyman. Worried that the police are planning to use him as a political fall-guy, Schwartz coerces Cattleya Hoskin, a magazine reporter with a connection to his family’s past, to chronicle his process and squelch any misgiving that his world-view influenced the outcome. Suspicion in the case is focused on Fr. Coneely, an outspoken euthanasia advocate who had earlier made the mistake of telling the family of the now-dead man that, hypothetically, he could safely apply poison-laden oil to their suffering father during last rites, and nobody need be the wiser. Was Mr. Hanson the willing victim of a mercy killing, or was a lapsing insurance policy the real motive for one of Hanson’s five children to taint the oil?All of the elements which are to become the unique hallmarks of the Lupa Schwartz series are birthed in this story: Schwartz’s compulsion to flatten the tires of parking rule scofflaws, Cattleya’s frustration with Schwartz’s refusal to carry a credit card or cell phone, their unspoken agreement to never discuss their shared history, and Schwartz’s fondness for comedy movies. We also meet the supporting cast who populate each of the stories: Mia, the feisty mechanic who lives in Schwartz’s large Victorian during the week to work on his car collection, but who visits her grandmother on weekends; Beverly, the cook and housekeeper who may or may not be in love with Schwartz; and Trevor Johns, the Pittsburgh police homicide detective by day, and Jazz/Blues clarinet player by night. We also meet most of the circulating cast of bit-players who appear in stories as needed: Jana, Cat’s friend at Gamut Magazine HQ; the Five Seekers, members of a discussion group Schwartz belongs to; and Victor Jenkins, a newspaper reporter.