Articles:

"Old Man, New Baby" is reprinted from the San Diego Reader, 2002, following the birth of Zoë Ada Fox Kuhlken when her father was never mind how old.

"The Gradual Birth of Alvaro Hickey," which is an account of the origin of a member of the Hickey family, originally published in Mystery Readers Journal, June 2007.

"The Secret," was written following a meeting with Mother Teresa and first published in the San Diego Catholic something or other, around 1997.

“Jim Thompson in San Diego,” first published in the San Diego Reader, is a glimpse into the struggle of a gifted writer who needs to support a family.

"Darren's Trusty Bronco", is a must read for anybody who would be financially solvent if not for cars.

Stories, rated by the author at a reader's request:

Too Sweet, from Hollywood and Crime. During 1966, Tom Hickey goes looking for his seventeen-year-old son Alvaro, who has followed a girlfriend, a singer, to Hollywood. Minutes after Tom finds Alvaro and his girl, the three of them witness the girl’s mentor get shot down while crossing the intersection of Hollywood and Vine. PG

The Enemy, first published in Crime Through Time. It’s 1943, Tom Hickey owns a supper club, Japanese Americans are getting herded into buses for “relocation,” and it looks as if janitor Fred Takahashi murdered and robbed a courier on his way to the bank with Tom’s money. G

The Curse, from MSS. Otis Otterbach, at fifteen, while haunted by death and driven by sex, discovers his gift, which is also his curse and his destiny. R

The End, first published in The Virginia Quarterly Review, In 1971, during the Manson trials, Otis takes mescaline, goes to Disneyland, and gets mistaken for Charles Manson. PG

Cars, published in Esquire, honorably mentioned in Best American Short Stories. Beginning with the death of his father, whenever Henry Swift's life appears under attack, he arms himself with a different car. PG

Ophelia in Death, from Virginia Quarterly Review. An american rock musician travels to Greece with a nightclub cover band and finds himself enchanted by a lovely Navy brat with a mean and protective father. PG

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