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# A. Lee Martinez

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://aleemartinez.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [UNBEARABLE excerpt](https://aleemartinez.com/2026/08/unbearable-excerpt/) - Two posts in one day? Let's call this a special occasion. As you may or may not know, my new novel Unbearable is coming out Sept 1st. You may not know this because I'm pretty lousy at promotion, but you also are here, so you might be one of the proud few who visit this blog
- [CATCHING UP](https://aleemartinez.com/2026/08/catching-up/) - Chet and Shari ran into each other by accident. Having not seen each other in years, they would have normally exchanged pleasantries and gone on their separate ways, but as events would have it, they both had a some time to kill. A coffee shop was nearby. With nothing better to do, they decided to
- [Post-Death Grind](https://aleemartinez.com/2026/07/post-death-grind/) - Magic reached across the gulf between the living and the dead. It found Hanna nuzzled in the tender embrace of oblivion and dragged her into the light. Hanna slammed the beeping alarm as the oppressive morning light burned her eyes. “Just five more minutes.” She rolled over, tried to go back to sleep. Zamir stuck
- [A HOLE TO FIGHT](https://aleemartinez.com/2026/05/a-hole-to-fight/) - Life in Rockwood Unbearable, my newest novel slated for release Sept 1st, is available for preorder in most of the usual places. Preorders can be tremendously helpful for writers, so maybe consider it if you have a little extra money burning a hole in your pocket. Speaking of holes, I was digging around some old
- [CHAMPION AND PROFESSOR FIDO AT THE EARTH'S CORE (ADJACENT)](https://aleemartinez.com/2026/04/champion-and-professor-fido-at-the-earths-core-adjacent/) - Please, enjoy a piece of short fiction featuring Champion the supercat along with Professor Fido, evil genius and very bad dog. The asteroid bore down on the Earth in a clinical chart on the TV. Twelve hours until planetfall read the banner underneath as the reporters talked about the incoming end of the world. “You
- [THE BELATED, UNCEREMONIOUS RETURN OF A. LEE MARTINEZ](https://aleemartinez.com/2026/04/the-belated-unceremonious-return-of-a-lee-martinez/) - Welcome to a very late installment of my generally unreliable blog updates. I feel like even using a blog at this stage is foolish, but I’ve locked down the website URL, and I still think that it was shortsighted how quickly we rented out ourselves and our labor to other sites. So I’m here, and
- [Magpie](https://aleemartinez.com/2025/08/magpie/) - Life in Rockwood Everyone who called Rockwood home knew it was a special place with its own unique problems. Marshall Kopp had known it before becoming sheriff, and he couldn’t rightly complain about it now that dealing with those problems was his job. Becka Rodriguez pointed to the empty spot on her dresser. "It was
- [In the Shadow of the Sea God](https://aleemartinez.com/2025/07/in-the-shadow-of-the-sea-god/) - The world had a history of gods, strange and mundane. Gods of miracles. Gods of wrath. Gods of love. Gods of hate. There must have been thousands of them. But the one thing all these gods had in common was that they were always somewhere else. Atop Mount Olypmus. Above the clouds. In the firmament.
- [Bad Dog](https://aleemartinez.com/2025/03/bad-dog/) - The bus came flying across the street. In that split second, Todd thought it might be all over. He’d been Champion’s sidekick for nearly a year now, and in that time, palling around with his supercat, there had been plenty of close calls. One of these times, Champion wouldn’t save him. He’d read enough comic
- [Champion](https://aleemartinez.com/2025/03/champion/) - Todd had spent his whole life reading superhero comics, watching superhero TV shows and movies. Even when they were low budget and terrible with horrible special effects and dumb acting, he watched them. Every one of them. Because he’d always known he was destined to be a superhero. A real one. Not just some guy
- [Technical Support (preview)](https://aleemartinez.com/2025/03/technical-support-preview/) - My (fingers crossed) next book is out on submission. It's pretty good. Lady in the Lake meets Goodfellas. Kind of. If you're looking for a book with Avalon, mob goons, cosmic dragons, many cans of SpaghettiOs, and an (possibly) evil chair, then this will be it. In the meantime, I'm working on the next book.
- [Galatea in Counseling](https://aleemartinez.com/2025/02/galatea-in-counseling/) - Today was my first session with Ingrid and Bob. First sessions were often tricky. Some couples opened up right away. Others, like Ingrid and Bob, were nervous. They fidgeted on the sofa. Ingrid rubbed her fingers against the armrest. A common tic. Common enough that I had to replace sofas because of armrest damage quite
- [Closet](https://aleemartinez.com/2025/02/closet/) - Life in Rockwood Caleb had been dating Rebecca Susan for a month before finally getting to third base. It hadn’t been an ordeal. It wasn’t as if he was only dating her to get into her pants. He liked Rebecca Susan a lot, but he was also ready for this. Had been ready for it
- [Date with Death](https://aleemartinez.com/2025/02/date-with-death/) - Death kindly stopped for Emil. The old truck was something out of military surplus, painted a dark red with canvas stretched over the bed. The rumble of its engine vibrated the pavement, Emil’s car, the air itself. If he’d been looking at the half-moon, he might have noticed it vibrating too, shaking as if it
- [WHERE I STAND](https://aleemartinez.com/2024/11/where-i-stand/) - Been ages. Sometimes, I wonder why I bother maintaining a blog at all other than it’s all set up and easy to maintain. Then along comes something like the recent U.S. clusterfuck of an election, and I realize why I need this site. Yeah, this is going to be a post about politics. But not
- [To Series or Not to Series (mailbag)](https://aleemartinez.com/2024/03/to-series-or-not-to-series-mailbag/) - Time to open the ol’ Action Force Clubhouse mailbag and answer a question. If you have any questions, comments, random thoughts you’d like to share and perhaps want me to sagely comment upon then you can always send them to Hipstercthulhu@hotmail.com. Also, I have a Buyacoffee page now. If you find the free fiction and
- [Two Hearts for Cupid](https://aleemartinez.com/2024/03/two-hearts-for-cupid/) - Hi, A.Leegion. How's it going? Here's some new short fiction. Hope you enjoy it. Before we get to it though I've set up a Buymecoffee page. If you've enjoyed these stories or weird blog posts and feel like throwing me a few bucks, I'd much appreciate it. Life in Rockwood The only time Binnie had
- [A. LEE'S STRANGE CHINESE MOVIE ADVENTURE](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/02/a-lees-strange-chinese-movie-adventure/) - First thing: MONSTER RUN, the Chinese language movie based on my novel, MONSTER, is currently streaming on Netflix. Probably worth checking out if you’re the kind of person that would drop in on this site. And if you’re a new visitor drawn here by whatever strange forces of fate compelled you to visit an unfamiliar
- [Silas](https://aleemartinez.com/2024/02/silas/) - Beyond the seas, above the clouds, there existed the Realm of Dragons. To adequately describe its grand splendor would have been a nearly impossible feat for even the most skilled narrator. But the dragon hatcheries, which lay within the dark, cold, wet bowels of the realm were easy enough to describe. They were dark. They were cold.
- [Watchful](https://aleemartinez.com/2024/01/watchful/) - The bar had been struggling for years now. A combination of inconvenient traffic construction and trendier places meant there wasn’t much of a crowd anymore. It was a Tuesday, which had never been a busy night even in its heyday. So when the front doors opened, the few heads turned to see the new arrival.
- [Dinner at the Delphi](https://aleemartinez.com/2024/01/dinner-at-the-delphi/) - An aura of absolute authority covered the maitre’de. He stood behind the lectern, his hands clutching it, like a judgmental gargoyle. No, Zane corrected himself. It was more like St. Peter at the pearly gates, but without the slightest drop of mercy in his heart. Only the maitre’de knew your final destination, but he waited
- [Blue Beetle and the Elusive 10 Percent](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/11/blue-beetle-and-the-elusive-10-percent/) - I saw Blue Beetle in theaters. Short review: It was good-ish. Ever since I saw the film, I’ve been debating on whether to talk about it because I have some critical thoughts on the film. I make it a rule not to be negative toward other media. Everyone works hard on a movie. Even the
- [Banshee and the Barista](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/09/banshee-and-the-barista/) - Banshees rarely had to wait in line. “No, please, after you,” said the woman ahead of Ariel. “I’m still deciding.” Human superstition made her life harder in a lot of ways, but here was one way it made it easier. She stepped up to the counter, and the newest barista, eyes focused on the register,
- [The Strange & Unreliable Alchemy of Indiana Jones](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/08/the-strange-unreliable-alchemy-of-indiana-jones/) - “The story of Indiana Jones plays out exactly the same if Indiana hadn’t done anything.” It’s an observation you’ve probably heard by now. It floated around for a while before Big Bang Theory popularized it. Now everyone knows it and repeats it. Here’s my hot take on the idea. It’s not true. I have a more
- [The Beginner Writer's Guide to Becoming Fabulously Successful (or not)](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/06/the-beginner-writers-guide-to-becoming-fabulously-successful-or-not/) - Time to open the Action Force Mailbag. If you have any questions, comments, thoughts, limericks, cookie recipes, whatever, feel free to send them my way at Hipstercthulhu@hotmail.com. “As a young writer who has just completed a detective novel, do you think I should try to get an agent, or build a reader base online, say
- [Stirring the Compost Heap](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/05/stirring-the-compost-heap/) - Most of our thinking is done in our unconscious. We don’t consider it a lot, and when we do, it doesn’t feel right. We know ourselves, our thoughts. We tend to think of our unconscious as a minor part of ourselves. The meat and potatoes of who we are must be found in our consciousness,
- [What Am Art?](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/03/what-am-art/) - What is the value of art? What is the purpose of art? How do we define who is and isn’t an artist? And also, what the hell is even art? These are big questions. The AI rise didn’t create them, but it did put them in the spotlight for many people who never considered them
- [Slice of Life](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/02/slice-of-life/) - It's a little late, but here's a Valentine's Day short story. Gil's All Fright Diner Having a ghost girlfriend came with disadvantages. For one, Cathy was impossible to blindfold. She sat in the passenger seat with her hands over her eyes. She’d peek between her fingers now and then, forcing him to block her view
- [Rogue](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/01/rogue/) - The Automatic Detective There's a lot of waiting in this job, and I can't share news that isn't really news at this stage. But something kind of cool is in development, and so I'd like to share this short story I wrote a few years ago. Consider it a cryptic hint of possibilities to come.
- [Unbearable](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/01/unbearable/) - On this very special A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!!, I'm sharing the first chapter of my new work in progress. The working title is Unbearable, but I'll probably change that at some point. In fact, I'll probably change a lot of things. Thats what the In-Progress for Work-In-Progress means. Anyway, enjoy. And thanks for caring.
- [A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!! 2023](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/01/a-lee-martinez-appreciation-day-2023/) - For those of you keeping count, this is the 50th one. Of course, this holiday only really rose to national prominence with the publication of my first novel Gil’s All Fright Novel in 2005. I’m not saying there weren’t celebrations before that, but they tended to be small affairs instead of the sweeping parades and extravagant
- [A Long Road Home](https://aleemartinez.com/2023/01/a-long-road-home/) - I saw the hitchhiker every day on the same stretch of road. Sometimes, when circumstances were just right, I’d see a car stop to pick her up. If they gave her a lift, she’d give them a story to tell about the ghost girl who can never make it to home but keeps thumbing a
- [Minding the Details](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/12/the-details/) - In stories, people don’t usually exchange pleasantries during phone calls, but as much as people like to poke fun at the convention, it exists for a good reason. Hello and Good-Bye add nothing to the conversation two characters might be having. It tells us nothing about who they are. It offers no insight into their
- [HOW TO SUCCEED IN PUBLISHING BY REALLY, REALLY TRYING AND GETTING LUCKY](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/11/how-to-succeed-in-publishing-by-really-really-trying-and-getting-lucky/) - How do you define superstitious? We all have a convenient definition at our fingertips. It usually involves lucky socks or good luck rituals or avoiding behavior that “jinxes” us. That sort of superstitious is obvious, and even people who employ it tend to acknowledge that it’s more of a feeling than real world effect. It’s
- [The Fearful Moon](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/11/the-fearful-moon/) - Gil's All Fright Diner remains a $2.99 deal on Kindle for this month. My first novel was published 17 years ago. Time comes for us all. Since then, I've published a few books, so maybe you've never read it. Here's a great chance to do that. In the meantime, here's an original free short story
- [The Long Halloween of Horace Slater](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/11/the-long-halloween-of-horace-slater/) - This November, Gil's All Fright Diner's eBook is on sale for $2.99. Here's a short story based on the novel's setting: The Southwestern town of Rockwood, where the supernatural is commonplace. I've written a lot since then, but I'll always have an affection for Rockwood. Enjoy. Rockwood spread across the desert, and aside from the
- [The Plight of the Lonely French Fry](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/09/the-plight-of-the-lonely-french-fry/) - Helen and Troy’s Epic Road Quest Another dead end. Helen crumpled up the restaurant child’s placemat and started on a fresh one. She should’ve used a pencil, but that felt like cheating. She stuck with pen. No going back. It was a maze for five year olds, leading an anthropomorphic French fry to a box
- [A Change in Management](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/08/a-change-in-management/) - There's that one store. It's tucked out of the way. Maybe it’s in a strip mall that clings to life. Maybe it’s in some back alley with an unmarked door. Maybe it’s next to everyone’s favorite local taco place, but the windows are black and the signage is uninviting and so nobody goes in. Nobody
- [Last Wish](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/08/last-wish/) - ”Agent Pythia Sibyl, Theurgy Security Commission.” I held up my badge. “I’m here about the wish.” John gave me a funny look. The kind of look that said he was thinking about what to say. Nobody liked a government suit knocking on their door. I moved the badge closer for him to get a better
- [Dregs](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/07/dregs/) - Flint crawled up into the city streets. The midnight sky hurt his eyes, and he pulled his hat over his face. He’d been told that the day was worse, but like most ratlins, he’d never seen it directly. Once, as a youth, he’d spied it through the rubble of a cave in, and he’d been
- [Fire and Fist](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/06/fire-and-fist/) - Hey, Action Force. Here's a short story I posted years ago that got lost when I updated the site. It's part of Demon with 10,000 Fists: a setting where magic exists but manifests in very personalized ways. Haven't really done anything with it, but this story stands on its own. Enjoy. A lady can’t
- [Doctor Death Does a Villainy](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/03/doctor-death-does-a-villainy/) - Antagonists are tricky. Traditionally, they’re the Bad Guys who stand in the way of our protagonists. The most basic antagonist is the clear cut villain. These sorts of antagonists work because they’re easy to root against. They might not even have much of a personality at all. Xenomorphs just want to kill and impregnate without
- [Nick Errant](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/03/nick-errant/) - Here's a little something. One of the ideas I've been toying with is a novel involving a classic pulp fiction team-up. This is the introduction of Nick Errant, inspired by detectives and weird menace fiction. I don't know if it'll go anywhere else, but thought I'd share this bit. Enjoy. Prospero punched Nick Errant in
- [It's All Hard](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/03/its-all-hard/) - With the third Constance Verity book coming out this week in the US (and already out in UK), I’m officially wrapping up the Constance Verity trilogy. I’m not saying there won’t be more Constance books, but right now I’m pausing to work on other projects. My first ten novels are all standalone stories set in
- [Constance Verity Destroys the Universe](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/03/constance-verity-destroys-the-universe/) - Constance Verity Destroys the Universe is out now in the UK and will be out on March 8th in the US. If you're visiting this site, then you probably already know if you're interested in it or not, but if you're on the edge and need a push or maybe just eager for a bite,
- [That One Thing](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/02/that-one-thing/) - I’ll give you the TLDR of this post up front: The best way to make a believable character is to have them do one thing, and then have them do that one thing over and over again. That’s it. Now you know. Thanks for stopping by. Okay, so maybe a bit more exploration of this
- [More Blood Tomorrow](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/02/more-blood-tomorrow/) - Garg stood on the balcony of his great fortress, formerly the great fortress of a human king, and surveyed his kingdom below. His hordes milled about, taking care of tasks. There were so many fucking tasks. Things to be built. Things to be maintained. Farming and transportation and logistics. Running a kingdom was a huge
- [That @#$ing Chapter](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/02/that-ing-chapter/) - Every story has That @#$ing Chapter that you know has to be there, but just isn’t working. Even when an author outlines, it’s inevitable to realize that a scene or plot point you need just isn’t coming together properly. But the story needs That @#$ing Chapter! The plot can’t progress without it. The characters will
- [A Mortal Peace](https://aleemartinez.com/2022/01/a-mortal-peace/) - The man found her eventually. She wasn’t expecting this particular man, but it was bound to be someone. Even gods could only deny the world so long. He approached her home, pausing to catch his breath. Sitting on her porch, she studied him. The climb to her home wouldn’t have been easy, even for a
- [Who We Were](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/10/who-we-were/) - Any artist with any longevity is bound to look back on their past works with some trepidation. We are all fallible meat robots with cobbled together wetware wired to faulty sensory apparatus. Even if you’re more prone to spiritualism (however you wish to define it) the truth that we are all little tiny slivers of
- [The Narrator's Opinion](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/08/the-narrators-opinion/) - The best way to write something interesting is to have a narrative voice that is interesting because everything in a story is an expression of that voice. The characters, the plot, the style, these are all elements that come from voice. And the best voice is found when you realize that your narrator is a
- [Reality Ensues](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/07/reality-ensues/) - Who would win in a fight between Superman and the Hulk? Short answer: The writer decides. Long answer: It’s a complicated question. Is Superman holding back? Where are they fighting? What are they fighting about? Does Hulk’s amazing strength and resilience overcome the many other powers Superman has? Are either fighting at full strength? Are
- [Bad Art & The Bad Artists Who Make It](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/07/bad-art-the-bad-artists-who-make-it/) - There's an old saying. Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. As a professional creative sort, I run across a lot of professional creative sorts. I also run across a lot of people who want to be creative. There are plenty of reasons to not exercise creativity. As a professional creator, I
- [An Endless Search](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/06/an-endless-search/) - There was always someone who thought they had it figured it out. They all had the same cocksure smile, the same glint of forbidden knowledge behind their eyes, as they came knocking on my door. This newest visitor was no different. He wore a leather jacket and had a face full of piercings. His hair
- [The Stuff of Legends](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/05/the-stuff-of-legends/) - Steve had always dreamt of finding lost pirate treasure. There was something enticing about the notion of discovering something lost and forgotten in the ocean. Romantic in a way that few things were. It was why he’d taken up scuba diving in the first place. He knew that salvage was serious business, and you didn’t
- [The Better Tomorrows](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/04/the-better-tomorrows/) - “Eat lead, master race,” Charlie quipped as he pumped three shots into the fuhrer’s chest, another between Hitler’s eyes for good measure. Hitler’s corpse fell across his desk, dead before he really knew what hit him. Sometimes, Charlie let the fuhrer twist in the wind a little before killing him. Now he usually just shot
- [THAT WHICH MAY ETERNAL LOVE](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/02/that-which-may-eternal-love/) - An ode to Valentine's Day, Cosmic Horror Style. Hope you enjoy it, Action Force. They sing my praises. Oh, how they sing. Their words drift from the cliffs overlooking the angry sea, swallowed up by the crashing waves, sinking to the unexplored depths, where the sleeping city waits. Where I wait, mostly forgotten, but
- [(Don't) Just Think About It](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/01/dont-just-think-about-it/) - I hate when characters think in books. Let me clarify. I hate when the writer stops the story dead in its tracks so a character can think. It doesn’t really matter what thee character thinks about. It’s usually plot or conflict or character. But, jeepers, it is boring having a character just think for pages
- [The Last Days of the Apocalypse](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/01/the-last-days-of-the-apocalypse/) - Happy A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!! In celebration, here's some free short fiction. Enjoy! Grandpa got that faraway look as they drove past the solar farm. “Right here is where I strangled a raider for a can of gas.” Shane said, “You’ve told us, Gramps.” His sister Lenore, sitting in the seat beside him,
- [How Do You Do It?](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/01/how-do-you-do-it/) - A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!! is approaching. January 12th, as you’re already aware. In celebration, I’m endeavoring to post a blog a day up to the run up. Have a question or thought you’d like to share? You can reach me at Hipstercthulhu@hotmail.com. “Where do you get your ideas?” There’s a list of questions
- [Other People's Toys](https://aleemartinez.com/2021/01/other-peoples-toys/) - A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!! is approaching. January 12th, as you’re already aware. In celebration, I’m endeavoring to post a blog a day up to the run up. Have a question or thought you’d like to share? You can reach me at Hipstercthulhu@hotmail.com. A question writers get asked, especially in these days of franchises and
- [The Audience is Watching](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/11/the-audience-is-watching/) - When people talk about elements of a story, it’s common to talk about plot, pacing, character arcs, adverbs and adjectives, conflict, characterization, and so on and so on. And all those things are important to a story, but one element that isn’t talked about often is Audience. Because every story has an Audience. To clarify,
- [Does Your Story Need That?](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/10/does-your-story-need-that/) - A lot of these blog posts are fairly light, but we’re about to dive into some more serious subject matter. Prejudice, Sexual Politics, and Violence. I’m not planning on getting too specific, but if it’s the thing you might not want to read about, you have been warned. Part of writing a story is knowing
- [Mission Statements](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/10/mission-statements/) - Let’s talk Mission Statements. The term has become a cliche, one that’s hard to take seriously. But I’m here to try to redeem the idea because good writing almost always has a mission statement, even if that isn’t immediately obvious. Stripping away most of the baggage from the word, a mission statement is a driving
- [The Prophecies of Kimberly, From Accounts Payable](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/05/the-prophecies-of-kimberly-from-accounts-payable/) - I asked Twitter to give me a cliche they were particularly tired of to see if I could do anything interesting with it without having to completely subvert it. This is the result. The chosen tropes are Destiny, The Chosen One, and Secret Relative. Hope you like it. The interviewer sat behind a small
- [Women and Other Alien Creatures](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/05/women-and-other-alien-creatures/) - FROM THE MAILBAG: I’m in the process of rereading your catalogue, studying how you put a story together and how it has changed over time. I’m intrigued that you write using female protagonists, and do so quite well nearly all the times you do so. Would you expand upon this and its process? There’s
- [The End of Kings](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/04/the-end-of-kings/) - From the Action Force Mailbag: What is one fantasy trope that annoys you the most? I struggled to answer with this. In the end, it’s all about execution. Anything I would suggest could be properly executed somewhere, and it’s all personal. I dislike the deconstruction of “Evil Superman”, for example. Not the idea of
- [Why, Constance, Why?](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/04/why-constance-why/) - Time to dig in the ol’ Action Force Mailbag, and see what comes up? I don’t get a lot of mail, so maybe if I answer more often that will change. And, hey, what better excuse to sit down and address you, my sem-adoring public? Today’s Question: I was wondering why you keep writing more
- [What I Read & Reading Recommendations](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/04/what-i-read-reading-recommendations/) - Writers often get asked what books they’re reading. It makes sense. It shows our influences, and if you like what we write, maybe you’ll like what we read. No guarantees, but it’s not a bad place to start. The truth is that I don’t read as much as I used to. Part of this is
- [Q&A, Quarantine Edition](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/04/qa-quarantine-edition/) - You’ve probably already talked about this, but what inspired you to write Gil’s All Fright Diner? Do you live in a rural area? Are you a big Monstervision fan? Your heroes and villains in that are so distinct. Were they at all inspired by people you know? Yes, I’ve talked about this frequently. Gil’s
- [Dragons, Wizards, and Other Story Distractions](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/02/dragons-wizards-and-other-story-distractions/) - Star Wars is not about the Force. Terminator is not about Time Travel. Harry Potter, believe it or not, isn’t about Magic. One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that you should never mistake a plot device for the reason the story exists in the first place. I could go on. Iron
- [Camp Sunshine](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/01/camp-sunshine/) - No one went to Camp Sunshine after the third massacre. One massacre was just a thing that happened. Two was an unfortunate coincidence. Three was enough to discourage the most determined thrill seekers. The camp was abandoned, and it would remain abandoned for decades. But kids with nothing better to do or in desperate need
- [On Realism](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/01/on-realism/) - We need to have a talk about Realism in storytelling. Well, we probably don't. If you're a fan of anything I've written, you're probably cool with a flexible definition of reality. So this might very well be preaching to the choir, but it's still worth talking about because if you read any criticism of storytelling
- [Curses](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/05/curses/) - Life in Rockwood The Weeping Woman had haunted Jack since he was a boy as she had haunted all the men of the Banfield family. Sometimes, when alone, the phone would ring, and he’d answer to the sounds of gentle weeping. Or when flicking through the channels of the TV, he’d come across a
- [Iff](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/01/iff/) - We swam through the shining fires of creation. We danced and laughed, and in our foolish innocence, we thought it would last forever. Thirteen billion years later, I sat on a park bench with a man named Gary. The specifics of how he found me were irrelevant. Someone always did, and it wasn’t as if
- [Return of the Blog & A. LEE MARTINEZ APPRECIATION DAY!!](https://aleemartinez.com/2020/01/return-of-the-blog-a-lee-martinez-appreciation-day/) - I read recently somewhere that blogs should make a comeback. It’s fine to use Twitter or Facebook or Instagram or whatever, but the truth is that you’re only renting those spaces. They aren’t yours, and while those services want you to succeed (since it helps them succeed), it doesn’t change the fact that you are
- [A Dance with the Senorita](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/10/a-dance-with-the-senorita/) - Life in Rockwood The Senorita had watched over Emilia Flores’s garden before there had been a garden. The old scarecrow had shown up not long after the first house had been built. No one could remember who put the Senorita up with her black flamenco dress stuffed with straw and her pumpkin head, painted black
- [Lost and Found in the Mire](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/10/lost-and-found-in-the-mire/) - Jen drove into the swamp on a cool wet night. The roads were muddy, but her four wheel drive could handle it. She drove through the dark, an unopened beer in her hand. She thought about taking a drink because--fuck it-- it was only one beer and anyone wandering through the swamp at this time
- [Q&A: Losing Interest](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/09/qa-losing-interest/) - From the ol' Action Force mailbag: Ok, got an interesting question. I asked you recently about Duke and Earl (of Gil's All Fright Diner). I also noticed, on Facebook, someone else did, too. I'm suspecting it's a question you get a lot and one you're getting maybe a little irritated answering. That said, I'm curious
- [Inside Dog](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/08/inside-dog/) - INSIDE DOG Bill tapped his white cane against the floor in a steady rhythm, counting the seconds, the minutes, the just over an hour that he’d been sitting in this interrogation room. The doors creaky hinges squeaked. Chestnut raised her head and gave a soft growl. He patted her on the head. “Easy, girl.” Connie
- [The Indifferent Stars](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/06/the-indifferent-stars/) - Geneva Cthulhu Most of the time, freelancing for the Unknowables was a simple gig. Track something down. Bring something back. Fix this. Break that. Keep your head down. Don’t ask too many questions because the answers are never going to satisfy you. But sometimes things got complicated. Sometimes, you ended up surrounded by cultists worshipping
- [Gloop](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/06/gloop/) - Lickity Spit Someone as a joke had painted out the second L in The Lickety Split. Everybody just rolled with it. The thing was there, hidden in the darkened bowels of the Spit, squeezed behind the pipes. And it was hungry. It reached out with one of its hands, wriggling its clawed fingers. Its two
- [Stains](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/05/stains/) - He met the old woman by the river. She knelt by the water, beating bloody clothes against the rocks. She'd wring out the fabric, dripping streams of bright blood into the water. He'd seen her before. Many times. But he'd never had the nerve to approach her. As dusk settled, he came closer. The old
- [The Truth About Magic](https://aleemartinez.com/2019/05/the-truth-about-magic/) - "There is something you need to know about magic," said Sean. "I know," replied Gary. "It always has a price." "What? No. Who told you that?" "Everybody," said Gary. "Well, everybody is wrong." "But what about the laws of thermodynamics?" "If magic followed the rules of thermodynamics, it wouldn't be magic, would it?" "But surely

## Pages

- [Books](https://aleemartinez.com/books/) - A list of books written or edited by A. Lee Martinez linking to Amazon to buy.
- [Home](https://aleemartinez.com/home/) - Welcome to your site! This is your homepage, which is what most visitors will see when they come to your site for the first time.
- [About](https://aleemartinez.com/about/) - You might be an artist who would like to introduce yourself and your work here or maybe you’re a business with a mission to describe.
- [Contact](https://aleemartinez.com/contact/) - This is a page with some basic contact information, such as an address and phone number. You might also try a plugin to add a contact form.
- [Blog](https://aleemartinez.com/blog/)
- [A homepage section](https://aleemartinez.com/a-homepage-section/) - This is an example of a homepage section. Homepage sections can be any page other than the homepage itself, including the page that shows your latest blog posts.
- [Sample Page](https://aleemartinez.com/sample-page/) - This is an example page. It's different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I'm a bike messenger

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](https://aleemartinez.com/category/uncategorized/)
- [Short Fiction](https://aleemartinez.com/category/short-fiction/)