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[ronsparks]

Redesigned my website over the long holiday weekend. Hoping to start posting more and sharing again, especially since I have basically been AWOL for two years on the this page and the site.

[ronsparks]

I called it in Oni - life on Earth started way earlier than we originally suspected.

[ronsparks]

I wrote this time travel sci-fi story a looooong time ago, in the early 1990's. I was in my early 20's then! I haven't changed a word; it has all of the dated references, passive voice, and political incorrectness of me when I was a wee lad of a writer. Enjoy!

[ronsparks]

It's Not Me; It's You

I ghosted you. Cut off communications. Blocked you on Facebook. Or maybe unfriended you. I deleted your comments on my threads. I cut you off of Twitter. I don’t return your calls or your texts. And you wonder why.

Don’t worry; it’s not me. It’s you.

You voted for, and continue to support, a racist. A man who calls people of color “dogs.” A man who praises other racists and bigots. A man who has…

[ronsparks]

This story seems weirdly appropriate since I learned of "climate change gentrification" while listening to NPR yesterday.

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I forgot how much I love this series. I need to pick it back up and write the next story in the series.

[ronsparks]

Flip

My green-eyed first wife – fiery temper and hair to match – slid the wedding ring on my finger. Twisting on my knuckle, it never left my hand. I grokked with certainty borne from intuition that BAD THINGS would happen should that tri-colored gold band leave my touch. Years, a decade and change, passed and one day I took it off and set it on the bed beside me. For two seconds I was fine, but then…

[ronsparks]

I’ve been angry and heartbroken all day over a local man and his seven-year-old son getting gunned down, in my neighborhood, over a drug deal gone wrong. Link to story in comments.

[ronsparks]

A Statue, A Book, a Billboard What does a Confederate statue and a book have in common? A lot, according to a billboard I saw today. Pittsburgh is a fairly progressive town. It’s one of the reasons why Carey and I fit in so well here. Get just a few miles outside of the city, though, and things start to change drastically. [ 1,107 more word ] http://ift.tt/2f9bYJm

[ronsparks]

Is Destroying a Confederate Statue the Same as Burning Books?

Is Destroying a Confederate Statue the Same as Burning Books?

A Statue, A Book, a Billboard What does a Confederate statue and a book have in common?  A lot, according to a billboard I saw today. Pittsburgh is a fairly progressive town. It’s one of the reasons why Carey and I fit in so well here. Get just a few miles outside of the city, though, and things start to change drastically. For my Florida friends, you can liken it to the greater Jacksonville area…

[ronsparks]

I started this years and years ago and left it collecting dust in the virtual file cabinet. I saw it when I was browsing today and still liked it - even this unedited chapter. So I figured I'd post it here. If it gets some eyes on it and people like it, maybe it'll inspire me to keep going with it.

[ronsparks]

I read "Kindred" by Octavia Butler while I was camping last weekend. It was, as expected, a phenomenal read. There is a ton of review on this sci-fi, written in the 1970's, that deals with a modern black woman suddenly finding herself (multiple times) transported to the antebellum South. This book is important. Read it. It matters today. Many good sci-fi novels are a reflection of the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of society, in a fantastic setting, exposed for our inspection. Kindred is no different. In addition to the social relevance of the novel, I was reminded that not everything needs an answer. Throughout the book, there is no explanation as to WHY Dana keeps getting flung back in time - you just have her thoughts on the matter and she is oblivious to the mechanics of it. Aliens? High tech from the future? A causality loop? You don't know, and it doesn't matter. It's just the backdrop for the story - the thing that happens that makes it all possible. And by not defining it, not explaining it, the author is free to focus on the story itself. The mystery is essential, but it doesn't have to be explained. And it works. I need to remember this - as a writer I tend to over-explain everything. I tend to think that because I wonder about something, I must provide an answer for it. Even if it detracts from the story.

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I am a HPV cancer survivor. You don't have to. You can aid in the fight against head and neck cancer. Read on to find out.

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A fun horror / sci-fi I wrote last year. I had it in mind to make a series of stories featuring the main characters of Milla and Isla, but I haven't done so yet. Enjoy.

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I wrote this short story almost sixteen years ago, and it's been sitting in my archives ever since. I really like it.

[ronsparks]

The Other Window

The Other Window, a #scifi story about an indifferent universe.

Aara sat in the cargo hold hugging her knees and staring desperately through the ice-encrusted view port. A slow pressure leak near the view port was evident in the ice slowly growing across her field of view. She wondered how much longer she had left to live; this cargo hold was the only section of the vessel able to seal itself off when disaster had struck. Most of the rest of the ship had been…

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Missing Mass

Missing Mass A #sci-fi short story I wrote over 22 years ago.

“I found it, Martin” an urgent Alfonso whispered into the telephone handset. He ran a shaking hand through his wavy hair and repeated himself, “I found it, I tell you, but you won’t believe it. No one will.” Without waiting for the voicemail-received confirmation, he hung up the phone and turned back to his instruments.   Alfonso reached up and switched his personal recorder back on. The small,…