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Jeff Baker

Tales for October – Boogieman in Lavender

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This will be a Halloween season like no other. Fears are real. Trick-Or-Treat may be cancelled. Costume shops are devoid of costumes. Wearing masks has taken on a new meaning. With more time to read, the escape of good horror fiction has never been more needed. The fine writer Greg Herren has released a collection of mystery and suspense stories; “Survivor’s Guilt and Other Stories.” (Bold Strokes Books.) Including such fine tales as “Annunciation Shotgun” and the title story blending gripping plotting with fine character studies. Many of Herren’s stories have the feel of episodes of the old “Alfred Hitchcock … Read more

Pride Month Interview With Anthony Cardno – Boogieman In Lavender

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My friend Anthony Cardno celebrated Pride Month with a series of Interviews with artists, writers, performers and others in the LGBT community, a series of interviews which stretched into July. (Just think of every month as a source of Pride!) Anthony omitted an interview with himself, so he graciously consented to answer a few of my questions (and a few reworded questions he’d asked me and others!) Hi, Anthony! I’ll start off by borrowing one of your own questions:  What are you doing to stay creatively motivated in these unusual times? If I’m being honest (as one should be), I … Read more

Boogieman in Lavender: The Fire This Time…

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“The world has gone mad today and good’s bad today…” —Cole Porter, “Anything Goes.” As I write this, America is on fire. Not everywhere, but L.A., New York and Minneapolis are the scenes of riots complete with burnings and clashes with police following the murder (we can call it that now) of George Floyd in Minneapolis during a police stop. Lootings have occurred and opportunistic politicians are screaming. A convenience store a few blocks down from where I used to live had its windows shattered. But all may not be as it seems. A far-right group called the Boogaloos has … Read more

writing For Podcasts: Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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                 Invasion of the Podcast People                                          By Jeff Baker                                           Some brief advice (with grateful thanks to Angel Martinez for invaluable information.) on writing a story for a podcast.             When I started writing fiction (back in the ‘90s) there was no such thing as a podcast, at least not that I know of. Now they are a regular, viable market for fiction of all kinds. Sometimes, they pay! As I have had my stories read on a podcast or two I can offer a few tips (which hardly count as expert advice, but every bit helps!)             … Read more

Boogieman In Lavender: Random Notes for March

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A few random notes this month. Every writer has inspirations. If they’re lucky, they get to meet them, and the meeting isn’t a letdown. Mary Higgins Clark died a few weeks ago. The bestselling suspense writer needs no introduction, but her magazine does. Running for a handful of issues in the 1990s, Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine included fiction and regular features about mystery writers and their characters. I hadn’t thought too much about trying to write any mysteries before I read the magazine. In my undisciplined way I didn’t get around to writing or publishing any mysteries until about … Read more

Boogieman in Lavender: The Tiptree Solution, or The Woman Men Didn’t See.

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Jeff Baker - Boogieman in Lavender

James Tiptree, Jr. was the pen name of science fiction writer Alice B. Sheldon. The previous sentence is probably the least complicated information about Alice Sheldon. The first fiction under the Tiptree name appeared in the 1960s. Most of her work was in the short-story form, stories of science fiction, fantasy or horror. This was in the era of the “New Wave,” when sex was beginning to show up in science fiction. Tiptree was believed to be a male writer by the public, and she did nothing to dissuade that belief. Several famous science fiction writers asserted that the kind … Read more