once upon a time

  • The Tinder Box

    Today’s story opens with the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen, depicted on a series of Danish shortbread cookie tins in my collection. Sure, you know these classics: The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling… I have three of these eight special editions, and one is called…

  • You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

    “Art takes nature as its model,” Aristotle said. In other words, art imitates life—and I believe that to a point, since much of my own writing reflects the settings and characters I interact with every day. While I’ve never suffered from a scarcity of story ideas, after experiencing the Chilean version of a “24” season…