Fredrich Brown, wondering whether to answer the door.

For twenty years I have been writing strange, inexplicable stories. I have emulated a long-dead short story writer called R.A. Lafferty.

My father found his work “disturbing but thoughtful,” but for me, there was something more: Lafferty touched on something impossible: He expressed the inexpressible. This is something I have long since tried to achieve in my short stories, but (IMHO) I fell short of expectations.

Writing is work. It is hard work. Especially such unglamorous parts of it as editing and marketing. It is a job, and very frequently it can be arduous. The more quickly and better this is understood, the better your chances of succeeding at writing.