HODGE PODGE is an extension of my imagination. It is a collection of stories I made up to entertain my grandkids and to test my ability as a writer. Most of the plots are fairly simple, but I have tried to make them sensible and to follow an understandable pattern, although for the most part on re-reading, I have over-used a bloody finish for most of my characters. I hope I have made my descriptive passages descriptive and distortions of realities believable.

When I first started writing prose, my intent was to see if I had the skills to do so. I went back into the notes and stories I...