Those seeking God will find God. The proclamation is true and rather unfulfilling. More often than not, petitioners must abandon hope and expectations. They must remain satisfied with what they are told they are unable to gain. Such had been the purpose of organized religion upon conception. These power structures had been grown to placate populations and render people docile – inert. These structures still exist and they grant control of multitudes upon a sorted and…

There are no monsters here. Well, there are kids but that shouldn't count. Does it? You don't have to answer that, parents. I just hope you know what I don't mean. Hey, I don't think you folks are looking very deep into my stories. There is always much more than the surface - I know, I put it there. Here I have a story about puberty, gender roles, bullies and power struggles. Give me credit - spread my name - get me professionally published!…

More familiar with psychology than much of anything else, I tend to be conscious of my mental state. Even more and because popular American culture, I adopt a personal nomenclature. We all do. Let's be objective and agree Sigmund Freud's been ascribed, as has Jesus, many catchy phrases he's never said. I'm not misquoting Freud today, or the good Lord. I'm distorting the Kübler-Ross model. That's a hypothesis the mortal Elisabeth Kübler-Ross introduced and called the Five Stages of…

I'm just going to say this. I'm sick of critics who have nothing more to say than "I'm glad this was free." My terse reply are rhetorical questions. I ask "Is this going anywhere, ma'am or sir? Are we going anywhere together? Because if you're not giving me directions, get off my fraking bus!" And I don't want to hear people screaming "But we're heading straight for a cliff!" Shut up, because that's where I'm driving. I intend to take every soul to…

That short-sighted RNC slogan "We Built This" has certainly met plenty of rational argument. And the unyielding position of Tea Party-pandering Republicans isn't false. It's quite possible a single person has built his or her own business and all the infrastructure underneath. Although unlikely, it is possible and let me show you the results. I'm talking about my writing. I can safely say "I Built This." I am that lone businessman and I suffer for the fact.

Despite my…

I'd like to animate my Bestial Cult of Hathor. It's a short horror story in which Terry Bringer returns to Wister Town to fulfill a vow; to spit on the graves of the committee members of the restaurant whom fired him. I'm not a professional (in anything), so I've submitted my plea for funds to…

Tarl "Voice" Hoch from Goodreads reminded me The Bestial Cult of Hathor is not one of my better stories. He did me a favor, although I don't anticipate coming back to the tale. It's rough, probably worst than Truthful Consequences.…

...well, not any more than he hates the rest of you.

Although, I admit I've been rude in making my introduction. I'd love to meet Lovecraft fans. I'd even love more if they'd recognize my literary contributions. Not to the Cthulhu mythos, but rather my parallel world inspired by HP Lovecraft and the categorization of his mythos driven by August Derlerth. I say that and I know I raise hackles – but…

Once she started making $90,000, my ex-fiancee got the idea she was too good for me. That was a strain on our relationship. She said she didn't want to be with a man who made less money than her. Then she met a millionaire. I gave up. The woman became a whore, and a wretched one. Have you seen her? I put my dick into that so I wouldn't go to Dante's second plane of Hell for masturbation. Yeah, my definition of self-pleasure is merely technical but that is how Christians…

I am a fool who bleats as much as every other sheep. Useless, I cry and howl. And because it's such a divisive election year - or more so these past four years - I practically squeal. I am afraid and have never trusted shepherds. If wolves are truly stalking us American citizens, I'd rather watch my own wool. Now, I'm sure he's not a pedophile with a penchant for bestiality, yet I'm scared when any such supreme authority figure tours about. But we know, no one can…

I was just notified that my Frugal Book Promoter--Second Edition--(http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo) was given a Global E-Book Award nod with an honorable mention. Many of you know I don't promote my e-books as avidly as paperback. It's not because I don't appreciate them or my e-book readers. It's really a matter of time.  If you've read The Frugal Book Promoter, you also know that I advise authors to…

Preview the opening scene of my new novel "Second Chance" (working title) by going to the Contact Me page on my website www.dcshaftoe.com. Send all comments to my email at adventure@dcshaftoe.com.

Summary: Police inspector, Zachary Marek, has crossed swords with the wrong villain, Albanian Mafioso, Burim Gjojak. Only Zach's brothers, a band of castaways forged into a family by two amazing people, can save him. But now the…

The Lemon Tree

half-hour comedy

The True Story

First Pilot Episode

A half-hour comedy series,

created by Gene Cartwright, 1994

In 1994, with no experience, the help of my best friend, and armed only with an idea and boundless determination, I set about to write, cast, produce, and direct a sitcom. In many ways, I benefitted from…

Aren’t you so EXCITED?!  Of course you are!  At least it certainly seems you ought to be, considering that when you skim the news feed on FB, stop by to read a blog post here and there as you cruise through cyberspace, noiselessly tip-toe through twitter, it’s pretty much everywhere. Excitement, and lots of it.  Can we really be this Excited so much of…

Guns don't kill people. Of course not. Neither do bombs, knives, baseball bats or poison. It's people who kill people. Who can argue with that?

Well, let me try a bit.

While it is true that inanimate objects by themselves are not likely to become animate and go around killing people all by themselves, it should be obvious that if they didn't exist, it would be a lot more difficult for people to kill people. Gosh, if these inanimate objects didn't exist, someone who wanted to…

Lovecraft fans hate me. I don't why. Maybe it's what I say... but we shouldn't be haters. We're brothers, man. We were both weaned on eldritch witchery and periodically return to the font of the unbaptized. For those who know, like Richard Upton Pickman, I pull monsters from my sketchbooks. My whole purpose for writing is to make my chimera live.…

Why should you read my story? I say it's a fantasy-horror story and the reaction is immediately lukewarm. I've said it's fiction about the 99% and the 1% - it's about terrorists, the messiah and Armageddon and no one cares. I've even stated I'm renewing Dante's Underworld tours and taking readers straight through the Hellmouth at Saint Erasmus and the reaction…

Feeling full-spirited toward an immersive environment, I've created atmospheric music to accompany each of the books in my Pazuzu Trilogy. They're background noise - if you want something professional, well then pay somebody something. Buying my books would be a move in the right direction. I have no music training whatsoever - that music appreciation elective course I took in…

I’m always looking for ways to improve my writing. I try to write every day; I keep a journal. Whenever I read a particularly good book, I write a review for myself. Sometimes I’m so impressed with the author’s writing style, the seamless way in which a story is told combining all the right elements, in the right proportion, I study the author’s technique; not for the purpose of imitating his/or her style, but to understand what makes one author’s writing stand out from…

As You May Recall,

I have something of a fascination with Idioms.  You know, those expressions that are near ancient in origin, which we toss out often enough to assure their permanence in the rhelms of common language.  And yet, when we take a moment to think about what it is we’re actually saying, uh well, What actually are we…