Fiction

An attempt to explain The Gralph in my books

Eagle-eyed viewers of the Emissary Movie might spy a motif. A common hand gesture used by Jim, Mark, and Andy. This gesture has a long history in the Erskine clan. We call it the gralph. Gralphs have worked their way into my sci fi trilogy. The following short excerpts do not contain any spoilers. Read more →

Life imitating art: strange lights over Ellison Bay

Our recent Peninsula Pulse reports strange lights in Ellison Bay's skies. That's not news to us. Why, that's exactly where our spaceman likes to land. Koyper typically likes to land his spaceship in Ellison Bay's Newport State Park and take in the poetry trail. Have they not seen The Emissary... Read more →

A more detailed synopsis for Emissary Book 1

Poster art by Ram Rojas, for The Emissary, a movie that I helped create and produce, and on which my books are based. Synopsis for book one: The Emissary and the Time Bomb from Outer Space Living on Wisconsin’s scenic Door County peninsula, engineer Jim Morgen isn’t expecting a visitor... Read more →

Do these titles make my books look big? (Would love feedback!)

Got feedback on my working titles? Alternate suggestions most welcome! I've divided my Emissary book into three standalone novels and am starting to compose query letters to literary agents. I'm trying to telegraph through my titles that my midwestern sci fi adventure story is funny-quirky (think Red Dwarf) yet not... Read more →

The Emissary book 1: Intro

Chapter One: The Unchronicled Man November 10, 1975 somewhere over Lake Superior Historians chronicle that the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald took the lives of twenty-nine brave men. They are wrong. There was one more. Such an omission might seem negligent. But this unchronicled man would never have wanted... Read more →

The Color Battery (excerpt from The Emissary novel)

Here's an excerpt from my book. Molly is an electrochemist who has invented a bionic leaf (based on some real inventions out there I was excited to promote.) If you like, follow this up with a fall color drive with my husband's original music. "But you don’t seem happy about... Read more →

Peninsula Pulse reviews our movie, The Emissary

Big thanks to Mike Orlock for reviewing our movie. As Koyper would say, we think he hit the button on the head. He captured it well. If it looks like we were having fun here, you would be correct. Lots of fun filming with dear, tolerant friends, lots of sleep... Read more →

Harry Potter vs the Fixed Mindset

Why are some fictional characters boring? The prime reason why I give up reading a book is because the main character is boring. Boring characters tend to be static, unchanging. More importantly, nothing challenges a boring character. We continue turning pages if we care about characters. We love the good, yet imperfect characters. But it isn’t bad to hate a character, either. A hateful character will not stop me from reading. A boring character will stop me from reading. Read more →

Happy Birthday to the inventor of my fiction writing.

Dec 26, 2021 If it weren't for my brilliant sweetheart Tim Erskine, I would not have been inspired to try writing fiction. Five years after we created a movie together, I have a finished draft for a 700 (or so) page novel based on that movie, that my editor says... Read more →