Appearances to the Contrary, FIVE MACABRE TALES OF MISCHIEF, MAYHEM AND MIRTH

Appearances to the Contrary… is comprised of five stories, some short, some longish. They are told in an irreverent and whimsical and sardonic tone. I didn't plan on that, as normally I am as serious as the day is long. But writing is, I have come to find, anything but normal. When you are creating characters and scenarios, you are (or at least I am), no longer yourself. Like an actor, you become the people you are portraying. Whether the story is based upon purely imaginary people, places, and events, or whether it contains a large element of truth mixed in with the fabrications, the story, to be successful, must be convincing, even in an implausible setting. Or rather, especially in an implausible setting. It is not for me to say whether these stories are successful or not. All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed writing them. It was a lot of hard work. They did not come easy. But worthwhile things never do. As to fact or fancy, no story is wholly imaginary, which is to say, a product of one's fancy. Most stories contain a good dollop of fact, or, if you like, history, in them. As do these five stories. As to what part of the stories are invention and what parts are truth disguised as fiction, that's something you, the reader, will have to decide for yourself.