(“Godzilla vs. The Code” first appeared in Barrelhouse) My husband has a favorite Japanese actor, and he can pronounce the man’s name. To-shi-ro Mi-fu-ne. At our house, Mr. Mifune appears in Samurai movies, mostly on Saturday afternoons. I’ll walk into the TV room and there’s my husband on the couch, reading subtitles. The men on TV are dressed in...

(“Mother Mary Commutes to Memphis” first appeared in The Pinch) “Elvis Presley Enterprises shall exclusively own all now known or hereafter existing rights to the submissions of every kind throughout the universe.” EPE Legal Notice White robes squashed against blue-swirled upholstery, wads of chewing gum lined on a fuzzy armrest. The salty smell...

(excerpt from Model for Deception, a Vangie Street mystery, currently being shopped to agents) The Next Step kitchen was abuzz with activity: one man was washing dishes, another removing clothes from the dryer, someone else peeling a cucumber. I walked through the room at a clip, not only because of the slightly unpleasant smell of leftover spaghetti....

(“The Old Timers” first appeared in River Teeth) On August 7, 2001, I stepped into the 50th Anniversary celebration of the discovery of oil in Williston Basin, Williston, North Dakota. I knew no one. My family had not been back to the Williston Basin since the December night in 1960 when my father had run his car into a train—as squarely-hit as any...