W.C. Clinton's Blog

I am pleased to share that my short story, "Dark Reckoning," will appear online on The Bookends Review website (https://thebookendsreview.com) on February 19, 2026. Please give it a read - it's free! - and while there check out some of the other content on the site. Here is the "about us" blurb from The Bookends Review:

the who, the what, the why
Founded in 2012, The Bookends Review is an independent creative arts journal dedicated to bringing you the best original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, interviews, essays, book reviews, and visual/musical works from around the world.

Kind of like a variety show on the web.

I'm pleased to relay the news that my short story "Pin Oak" has been published by "The Aerial Perspective", a quarterly magazine published by Quillkeepers Press. An online pdf version of the magazine is available at the following link; there is also a link on that page to order a hard copy through Amazon if that is your preference. I will note that the pdf is free.

https://www.quillkeeperspress.com/the...

Between now and midnight April 29, I and Goodreads are giving away 100 e-copies of my minimum opus, "Two Pairs of Shorts," a collection of four short stories about everyday average living from both comic and tragic perspectives. A local newspaper review recently called it "an excellent read" and the reviewer commented "I laughed out loud."

Sign up to win a FREE e-copy today (I think it is mandatory to capitalize "FREE" in advertising). That is, sign up today. You wouldn't win today. You might win on April 30. But it is certainly worth that wait!

Good afternoon, all!

A local newspaper published a review of my small book, "Two Pairs of Shorts." I love this age, because now I can post a link and share the review with all of you.

https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.c...

Like my book, the review is short. Check it out.

Thank you.

As some of you no doubt know, I contribute on an irregular basis to an online publication available on Medium.com called Play Full. Sunday night, I posted an light article about the benefits and challenges of sharing a name and birthday with a U.S. President.

https://playful.li/on-being-bill-clin...

Have a few minutes? Have a read! It's free.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I have developed a fondness for Ray Bradbury's stories rather late. When I was in junior high school in the mid-nineteen-seventies, this particular book was prominent among many of my male classmates, along with another favorite, Fahenheit 451. Written in fragments over a few years and assembled as a thematic collection of stories, the thing that strikes me most about this book is Bradbury's dated portrayal of sexual roles. Set decades into the future from the time of its writing (the events of the book begin in the 2020's), Bradbury's work did not foresee the sexual revolution that occurred only a decade and a half later and the relative rise of feminism (although gender equality is still not fully realized today). The characters and society are very much in the American mainstream of white culture in the late 1940's and the 1950's - both the earthlings who come to colonize Mars and the indigenous residents. I like the book in spite of that, but it can be distracting to a modern reader.

An additional hurdle for the modern reader is that we have learned so much about Mars since Bradbury's stories were published. Even a layperson's knowledge of the red planet needs to be set aside when reading Bradbury's vision. Keeping in mind that the collection was published long before humans even visited the moon is necessary when perusing these tales.

Bradbury's strength in all of his stories is consistently his imagination of odd scenarios and the themes he addresses in his writing. There is an echo (or perhaps a foreshadowing) of Fahrenheit 451 in one of his Martian tales, "Usher II", in which a wealthy man builds and landscapes a property to the specifications of Edgar Allen Poe's House of Usher. The house is illegal due to the censorship laws of the time, and a reference to a "Great Burning" of many private libraries is prominent in the tale. Bradbury also adapted this particular story for the small screen in an episode featuring Patrick McNee of "The Avengers" (no, not those Avengers, the tongue-in-cheek British spy show) of his mid-1980's series "The Ray Bradbury Theater."

Bradbury also peripherally, and then directly, ventures into the dominant worry of the time - mutually assured nuclear destruction in the Cold War. He includes a tale concerning assumptions of religious superiority on the part of colonizing missionaries. In all of his stories, the themes take precedence over the characters, and occasionally he cannot help but drive home his point with an unnecessarily obvious statement, but overall his stories brim with imagination and thoughtful treatment of his subjects.

Additionally, Bradbury himself points out that these stories overall do not really quite fit neatly into the genre of science fiction. His writing generally is often hard to classify - part science fiction, but not really; part horror, but not really; part fantasy, but not really. His ability to slip through labels is part of the charm of his writing. His writing itself is fluid and at times poetic.

Overall, I recommend this book to a reader who can take into account the time period in which it was written.



View all my reviews

Or, you could come the Author Expo at the James A. Michener branch of the Bucks County Free Library in Quakertown, PA instead. Meet local authors who are, admittedly, hopeful that they will sell a book or two to the suspecting public (you'd hardly be UNsuspecting if you walk into an Author Expo, after all) but would also love the opportunity to talk about writing and reading and other bookish activities with anyone who wanders by.

A bonus is that if you don't see a book you like by a local author, the place is just FULL of other books by other authors - even some by James A. Michener.

The event is from 1-3 pm on November 9. I hope to see you there.

Wow. I had not realized how long it has been since I last posted anything in this blog.

I spent this past weekend in Manhattan at the 2019 Writer's Digest Annual Conference. I'd never attended a writing conference before. Recently I heeded all of the advice that if one wants to move into a career as an author, one needs to attend conferences and network. I'm an introvert and anti-social, if I may exaggerate somewhat, but I found this conference very worthwhile.

I learned a good bit about the business end of writing and publishing. The three keynote speakers were excellent (N. K. Jemisin, Karin Slaughter, and Min Jin Lee). I met a number of other authors in various stages of their careers.

My wife came along and spent time in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also caught a matinee of a pair of one act plays for half-price called Sea Wall/A Life, starring Tom Surridge and Jake Gyllenhaal.

After the conference, we strolled Central Park for a few hours, dodging the bead bracelet hawkers and avoiding tainted recycled tea from food carts, before heading home.

I recently pulled out some older pieces that I had written for more limited, private audiences (read "friends and relatives") and happened across an item I titled "The Triumph of Rightness." Originally created during the Reagan- GHW Bush era, I was surprised at how well it held up in light of our current national situation. I replaced references to figures who would have been familiar in the late 1980's with more current personalities, and published it on Medium last evening. Take a look at how little has changed, if you dare.

https://medium.com/@billclinton_85349...

I’m appearing at the Bucks County Free Library Author Expo one week from today on November 17, 2018 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Join me and other published writers and fellow book lovers, and support local authors. See you at the James A. Michener branch at 401 West Mill Street in Quakertown, PA.