Richard Seltzer
Bio
Richard now writes fulltime. He used to publish public domain ebooks and worked for Digital Equipment as "Internet Evangelist." He graduated from Yale where he had creative writing courses with Robert Penn Warren and Joseph Heller.
Stories (49/0)
Good Judgment
“Who are you and what are you doing here? You aren’t on my calendar. Who let you through the door?” “What door?” He laughed. “That door. The double bronze door, handcrafted in Florence in the Renaissance. Get out of here immediately, or I’ll push the button.”
By Richard Seltzerabout a year ago in Fiction
Retreat! Retweet! Retreat!
Frankie is twelve years old. He lives in New York City. On the other side of the world, invading Russian troops are blasting cities and killing people like him and his parents and his friends. He can’t sleep. He watches all the streaming news. He obsessively reads #ukraine #kyiv #kherson on Twitter.
By Richard Seltzerabout a year ago in Fiction
Senator Warren of Massachusetts
Alternative history. An excerpt from the novel Parallel Lives by Richard Seltzer The story, which begins in an assisted-living facility in New Hampshire, leads to 18th century Boston and London, where there may be unfinished business that residents, through mirror selves, must take care of. As Abe, Mercy. and their friends come under the influence of forces they don't understand, they adopt antique attire, get drunk on two-hundred-year-old wine, and become experts in the lives of their other selves.
By Richard Seltzerabout a year ago in Fiction
Modern Bundling
After years of unsuccessful dating, Diane consulted a dating coach. ‘I’m thirty-five,’ she explained. ‘My biological clock is ticking. I always presumed that I would have children, just as I presumed that I would find and marry the man of my dreams. I’m beautiful, brilliant, and well-educated. Men have always swarmed to me. Of course, the man I wanted would want me.
By Richard Seltzerabout a year ago in Fiction
The Last of the Dragons by E. Nesbit
Retold for a third grade audience by Barbara Hartley Seltzer (1950–2012) Once upon a time dragons were as common as cars are now. Every prince was expected to kill a dragon and rescue a princess. Soon there were fewer and fewer dragons left. In fact, it became harder and harder for a princess to find a dragon to be rescued from. Finally, there was one real-live dragon left in the world. He lived in a big cave. He was said to be very fierce. The dragon was 70 feet long. He had a terrible spike at the ed of his tail. And he had iron scales all over his body that rattled when he walked. He even breathed fire and smoke. Everyone was very frightened of him.
By Richard Seltzerabout a year ago in Fiction
How Trumpites Differ from Hitlerites
Donald Trump’s followers include many different groups and subgroups that have little in common aside from their devotion to him. Imagine many tiny threads woven together as strings that are woven together as ropes that are woven together as cable. Many of these groups consider themselves as downtrodden, persecuted, excluded form the mainstream of American life. They are concerned about separate sets of issues. But each of them needs a Savior, and through a set of random events, they all now consider Trump to be their Savior.
By Richard Seltzerabout a year ago in The Swamp