Speaking of Rod Serling . . .


Most people realize that besides being the host of Twilight Zone, he was a gifted screenwriter. What they don't know is that he was also a decorated war hero who served in Pacific during World War II. He was a paratrooper and what they called a combat demolition specialist - the guy on the team who blows things up.

I sure wish my dream was a recurring one . . .

Dreaming of Rod Serling


So I have this dream where Rod Serling stands at the foot of my bed and says, "It's not my fault your story didn't end right."

And it's so spooky I bolt upright in bed. I see Rod Serling standing there.

"It's not my fault your story sucked," he says.

Then I wake up, really wake up. And I'm relieved to see that he's not there.

But someone is walking down the hall toward the bedroom.

It's Rod Serling. He has a six-pack with him. It's a side of Rod Serling I never knew. He gives me a beer, then sits down at the edge of the bed and tells me how the story should end. It's brilliant. I thank him.

Then I wake up, and spend the rest of the day trying to remember what he told me.

Speaking of the TZ . . .

Where is Rod when you need him?


So I was invited to write a short story for this Twilight Zone anniversary anthology, and it's an honor and cool and all, but damned if I can't nail the ending.

Not for lack of trying. I have about a hundred endings. But getting the right one to fit, so the story is a Twilight Zone story but not a cliched Twilight Zone story -- arg.

Somewhere around version ninety-eight I realized just how much the master's voice over at the end really does for an episode.

Too bad I can't just cut and paste.