“DOESN’T IT MAKE YOU CLAUSTROPHOBIC to cook in such confinement?” asked a visitor to Prosatio Silban’s close-quartered galleywagon. “Less than you would think,” the beefy cook answered over the chop-chop-chop of mincing lizard-breast. “I actually find that it makes me…
Category: Writ
My own serious stuff; the craft itself; literary (and authorial) inspiration; the art of reading.
Prosatio Silban and the Three Prayers
PROSATIO SILBAN WAS ALONE. True, he had the company of his faithful dray-beast, Onward. But as for others of the beefy cook’s own species, none were nearby for long miles – one reason why his surroundings were known as the…
Prosatio Silban and the Annual Doom
TO SOME, DEATH IS AN unwelcome interloper; to others, a faithful ally. And to even others, its palpable presence can bring a type of hope. Prosatio Silban swallowed the last of the blue duliac in his glass and sighed. He…
Prosatio Silban and the Refectional Research
THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY variations dictated by a food’s texture and flavor, but Prosatio Silban was determined to find a new one. It was sultry in the beefy cook’s galleywagon, but not from the season. In point of fact,…
Prosatio Silban and the Sick Call
SOMETIMES, EVEN THE IDEA OF rolling out of bed is too painful for words. Prosatio Silban was sick. He wasn’t quite sure with what, but the symptoms were plain: congested head and chest, sore throat, joint- and head-ache, cough, chills,…
5 Thoughts: The Grand Old Process
1. THERE IS A CERTAIN COMPULSION to the act of writing: an unscratchable itch that won’t let the fingers refrain from their fruitless but busy task, whether on paper or keyboard. 2. To ask writers “Why do you write?” is…
Prosatio Silban and the TED Talk
IT WAS A GREAT HONOR to speak before a throng of one’s peers at epicurean Pormaris’ Archive of Gastronomic Artifice – but it was also not without its terrors. Prosatio Silban made a point of perusing the Archive at least…
Prosatio Silban and the Affable Invitation
AS A COOK-ERRANT, PROSATIO SILBAN perhaps knew better than anyone the importance of first impressions. “What a charming turn of phrase!” exclaimed the elegant middle-aged woman sitting down at the beefy cook’s table-and-chairs in the afternoon shade of his galleywagon.…
Child’s Play (A Prosatio Silban Tale)
THERE IS A MOMENT IN AN out-of-control situation when its utter wrongness becomes agonizingly apparent – and it’s the same moment that the experiencer realizes there’s not a damn thing to be done about it. Such were Prosatio Silban’s thoughts…
I AM A FANTASY WRITER; that is to say, I fantasize about people reading my writings.”
–Your author, in a truth-pensive mood
Prosatio Silban and the Sudden Feline
(Three printed pages. If you’re new to these tales, here are the preface and introduction.) IT BEGAN WITH AN ALMOST automatic kindness, and led to an inevitable but gracious end. Prosatio Silban was tidying up after a somewhat slow morning…
A Prosatio Silban Amuse-Bouche: Utensils
“ALMOST AS MUCH THOUGHT AND effort goes into the choosing of eating implements as for the selection of food for which they are meant,” said Prosatio Silban, reaching for the sea salt container next to his fatberry-oil stove. “Silver, gold,…