I wrote most of what finally became “Arson” in one night almost three years ago. I can’t remember what prompted it; probably a news account of violence against a girl friend. It’s wholly made-up fiction, but my daughter correctly observes that the poodle sounds like mine.

I set it aside, thinking it needed a more decisive ending. I find, scattered over time in my computer, four versions of this story, each with a different name, all strikingly similar. I finally decided that an inconclusive ending was okay, and began sending it out.  The Vineyard, a new magazine of an old literary site, liked it, and it’s out now, in print soon here==> , and online (scroll to page 14) here==>