Copacetic

Roy Aiken at Backbone Rock Falls.

I don't have many friends. Well, to tell you the truth, I'm a hard guy to like. I'm quiet, aloof, I generally hate most of the rest of the human race, and I hold many unpopular ideas and opinions. So it's not only hard for me to find folk whom I like, it's hard for me to find people who can tolerate (or celebrate) me and the political and philosophical ideas that bounce around in my brain. One of my best friends is Lawrence Roy Aiken. He's from South Carolina, but currently resides in Colorado Springs. We don't agree on everything, mind you. But we do see eye to eye on more things than not. That's exceedingly rare, in my experience. Roy is far more likable and diplomatic than I am, but that's beside the point.

Roy messing about with Archie & Betty in New York City.

For some time we talked about collaborating on a writing project. I thought about such a thing for a long while, and we finally decided that a zombie novel would be the perfect thing to write together. He would handle one type of character, and I the other. It's worked out swell, so far. I don't know that I've ever known anyone else with whom I could work so well. I've collaborated with other folk on other writing projects, with varying levels of success. But this is the first time such a work has proven so much fun.

Roy and actor Michael Berryman (a most cool dude) in San Diego, .

I'm at least partially convinced that I may be related to Roy by blood. One of my dad's favorite cousins was a tough kid named Collier Aiken who hailed from South Carolina. Maybe Roy's one of my long lost cousins. That would be fine by me, and it would make sense.

I snapped this one on a snowy Winter's night in Times Square. (That was a great trip!)

This one I took on Hunting Island while visiting with the Aikens in South Carolina. The sea has eaten a vast amount of the place, and what was once forest is now under water. (There were pine trees standing far out in the ocean.)