Edward N McConnell

I’m a lawyer who’s always looking for a side hustle. That’s why I’m running for an open at-large city council seat. Once I get the job and make a few favorable decisions for the right people, I’ll pick up new clients and more money. But first, I have to play... Read More

I had been trying to watch an adult cable channel through a scrambled signal. All I could make out was a blurred image of a man who looked a lot like the Hunger Games’ Caesar Flickerman trying to sound like Walter Cronkite. Through static interference, I heard him ask three... Read More

On an unseasonably sunny and warm February day, a well-dressed pair of septuagenarians, Ben and Doreen Dawson, were about to check into the Hotel Panterene in Berry, Iowa. The clerk noticed the two holding hands as they walked to the registration desk. They had reserved one of the boutique hotel’s... Read More

Dear RG, It’s been a while. I think sixteen years, four months and three days but who’s counting, right? Sorry I haven’t gotten in touch before this, but time flies. I hope you’re doing okay. Now seems like a good time to contact you since I have a little situation... Read More

Every Wednesday, I go to Aunt Millie’s Diner in Dubuque, Iowa for the Blue Plate Special. Recently, while there, I encountered an older gentleman, Doc Stevens, and two younger men, Mango and Ceeda. We didn’t interact, but this is what I overheard and saw. Doc entered first. “Come on guys,... Read More

My wife, Carlie and her friends, headed downtown to protest the most recent government legislative and policy atrocities, there being so many to choose from these days. Not one to display a revolutionary spirit, especially in heat and humidity, I swept out the garage. Finishing, I grabbed some bottled water... Read More

Democracy, reputed to be the “worst form of government, except for all the others,” seems to be destined, both in America and other nations, to go extinct like a certain bird in the late Howard Waldrop’s story, “Ugly Chickens.” In America, a new administration, one with strong autocratic tendencies, is... Read More

Veteran hockey goalie, Ziggy Cournyea, of the Roquefort Ice Pirates suffered from nearsightedness making him easy pickings for all manner of shots on goal. “Clappers” were the worst, but he was also susceptible to “muffins to the top shelf, biscuits buried in the cheese, bar downs, dinks, caroms off his... Read More

Yesterday, James Westgate dropped his wallet in the parking lot after shopping at the Tall Corn Organic Grocery. An elderly lady, a Mrs. Masterson, picked it up and turned it into the store’s lost and found at the service counter. Having looked everywhere with no luck, James decided he must... Read More

Not long ago, I got this letter from my aunt. I’d like to share it with you. Dear Eddie, There have been big doings since I wrote last. We’ve had some gun violence and other forms of mayhem in town. And yes, your grandmother participated in some of it. People... Read More