"Word Paintings" is the direct result of a collaboration between a friend and me. We got bored one night, and invented our unusual word game. The object was to give each other a single word, and to write a story around it. Many of mine became romance stories, and many of hers had a distinct science fiction flavor. We both added poetry, and I added essays as well. The game gave us both the incentive to keep writing, separate from the "paintings." While we initially did not want to share the stories with our families or the public, we realized that was more foolish than not. It's very hard to get published, so why not share them? I even put some of my stories on fan fiction sites, and got some very favorable reviews! Some readers were very amused, and others asked me to continue the storylines, which I did. Quite a few of my other writings are included in this volume, and I hope you have as much fun reading them as I had writing them.