Welcome to RobHamm.com

Home on the web of F&SF author D. Robert Hamm

As many of you know, I stopped writing after the deaths of my sons. I'm back now, so expect to see more "Alex And," and "Quiet World" stories in the upcoming months and years, as well as a reposting of the webcomics I used to write: Blue Crash Kit, and Lords of the Living Room. Eventually I will also rebuild this site into something less basic.

As many of you know, we had a recent crisis--a paperwork error left our newborn daughter stateless as our visas were expiring, meaning we were in danger of being forced to leave the country without her. That's all sorted now, but between that and several bouts of covid, we incurred quite a bit of debt. If you'd like to help out, you can find our donation links on my blog at An Experimental Life. Thanks.

bluecrashkit.tumblr.com. If there's any interest, I may make some new ones after the old ones run out. Keep in mind that I wrote most of the comic when I was just learning how to write--before I did things like attend Kij Johnson's writing workshop, before I was mentored by luminaries in the field, before I really studied writing much on my own, and before I was admitted to the honors creative writing program at JCCC.

Sold the phone game rights (and only for ONE specific app) to my old story Karma, and was in the process of adapting it, but the project has been canceled. To see and play what is already done, go to http://robhamm.com/KarmaSample/index.html

In the meantime, here's a list of my published stories so far:

Alex and the OCD Oracle (link to excerpt here)
Sidekicks!, Mar. 2013 (buy the anthology here)
A humorous contemporary fantasy short story about a psychic, his best friend, and a kiddie pool full of diet soda. Lederhosen, Cthulhu slippers, and a truck-driving grizzly may or may not be involved. (Also, Read Village gave the anthology a four-wedge rating, and of my story specifically said, “And then there is the story “Alex and the OCD Oracle” by D. Robert Hamm, about a partnership that defies explanation. Involving diet soda, nudity, fantasy, mythology and an inflatable kiddie pool, this adventure is just plain odd. Readers will like it. Readers will hate it. Readers will reread it in broad daylight to make sure they did not conjure it in a dream.”)

2011

Are You There? Are You Safe? Is the Flock Safe? (full story online)
Daily Science Fiction, Dec. 2011
This is a serious flash fiction piece about a flock of genetically engineered cyborg parrots and the scientist who falls in love with them. “Flock” was my second sale. I wrote it with literary sensibilities in mind, and I’m rather proud of both the story itself, and that none other than Cat Rambo said it made her cry.

Karma (link to excerpt)
The Crimson Pact, vol. 2, Aug. 2011 (buy the entire anthology here)
A short story set in a Kansas City still rebuilding decades after the Apocalypse. Karma Rodriguez works at her family’s restaurant, but when her grandfather is kidnapped by demons, Karma trades in her spatula for an assault rifle and sets off with her favorite employee and her grandfather’s husband to kick some demon ass. (This is the first published of the Quiet World stories, of which you’ll be seeing more.)