Droids & Dragons Author, Herb Kauderer

Herb Kauderer

Pub 518 welcomes back Herb Kauderer. He is from the eastern shore of Lake Erie, forty-five minutes' walk from where the Buffalo Bills of the NFL play football.

"I often walk the waterfront of this inland sea stealing poetry ideas from seagulls only to lose them in the wind.  I have been writing since I joined the junior high school newspaper in seventh grade.  It was easier to communicate with my family of orientation by writing than any other way."

Herb is a well-published author and has short stories and poetry in many 518 Pub's anthologies. "I have been published over five thousand times, with thirty-seven books or chapbooks of poetry and/or nonfiction in print or forthcoming.  I have both poetry and short fiction in Droids & Dragons, with three poems and the long short story "Three Women and a Robot".  Within six months of Droids & Dragons, my masterwork The Time of Dragons should appear in both hardcover and trade paperback.  Despite my obvious love of dragons, all of my contributions to Droids & Dragons are about Droids."

When we asked Herb who has influenced his writing style he responded, "I believe I've developed my own style, mostly from the process of earning an MFA in Screenwriting."

Herb's short story in Droids & Dragons is 'Three Women and a Robot'. It's a personal favorite of his, and its origin was an early morning hike.  "I have no idea why the image of a car full of women with one robot was so compelling, but it turned out to be the final scenes of the story.  From my poems, "Steam-Powered Religion" is a favorite.  When I imagined retro-steam punk I had to ask how religion would fit in.  And then I had to answer my curiosity."

Here is our favorite snippet from 'Three Women and a Robot'. We just love this.

        “He calls her Sheep.”

        “I was wrong,” said Otrera.  “You have my permission to kill Archer.  Need help?”

        The lattes clattered to the table and the server quickly departed.

        “I don’t want to kill him, I want to kill his sex toy.”

        “I’m in.”

        They chose to ignore the server’s stare back at their table.

Herb's favorite fiction is, Pale Grey for Guilt by John D. MacDonald.  "The novel does not age well and I don't recommend it.  However, JDM is still a great author.  Anyone who has enjoyed any of the 'Equalizer' movies or TV series has enjoyed his creativity.  For poetry, my favorites remain Dorothy Parker and Edna St. Vincent Millay.  For me, they still stand up a century after they wrote."

All authors have superpowers and Herb's is one that all writers want. "I have been told my superpower is to immediately put the reader in the room.  That is to say, whether prose or poetry, I usually quickly establish a concrete scene that could be filmed.  That said, the heart of my writing is the message that 'society lies.'  And the way it lies most often is to tell us we aren't good enough.  Reassuring readers that they ARE good enough is a kind of superpower."

'Three Women and a Robot' is a fast-paced quick read that will keep you turning the page. You can find it in Droids & Dragons which is available on Amazon and drops 9/25/2026.