Bill is concerned about a boy his daughter Lenore is hanging out with, Cynthia is all over Bill to do something about their problems with ants in the house, and Grandma Lucy is giving Bill a hard time as usual. Bill's newest story is instigated by the ant problem in the Fearing household. It seems that ants are attacking and killing people and Detective Sarno is put in charge of the case, only to discover that these ants have a host.

Without asking Bill first, Cynthia invites one of his writing rivals, P.F. O'Horgan, over for dinner. Cynthia and Grandma Lucy are immediately warm to the man, while Bill is still suspicious for the larger part of the evening. However, he and O'Horgan eventually warm up to each other- at least for the evening. Meanwhile, Bill starts writing a new story for a literary magazine that's reminiscent of the old tale 'The Lottery.' A blind girl in a country town starts to have horrible visions left over from when she was able see.

Much to his horror, Cynthia replaces Bill's typewriter with a computer. The new technology in his life leads Bill to write a story about a nineteenth century home that is renovated to bring it up to the twenty-first century. Trouble is, the house doesn't want to be changed.

Bill fears that he's dying and starts to try and live his life fully before he expires. His meeting with a doctor spawns a new story about a boy that's confined to his room from sickness and starts to see horrible things taking place in the house next door.

Cynthia's former boyfriend and his new wife invites the Fearings on a fishing trip, triggering a story in Bill's mind about three salesmen on a hunting trip being stalked by a menacing, unseen force.

After Grandma Lucy starts dating a man named Harold, Cynthia finds herself not only jealous but suspicious of his motives. This inspires Bill to write a story about a young woman who suspects that there's something odd about the man that her mother starts seeing.

Bill believes that one of his students, Stacy Hancock, is interested in having more than just a student/teacher relationship. Meanwhile, Bill writes a story about a writer who comes face to face with the ghost of Papa Hemingway while looking for inspiration.

Bill watches a dog and gets inspiration for a story about a deadly inheritance.

Bill writes a story about a robbery.

Inspired by Cynthia practicing feng shui, Bill writes a story about fortune cookies.

Bill writes a new novel about a house intruder, while things change in his own household.

As Bill tries to teach Lenore all about his car and how to drive a stick shift, he finds inspiration for a new story in which a woman on a road trip starts receiving threatening calls on her cell phone.