Feeding Your Muse with Music
Sometimes the best way to fill a blank page is to feed your muse with some writing music. In fact, story songs are often the best for prompting a new story.
On Writing
Month: May 2018
Stories Very Short Stories
The Face Behind the Frame
In the periphery, he saw children wearing uniforms crowded around an adult giving them instructions for the day. He neglected to smooth his tunic. No need. It never changed. He clinched his knee keeping his slender fingers straight. The letter balanced on the edge of the table. One errant breeze and it would fall. He hoped it didn’t land out of the frame. He stared into the exhibit hall waiting for the children. One curiously…
My Craft Poetry
Our Summertime Travel
We scurry across the avenues Sometimes we ride on ocean cruises We sing at festivals Ruining our hearing with high decibels Anything to escape reality choices Our spirit and body rejoices! The natural and manmade spectacles Our summertime travel. From Iceland to Zimbabwe oohs We delight in discovering new hues Our pictures and mementos release chemicals To remind of us of the sights, wonders, and smells! On the projector screen we peruse Our summertime travel.…
Author Readings My Craft
Author Reading: Poetry
I started writing poetry as a cheat of sorts; I could write a compact story very quickly. My sister Debbie is the poet in the family. I do my best. She writes beautiful, heartfelt prose that makes you think. She was the one that explained Robert Frost’s “Two Roads” poem to me so that I understood it was about his decision not to go to war. I thought it had to do with walking in…
Scribbles
Four or Five Moments
Working with a live wire is similar to being a superhero. As Colossus tells Deadpool, “Four or five moments—that’s all it takes to be a hero,” or becoming a tinder-ash figure standing with a wire in your hand. Electricity flows around and through us ever charging our psyches and firing our synapses. However, a 120-volt jolt of sudden electricity will toss you across the room. In the corner, you whimper and think about your near…
My Craft Stories
Feeling Hungry on the Southwest Chief
He jumped on the Southwest Chief as it picked up speed at the Alvarado Transportation Center. The porter swung him into the car and waved to the engineer to aim the train to Los Angeles. He wandered past the seats, swiped a blanket from a baby carriage, and slid into an empty row. He pulled the blanket up to his neck and watched the mesquite trees out the window until he fell asleep. When he…
My Craft On Writing
Book Review – The Ultimate Hero’s Journey: 195 Essential Plot Stages Found in the Best Novels & Movies
Well, that’s a mouthful and they had to use an ampersand to make it all fit. However, Neal Soloponte provides 195 plot stages to consider in shaping a novel so the title needs some heft. The Ultimate Hero’s Journey: 195 Essential Plot Stages Found in the Best Novels & Movies delivers so many plot stages that I fell into the rabbit hole Soloponte took in writing this book. Like my favorite, Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys…
Author Readings My Craft Stories
Author Reading : May 16, 2018 – A Moment of Pure Truth
This is a short story about a group of people at a settlement conference: a sort of preliminary attempt to close out a lawsuit before a trial. Most of the settlement’s are managed by previous judges, so they know what will fly in front of a jury, and what won’t fly.
My Craft Poetry
Be a Maker, Not a Taker
Some shout no to corporate welfare And spit on those who say otherwise. Tax loopholes seem unfair, To those who minimize Their day-to-day and scrutinize The monthly budget. The craftsmen yowl this advice, Be a Maker, Not a Taker. An artisan lists out what’s true and fair; A list of various jobs and supplies. To complete his family’s share Of fruited endeavors reprise. The labor like clockwork unifies The sons and daughters sextet. The craftsmen…
Author Readings My Craft
Author Reading: Sincere Advice for The Man of the House
You spent all day working, tossed the ball with the dog, watched some TV, and now you want to sleep. You nod off quickly only to awaken at midnight to the howling of your dog. Then your dog does something unusual: it starts talking to you. What happens when you suddenly get life advice from your dog? Do you take it? Do you listen? Those are some of the questions I tackled in this short…