“I’d follow you anywhere,” said the dog, who wanted to feel loved. “I’d probably lose you,” said the man, who spoke truth. “Down the road, you will need each other,” said the hawk, with a long view. “I believe you,” said the man, the only time he listened. Other Writings You May Like A Cooper’s Hawk Snags a Meal Author Reading : May 16, 2018 – A Moment of Pure Truth March 15, 2017 Scribble…
The lantern on her helmet started to flicker and went out. She now hung in the dark, the water dripping in a slow rhythm. She closed her eyes. The loud banging drum returned.
A Conversation “That’s interesting.” “What is?” “This video on stem cells.” “How so?” “It says we can convert fat cells into stem cells and rebuild our bodies.” “Figures.” “You sound like you already knew this.” “No. But it all makes sense now.” [bctt tweet=”The plan for world domination. It all started in the 50s with Americans eating too much.”] “How so?” “The plan for world domination. It all started in the 50s with Americans eating…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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.
Cranberry Juice The emergency room at the county hospital seemed too busy for a Tuesday morning. Tucked in every corner sat screaming babies with frantic mothers, homeless suffering from the heat, foreigners nursing hangovers, and Cindy with a gunshot in her arm. She sat in the middle of a bed pushed into the hallway with her legs dangling over the edge. A gauze pad with a red circle of blood covered her arm. This part…
Paramedics wheeled Charlie out of the club through the mess of wires, broken glass, and water. A medic taped gauze on Cindy’s arm where a bullet broke the skin leaving a bleeding gash. Cuts and scratches covered her legs. “He’s going to live,” Wallace said. “How he didn’t die is anybody’s guess.” How they all survived, nobody could tell. A flash of gunpowder played again in Cindy’s mind as the bullet sent a cascade of water over Bill’s…