Traveling overseas can be fun. I remember the trips I took during my high school years. Aside from the sights, especially in Greece, the most memorable aspect of the trip was a piece of advice I was given. I don’t remember who gave it, but I was told to barter with the shopkeepers, especially with dollars, rather than paying the listed price. Growing up in America, I was conditioned to check the price and pay it. But during those two escapades, I was surprised at the deals I could find with that practice...

Think about all the trips you’ve ever taken. Provided they weren’t solo expeditions, I’m sure you’ve dealt with a jerk who needed to make the trip miserable. It seems to be one of those inevitable rules of life: you will have to deal with someone who wants to ruin everyone’s experience. The flip side of that rule is one of discipline. If you’re willing to reign in your frustration, you can still find pleasure in the journey...

Over the years, I’ve created several characters for my collection of stories. While I made some of them for a single story, others brought me such joy that I couldn’t help but continue their stories. Aside from the central characters from Dead Man’s Hand and Drawing Thin, there are other individuals traipsing through my mental landscape, acting out their lives. Fortunately, when I set out to write this month’s micro-fiction, I plucked Jessica from the chaos and skimmed through her history and selected a fun story with another rival...

With Weighing Pillage and Baited Duel written and published, I turned my attention to the last piece of exclusive flash fiction for my patrons, a mystery. When I pulled the results of the poll, I knew I wanted to lean into some of my dad’s stories from his time as an FBI field agent. The most memorable one came from his time when he served with the FBI’s internal investigations. One attorney who prosecuted those wayward agents came to my dad and asked him why those agents never had a bad thing to say about my dad...

Throughout my life, I’ve always wanted to be the best at whatever I was currently doing. Usually, it was something trivial in the scheme of things. But I pushed myself until I grew tired of the hobby, and it dwindled from my mind. After years of searching, I’ve identified the handful of hobbies that make me smile. And with each passing day, I push my limits, seeking to become the best. With that desire pushing me, I continue to reach new plateaus of skill...

Fresh off the heels of writing Weighing Pillage, I turned my attention to another favorite character, Darren Gilbert. While I’m detailing his early life over on WattPad, he was a character I created for my patrons with Act of Heroism. When I finished that story, I knew I had a character that I couldn’t ignore...

After pulling the results from the monthly poll, I was eager to churn through these stories. While I’ve quickly come to love the new characters for my ghost tales, I was happy to return to some of my older characters I haven’t spent enough time with. The first one to get a refresher was my master thief, Jessica Calhoun. While I have a tentative nickname for her, I wanted to elevate her character. Despite pitting her against a top-notch private investigator, I wanted to ground her in the world...

It’s been a couple months since I’ve published an installment to my stories hosted over on Wattpad. Despite my endeavor to bring fresh stories to the world every month, there are months when my wants are knocked down. However, much like Jarvis and his expedition, I refuse to surrender. This month I carved out a few hours and dedicated that time to finishing the most recent tale for Discovery...

Sometimes, delving through random YouTube videos can be highly informative. Typically, I’m watching them to kill some time, but from time to time I stumble onto a gem. One such video highlighted the space battle from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Early on, it references Alfred Hitchcock’s definition of tension. While I could quote the man, I’d recommend watching the video so you can hear his full answer. But the important takeaway is about ensuring the audience knows something is wrong...

While it’s been a couple months since I’ve tried writing a comedy, I felt the itch to expand my skills, so I searched through past prompts for NYC Midnight’s Micro Fiction competition. When I read the prompt, the basic storyline thundered into my mind like a truck through someone’s front wall. With each passing second, the vague idea crystalized and in the blink of an eye, the dialogue between a couple tumbled into my laptop...

While I was setting up my new phone, I stumbled into my Photo of the Day app and I setup its widget on my home screen. With the quick previews, a collection of lavender flowers caught my attention. Instantly, I knew it would be the center of a story. With my desire to create a story based on the image, I collected the URL and prepped my digital notebook for the story. As the days ticked by, the potential story wormed its way through my mind, poking at the collection of characters housed there. Eventually, the tale selected the protagonist, and the story tumbled from the depths of my mind...

It has been said that there are only a few truths that are absolute. The first is the tax man. He will always get his due. However, the other commonly agreed absolute truth is death. While taxes are inconvenient, people strive to extend their time on this earth. The mystery of what comes after our fleeting life is a source of plentiful stories. Countless creatives have tried to capture their image of what happens next...

With only a handful of days left in the month, I dove into the last story for April. Just like Combustion and Extraction, I wanted to explore the dynamic between Marcus and his living partner. From the moment I sat down to work on this tale, the rough outline flourished in my mind, like a weed invading a garden. Despite likening my story to something that’s undesirable, after several rounds of editing, I refined the narrative and fleshed out the dynamic between Marcus and his partner...

During my youth, rainy weather was the worst, especially when it struck, and I couldn’t escape to a dry patch. However, just before heading to college, I became a PADI certified scuba diver, forever altering my opinion of storms. After spending time submerged in lakes or the ocean, getting drenched no longer had the same effect on me. Now I can stand in the downpour and the constant patter of raindrops is hypnotic and utterly soothing...

Even before I wrote my first piece of exclusive flash fiction, New Personalities for my patrons, I’ve preferred writing some genres over others. After writing Partners, I really wanted to continue exploring this fledgling partnership. Fortunately, my wonderful patrons demanded another ghost story, which allowed me to detail a second entry, Combustion. However, I really didn’t want to wait for my patrons to select the genre again. So, I blended the mystery with Benjamin’s ethereal presence to continue their adventure...