Last week I brought the first couple of images from the shark dive, from my 2005 Blackbeard’s Cruise, and this week I’m presenting all but one of the remaining images from this series. Even though it’s been almost seventeen years since I took that trip, I vividly remember ever second of the dive, with or without my photos. I would definitely like to revisit every dive site again in the future...

With Safe Haven and Stratagems completed, my focus snapped onto the final tale for February, A Science Fiction tale. Instantly, the Drifter II’s crew flooded into my mind. Just like with Stratagems, this tale is tangentially connected with a piece of micro fiction that centered on Selina and her magical capabilities, specifically brewing potions...

With the last piece of micro fiction looming over my head, my mind steadfastly refused to work. However, I needed to come up with a fourth entry, so I pulled out my Story Cubes and tossed them onto my desk. Once they stopped settled down, I thumbed through the symbols and three leapt up, gripping my face. There was a castle tower, a question mark, and someone sawing some logs. Despite how rapidly these images called out to me, the only thing that emerged from my jumbled mind was how similar it looked to a rook...

I’m hoping to get these art round-up posts on a regular cadence, but with the hectic month I’ve had, this contains more than normal. One hiccup I had with some of my images was publishing Sapona’s Ribs early. The rest of that brief series will come along later, so pay for future updates. If you see any images here that aren’t available on Natural Desygns or SM Desygns reach out to me through the Etsy store and I’ll add the image to the correct store...

One of my favorite TV shows from my youth was Farscape. While there are episodes whose central plot was less than engrossing, the characters driving the storyline were able to captivating my imagination. Despite the show focusing on science fiction, there were a couple characters who blurred the line pulling in mysticism and magic. That juxtaposition is something I wanted to pull into the crew of the Drifter II. Fortunately, I’ve laid that groundwork with Selina...

With Safe Haven finish, I turned my attention to the next genre on the list, a Fantasy. With an array of characters to choose from, it took me a while to figure out who I wanted for this tale. However, as the days ticked by, I completed a micro fiction story for Ramas Caldwell. Instantly, the structure of the story thundered into my mind, capturing a swath of my focus...

I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube videos of people reacting to Larry Bird. Specifically, I have enjoyed the ones featuring his trash talking. In one of the videos that get analyzed, a former player when talking about Bird said something to the affect of when you’re arrogant and can back it up, you’re not arrogant you’re just good. That singular summation of Larry Legend, circled in my mind and attached itself to Taitha...

With each passing day, I’ve been struggling to merge my vast array of activities into a sane routine. While it’s been a bit of a struggle to juggle the disparate avenues of interest, I’ve made some strides. Unfortunately, it still might take a couple of months before that progress manifests into concrete results. Despite those constraints, I’m excited to deliver the first installment of February’s tales, a Crime Caper...

Despite my yearly desire to force myself onto a schedule, life and my wandering mind keep discovering reasons that keep me from achieving the goal. This year, there are a couple of things that are competing for my time, photography and my alto saxophone. While the sax stretches further into my past, I’ve always loved capturing the world around me. Thankfully, I’m not starting these skills without some kind of base, so with some work I should be able to slot these budding skills into my daily routine...

With the completion of Subtle Defense and Sanctuary, I turned my attention to the January’s last story. When it came time to flesh out the core concepts for the story, my initial thoughts were to drop Charles inside a city and put him into a “Mexican Standoff”. I’m pretty sure I’d just watched an episode of Big Bang Theory where Sheldon defined the scenario. However, when I grabbed my popcorn and fell into a comfortable seat to watch the initial screening for the tale, the core action transitioned into a race between his pursuer, with his ship picking him up his prize...

After churning through Invitation, Split Quarters, and Falling Chase, I turned my attention to the last micro-tale for the month. Despite my struggles with writing comedies, I realized that two hundred and fifty words are an excellent platform to work on my comedy chops. With the small footprint, I could focus on building around the punch line. However, no matter how much effort I pour into the story’s punchline, if the narrative is poor, the jokes won’t land...

When last year ticked away, I pulled my old Nikon D300 from my closet and started taking random pictures around my house. None of them resulted in a decent photograph. However, it rekindled my desire to capture the world’s beauty. With the fresh desire coursing through my veins, I turned to the internet and found some tricks and tools to help me convert my existing pictures into watercolors. Once I tweaked my fluke capture of a squirrel chowing down on a discarded slice of pizza, my passion rose to new heights...

With Subtle Defense finished, I turned my attention to the next genre on my list, a Horror story. Before I could reach for a prompt, my monster hunter flooded into my mind, complete with a partial skeleton. While certain aspects filled my mental landscape, others were as barren as a dessert. However, deadlines, especially looming ones, are wonderful for the creative process...

With a new year, I’m reaching into the depths of my past and dusting off a couple of skills. With the first one, I can only make strides when I’m home alone, because the saxophone is not a quiet instrument and everyone in the house would prefer not to have its unique sound carry throughout and disturb them. Fortunately, that skill has some training that I’ll be able to build upon...

With two of my micro tales finished, I turned a portion of my imagination towards the dice I rolled for the Sci-Fi narrative. At first I didn’t know what I was going to do with a man using a parachute. Ultimately, I dismissed the second dice from the story and focused on an alternate rendition of my problematic skydiver. As the core concept percolated, I latched onto the slick harness inspired by the ones in Tron: Legacy with a dash of teleportation tossed in to achieve the initial height...