Last week I introduced the initial shots from my last romp through Gettysburg, in my DeviantArt galleries. While I’ve been there before when I was a Boy Scout, it had been a long time since my feet tread upon that battleground. Unlike those previous expeditions, this time we explored the site using the auto tour. As we rolled throughout the grounds, many natural sights leapt to the forefront, begging to be captured...

As I round out posting images from my trip to Niagara, there are a handful of sights from the observation deck. The sounds coming from the cascading water tipped me right into a perfect moment of relaxation. After exploring the sights of the falls, we made our way back to the resort and a select few of us got to ride the resort’s zip line. In between the rider’s trips over the lake, I turned around to study the buildings on the far shore...

With Neglected Skills and Stalked Prey firmly in my rear-view mirror, my attention whipped to the last exclusive for my patrons this month, a thriller. While both of my previous entries focused on two sides of the same coin, I wanted to jump to a familiar character, Darren Gilbert. Unfortunately, when I sat down to flesh out this installment, I kept slamming into the brick wall within my mind. Despite the growing headache, I kept churning through potential ideas. However, it wasn’t until I tugged at the thread surrounding Darren’s life after securing Tiatha’s home that the story slowly unfolded upon my mental theater...

When the dice finished scattering across my desk, I poked through them, looking for a trio that sparked an idea. As I pushed the cubes around, three of them continued to find the same neighbors. After some debate, I pulled the footprints, compass, and scales from the rest. While this was the most memorable collection from that role, initially, the story stubbornly refused to germinate. So I pushed the prompt out of the way as I continued working on the other rest of the month’s narratives...

The moment I finished publishing Neglected Skills, my focus shifted to detailing the next story for my patrons, a horror. Fortunately, as Ramas’ world expands, I’m able to leverage my scattered notes to bring further depth to the budding world. With those notes firmly entrenched in my mind, I leaned into the latest installment of Ramas’ life. While this tale doesn’t feature the wanderer explicitly, I jumped to Emilie’s side of the world as her soldiers seek potential allies for the inevitable conflict between those cursed with sight...

As the Maid of the mist neared the falling curtain of water, I crept to the boat’s side and captured a couple of photos of the cascading waters. While the bulk of the resulting mist was blocked by the provided poncho, some of it leaked through the openings. Fortunately, we didn’t go through the falling droplets. Once the small craft pulled into its dock, we emerged and headed to the observation deck on the American side of the falls. Standing there, I took in the majestic sight of the falls and basked in its natural beauty...

Despite a minor hiccup, I’m pleased to bring you the first piece of micro-fiction featuring Marcus and his ethereal Partner, Benjamin. Instead of trying to tie this into the larger story, I leaned into a small, friendly poker game. While I’ve seen scenes peppered throughout television and movies, I ignored them for this take. Instead, as the story flowed through me, I walked through my memories until I settled back in my college days sitting in the dorm’s common room with a bunch of guys playing with the other broke individuals. However, since this fictitious tale features a shade, I got to explore some fun hijinks...

When you go up to Niagara Falls, there are a couple of things that you have to do. The first is Cave of the Winds and the second is Made of the mist. Both excursions focus on the end of the water’s journey. One feature’s the portion of the falls flowing over Goat Island, while the other highlights the more iconic section of the massive waterfall. Last week, I posted the final two snapshots I collected from the wooden catwalk and the first two images from the deck of the boat exploring the magical curtain of cascading water...

Immediately after pulling the results of the genre poll, my mind started tinkering with potential storylines for the fantasy. After a few hours of thought, my mind latched onto the kernel for the month’s fantasy. Instantly, I grabbed my computer and crafted the story’s outline. With a little work and care, the first draft emerged from the depth of my mind. With the initial pass finished, I turned my attention to some of the other projects on my plate, but when I returned to the tale, the following drafts flew through my fingers...

Fresh after solidifying a friendship with the dwarves, Jarvis and Fenton return to the colony. After making preparations to uphold their end of the new agreement, Jarvis heads to Cecile’s lab, seeking an update for the colony’s defenses. While Cecile’s team has scoured the ship and cannibalized several systems, the cannons were only stemming the onslaught...

The last time I featured Lucas, I’d featured him flirting with a girl while a ghost tried to subvert him. So when I sat down to craft this tale, instead of focusing on their more mundane dates, I focused on her introduction to his unique lifestyle and abilities. While I’m unable to fully put myself into Lucas’ situation, I’ve experienced multiple uncomfortable situations. With so many choices available, I plucked a handful of common threads from my life and wove them together, creating a perfect backdrop for this ghost story...

Over the course of last week, I dropped four more pictures from my exploration of The Cave of the Wind on DeviantArt. Each of these features the falling whitewater cascading down the cliff side of Goat Island...

Details are the currency of storytellers. There’s a reason why authors/storytellers are constantly asked to paint word pictures. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, since they immortalized a sliver of reality. We can pour over the contents to pick out every single detail. While this is a wonderful thing to recall and strengthen memories, it can be a liability for storytellers...

With a new month, I curled up in front of my laptop and started tinkering with potential storylines for my upcoming Ko-Fi posts. A few executive decisions later, I settled on the genres and the characters for the upcoming micro-tales. Up first is a fantasy featuring Tiatha. Despite an initial idea popping into my mind, I ultimately had to put it aside, since the core idea ballooned in scope. Once I banished that concept from the forefront of my mind, my imagination shifted to a conversation with the student she humiliated in Subtle Defense...

The danger of going on vacation is the backlog of work that waits for you upon your return. Fortunately, there are certain places that can keep that dread at bay. And while my family is such a rock, the sights I saw at Niagara Falls bolstered that defense. Here are a few images from the beginning of my trip through the Falls...