Reprimand

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...

Read More

Micro Fiction

Safe Haven

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...

Read More

Flash Fiction

Conversation

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...

Read More

Micro Fiction

Rushed Pickup

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...

Read More

Flash Fiction

Missing Box

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...

Read More

Micro Fiction

Art Roundup, week of January 28th

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...

Read More

News

Sanctuary

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...

Read More

Flash Fiction

Subtle Defense

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...

Read More

Flash Fiction

Falling Chase

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...

Read More

Micro Fiction

Split Quarters

Sitting behind my desk, I stared at the zones arrayed before me. While I’m attempting to weave all my responsibilities (required and voluntary) into a unified cadence, certain hopes have been sliding a bit. Fortunately, my subconscious appears to have been processing the outstanding storylines percolating in the confines of my mind. So, after a momentary pause, I slammed my mental pry bar into the cracks of my mind and teased the fantasy micro-tale from the depths of my mental landscape...

Read More

Micro Fiction

Invitation

Despite my routine resolution to do a better job of completing my stories on a schedule, a new/revived hobby has already derailed those efforts. While I’m eager to get my writing on a schedule, I am pleased to delve into photography, using the Nikon D300 that was gathering dust. With every trip to nearby parks, my skills behind the camera will improve and eventually some of those images will be the basis for future stories. Keep an eye out for upcoming artwork roundup posts which will highlight these images...

Read More

Micro Fiction

Remunerate

With Roaming Bug and Reviving Droplets finished, I set my sights on the last story for the year. According to the poll, the year will round out with a Historical Fiction. Fortunately, I have a wonderful set of characters to explore the past (well, an alternate history with dragons) with Samuel and Pearl. For this tale, I grabbed the final three Rory’s Story Cubes: Fish, Plane, and a Sheep...

Read More

Flash Fiction

Reviving Droplets

With Roaming Bug complete, I turned my attention to the next story for December, a Fairy Tale. Fortunately, when I went to outline the tale, I pulled three dice from the remaining six available and began thinking about how to craft a story with a bee, a fountain, and a phone. As my mind began piecing the strands of the story together, the tapestry came into focus...

Read More

Flash Fiction

Roaming Bug

I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas, and I wish everybody a Happy New Year. As I sat with family on Christmas Eve, we all took turns opening our presents. While I’m thankful for each present I received, there were two that I’m hoping will help me further my writing skills. The first is a journal entitled Write The Story. Each page has a story prompt and a list of items I have to include in the story. Despite dealing with a lot of issues that crept up on me during the month, I did not reach for this gift to create the exclusive stories for my patrons. Instead, I grabbed a different present, Rory’s Story Cubes, to provide the prompt for my writing...

Read More

Flash Fiction

Seeking Buds

With Ethereal Insight and Inquiry published for the enjoyment of my patrons, I turned the entirety of my attention to the final remaining piece of flash fiction for November, a Science Fiction romp. With the month ending today, I buckled down and finished the latest tale in the world of the Drifter II. Though when I first pulled the genre poll, I didn’t know what storyline I would focus on. However, after bouncing a number of ideas off the wall, I realized that continuing Charles and Lucile’s storyline would be the right call...

Read More

Flash Fiction