“Let’s take a walk, shall we?” With a smile, Geoffrey turned toward the kennels. Mommy, Daddy, and Kid, the wide-eyed issue of their frenzied loins, obediently traipsed after him. Geoffrey had seen some permutation of this story a hundred times. In an unrelenting campaign, Kid pitches fits for puppy until Mommy, whose Xanax and coffee […]

First Person: I was struggling. This first-person POV versus third-person POV thing had me confused. When to use which? Could the same book have both? Opinions flew at me fast and — dare I finish the cliché? — furious. Some said if I was to use both POVs in the same paragraph, it would prove […]

Telling a story is not the same as showing it. Telling, or exposition, is a mere recitation of the facts. Exposition is telling. To illustrate the difference between telling and showing, think of a trade show. You’ve got all the booths lined up and everybody is hawking something. Why do you walk by some tables […]

Tiffany ring or Tiffany-style ring? Yes, there is a difference, as Costco Membership Warehouse Club found out when they lost in court to Tiffany & Co., the jeweler made famous for inventing the four-prong setting showcasing jeweled stones. It seems the signage in the Costco stores did not use the phrase Tiffany-style rings to describe […]

Writing rules. Rules, rules, rules, and more rules. Lord, help me. I have to tell you. Me and the NYTimes do not get along. In fact, me and most mainstream media do not get along. But as a writer in various capacities (for business, about business, children, memoir, and fiction) it is imperative I read widely […]

Bruce Boxer: The War Tourist Bruce Boxer has the sort of neck and head that make fat men want to buy starched striped shirts and dotted silk ties, that is, elegant without being model-pretty, a man’s man, one who has the grace to make the sharing of your own Dance Floor War battle something in […]

Can people not see the futility of falling in love? Yet, against all advice, they do it over and over, time and again. Had Brockett Runyon not read the mirror-image memoirs by lovers Graychild and Williams? Had he not poured over the empirical data from the pivotal study by the team at MIT throwing Masters […]

Women are mysterious creatures. Even Catherine knew that. She was the biggest mystery of all. Even to herself. “Your energy. It has…changed.” Catherine tightened her fingers in Rogers’. His fingers remained mute; eyes looked to the same sky she searched above the cliff upon which they sat. “I don’t know what you mean. Silly girl.” He forced […]

Everything was sweetness and light at the reception. Until the bang. Nothing ruins a day better than a death at a wedding. Bullet through the heart, the groom fell at my feet. I was friends with the bride’s side of the family so had only just met him in the receiving line two hours ago. […]

I’ve made a list; thrice it’s been checked. I know for certain, though, it has been hexed. For I shall arrive at destination long distance Only to find I forgot that very one expensive Thing necessary to do my tasks well. Thus under breathe cursing and saying “Oh, hell”, This gal shall to a store […]

Carolyn Carlquist: Facebook Post March 9, 2017 387 Glenn Circle Notes on another year Florida. That was the plan. Having lived half our lives watching the sun set behind concrete and trees, the Gulf side it was. A beer and two tacos is what it takes to sink it below the horizon line, smooth and […]

Country woman in her late 70s.    My life sparked when my mama laid herself down with a bunch of horny toads in some city by a bay. She never rightly said but I think it was in Florida since according to my mama she ain’t never been west of the big river called the   […]

Announcer on the TV: Come to DealSteal.com and get the best deal for everything you want. Shipping is free. All you have to do is beat out the other bidders and it is yours! Joe hollered, “Oooo-wee. We gotta do that. Cynthia Baby! Where ya at?” Cynthia Baby was washing up the dishes from last night’s regular weekly […]

A friend of mine I know in real life (nameless he shall remain because I do like him) posted a long whine on his Facebook page this morning. The whine was all about how he is “so tired of people putting words in my mouth, thinking they know how I feel, accusing me of things […]

Sits young girl in pew of church. Thoughts of her body her mind does search. Feelings of love she has for young pastor. Thoughts of which make her heart race faster and faster. Visions of his touch singe her mind. Breathing becomes labored. “Pastor will be mine!” She dreams of his touch her womanhood making […]

Bill sat in the sound booth in the near-dark at the back of the crowded room, a fan keeping him cool. He never watched the stage, for to watch it meant he couldn’t manage the sound well. So he watched the room while his fingers diddled the dials. The club was busy for this Tuesday […]

Given the nature of our family, we were a secretive bunch. It was necessary. As in war when loose lips sink ships, in our family free and easy conversation would always lead to physical beatings, deprivations, and prolonged mental torture, so we didn’t engage in it. I say this to explain why it was that I […]

All storytellers bump up against the same challenges: What world will their characters inhabit? Will the world be large or will the story focus on a narrow segment of it? If a narrow world, will there be a broad sampling of characters? What are the rules of engagement in this world? What outside forces will […]

He was born to parents that would never, could never, understand him. For all intents and purposes, he was an alien. His parents were normal enough and that was the problem, for something about the boy invited abnormal adults to feel comfortable in his presence. To explain: Normal enough means regularly smart, while abnormal adult […]