Today is the release day for “Lasting Impression.” The story came into my mind with the image of a strange creature fading into the woods. I thought it might be a good origin story for Sheriff Audrey Harper in “Sasqwhat?” and then the story rolled out from there (and in typical PANTSER fashion, the creature … Continue reading
“Lasting Impression” came into my mind with the image of a strange creature fading into the woods. I thought it might be a good origin story for Sheriff Audrey Harper in “Sasqwhat?” and then the story rolled out from there (and in typical PANTSER fashion, the creature wasn’t what I first thought it was, either.). … Continue reading
Last Week’s Goals The first official week of 2022 started well. Blog entries were posted on schedule. I returned three pieces back to market within a couple of days. I wrote on six days, and made my daily quota on five of them. I made my weekly quota just barely with 3,560 words of fiction. … Continue reading
“The Voices” was just a natural outgrowth of the voices that seem to come into my head (or out of it) all the time. They are not all as helpful as Billy Thompson’s, but they all have something to say. Here’s the Blurb Billy Thompson knows the voices are real, even if they are just … Continue reading
(Funny how that works, isn’t it?) Last week was the final one of 2021, and so it’s time to wrap up my goal reporting for last year and publish my plans for the new year. Last Week’s Goals Blog entries were posted on schedule. All my available works remained out to market. I wrote on … Continue reading
“Victimless” came from annoyance with the number of television programs I’d seen recently that try to paint convicted criminals who happen to have children as pitiful victims themselves. The push seems to be to stop punishing parents who are criminals because their innocent children will suffer (almost feels like an opportunity for these parents to … Continue reading
Peter looked up from the case at the woman who had just spoken. She had waist-length, reddish-blonde hair that she wore tied back in a braid. The hair framed a smooth face of indeterminate age; Peter had never been good at judging this, but there was something about her that made him feel she was older than she looked. Maybe she’d had surgery to smooth things over, but those intense green-blue eyes were also at once wise and youthful.
Her dress looked like it had been thrown together from a slew of diaphanous scarves, and as she turned and set her lunch bag on a shelf behind the counter, the colors seemed to change as the layers shifted back and forth over each other. It was interesting to watch – a bit too interesting, and Peter felt his face getting hot as he turned his attention back to the case.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t even realize you were there,” he said.
“Hmmm, I do not hear that often. I wonder if I’m losing my charm,” she said. Continue reading
Last Week’s Goals All blog entries were posted on schedule. All my submissions were returned to markets as soon as they arrived home. One of those “rejections” was my fifth Honorable Mention (this time a SILVER) from the Writers of te Future Contest for “The View from My Cage Is Breathtaking.” I wrote on … Continue reading
With Christmas a little over two weeks off, it’s time to look at “Sleep with the Snowmen” again. Not all of us are angels, and there are reasons that Santa has a NAUGHTY list and a NICE one. Would Santa really just drop a couple of lumps of coal in a misbehaving boy’s stocking, or … Continue reading
We’re all familiar with the notion that sometimes the wrong people are in charge – through an accident of birth, or cronyism, or plain dumb luck people wind up in charge of underlings who are more qualified, leaving the underlings to question their masters’ intelligence. I thought to explore the idea with servant robots, but … Continue reading
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