EXERCISE TWO: Am I Saramago LeGuin reminds her readers that punctuation is an essential tool of good writing, and so wants us to try this activity that includes a seven day interval. First, we should “Write a paragraph to a page (150–350 words) of narrative with no punctuation (and no paragraphs or other breaking devices).”Continue reading ““Old Ghosts” / Practice with Steering the Craft #3″
“Old Ghosts” / Practice with Steering the Craft #2
Week Two, and I’m going to continue with part two of lesson one. The use of writing for sound is not just for description, but for action and emotion as well. Below is the complete short piece integrating the revised passage from last week. Remember, if you’re part of the #WriteLGBTQ and #WritingCommunity groups onContinue reading ““Old Ghosts” / Practice with Steering the Craft #2″
“Old Ghosts” / Practice with Steering the Craft #1
With the change in circumstances that accompany the end of the semester, I find myself at a place where I can try a little different approach to this blog. I want to put more time into a book length project, but I don’t want to post too much from it here. However, it’s important toContinue reading ““Old Ghosts” / Practice with Steering the Craft #1″
The Trove
Author’s Note: I love NASA and space exploration. Such fertile ground… Phil Smith traced a finger along the arm of the leather sofa, variables playing in his head. He and Alan Talcott had worked on many projects, from the lunar colony to in-space ship design and maintenance. But they had never faced a problem likeContinue reading “The Trove”
History
Author’s Note: A friend asked me to write a story about industrial buildings-turned-condos… one that paid attention to people and history. This was the result. “See what I found!” The words consistently made Ellen Dreyfus jumpy. Junior suffered the same curiosity as his father. Jim senior had channelled that curiosity into engineering, a job inContinue reading “History”
A Feather for Thoughts
Author’s Note: One of my readers got me thinking about keeping voices distinctive. This is an old draft I revised to try and play with voice. “Well this is a fine how-do-you-do.” Cerna picked her jagged teeth with a talon and glared into the crib. “How-Do-I-Do what?” asked Tenga. She preened her red feathers constantlyContinue reading “A Feather for Thoughts”
Whence the Horrors
Author’s Note: A little different tune today. A bit of fiction about a particularly scary personal rabbit hole. April had been a month-long deluge. We used twice the socks; the puddles and rivulets of runoff begged to be jumped in and over, especially after long days in stuffy classrooms with no lunchtime recess. Mom hungContinue reading “Whence the Horrors”
Timothy and The Timekeeper
Author’s Note: Respond to a Twitter post on Monday. Write all week. Draft and revise on Saturday. Edit on Sunday. Repeat as needed, I guess. “Don’t forget your lunch,” Bonnie Fender reminded Timothy as he dashed through the cramped little kitchen. The bag waited in its customary place: on the edge of counter in frontContinue reading “Timothy and The Timekeeper”
The Problem in 14B
Author’s Note: One of my readers asked if I was planning to revisit the world of “Nightwatch in the Underneath”. So I did. Arbor Michael lacked the cachet of Sky City’s more central addresses. The cluster of five towers, each a phallus of steel, concrete, and glass capped in green-tinted mushrooming levels, did not haveContinue reading “The Problem in 14B”
The First Room in the Palace
Author’s Note: Alex has been in my head for a long time. Their story will take place when they are older, but whenever I see them these days, I see Eliot Page playing an adult Alex, which makes me very happy. “You’re a woman now,” Tessa declared proudly as she sat down. Alex nearly spatContinue reading “The First Room in the Palace”
Nicanor Abbott 