I’ll admit it, I’m a story vampire — I consume the stories people tell me and turn them into fiction. I collect the little seedlings of narratives I find in the newspaper; I squeeze the juicy characters out of classics — transforming them into contemporary people; I take note of the rhythms and speech patterns around me to create voices and credible dialog; but most of all I absorb the stories I hear. Most of my friends have learned that an anecdote or quick observation might wind up as the starting point for a story. A few have even warned
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Waltzing in the Snow — Chapter 16
Only one more installment to go. Scroll down to catch up, before next week’s final chapter! Chapter 16: Ending Well Jack was exhausted. It took several tries the following morning, but Amanda finally got the rest of the story from her father. “I didn’t know what to do. I figured out what was happening and confronted her that Easter when all of you visited. She tried to blackmail me. She said she’d expose my stupidity to the CIA if I turned her in. It would have ruined me, ruined us all…. So I asked Spooky, Horatio Lane, to help me
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To Catch the Conscience of the King
Plays within plays, stories within stories, dreams within dreams… It’s a classic for storytellers of all kinds. I’ll admit to using dreams in fiction to communicate with the reader. The character, the dreamer, may or may not understand the images and fragments of conversation that linger in the morning after a dream — but the reader may be more adept at interpreting unconscious messages. In one of my unpublished novels — my attempt at urban fantasy/vampire romance that may never see the light of day (or deepest night) — the heroine would very much like to plunge ahead into an
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Waltzing in the Snow — Chapter 15
Getting closer to the conclusion. Scroll down and catch up on the first 14 chapters of this short, serialized novella. Waltzing in the Snow Chapter 15: Nothing Comes of Nothing So Speak It was a quiet day in the Sommer house. Jack was very happy to have company and, after his late afternoon nap, he was even happier to have company for his cocktail hour. They settled into lawn chairs in the back yard, under the shade of a large willow tree and talked. Daniel was only half-lying when he said he was interested in learning about diplomacy and politics
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Nightmare Food
Have you ever had a food nightmare? I don’t mean a nightmarish meal at a roadside diner or if you’ve been served something a bit more exotic than expected at a dinner party. I mean — have you ever had a dream with a nightmare menu? The other day I woke up with the distressing echoes of a horrible dream. At one point in the dream I was dining with a group of people in a very casual setting. Paper plates, cardboard trays, plastic forks — NO, that was not the nightmarish part! (And on the upside, there was no
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Waltzing in the Snow — Chapters 13 & 14
Scroll down & catch up on the mystery. Chapters 13 & 14 are short but rich in clues! Waltzing in the Snow Chapter 13: Valor and Discretion At six in the morning, Amanda called Jason. He didn’t seem surprised at Daniel’s description of the their father’s argument with Candace. “Amanda, Dad always went for younger women. My mom, your mom, the crazy Spaniard — they were all about the same age when he met them, 27, 28. Candace was just a few years younger. She wasn’t classically beautiful, like your mom, or as glamorous as Marianna, but she was certainly
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Metamorphosis
When I began my MONSTER MEDITATIONS naturally went back to classical mythology as source material and inspiration. I initially discovered Greek mythology in Jr. High. Miss Jakes was my teacher and she was a goddess — the head of the English department. She even looked like a half bird/half human creature, something that was carved in stone, but came to life at midnight. She was also a very good teacher! I disliked diagramming sentences, largely because it never made sense to me. Constructing sentences was never a problem, but dissecting existing examples seemed pointless. I made a deal with Miss
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Waltzing… Chapters 10, 11 & 12
The mystery is unfolding chapter-by-chapter. Here are three short chapters with lots of clues and a few red herrings, too. Scroll down to catch up on the previous installments. Waltzing in the Snow Chapter 10: What Dreams, and Nightmares, May Come Daniel couldn’t sleep so he went back to work on his new play. Work was his escape, his solace, his entertainment and his lover — at least that’s what Josh always told him. Writing kept him from taking a walk with Ace the night she disappeared and writing stood between him and every important relationship in his life. When
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Gargie Award…
I spent the weekend up to my neck in MONSTERS — actually I was deep into one particular Monster, busy writing the fourth novella in my Candy’s Monsters series. I was so busy writing fiction, that I neglected most of my emails, my freelance work and virtually all the blogs I usually follow. How could I do this? And what did I miss? A GARGIE AWARD! Had I known there was a gargoyle waiting for me, I’d have pulled myself from my Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde-ish story, long enough to celebrate. I’m particularly proud of this GARGIE because I’m
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