At the bottom of a lake long dried up, my hazy gaze rested hopefully on a cloud building in the distance. Dust rose up around my plodding feet, settling on my cracked tongue. The size of this lakebed desert must have grown since the last estimation. I didn't have enough water to get back; I … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Buried Tracks
I have never had much use for writing magazines. When I first began writing, I went to them for instruction, guidance, the revealing of writerly secrets. I didn't find as much of that as I wanted. Plus, the issues kept piling up in my home, not quite read all the way through, because what is … Continue reading Writing Notebooks Reveal
Without a breath of air to stir them, a plume of snowflakes rose up from the drifts coating the mountainside. Where the morning sunlight had not yet touched, deep blue shadows crept beneath a forest of firs. Nothing moved but the flurry of flakes, whirling around each other, the whole cluster angling upward along the … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Preservation Efforts
The way I see it, no new year has hurt us the way 2020 has hurt us. In past years, I have found myself quietly swept up in the hope of a fresh start on New Year's Day. New writing goals to pursue, maximum output calculated down to the letter if I can just write … Continue reading 2021: An Abundance of Caution
Someone set a field on fire with me in it. Gray smoke rolled skyward and drifted along the tilled dirt, tangling around my feet and stinging my eyes. I had picked this field to cross because nothing grew in it, so I couldn't imagine what the fire consumed. Pulling my shirt up over my nose … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Burning Roads
Happy Spooktober to everyone who followed the #GrimList2020 drabbles and the spooky Hopeful Wanderer short stories this month. It was great fun to write these for you and I appreciate all the likes, comments, and follows they received! If you enjoyed these or the book review or writing advice from October, please consider leaving a … Continue reading October Donation Request
My mouth was a weapon. One I could aim and fire at anyone. But once. Just once. Too obvious and the authorities would take me down. Shouldering my way through the crowd, I grinned at the knowing. So, so many people had gathered for our high school reunion. I hadn't been invited, but found out … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 30: Plague
Seven mirrors in the house and I smashed every one to pieces when you left me. Seven times seven equals forty-nine years of bad luck. Worth it to never see your face look back at me again. You wanted to 'be your own person.' To 'do things for yourself for once.' But what about me? … Continue reading #Spooktober2020 Day 29: Mirror
As I passed through a night dark farm, the door of a wood shed near the farmhouse rattled from the inside. A voice from within yelled, "Let me out! Let me OUT!" I stopped at the door, hand on the cold iron latch, but didn't open it. "Who's in there?" Something heavy slumped against the … Continue reading The Hopeful Wanderer – Guard Against
Disclaimer: the following writing advice is base on the author’s personal experience of writing and does not represent any hard or fast rules. Your mileage may vary. The Plight of the Back-loaded Writer Do your sentences ramble with a bunch of important details attached to the the ends? Like the equivalent of remembering relevant information … Continue reading The Power of Rearranging Your Sentences
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