my flash at Matchbook Lit review (this link works!)

My new flash, "Vegan", is up a Matchbook Lit.

Story up at Right Hand Pointing

Five Words and a Sneaky Extra Five Words!

Incorporate these five words in a story:

sneaker
shell
shop
wrap
bingo

and a sneaky extra five: (optional)

face
phone
chicken
china
blush

Fictionaut Five Interview with author Joseph Young

I had such fun interviewing Joe for the Fictionaut Five feature. Joseph Young was the person who interviewed me for my SmokeLong story, California Fruit. Now we've interviewed each other! That only seems fair!

Adaptation to a New Environment Prompt

Your main character has a major life change, i.e. a new town, a new school, a new relationship... and has to adjust their personality in some way. In other words, we all try to adapt, we do the do the best we can. We often feel like a phony!!

Here are some possible words to use or not use! Beware!


cheerful
grizzly
wipes
prescription
swanky
powder
digital
blot
tailless
Holy shit!
hellbent
splayed
lens

going casually with a heavy topic... don't look it in the eye

Like talking to your teenager about...sex. Don't look them in the eye! Forget it, they will cower, and shut down. Drive somewhere, with them in the passenger seat, the music blaring, and casually...bring it up, while laughing about a stupid song!

So, write a piece that may be HARD to write, by having the narrator start with casual thoughts or actions: doing the laundry, eating lunch, cooking soup... and let the big thing come out in little ways, however it feels like it wants to, and when it wants to.

Treat your brain, treat your character's brain... like a teenager!

"In the Weeds" up at Staccato

Join Fictionaut! Highly highly recommended (by me)!

Bringing the possibilities of the
social web to literary writing.

Fictionaut is a vibrant literary community that is opening exciting new possibilities for short fiction and poetry. Part self-selecting magazine, part community network, Fictionaut is a way for readers to discover new voices and for writers to share their work, gain recognition, and connect with their audience and each other.

Contact me on Facebook if you would like to join and need an invitation.

Do You See It Anywhere?

Your main character has lost something, something real or imagined. It could her a hairbrush, or a lover. The point is, your main character is obsessed with finding the thing that is lost.

Prompt Words:

matter
honey
sandwich
ring
garbage
noodle
play
bingo
garlic
wilting
well?
tangerine soda

The Explosion of Belief Prompt!

Write a story in which the main character believes strongly in some quite specific things or people: a new lover, a husband, bath salts, astrology, coffee, the lottery, vegetarianism, online dating... (these are all possible examples). The main character's world is directed forward by this belief... IN the story, something should blow up, something will destroy the main character's trust in this person, or these things. I might choose a main character who loves her husband and wants to stay skinny, healthy, and strong for him - becomes obsessed with training for marathons to stay fit FOR HIM. Then, in the story, she finds out that her husband is cheating on her with an out-of-shape smoker, someone flabby and weak. This would rock the main character's world built on a floppy foundation. The idea here is to feel that battle for sanity after losing so much... to imagine what losing that kind of trust in personal gods would feel like, and to write that.

Here are some possible prompt words:

scowl
tramp
lox
mocha
flop
low-cut
shame
freak
cranky





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Emerald, a tiny story, up at elimae