One of my biggest hurdles to meeting a daily word count is diversion. We live in an apartment complex in a populous neighborhood in a busy city. Outside our window is a lovely green space with hollies, crape myrtles and squirrels. A bazillion birds, along with dragonflies and butterflies, flit past my window, dragging my…
Month: March 2018
First-Timer’s High
Bobby and I were on vacation when my first short story came out. As I said last week, I knew it was coming, just not when. To say we’d been checking the website every hour is not exactly an exaggeration. When PayPal announced receipt of payment from the publisher, I was ecstatic, but it was…
Story Beginnings
Last January, a friend sent me a link to a short-story contest through the American Philosophical Association. The story had to have a philosophical element, and winning entries would be published in Sci-Phi Online Magazine. I read their content, really liked what I saw, and wrote my first ever short story, “Last Call.” Of course,…
Shine Shine Shine
By Lydia Netzer St. Martin’s Press, ISBN: 978-1250007070 Paperback, ©2012, 320 pages Sunny is the social anchor of her neighborhood, coordinating craft shows and support groups, serving as the reliable and rock-steady block mom everyone turns to in a crisis. Maxon, her husband, is a genius engineer who is on his way to the moon…
Story Endings
Writers know that the first few lines in a short story or novel are crucial. It is those precious few seconds during which we must grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read more. We spend a great deal of time getting the beginning just right, sometimes going back after the rest of…