Category Archives: Writing

Because it’s my name

Posted on by February 25, 2020

My parents stood behind the house. My mother’s waist-length hair was bound into a ponytail, but my father let his curls tumble down to the middle of his back. Dad looped a narrow arm around Mom’s shoulders.

Mom said, “If it’s a boy, we’ll call him Jesse Bishop, after my grandfathers.”

“What about a girl?”

“I want something beautiful. Something that shines like the sun and glitters like a jewel.” Mom gazed out over her garden.

“Jewel?”

“No. I also want it to be down to earth.” She looked harder at the garden.

“Eartha.”

“There’s only one Eartha Kitt.”

“What then?”… Read the rest

Cold Flash

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Lacy’s pool was heated, but that didn’t mean it was warm. Jumping in when the temperatures were below freezing typically required a certain amount of gumption. But Lacy didn’t pause. She wasn’t a swimmer, but she dove like it was summer. The weather wouldn’t stop her. She thought she would have jumped into boiling lava rather than listen to them screaming inside any longer.

“Take her with you then, I don’t care.”

“I will! She’ll be safer!”

Lacey kicked back and forth from end to end. The air outside was frigid, but it was still warmer than the air in the kitchen between her parents.… Read the rest

Friday Fluff (Special Edition August 2012)

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Guess what? (I’m so happy I could fall over and die or something. Only then I’d never get this typed.) Lisa over at Seeking Elevation has revived (for a special one linky only deal) Friday Fluff!! (Cue the heavenly choir.) Join up with Lisa here…

So. Without further ado, let’s get down to brass tacks and nail some Jello to someplace unspeakable.

From the depths of myspace comes a serious case of the…..

 Random Have You Evers

Gotten a Brazillian Wax? Can I tell you something? No, seriously. I think women who wax off everything to bow to some sexist definition of personal appearance should just go ahead and wax off their brains with the hair.If… Read the rest

The story of the fox and the very round grapes

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Once upon an Aesop, the starving fox jumped up and seized the grapes. They were not sour at all. Then she choked to death. The moral of the story is plain: fuck fables.

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This weekend, Trifecta has asked us to write a new fable in just 33 words. Mr. Aesop and I have never been on what you would call close terms. So I’m afraid I took advantage of my fable to thumb my nose at him.

… Read the rest

Cold beer, hot revenge

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Three beers into a good drunk Shawn Devrie ran out of brewskis. “What the hell. The fridge was full yesterday,” he shouted at the garage.

“Some of the guys came over last night when you were at work,” yelled his roommate Ray.

Shawn snarled, “You owe me for three cases of beer,” and drove down to the corner store to undo the damage.

When he got back, Ray said, “You’d give yourself alcohol poisoning if you drank all that.”

Shawn found yesterday’s empties stored in plastic garbage bags in the corner of the garage. They hadn’t even bothered to crush them.… Read the rest

When in Rome

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Sometimes, I dream in normal. I dress myself in jeans and a feminine cut shirt above my trendy socks. Nobody looks my way. When I take my kids to school, I smile to the teachers in the carpool line. (And the children, of course, go to public school, where they get average grades.)  Nothing makes me cry. No strange impulses bubble up to subsume my intentions. When I mold myself of normal, my eyes know just where to linger and for how long. My gaze is never out of place. I go to the movies and I don’t twitch with the need to shout at the screen.… Read the rest

Look Ma, No Hair

Posted on by February 25, 2020

So, back on Mother’s day, I ran my first ever guest post. It was by my husband. This time, I’ve captured someone even more elusive. One of my best girlfriends. Jenny goes by Jennifer these days, and we go way back. Waaay back. She was my first friend. My preschool friend. My spend-the-night-every-weekend-as-long-as-our-parents-will-endure-it friend. We were tight. Where I’m brash and outspoken, given to outbursts and impulsive actions, she’s thoughtful and analytical, no less outspoken given the right set of circumstances, but not at all prone to drawing attention to herself. She uses social media, but only in specific ways.… Read the rest

Queen Bitch

Posted on by February 25, 2020

“You can’t just leave.” Diana threw down the plates and chased Eva to the door. Eva was out and gone before Diana could get into her coat and shoes. She pulled down a hat from the top of the shelf without looking and dashed into the snow.

Eva rounded the corner and Diana followed, leaving the door wide open behind her. “Come back here, young lady!”

Eva did not come back. She actually picked up speed even though the sidewalks wore a thin crust of ice. Hardly anybody was out to watch the mother pursue her daughter down the road.

Suddenly, Eva’s arm shot up.… Read the rest

Guest Post Studio 30 Plus

Posted on by February 25, 2020

Hey everybody,

I wrote a guest post at studio 30 plus today talking about how to show your work in narrative fiction and nonfiction. If you’ve always struggled with ‘show don’t tell’, come drop by the studio. (And join up with an awesomely diverse community of bloggers while you’re there!)

Show Me The STORY!

… Read the rest

Rebel

Posted on by February 25, 2020

 “You could do the job.” Charles had biceps to back up his orders.

“You could go to hell.” But Charles’ arms were twigs in comparison to David’s.

“So I’ve got to finish it?” Charles was already stripping out of his jacket.

“This job’s gonna do itself.”

“We gotta be sure.”

“He’s already dead.”

“Why you gotta be such a rebel?”

At the bottom of the trench, their quarry stopped crawling and drank shallow breaths. If either of the goons could have seen in the dark, they would have watched him cross himself and so known his heart was still beating.

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Of course, I’m always a rebel.… Read the rest