Grass is Greener
“I know why you and your family like to visit me. It’s because my grass is greener.” She grinned at her brother.
“Yep. No argument there.”
“Wait. You aren’t supposed to agree. I was only kidding. It’s not like my life is so great.”
“No, you grass is literally greener. Mine is under three feet of snow.”
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
13 New-to-Me Musicians
Not quite the click game, but while pretending to be writing, I stumbled across these. Hey, gotta have tunes to write by, right?
1.
Suzie’s House 297 : Concession Confession
“I had no idea we sounded like that.” Kate didn’t sound like she was pleased.
Ben didn’t know Kate all that well. If it weren’t for Gene and Tracy’s band, he wouldn’t even have learned her name. Right now he wished she and all the others in the band would just go away.
The Serialists of Feb. 6th
Featured Author: Ann Pino with Points of Departure
This is the hub for The Serialists, a meme for people who post original, serialized fiction on their blogs. If you have one or more posts you would like for us to read, please put the direct link(s) to the post(s) in the linky. Remember to visit one another and comment. We all want to hear from our readers.
Neighbors
We’ve had some unusual visitors lately. They are scattered all over town. 
Ok, I’ll admit, deer aren’t really all that unusual out here. The woods are full of them, and you see them on the highway entirely too often. But generally you don’t see them wandering around from yard to yard downtown. In fact, I’ve gone years without having a single deer wander into my yard.
This year they are all over town. I have no idea why. It hasn’t been that harsh of a winter and hunting season is long over. Have they decided to reclaim what humans took from them well over a hundred years ago?
It’s probably a population boom. Most of the time the hunters keep them in balance, but now and then you get way too many of them. It only takes a few years for their population levels to get totally out of hand if you don’t watch it.
The Girl took one look and the deer wandering down our block, and elected to come home via the alley and back door. I don’t blame her. These are wild animals. You can’t expect to get too close without getting hurt.
And here I thought the grizzly bears and mountain lions in Glacier and the national forests were getting bold. What next? Moose? Oh wait. That was last year.
What’s Your Favorite Color
“Brown.”
“You’re kidding. You like this?” She held up a shirt in flat brown. Ugly as sin.
“No. Like this.” I found a heathered sweater, three shades of brown twisted together to make a texture and pattern. Soft, too. And warm, like logs on the fire, hardwood floors, animal pelts, and food. Ancient, earthy, real.
“Oh.” She reached for something blue.
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
13 aMUSEing Quotes
On Monday I posted about my lack of a muse. I have a basement instead. It got me thinking about muses. Here are 13 random quotes about them.
1. “The muses are ghosts, and sometimes they come uninvited.”
― Stephen King, Bag of Bones
2. “Inspiration is the windfall from hard work and focus. Muses are too unreliable to keep on the payroll.”
― Helen Hanson
3. “The loveliest Muse in the world does not feed her owner; these girls make fine mistresses but terrible wives”
― Alfred de Vigny, Stello
Suzie’s House 296 : Yes, I Do Have a Family
“Drab, Pulsate, and Tendril.”
“Shouldn’t you be doing that at home, Ben?” I dumped another pile of dishes into the sudsy side of the sink.
“Seriously. What kind of words are these?”
The Serialists of Jan 30
Featured author: Altonian with The Visitors.
This is the hub for The Serialists, a meme for people who post original, serialized fiction on their blogs. If you have one or more posts you would like for us to read, please put the direct link(s) to the post(s) in the linky. Remember to visit one another and comment. We all want to hear from our readers.
On Muses and Basements
I don’t have a muse. I have a basement. I throw things into the basement, and when I hear something thumping around I open the door. Then I run all over the house trying to capture whatever crawled out. Usually it’s either Romantic Suspense or Science Fiction. Sometimes it’s an Historical Romance. Sometimes it’s a total surprise – a painting or part of a song.
In the case of Suzie’s House, I don’t wait for thumping, I just stand in front of the door and pray there will be something there for me. To my amazement, there have only been two or three times since I started writing it in 2006 that there really wasn’t anything there.
It’s not a case of having a muse in the basement. There is no direct interaction, no one to talk to, no one to hear my pleas or begging. Negotiation isn’t just useless, it’s pathetic. It’s just a basement. I can’t sweet talk it into providing me with material.
What I can do is throw more junk down there. Reading, talking to people, watching movies, observing things as I walk around, listening to music, just about anything is food for the basement.
If I want a direction, I can kind of pick what I throw in. Reading Romantic Suspense is more likely to produce Romantic Suspense ideas, though there have been times I really wanted to come up with something and ended up with something completely different, and frankly, I’m sick and tired of reading about serial killers.
Keeping the door propped open helps provide more ideas that can be melded with whatever else is flying around the room, but the door to the basement closes itself when I’m not looking, and it’s not good to have it open too much anyway. Ever hear of plot bunnies?
So, you all can talk about muses all you want, but you wont hear a peep about them out of me. I’ll just take your comments and throw them into my basement.
Arch Texture
Jack: What are you doing?
Jill: Feel this sandstone. It feels so cool, rough and smooth at the same time.
Previously in Jack and Jill: Tell Me That Spot Isn’t Yellow
For more posts with Architecture or building go to Keyhole Pictures
Come See My Etchings
“Lately I’ve been doing a lot of sketches,” she said at the coffee shop. “Want to see?”
“Ah… no…” he said.
“No really. I want to know your opinion.” She pulled them out, lay them on the table
They were straight out of the Psych 101 text book.
“So… how long have you been off your lithium,” he joked.
“What?! How’d you know?”
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
13 Teenager Words
My kids tell me these are in current teenager nomenclature. It’s on my mind because it comes up in Suzie’s House episodes.
1. Lejit = legitimate, ie: No, really, it’s legit
2. Bro = way to address a friend
3. Ermahgerd = OMG
4. Totes = totally
5. Meme = jokes on Facebook
6. Swag = a brand of street clothing
7. Chill = cool
8. Javy = javelin used in historical reenactment games
9. Freaking = a swearword. No longer means going crazy.
10. Ripped = muscular
11. Goth = a style
12. Dude = he
13. Yo, sup = Hi, what’s up
