The ornery ramblings and occasional fiction of a former political science professor turned author
The man fell with a thump, his head bouncing off the hard floor. His eyes fluttered up and he lapsed into unconsciousness. Jack winced. He hadn’t meant to hit the guy that hard. Captain growled at the prone figure and Jack reconsidered his slight guilt. Captain had proven to be a very good judge of character, so maybe Jack should pay closer attention to the German shepherd’s reactions.
Continue reading “Firecrackers”
This is just s snippet from my work-in-progress. I’m not exactly sure where it will go yet. My prompt at More Odds Than Ends this week came courtesy of Cedar Sanderson: The brassy alarm shook him. Fiona Grey was on the receiving end of my contribution: The space station was always busy this time of year.
Continue reading “Alarms and Haunts”
“Please. Step inside,” the man said. Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way” was blasting from hidden speakers. Jack looked around the cluttered office and forced down the impulse to twitch and start organizing the piles of papers and books.
Continue reading “Walk This Way”
Here we are at the end of 2021. Another 52 weeks of prompts at More Odds Than Ends. I’ve said this before, but I’m going to repeat it. These prompt challenges have honed my writing in ways that I didn’t really think were possible. I’ve learned the most basic thing over these last couple of years and that is, writing takes practice. Yes, some people have amazing stories in their heads, but getting those stories out and on paper is a skill and one that can be learned and must be practiced. I will keep practicing and hopefully get my writing to an ever higher level.
Continue reading “Church Bells”
I’m trying to get things straightened out in my writing schedule. I did get this week’s prompt response for More Odds Than Ends done. I have got to get my schedule squared away. I’m all caddywhompus right now. So my prompt came from Leigh Kimmel: “The angels have landed.” I was thinking about Jack and Monica from Cursebreaker and this little scene popped into my head.
Continue reading “Landed Angels”
I skipped a couple weeks of prompts due to moving and driving down to Texas and all the associated headaches that go along with all of that. And I missed the prompt writing; it feels good to get back to it.
Continue reading “Family Secrets”
I blanked on sending in a prompt for this week which is Week 22 at More Odds Than Ends, so I went with one of the spares. This one took me back to Cursebreaker. I’ve slowly been putting it together, in between working on short stories and Book #3. The prompt I decided on filled in a couple of holes that I saw and has also triggered some more thoughts about this story. You can find the other prompt-inspired bits of Cursebreaker at the link above. I chose the spare prompt: When they saw the picture, there were several extra people in it. Ghosts…
Continue reading “Cursebreaker: Ghosts In The Picture”
Okay. So I caught up on my prompts. This is my response for Week 44 at More Odds Than Ends. I’m still feeling a bit out of sorts, but better than the last week or so. Writing or editing every day is helping. I’m also starting to plot out a new short story today and I’m going to start working on putting this Cursebreaker thing into some sort of coherent order. When I first started it with the prompts, I used the prompts as sort of scene set-ups. Then I started putting them into a serial format. So, I need to figure out a story arc and fill in the gaps between the pieces I do have. It feels like a series, or at least a series of books within this universe. I’ll have to see where it goes.
Continue reading “Cursebreaker Part 23”
This is a very late response to Week 43 of More Odds Than Ends. It’s been a strange couple weeks. Not really anything I can put my finger on, but I’m out of sorts. If pushed, yes, the election is having an effect. The continued restrictions on activities, and normal life continues to grate. That’s getting tiring. Also, our moving plans are not going according to plan. I believe that I am dealing with that one pretty well. Finding a job – a job that you want no less – is difficult in the best of times. And these are most certainly not the best of times. You’d think that retreating into story-telling would get easier under such circumstances. Surprisingly, no, it isn’t. At least so far. I think that if I simply start writing, I will find myself back in the groove.
Continue reading “Cursebreaker #22”
I missed sending in a prompt for Week 42 at More Odds Than Ends, so I picked up one of the spares. The prompt I chose was: The architect who specialized in designing hidden rooms. I was looking for one that would allow me to easily insert it into the Cursebreaker story. I think I know where this story is going now and I’m going to be working on finishing it up. That is…I will after I wrap up Book 2 in the Academic Magic series (at least get draft one finished), and finish and submit two short stories. I am busier than I was as an academic and I don’t even have any grading or prep to do! At the same time, I am extremely grateful to be this busy and to have avenues opening up in front of me. It has been amazing to discover this creative streak in myself that I never knew existed before. So much fun!
Continue reading “Cursebreaker Part 21”