Tule Fog Tales, Issue One

From my #60DayChallenge this fall, I wrote 30 stories. Not all of them were publish-worthy, but a number of them I was quite happy with.

So in 2018 I thought I'd put five or six stories in a bundle every few months (maybe four or five collections) and tie them together along some loose common theme.

In this first issue of Tule Fog Tales (might as well give this project a name!), I've gathered six short stories that skim the border of wonder and hope. Stories include:

+ Teenage Mutant Ninja Nobody
+ Making Worf Proud
+ Memory Dish
+ An Astral Advent (free below!)
+ Casting a Vampire
+ Tucker & Mr. Chilly

All told, about 50 pages of some good reading. ;) You can find purchase links to the ebook here where you can choose what distributor and format you want (example - BandN, Kobo, Apple, Amazon). If all the links aren't up yet, they will be soon.

To celebrate the launch of this new project - and seeing it's the Advent/Christmas season - I'd like to give you "An Astral Advent" as a gift. (Available free here through Christmas.) If you like it and want more, well, you know where to find the other stories. :)

You can also subscribe to my newsletter at www.TuleFogPress.com and I'll send you another free ebook! How cool is that?

If you're wondering what Tule Fog refers to, here's the opening from Wiki: Tule fog /ˈtuːliː/ is a thick ground fog that settles in the San Joaquin Valley in California. Tule fog forms from late fall through early spring (California's rainy season). This phenomenon is named after the tule grass wetlands (tulares) of the Central Valley.

BTW, it is so thick (not like the fog you are familiar with) that it is the leading cause of weather-related accidents in California. I'm actually from Tulare, which is named after the grassy wetlands originally occupied by the Tule Indians from centuries ago.

So now you know. Happy reading!

(Note: The image used in the cover design is from Pixabay.com, christmas-2871064_1920 by geralt, and is free for commercial use, license granted by CC0 Creative Commons.)

Some SF/Space Opera Flash Fiction

I say I write speculative fiction - including SF, space opera, fantasy, horror, etc. Looking over the stories I've written during this #60DayChallenge, however, I realized I hadn't written any sci-fi yet during Oct/Nov.

So I sat down the other day and wrote a flash fiction piece (about 800 words) called "Long Haul Goodbye." I liked it so well, I wrote a follow up stand alone (about 1800 words) called "Forewarned, Forearmed." If you want to read them, let me know. I'm currently shopping them to some magazines.

These two stories are part of larger story arc that I haven't written yet - and one I think would be sort of cool to write as a series of episodes. It probabaly wouldn't work, but I envision 50 short 1,000 word stories that can stand alone but when read as chapters form an overall novel.

Probably be terrible.

But I may try it. The concept is typical space opera - a spaceship crew hauls stuff around the galaxy and experiences adventures. To me it sounds fun. And that's why I write.

I'm also one story away from finishing 30 stories in 60 days. Will share a bit about that when the time comes and what else I learned trying to write every day and finish various projects. But I can say this, like the picture above, it's been a blast. ;)

You can always check my progress at the current projects tab above. As always, thanks for reading!

(The image above, btw, is rocket-1374248_640 (c) succo at Pixabay Images.)

Story Behind - Curious Case of Kevin Klaag

This was a strange one.

It was an abandoned story start with the title appearing hand in hand with the opening scene - Kevin Klaag looks in the mirror one day...and he's someone else. And it had happened before.

But then, as I've often done in the past (for a bunch of reasons listed below), I quit the story and moved on to another story start (which I probably also abandoned - for a bunch of reasons listed below ;).

So with this #60DayChallenge (writing 30 stories in Oct/Nov - and I just finished #27, so am on track to complete the challenge in a few days), I found the Klaag file on my computer and pounded out the rest of the tale.

It did not go the direction I'd first imagined at all!

Sometimes I'll make plot notes at the end of the story start to remind myself what I was thinking and how my future self should finish the story. Well, those plot notes on this one were pretty useless once the story took off. It became a weird, and oddly told, psychological horror piece. Let me know if you want to read it. (Adult themes and words.)

So why did I abandon stories in the past? Here are some random thoughts, not sure if any are the real reason or if some kind of combination took place in my brain.

- I didn't know how to write a story past the opening scene (character in a setting with a problem). Oh, I knew about basic plot structure, but didn't know how to move the story forward by creating tension until the climax and resolution. I'm better at that now, but far from an expert. At least I can power through a story and get something on paper. Whether it's a good story is another matter.

- I was afraid of finishing it. Of course, I'd finished stories before but then I'd send them off to a market and they'd get rejected. Or I'd self publish and someone would pooh pooh it. I hated rejected (still do) and feared the process of receiving negative feedback via reviews. This kind of fear is debilitating for a lot of writers, I think. I'm still not cured, but this short story challenge has helped me learn to just write for me and not worry about what others think of my stories. And I never read reviews anymore.

- Some say people quit writing because of a fear of success. I've heard that phrase off and on for a long time but have no idea what it means. So it may or may not apply to me since I'm clueless as to what fear of success implies.

- I'm sure there are other reasons which I may add here later as they occur to me. If you want to follow my story challenge progress, click here. Until next time, thanks for reading.

Story Behind - Making Worf Proud

Another abandoned story start that I finished on this #60DayChallenge was one I'd place-hold titled, "A Geeky Kid Story." When I was done I even thought of keeping that as its title, but since my middle school geeky kid (named Willard, of course) had fantasies of fighting like a Klingon - and even spoke Klingon! - the title had to reference his hero.

But since I like to write toward that awkward middle school phase of life (maybe because I still think I'm kinda stuck in that awkward phase even now), I kept the place holder as a subtitle. "Making Worf Proud - A Geeky Kid Story." And I think I'll probably write more semi-related geeky kid stories in the future. All about growth and change and coming of age and loss of innocence, that sort of thing.

This one was about bullying. Willard is in the library, lovingly studying weapons (bat'leths, kut'luchs, that sort of thing, you know, normal stuff) in A Guide to All Things Klingon and two school mates start teasing him. As you can guess from the title, Willard does good in the end.

I think it's one of my best short stories yet. (Well, I say that about almost all of my stories! BTW, just finished #26 of 30 for my Oct/Nov challenge - so only 4 to go! Follow my progress here, if you wish.) If you want to read it, let me know. It's currently submitted to a magazine for consideration.

And, as always, thanks for reading!

(Image from http://www.startrek.com/article/celebrate-the-next-generations-anniversary-with-picard-data-worf-art-prints - and can be purchased here: http://www.generationgallery.com/studio-art-c1/star-trek-c16/next-generation-set-p1058)

Story Behind - Memory Dish

Been adding so many new stories to my collection lately (#60DayChallenge to write 30 stories in Oct/Nov) that I've fallen a bit behind on sharing the story behind some of the stories I've written. So I'll try my best to catch up. I just finished story #26, so almost done with the challenge! Whew!

Today's entry is a children's story of 2000 words called "Memory Dish" - it's a fantasy of sorts, set in an everyday world like ours but one where children have as pets garden gnomes, gollum toes, and pygmy dragons. Fraley's pet pygmy dragon has just died and all she has left of him is his memory captured in a memory dish where she can watch him romp and play and covort like he used to.

Until she shatters the dish in anger. This story is about grief and sadness and letting go and then, surprisingly, finding joy again knowing our fond memories are safe within us. It started out as a writing exercise from a long time ago and I decided it needed to have a life of its own. If you want to read it, let me know. I'm currently shopping it around. I think it's been rejected once so far, maybe twice. I have no idea why! It's one of my favorites. :)

As I wrote near the beginning of this challenge, I'm probably not like a lot of writers. I've heard a lot of writers finish a story and think it's terrible, that no one will like it, etc. I'm the opposite. When I finish a story I usually think it's my best one to date. I get a kick out of re-reading my stories and laughing and crying at the appropriate points. Of course, all this could mean I'm absolutely blind to my writing, but who cares? If someone has a critique, it simply tells me more about their tastes than it does my story.

Now again, I don't think every one of my stories is perfect. Really enjoying my stories is not the same as thinking they are masterpieces. I have a lot to learn, that's why I'm writing so many stories right now. I'm practicing. Always will be. I'm simply doing my best at my current skill level and when the story is done, I read it for enjoyment and then release it into the world for others to enjoy.

Kris Rusch has a good article on the life a story has in the mind of a reader once we let it go. Not sure I totally agree with her when she says, "Our stories cease to be ours the moment someone else reads them." But I get what she's saying. We can't control the reader's response - what they like about it, what they hate about it, what it means to them, etc. My story will always be mine, but when I share it with others, it becomes a bit different because now someone else has taken it in to their heart and soul. And thus the work becomes public. It changes in impact.

Which is fine with me. All I'm interested in is finding readers who enjoy my particular style of story telling. If that's you, thanks for reading! If that's not you, thanks for trying me out. Regardless, I'm having a blast creating. If you want to follow my progress, click here or check out the current projects tab above. See you next time with another "story behind" blog post.

(The image above, btw, is figure-1152054_640 (c) susannp4 at Pixabay Images.)

Trying my hand at romance...

Been blogging lately about the stories I've written for my #60DayChallenge (30 stories in Oct/Nov). Of the 22 stories I've completed (still on track if I finish #23 today), 15 of them have had as their origin an abandoned story start. That is, only 7 are original start to finish products. Well, they're all original, but the majority are projects I started a number of years ago when I didn't know how to get past an opening scene! ;) 

Now most abandoned projects only had 300 or so words to them - mere story ideas - and I added another 1000 to 3000 words, so the bulk of the story is fresh for this challenge. But that's been a neat part of this two month run, cleaning out all my old files and putting some closure on lost little story starts.

Another fun aspect is writing in a variety of genres. I've done everything from SF/space opera to fantasy, literary, humor, horror, historical, inspirational...almost everything. Even romance! I actually like romance and so finished a story that I'd started last year based on an outline I received from a potential employer (who wanted me to ghost write a story for them). The outline was a bit, shall we say, too steamy for my tastes. So I took a stab at it but backed off on the "behind closed door" scenes. Before I got half way through, the project went to some other ghost writer and so I left it alone. 

Along came this challenge. I dusted off the doc, backed off some more in the hot and steamy department, and finished a 5,000 word story called "Surprise Date." (I'm not too embarrassed to send it to you if you want to read it.) Though I thought it was pretty good I needed some feedback from a romance writer I trusted, so sent it off to her for some comments. She liked it and even suggested it was actually a novel in minature. That is, if I expanded the chapters, added the male love interest's POV storyline, and raised the stakes a bit, I'd have a 50k novel when all was said and done. Well, that was nice to hear, but that'll have to wait until next year! I've got seven more short stories to finish before the 30th!

Feel free to follow my progress here or check the current projects tab above. And, as always, thanks for reading.

(The image above, btw, is retro-2743253_1280 (c) ArtsyBee at Pixabay Images.)

Man in a Diner - Character, Setting, Problem

I finished my 22nd story in my #60DayChallenge to write 30 short stories in Oct/Nov. That's one every two days, of course, and I'm on track. This story was one I was hoping to get to ever since someone asked me on Facebook about where my ideas come from. Iconic question, right?

My answer is what pulp writers have known and taught for ages - ideas are everywhere and are a dime a dozen. All a writer needs is a character in a setting with a problem. (If you're following the typical plot pointed story arc that almost all modern fiction follows, though there are some very good plotless stories out there. But even then, character-setting-struggle is usually center stage.)

To highlight my point, I posed a scenario about a man in a diner ordering a coke but all they had was pepsi. That's enough to start a story - person in a setting with a problem. The key is to tell an interesting story about "what happens next." So it's not the precipitating idea for a story that is the hard part, per se. Any ol' situation will do. It's the "then what happened" that makes a story unique.

So today I finished a story titled, curiously enough, "Man in a Diner Orders a Coke but They Only Serve Pepsi." It's just over 1500 words, so pretty short, and I had a lot of fun with it. The fun part, as you can imagine, is the "what happened next" part. And if you put yourself in that person's shoes, you the reader could probably come up with a few obvious answers.

Ah, but that's the key to a good story. The first couple of answers may not be that interesting - it's what a reader will expect and then will have to stifle a yawn in order to get to the good part. Not saying I do this very well (yet ;) but a writing strategy that was made clear by grandmaster SF writer Kate Wilhelm (now generally known as Wilhelm's law) can be roughly paraphrased as: pick the third option. Or fourth or fifth!

That is, I've got a man in a diner wanting a coke, but no coke! So my first thought is he... (fill in the blank). Boring. Well, instead maybe he... (fill in the blank). Not quite as boring but still no go. So finally, I think of... (this is where you email me and ask to read my story to see if I surprised you).

See? Loads of fun. Plus, another story down.
Time to get a coke and celebrate. :)

Follow my progress here or click the current projects tab above. And thanks for reading!

Stories in the Pipeline

Those of you in sales (or have tried sales!) know about the pipeline. If you don't keep putting things into the beginning of the pipeline, you won't get anything coming out the other end.

Because there are a lot of leaks along the way!

To get a sale, you have to keep putting contacts and follow ups and pop by visits and phone calls and emails etc. into the pipeline so that something can start happening, so that eventually you get a sale. This means you blast out a lot of activity in a variety of ways with a variety of people with a variety of products. If you focus on one potential customer with one measly product and focus on that person only, then you may or may not get a sale; but one thing's for sure, at the end of the process you got nothing else happening and have to start over for the next sale from scratch. Ugh. You savvy?

Submitting stories to magazines for publication is a pipeline business. If you follow your one measly story for 90 days and then get a form rejection email, then that's the poops. You have to start all over with a new market - either the same story or you write a new one and submit it. Ugh.

But if you keep writing a bunch of stories and get them into the pipeline - and keep pushing new material into the pipeline by writing and submitting more stories - then eventually something's going to pop (not poop) out the other end. Could be a rejection, so what? Put it back in the pipeline by submitting it to another market.

Right now I have just over 20 stories in the pipeline. One story's been rejected 5 times already, but I immediately find a new market and send it off. I like quick rejections. Lets me get it back in the pipeline so it can find that one magazine that will accept it. That's all it takes.

I've been writing a short story every two days since the middle of September. I think I've written 30 so far. Some are experiments and not meant for publication, but most are stuffed directly into the pipeline after I type "the end." My goal is to get 100 stories into the pipeline. Imagine how cool it will be when some of those stories start getting accepted. It'll be like popcorn in a microwave. Fun stuff.

So far, I've had one acceptance. And that's way cool. Thanks to J.D. Graves at the start up indie pulp magazine, EconoClash for taking a chance on Exit Ramp and including it in their debut issue set for April 1, 2018. When it goes on sale, you bet I'll annouce it. It's a pipeline success story. ;)

If you want to follow my progress and see what stories are in the submission process, click here (same as my current projects tab above). So what are you waiting for? Fill your pipeline so you can get some of your own success stories popping out the other end. You savvy?

Story Behind Blood Feud

I already told you the story behind the story for New Life at Death Springs and writing a tale about Obadiah Riddle, a traveling prophet created by my friend Stoney Setzer. I liked exploring Riddle's universe and had fun writing that story (posted free for a week a few weeks ago) so thought I'd write another story featuring this character. After chatting with Stoney about some ideas, he told be about a story concept he had called Blood Feud. I thought perfect! So I started writing.

By the end of the first page, though, I realized the traveling preacher who would show up in my story wasn't going to be Obadiah Riddle. The story had a completely different feel than the supernatural "good vs evil" world that Stoney developed. The "Blood Feud" I wrote was about a boy who yearned for two feuding families to make peace. This was his prayer and he thought the traveling preacher, named Ezekiel Freedman, was the answer to that prayer. I also realized something about the boy, named Conner McCurrie, by the end of that first page. But I won't tell you here. If you want to find out, just ask and I'll send the story to you. :)

Couple of interesting remarks about the story from a friend who read it when I first wrote it had me thinking about the role of the main character. What they often teach in composition class is that the MC has to go through some sort of change. That's not true, necessarily, but that's what they teach. When it was pointed out that Conner didn't really change that much in my story, I replied that Conner wasn't the main character. Neither was Freedman, the preacher. The main character was the two feuding families that for the most part stayed off page. That's a hint about the story by the way. ;) 

So just a reminder to us readers. Don't read a story based on some paint by numbers expectation of what you think the story should be. Let the story teller tell his or her story. You may not like the story as told, that's fine. But don't force a square peg in a round hole. If the story wants to be a square peg, judge it based on what it's trying to accomplish. Trust the story teller to tell the story he or she wants to tell. If you don't like their style, don't try to correct them, find another story teller. Simple.

Another example. I'm doing a #60DayChallenge where I'm writing 30 stories in Oct/Nov. The person who set this challenge said he'd read and comment on all 30 stories in addition to a few other things. Which is pretty cool, since this person has quite a reputation as a pulp fiction writer. Well, I got the comments back on my first two stories. Now to be fair, he did say he was just one reader and if we didn't like the comments then we should ignore them.

Well, that comment was the only one that made sense. His remarks about my two stories had nothing to do with what I had written. He was reading with an expectation that didn't fit what I was doing in those stories. So his comments were basically worthless to me. Which is fine. He didn't like my stories. So what did I learn? That he's not my audience. Moving on. Of course, I'll still finish my 30 story challenge and send them in for him to read (I just finished #20 so have 10 to go) but I won't bother reading his comments anymore.

Now does that mean I'm a perfect story teller with nothing to learn? Absolutely not. I have tons to learn and I have to practice different aspects of the story so I can get better. And I know that if I want a story accepted by a certain anthology I have to meet their expectations and "write to market." Ha, that's another thing you hear you're not supposed to do - write toward a particular audience or market. That's silly. Of course you can write what people want to read. Might be a good way to sell books. And if a magazine wants 'literary fantasy' then figure that out and get your 6 cents a word.

But there are also times when you write what you want and let it stand. Always learning. Always growing. But never worrying about what others think or say about your stories. (Gave up reading reviews about my stories a long time ago! You should too.)  Even when your readers are good friends and/or fairly well known pulp writers. No offense, but after a certain point in one's development as a writer, readers can only judge what works for them. You may think they are judging your work, but really it tells me more about them and their expecations than it does about my writing level.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm venting, lol. Just thinking out loud as I share what I'm learning writing a story every couple of days. Next time I'll talk about the story behind "Surprise Date" (a romance!). You can follow my progress here or check the current projects tab above. And seriously, thanks for reading.

Experiments in Flash Fiction

It's hard to write a story every two days. So sometimes I cheat. Well, it's not cheating if my goal is simply to finish some kind of writing project every two or three days - and so expanding a micro fiction into a flash fiction counts as a project, right? Works for me. ;)

Here's what I mean. I took this silly 55 word microfiction (which some short-lived zine published nearly ten years ago) and expanded it to 100 words, then 250, then 500. Each time I added a bit of depth but the punchline remained the same. Here's the first one (original title: "I Won!"). The 500 word version (titled "My Song Request") is being considered by some market or other.

“Song request?”
“Sure,” the DJ says. “You’re also a winner.”
“I know.” Positive self-image.
“No, you won a lottery ticket. It’s at the studio.”
“Okay.” Radio station here I come.
“Yes?” the receptionist asks. She’s pretty.
“I won a ticket.”
“Congratulations. Sign here.”
“Sure.” I start to fidget.
“Anything else?”
“I never requested my song.”

<><

Fun, right? At least I thought so. So I did another one, but this time the final punch line of the 500 word version is a bit different. I kept adding info that changed the story in subtle ways at the 100, 250, and 500 word iteration. The original is called "The Engagement Ring" (published a long time ago) and the full version has the same title. Again off to some market hopefully to find an online home. Here's the 55 word one. (BTW, I have a half dozen of these which I'll likely experiment with in the future as I finish my #60DayChallenge. Again, not cheating! ;)

“Look at this diamond!”
“Now that’s a nice sized rock.”
“You don’t think it’s too ostentatious?”
“Absolutely not! A new bride deserves the best.”
“But what does it communicate?”
“It says, ‘You’re worth it!’”
“You’re right, I am worth it. Now I just have to find the right man who will buy it for me.”

<><

So there's your Free Fiction for the week. ;) Later this week, maybe tomorrow, I'll tell you the story behind the story "Blood Feud." Thanks for reading and following along as I complete this challenge of writing 30 stories in 60 days. You can check my progress here, or click the current projects tab above.

Update: The first story I wrote - "Exit Ramp" - (as part of my pre-challenge challenge) back mid-September has been accepted for publication at EconoClash Review. I think I may be in the first issue, so no stories yet at the website. I'll let you know when it goes live.

(Note: Once Upon a Time image by Ramdlon at Pixabay.com, freely licensed for commercial use.)

Story Behind - Tornado Drakes

I taught middle school for five years. I have some great stories from the classroom that I'll put to paper one day. But this one, "Tornado Drakes' Last Day of School," is fiction - realistic, mainstream, literary fiction, but yeah, still made up. So if you read it, I'm not referring to anyone I've taught or been a colleague with. Okay? Just clarifying. ;)

During my #60DayChallenge I lined up a bunch of abandoned story starts (still have a handful on my computer) to finish. Writing 30 stories in 60 days, I need all the head start helps I can get. So I found Tornado just waiting for his last day to be written about. I had the title and about 300 words of an opening scene with a substitute teacher who mangled the pronunciation of his name.

Now I thought Tornado (pronounced Tor-nah-do, as he insistently informed the sub) was going to get in trouble and get kicked out of school. But that storyline was just too easy and my main character too savvy and complex for that. So I just wrote where he told me to go and ended up with a nice, heartfelt piece that I think will find a good home some place online. Let me know if you want to read it. It's just under 2000 words. Short.

Also, I'm having fun creating ebook covers for each of my stories. Nothing final, just experimenting with free images from Pixabay and fonts from Font Squirrel. And using PowerPoint no less! Thanks for reading and following along as I complete this challenge. You can check my progress here, or click the current projects tab above. Next week I'll write about a couple of flash fiction experiments - "The Engagement Ring" and "My Song Request."

(Note: the classroom photo is © Taken-336382, from Pixabay's free images; fonts are Exo (byline) and Munson (book title) from Font Squirrel, freely licensed for commercial use.)

Zombie-lite Plus Some Humor

If you keep fiddling around in this writing world long enough you accidently end up with a series of stories featuring the same set of characters, theme, and setting. At least, that's what I found when I wrote my first "Billy Farnsworth, Zombie Hunter" flash fiction, "The Hunt, Hunt." (You can read it here online, really really short!)

The second one, "Scary Moments," came along fairly quickly after that. (Again, read it here if you want, another short one!) Now, if you've read these, you know there's not much zombie in them. It's a bit of silliness where I get to tell jokes and dress it up as a story. Sort of like a pun joke, feghoot, or shaggy dog story. You may groan, but I get a kick out of them.

So I thought I would write a third one, playing off a 'princess' theme, father/daughter style, featuring Billy's sister, Steph. And there were some humorous scenarios, but I realized it was turning into an actual story! And a touching, heartfelt one at that! After abandoning it for awhile I finally finished "The Princess and the Zombie" a few years ago, closing the Billy Farnsworth canon.

Or so I thought. Along came the #60DayChallenge and I needed an idea (writing 30 stories in 60 days sort of necessitates that!) and thought of Billy. Somewhat picking up where Princess left off, I had Billy wanting to enter a zombie hunting tournament with his best friend, but the story told me his best friend was moving away so he needed a new partner. His sister, Stephanie? No way! (They both told me no, just no.) So Billy's mom suggested someone new from school. Thus "The Newbie and the Zombie" was born. Or got fleshed out. Get it? Fleshed out? Nevermind.

At any rate, The Newbie is actually looking for a home. (If you want to read it, let me know.) Once it's published and I get past the exclusive use window (remember, we license rights to read or publish, we don't ever sell a story permanently), I'll put the four stories into a collection and sell them myself. Lots of fun. I'll let you know what happens and when.

In the meantime, you can check my progress here, or click the current projects tab above. Thanks for reading. Next up, I'll chat about Tornado Drakes' Last Day of School, a mainstream literary piece, but of course, still with a bit of humor.

(Note: zombie sketch by Keegan Rogers and Matthew Garcia used by permission from the creators)

Space Monkey Pirates!

A number of years ago - 2007 in fact! - I wrote two space monkey flash fictions for Ray Gun Revival - and some kind Overlords there thought the stories were cute enough to merit a print up in their fine publication of space opera.

The titles were "A Thousand Splendid Monkeys" and "Shock the Monkey." A few years later I wrote a third story, "Space Monkey Business," that never saw the light of day. (Except my brother, who'll read about any bit of silliness I throw his way.)

And then, just last month during this #60DayChallenge I wrote a fourth story, "A Barrel of Space Monkeys." I now have enough of a word count to put them into a short collection that I'll probably upload and sell for 99 cents.

"A Barrel of Space Monkeys" is a space monkey pirate story featuring Mazaru and his friend, Captain Ed Drake. Sort of a fun space opera lite bit of whimsy. If you're interested in reading the whole collection, let me know. I'll try to finish editing it this week.

(UPDATE #1 - The collection is edited and compiled, comes to about 5000 words. May write one more story to round out a loosey goosey story arc. Here's the current ebook cover. I kinda like it.)

(UPDATE #2 - Jan, 2018 - I did indeed write one more story, total words at 7,000 or so. And it's now on sale! Here's the universal link at Books2Read - with links to Apple, B&N, Kobo, etc.)

And thanks for following along as I write a story every two days during Oct/Nov. As I complete them, or get stories published, you can check my progress here. Or click the 'Current Projects' tab at the top. Happy reading! Next up, I'll talk about the story behind "The Newbie and the Zombie," another bit of silliness that is part of a series of flash fictions. Fun stuff.

(Note: the space monkey cover art is from Pixabay, (c) Cabezon, and is freely licensed for commercial use.)

Story Behind - One Midsummer's Night

For this short story, a dark fantasy of about 2800 words, I found an abandoned story start on my computer, edited and added to it and used it as a kind of prologue to set the scene for what happens when the wight Nissa, forgotten by his village, finally returns to take his due.

The origin of the abandoned story start was an experiment a friend and I did a long time ago. One person wrote a paragraph, the next added a paragraph, then back and forth for awhile. Probably until I lost interest! ;) (But don't think I just stole this friend's paragraphs, lol. I basically skuddled the whole thing and started from scratch.)

Right now it's in the submission slush pile at some magazine, but if you want to read it let me know. The book cover (to the right) is just a place holder - no ebook is published yet. Once I license a story to a periodical, I'll wait until the contract returns the distribution rights to me and will then publish it as a stand alone ebook.

(BTW, you never 'sell' as story or a novel or any project; you license the copyright. You, the creator, own that intellectual property, and can make money off of your work through licensing. If you don't understand copyright, study up on it.)

Note of interest: "One Midsummer's Night" was the first story I completed in my #60DayChallenge to write 30 stories in 60 days (during Oct/Nov, 2017). I've now completed 15 stories, so am half way there! Next up, I'll tell you about "A Barrel of Space Monkeys," a space monkey pirate story that continues a series of flash fictions about Mazaru, my favorite space monkey pirate, and his friend Captain Ed Drake. Sort of a fun space opera lite bit of whimsy. ;)

As I add more, or get stories published, you can follow my progress here. Or click the 'Current Projects' tab at the top. Thanks for reading!

(Note: cover art is Night Sky © Czbrat, ID 23094525, Dreamstime Stock Photos; cover fonts are Exo (byline) and Munson (book title) from Font Squirrel, freely licensed for commercial use.)

Story Behind - New Life at Death Springs

Earlier this week I mentioned The Return - A Contact Window Story in which I played in another person's sandbox. ;) That is, I wrote a story within the universe of a friend's creative IP (intellectual property), with their permission. It's a kind of fan fiction. I liked what they did and wanted to add a story to that world.

For today's story behind the story, I did something similar. My friend Stoney Setzer writes Christian suspense and supernatural thrillers and mysteries; Twilight Zone-like stories. I even published a collection of his works (found here) called Zero Hour. (book cover to left) In one of his stories, Stoney features a prophet name Obadiah Riddle. Great character, compelling story.

It's been a few years since that released, but I kept thinking about Obadiah Riddle. So with Stoney's permission, I wrote "New Life at Death Springs." (A supernatural western of about 3200 words.) I tried capturing the same feel that Stoney put into his original piece, and sent it to him for edit and approval. He added a scene or two and clarified some things, and so I think the story really came out well.

Free Fiction Friday!

If you're interested in reading it, the story will be free for download here for one week.

"New Life at Death Springs" is set in an "Old West" town of Death Springs, Arizona (fictional, of course) and features an evil mayor, an oppressed town, and a deceived preacher. The Lord sends Obadiah into the middle of the mess to see if new life can spring from this deathly place. You might guess at the answer to that, but getting there was a blast and the story is a good one. :)

Trigger Warning! This is a Christian themed short story, by the way. Not for the whiny hearted. ;)

Next up in my quest to write 30 stories in 60 days, I'll talk about "One Midsummer's Night," a dark fantasy of about 2800 words. Follow my progress here. Check out the 'Current Projects' tab above for more stories.

(Note: cover art is Monument Valley landscape © publicdomainstockphotos, ID 96054875, Dreamstime Stock Photos; cover font is Exo (byline) and Ostrich Sans (book title) from Font Squirrel, freely licensed for commercial use.)

Story Behind - Maysi's First Assignment

For this story in my #60DayChallenge* I wondered if I could start a story without giving any thought at all to character, setting, or crisis prior to sitting down with pen and paper. So I did just that.

Sat down and first thing that came to mind was a woman whose break up was ending as badly as she'd expected. I wrote a couple of paragraphs and realized she was a nameless character without description or place in space or time, a victim of white room syndrome. (Google it.)

So I gave her a name, Maysi (short for Maysandra, sounds sort of witchy, eh? hint hint), set the stage for the crisis, grounded the break up in a time and place, and introduced the antagonist. Along with some jewelry. I didn't know at that point that the jewelry was all that important. But it became the centerpiece for the motivation between the two people. In a totem, talisman kind of way.

I knew fairly quickly this was an urban fantasy story about a woman with special powers, on her first assignment under the guidance of a loving but somewhat quirky mother. And as the story developed I kinda got into it. Normally the title comes to me at this point when I realize where the story is going. But I was having trouble nailing down something that truly fit.

Finally ended up with "Maysi's First Assignment" though I'm still not happy with it. Sounds like it's a risque piece and this one is actually pretty clean! It's 2,230 words long and I'm pretty satisfied with it overall, except for the build up to the end. I think it lacks something. If you want to read it and let me know what you think, contact me.

See, I'm not too good yet when it comes to creating mounting tension climaxing in an all out confrontation, which this story demanded. So I sort of wrapped things up and sent it off to a market. It's been rejected twice, which is fine. I'll keep trying but if I have the inkling to come back around to it in a few months and rework the climax, then I may do that.

Or not. Not really bothered when stories don't quite work how I want them. Too many more to write. I'm moving on, taking what I'm learning from one story and trying it out on the next. Thus the challenge asterisked (*) above - write 30 stories in 60 days. Having a blast so far. Hope you're enjoying coming along for the ride as well.

Tomorrow, I'll mention the story behind "New Life at Death Springs," a supernatural western.

(Follow my progress here. Check out the 'Current Projects' tab above for more stories.)

Short Story - Tucker and Mr. Chilly

I'm a cat person, I'll admit it. And a few years ago I wrote about Mack the Magical Cat in Ma Tutt's Donut Hut. (And yes, I'm going to eventually finish book 2 for those who are waiting. Eventually.)

But one day at Starbucks I was writing with a friend and couldn't concentrate on the story at hand so I just grabbed a pen and paper and started a new story about a guy, down on his luck, who fed his last can of tuna to this cat who'd adopted him a few months before.

Character in a setting with a problem.

It was a fun little opening scenario, but as I often do, I abandoned the story after about the first 300 words or so. It was just sitting there in my notebook, analog style, for a few months. Maybe longer. So when this #60DayChallenge came along, I saw it in my notebook, started typing it into the computer, and away we went.

It turned into a cute little speculative fantasy story of about 3400 words called Tucker and Mr. Chilly. (Mr. Chilly's the cat, and Charlie - pictured above and to the right - was my inspiration ;). If you're interested in reading it, let me know (swear word warning!). Right now it's trying to find a home, having been rejected by a pro market but with some very kind words.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the origin for "Maysi's First Assignment."

Short Story - Exit Ramp

Some of you might know I'm in the midst of a #60DayChallenge to write 30 stories in 60 days during October/November. Right now I've just finished story #12, which means I'm on track - a story every 2 days.

I'm listing them here if you want to check my progress. But I thought you may also be interested in the story behind each story as I write them. Maybe not, probably not, but I'm going to share nevertheless. Just move along if this is of no interest. ;)

So a bit of background - I actually started this challenge with a pre-challenge mid-September to write a story every two days. And so far I've been pretty successful. I've actually written 21 stories since Sept 13.

The first one was called "Exit Ramp." It's a modern day fantasy (urban pulp fantasy?) at almost 2400 words that has a little bit of a twist. (If you want to read it see UPDATE below.)

Anyway, how I came up with the premise was simple. I was driving home thinking I needed to start this challenge that evening and I was going to exit from the highway on Woodlawn but decided to take Rock Road instead. So I got to thinking, what if I whipped across the lane, sped down the exit ramp at 60 mph and screeched to a halt? Maybe a cop stops me. Maybe someone gets out of their car to confront me. And that was the origin of "Exit Ramp."

The core of every (typical plot style) story is a character in a setting with a problem. I had a character (guy in a car) and a setting (zipping off the highway) and a problem (going too fast for safety). What happens next? Well, in my story I thought a cop would pull him over, but that seemed too common. So a guy gets out who is stopped in front of him. So does the driver. And off we go to story land.

The twist is that I didn't realize who the driver was until about half way through writing the story. But that's okay. Since I mostly write into the dark, the surprise directions the story takes me are fun, so I figure they'll be fun for the reader too. I'll let you know if a magazine editor agrees. ;)

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the next story I wrote: "Tucker and Mr. Chilly."

UPDATE Nov 7, 2017: This story has now been accepted for publication at EconoClash Review. I'll let you know when it goes live. No stories up yet, so I think I'll be in the first issue.

What I'm Learning Writing Short Stories

I'm writing a short story every two days for the next month or so. Who knows? I might just keep up the habit once my #60DayChallenge is over. I'm also learning a ton along the way.

Quite a few things my brain hasn't even processed yet, I'm sure.

But one thing that pops to mind - after finishing 20 stories since the middle of September - the (good) pressure to finish a project every two days helps me 'forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead.' (Extra credit if you know what chapter and verse that's from.) In other words, there is always another story to write. One down, another to go. Then another. And then another.

This leads to two conclusions I've stumbled upon...
A) I won't run out of ideas (or exhaust my creativity).
And B) I won't devalue what I've already written by adding more stories to my personal opus.

Those two thoughts, in the negative, are actually two myths I've been busting with all this writing lately. Here they are in two simple statements often taken as posits: ideas are precious; my stories are precious.

First, let me address the myth that ideas are precious. Look, truth is ideas are a dime a dozen. There are no original plots or ideas or concepts. (Okay, maybe some really really creative takes on various themes can count as 'original,' but you get what I'm saying.) Someone has done what I think is so neat and precious - and original - before and did a lot better job at it than I could ever hope to.

Since that's the truth, I can lay to rest the myth that I only have a few good ideas so I better not squader them unless I have a perfect story, a perfect voice, a perfect POV, etc. See where that leads? If ideas are like gold nuggets, then I better hoard the few I have. And that leads to paralysis.

But if ideas are a dime a dozen (and they are), then shoot, whip 'em out as fast as you can and put a story to them. What makes the difference between two stories with the same idea is the telling of the story. Duh. My goal, then, is to just get better at telling stories.

Which leads to busting myth number 2 - the stories I've written are precious. That's a lie. Most are pretty bad and not at all worth hanging around for a hundred years. They ain't classics and they ain't gonna be. So adding more stories to my catalogue will not devalue them in any way. They're already cheap entertainment. Which is what I enjoy writing and reading.

See, I'm the kind of writer who likes everything he writes. (I'm a guy, thus the maculine pronoun. ;) I know some writers who are insecure about their stories...is it any good, does it pass muster? Heck, that's not me. I think everything I write is beautiful, perfect, and entertaining. I even cry at what I write. And I make my wife cry too, but that's a bit different than what I mean here.

Now I'm a realist. I know not everyone will think that way about my stories, but that's their loss. For me, though, I get a kick out of what I write, especially when I re-read them. And I re-read my stories a lot. I laugh at my own jokes and cry even before I get to the sad part.

But the danger in this is that I can very quickly wander into the territory of thinking that my stories are 'precious.' There's a difference. See it? I think my stories are great. But they are not precious commodoties to be guarded like Gollum's ring. Thinking so leads to paralysis.

This happens to quite a few writers, I imagine. They publish a book or two and wonder why they are not selling. So they edit it some more, put new covers on them, buy Facebook ads... Dang, people, write another book. That first one stunk anyway. Mine do too. Write more so you find people like yourself who think everything you write is great. They're out there, I'm sure.

So finishing a project every two days has tremendous benefit. It's helped my thinking, and of course, I believe it's helped my writing. I practice POV, I test word order and phrases, I figure out pacing, I experiment. Fun stuff.

And I've learned it's easier than writing a story a week. Really. If I had a week to write a story, I'd never get it done. I procrastinate and then get all wiggy. But if I'm writing like a leaky faucet, always adding words during my free time (which means I've cut TV from my diet as well as scrolling FB and gaming too), then a story every couple of days is quite do-able and exciting. I like the thrill of accomplishment.

So when I finish that one story and glory in it for an hour or so, re-reading it, laughing and crying (some times at the same time!), and congratulating myself on finishing the best story every told, I eventually remind myself that another story is due in two days. It's becoming a habit. A good one.

Remember, there's always another story to write.

Short Story Challenge

I took Dean Wesley Smith up on the challenge to write 30 short stories in 60 days (Oct/Nov 2017).

I know, it sounds crazy. But if I clear my plate and write like a leaky faucet every day, then it seems do-able. It's only a story every two days. I like that way of thinking about it. Start a story one day, finish it the next.

So I'm going to give it a shot. Dean will then read and comment on each story I send him. Should be great fun. In fact, I've started the adventure already. I'm challenging myself to just get going and not wait until October 1st.

I'll post my progress here. Plus, I'll indicate which stories are in submission and/or accepted online for publication. Feel free to check in and see how I'm doing. Comments welcome as well.

Pre-Challenge Challenge (9 stories in 18 days)
1. Exit Ramp (modern day fantasy, 2380 words, finished Sept 16) * (A)
2. Tucker and Mr. Chilly (speculative, 3400 words, finished Sept 17) ^ (s)
3. An Uneventful Flight (slice-of-life, 1000 words, final draft Sept 17) + (s)
4. Race Ya! (memoir, 350 words, final draft Sept 18) +
5. Maysi’s First Assignment (urban fantasy, 2230 words, finished Sept 21) * (s)
6. New Life at Death Springs (supernatural western, 2650, finished Sept 23) * (I)
7. When the World Ends (humor/modern day, 515 words, final draft Sept 25) + (s)
8. Friley's Friday Night (humor/fantasy, 560 words, final draft Sept 25) + (s)
9. Exorcising Judgment (supernatural, 2300 words, final draft Sept 27) + 

#60DayChallenge - October (30 stories in 60 days)
1. One Midsummer's Night (dark fantasy, 2830 words, Oct 4) ^ (s)
2. A Barrel of Space Monkeys (humor, space opera lite, 1900 words, Oct 5) * (I)
3. The Newbie and the Zombie (MG adventure, zombie-lite, humor, 3140 words, Oct 6) * (s)
4. My Song Request (experiment in flash fiction, 900 words, Oct 8) +/^ (s)
5. Tornado Drakes' Last Day of School (mainstream literary, YA, 1900 words, Oct 9) ^ (s)
6. The Engagement Ring (experiment in flash fiction, 900 words, Oct 12) +/^ (s)
7. Blood Feud (historical/literary, 3440 words, Oct 15) *
8. Surprise Date (romance, 5400 words, Oct 16) ^
9. To Tame a Demon (dark fantasy, 3520 words, Oct 19) ^ (s)
10. Memory Dish (children's fantasy, humor, 2000 words, Oct 20). ^ (s)
11. Casting Call for a Vampire (horror, 1500 words, Oct 23) + (s)
12. The Pull of the Tide (fantasy, 4400 words, Oct 24) * (s)
13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Nobody (modern YA specfic, 3600 words, Oct 27) ^ (s)
14. Exorcising Judgment (revision - supernatural, 3200 words, Oct 30) ^/+ (s)
15. Coast is Clear (experiment in POV, crime/thriller, 1100 words, Oct 31) ^/+ (s)

#60DayChallenge - November
16. Space Monkey Pirate Stories (expanded 3 flash fictions, 3000 words, Nov 2) + (I)
17. Take This Job (mainstream lit, 2500 words, Nov 4) ^
18. Making Worf Proud (a geeky middle grade kid story, 1570 words, Nov 6) ^
19. Curious Case of Kevin Klaag (psych/horror, 3800 word, Nov 9) ^ (s)
20. Long Haul Goodbye (SF flash fiction, 800 words, Nov 10) * (s)
21. Forewarned, Forearmed (SF/space opera, 1800 words, Nov 12) * (s)
22. Man in a Diner (slice of life, 1580 words, Nov 14) *
23. Life With (a few) Dogs (memoir, humor, 2000 words, Nov 16) *
24. She Raced the Waves (and 3 other poems, 500 words, Nov 17) + (s)
25. Hot Tub Graduation (YA, literary, 980 words, Nov 18) * (s)
26. For Pap (flash fiction, historical/literary, 430 words, Nov 18) +/^
27. An Astral Advent (SF/speculative, 2950 words, Nov 23) + (s)
28. Like Me as a Friend (prose poem, 400 words, Nov 27) +/^
29. Dating in Grade School (memoir, humor, 450 words, Nov 27) +/^
30. Title TBD (a modern day fantasy, 3000 words, Nov 30) *

* brand new story, start to finish
^ finished an abandoned story start
+ edited unfinished story or scenes
(s) in submission to a magazine
(A) - accepted for publication
(I) - indie publishing it