Beginning this Thursday, January 1st, I will be posting a serial version of one of my short stories, “A Big Yellow Dog.” It is a revised version of a short story from the book “The Fiction Writer and Other Short Stories,” which was published in 2007. It will last approximately four weeks, so enjoy.
Monthly Archives: December 2008
how do you write a novel?
December 15, 2008 – 7:37 am
December 15, 2008
I have talked to many people who tell me, “I’ve always wanted to write a book. I have a great idea for a book. Someday I’m going to write a book. And just as soon as—–.”
Notice the key word is “someday”. Why not start writing today? If not today, why not start tomorrow? [...]
it sometimes takes a funeral
December 13, 2008 – 9:14 am
Some vignettes tell a sad story and some tell a happy story. This one tells a little of both.
I recently attended a funeral viewing service honoring the memory of the deceased who died in her early fifties. Needless to say her mother was devastated. No parent wants to outlive her children.
This mother had three other adult children who attended [...]
different perspectives
December 9, 2008 – 7:21 am
I was invited to a semi-formal brunch at the home of a friend recently. It was serendipitously scheduled on December 7, which was the anniversary of the date of the bombing of Pearl harbor in 1941. The guests were a mixture of all ages, including people who actually were teen-agers in 1941. They somehow unintentenally graviated toward [...]
the wedding dress
December 5, 2008 – 2:21 pm
This notice appeared recently in the classified section of a large city’s newspaper.
FOR SALE: Very beautiful, brand new wedding dress, never been worn.
There is most certainly a story behind the notice. But is it a story of relief as she canceled the wedding because she was about to marry the wrong person? Or is it a story of heart break because she was abandoned on the [...]
oatmeal raisin cookies
December 4, 2008 – 1:34 pm
I was in a Bakery/Delicatessen section of a large grocery store recently looking for something in the freshly baked cookie category. A very pretty, very southern talking, twenty something year old woman was behind the bakery counter.
“Do you have any oatmeal raisin cookies?,” I asked her, they being my favorite cookie.
She said she did. I [...]
