Sidra tried to keep her mind focused on the image of sidewalks bustling with people while the horns of passing cars honked a merry tune. It must have been beautiful once, on the outside. Sidra tried to picture a blue sky arching over tall buildings made of reflective windows that sparkled in the sunlight. Her mind couldn’t hold the image. The picture kept changing to grey skies meeting grey land. Soon her thoughts strayed to the day when winter came too soon, and never left. Continue reading →
- Reflection- Part 2
Fear paralyzed me.
What could it mean? What would happen to me?
I stared at the empty mirror for what seemed an eternity before I finally forced myself to shower. Meanwhile an internal battle raged.
The only thing I could imagine is that my lack of reflection meant I would no longer exist; that sometime, before dawn tomorrow, I would be dead. Continue reading →
- Reflection
I remember the day I realized that the person staring back at me in the mirror was not my reflection as I was, but as I would be.
The day before my seventh birthday I looked into the bathroom mirror after gathering my toothbrush and toothpaste, and there I was, wearing a shirt that I didn’t recognize and a conical paper hat which read Happy Birthday. Continue reading →
- All the Time in the World
“I did it.” I whispered the words triumphantly as I stepped through the shimmering green circle and looked around at a scene so familiar, it felt as if I’d never left.
After tapping the icon on my timepiece which closed the portal, I held my arms out in front of me. A grin stretched across my pimpled face as I examined the smooth, unlined skin of my hands.
A low chuckle rolled through my chest as I looked down at my clothes, brown polyester pants and a high-collared blue silk shirt. The chuckle soon became a full-bellied laugh.
“I did it!” I shouted to the sky, startling a robin from its nest. Continue reading →
- What’s Your Favorite Place?
Is there a place that will forever hold a piece of your soul?
For me that place is the former site of our family cottage on the shores of Otter Lake in Honor, Michigan.
As a kid, I would go every summer with my family for weeks at a time to the little green cabin nestled in what is now part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. There was no television, barely a radio, and this was before the invention of e-mail, let alone i-devices. Continue reading →
- Titles: How Important Are They?
I’ve been thinking a lot about titles lately. Choosing a title for a book, or even a short story, is hard for me. I’ve done it several times now, but I never feel completely confident in my choices. I tend to prefer one word titles, and I want the title to express the feeling of the story. If you’ve ever tried to write a synopsis or an elevator pitch, you know how agonizing it is to attempt to summarize an entire novel in a few paragraphs or a few sentences. Now you have to narrow it down to a few words…the title. Continue reading →
- Chapter 2 of Empyrean
Here it is! Chapter two of my science fiction adventure as promised. This will be it for the sneak-peek for now, I have a bit more work to do from here (okay, probably a lot more work to do), but I appreciate all of your positive feedback from last week and I hope you enjoy the beginning of the story enough to check in from time to time and see what happens with my first novel in the months (okay, maybe years) to come. Have a greet weekend! Continue reading →
- New First Chapter
Hi! It’s been a while. Sorry I haven’t been posting regularly, it’s been a crazy month. As a quick update before we get to the good part, I’m working on a new novel that is a near-future science fiction thriller. In my spare time I’m also working on another round of edits for Empyrean, my very first completed science fiction novel. A few of you read the original. A few of you read the latest version post rewrite. Now I’ve rearranged things a bit so I thought I’d share the new first chapter. I know it could still change again. I know I’ll probably have to change the title at some point (I just saw recently that Chuck Wendig has a book called Under the Empyrean Sky…so…yeah, I’ve got my list of new possibilities going), but I want to keep you in the loop and since I don’t have a new story to share, I thought I’d share this. I hope you like it! Have a great weekend. Continue reading →
- Facebook Pages: What I Wish I Had Known
For anyone out there who has a business, a blog, an idea, or a book, you’ve probably thought about creating a Facebook page. You’ve seen the ones that have 1.5 million likes and think, “Wow, that could be me!” and you know what, it could be you, if you put in a lot of time and effort, or you’re NASA.
There’s still a lot I have to learn, but I want to share with you some of the good, the bad, and the things I wish I had known when I started my Facebook page.
Continue reading →
- THE END of The Latest Frontier (Part 8 of 8)
Here it is, the grand finale! If this is your first visit STOP NOW and read the rest of the story before you continue…it’s cheating to read the end of the story first! I’ll give you the links to make it a little less annoying to click to all the other chapters: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.
Okay, all caught up? Here we go….
For twenty-four sleepless hours I waited in my cell, worrying about my children. When I’d arrived at the station, they’d given me my one phone call. I used it to call home, but no on had answered.
Continue reading →
- Friday Fiction- The Latest Frontier Part 7
Over the course of the week, Hope’s health continued to improve, and I grew more bold with each successful theft from the Wilson estate. On Friday I bundled up a few extra apples and some small cucumbers, hiding them in the inner pocket of my backpack to take home for my own family.
All the way home, I felt sick with guilt, but when I saw my children’s eyes light up and watched them silently savor each morsel as they glanced at each other with huge delighted grins, my guilt eased a little. I even felt justified. Continue reading →
- Friday Fiction- The Latest Frontier Part 6
After forcing my arms through the sleeves of my coat, I grabbed my facemask and backpack then walked over to kiss Hope and Aaron goodbye. Aaron leaned toward me, his eyes never leaving the t.v. screen, to allow me to give him a peck on the cheek.
“Bye, Dad. Love you.”
“Love you too, son.”
Hope clambered up to her knees so that she could wrap her arms around my neck. I squeezed her tight, then loosened my grip so that I could turn and plant a kiss on her temple. Her brow felt warm but dry, the fever had broken last night. Continue reading →
- Friday Fiction- The Latest Frontier Part 5
The pharmacy didn’t open for another hour, but already a line had formed that extended the length of a city block. As I took my place at the end I heard the muffled coughs of those ahead of me. Though I wore my mask, I couldn’t help but take short, shallow breaths. I kept my hands clasped behind my back to help resist the urge I had every five minutes to check my inner coat pocket for the prescription that could save my daughter’s life.
When the doors were finally unlocked, the line began to move forward at a snail’s pace. Two at a time we were allowed to enter the first set of doors, wait for the overhead vents to clear the air, and then scan our IDs before passing through another set of doors and into the waiting room. Once it was my turn to find a seat, I noticed most people kept their masks on. I did the same. Continue reading →
- Friday Fiction- The Latest Frontier Part 4
When I woke on Saturday morning, grit scratched across my eyeballs as I pulled them open. The right side of my neck protested painfully as I lifted my head from where it had fallen to rest on the edge of the couch.
Aaron still slept on the floor in front of me, one hand inches from my fingertips. Hope also slept, her breath rasped, but came and went in even intervals. Her cheeks looked flushed, but I dared not touch her for fear of waking her and setting off another fit of coughing.
As I pushed myself off the floor, I had to stifle a groan. As quietly as possible I stole across the living room and into the entryway. Continue reading →
- Friday Fiction- The Latest Frontier Part 3
For the next week I watched the pile of bills grow taller, and the hollows beneath my children’s cheekbones sink deeper. Without Mary’s income I couldn’t keep up. Without her whispers in my ear each night that “as long as we have each other it will all work out”, I barely had the will to try.
Every day I walked past the Wilson’s tidy garden and fruit-laden trees, growing as bitter as the bright yellow lemons which ripened in the artificial sunlight.
When I returned home from work that Friday, the elevator opened and I braced myself for my usual welcome, but Hope did not spring forward and wrap her arms around my knees. She wasn’t even waiting behind the doorway of our apartment. Instead Aaron’s worried face greeted me. Continue reading →
- Friday Fiction- The Latest Frontier Part 2
Bea had a sealed container waiting for me when I checked out that night. I leaned in, sniffed and smiled as the scent of cinnamon and sugar filled my nostrils.
“Thanks, Bea,” I said waiting for her to look up and make eye contact so that she would see my sincerity.
“Don’t mention it,” she replied waving away my thanks with one greasy hand.
As I walked from the kitchen toward the exit, the fading light clicked off and the false sky was replaced by the dark blue ocean. Continue reading →
