Best Tips

Lately, I've had more than one story in the works at the same time—a separate notebook for each one, or more precisely, a loose pile of notes and reference material that aspires to, one day, assemble itself into a coherent narrative.

Dark as Chocolate Released

In Dark as Chocolate, food poisoning of a former high school classmate leads FDA Investigator Connie Murphy to inspect Morerich Chocolates. On the surface, Morerich appears to be following the regulations, but she soon discovers the company is hiding illness complaints about their Delightfully Delicious candy bars. As Connie continues to dig deeper, she gets entangled in economic fraud and drug smuggling, and her efforts culminate in kidnapping and attempted murder.

Read a sample of Connie Murphy #4, Dark as Chocolate

The Wind

…the musings of a "empty nest" father, written one lazy afternoon in 1997 while visiting his daughter in Cleveland. It is, I believe, a timeless piece for any parent when the children move out.

Dad's Wooden Rabbit

I also write a lot of memoir. The following, Dad's Wooden Rabbit, was a challenge to write something from the past, but do it in the present tense. I didn't think I could do it, but the challenge presenter gave me a big thumbs up for accomplishing the task.

How the Winchester Gang saved the World

The Great Depression ravaged the world during the 1930s. It was the longest, deepest, and most widespread depression in modern history.

The term "UFO" was coined in 1953 by the United States Air Force to serve as a catch-all for any airborne object which did not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object.

An Excellent Bookstore

Yesterday's Muse Inc. is an independent used and rare bookseller that has been in operation for over 10 years. We opened our first 'brick and mortar' storefront in December of 2008 in our hometown of Webster, NY.

A Covid Prayer

Daily life looks very different, and this pandemic has impacted everybody in some way. You are not alone in what you are facing. The fears that rise to the surface are felt by billions of people around the world. We are all in this together. Even though the storm is raging right now, famous poet Maya Angelou once said, "Every storm runs out of rain."

Untitled Story

Flash fiction is a short work that still offers character and plot development. Identified varieties, many of them defined by word count, include the six-word story; the 280-character story (also known as "twitterature"); the "dribble" (also known as the "minisaga," 50 words); the "drabble" (also known as "microfiction," 100 words); "sudden fiction" (750 words); flash fiction (1,000 words); and "micro-story."

Carrot Ranch Tales

I am a regular contributor at Carrot Ranch Literary where Charli Mills offers a weekly prompt to anyone who wants to participate. We write 99 words, no more, no less, flash fiction stories. Each October we "Rodeo" meaning the prompts are more challenging, specific, and often have twists to them. They are meant to stretch our writing chops and make us, the authors, get out of our comfort zones to try something different.

The Usefulness Committee

Meetings are the most universal — and universally despised — part of business life. But bad meetings do more than ruin an otherwise pleasant day. There are real stakes: bad meetings make bad companies. In businesss, People don't take meetings seriously. They arrive late, leave early, and spend most of their time doodling. People wander off the topic. Good meetings aren't just about work. They're about fun — keeping people charged up.

Opening Paragraphs

Most published authors didn't worry about a single opening sentence; they just started telling the stories. There has to be a beginning. May of these opening indicate time and place, introducing a character. But almsot across the board, what the authors do is to provide a descriptiont.

Dear Author

An advice column for writers, poets, and wordsmiths who go bump in the page.

New Connie Murphy Mystery Published

Connie Murphy is a senior drug investigator with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who is passionate about protecting public health. While conducting seemingly routine inspections, intrigue and danger intervene.

Punctuation

The average person rarely needs to worry much about punctuation beyond a few basics. For the most part, those we communicate with don't care if the punctuation is off as long as they understand what we've written. Once we go beyond everyday communication and enter the world of business, clarity of meaning becomes more important.

Timely Converstaion

Rick Iekel sends us a timely piece that we are going to Grandfather in...

LCRW Round Robin

One of the most famous writing challenges was between C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and Frank Belknap Long. It was called the Challenge from Beyond. In this writing exercise, the writers each wrote one short section that ended in such a way as to leave the next author in a difficult spot. Now we present the LCRW Writing Challenge - 2020 Round Robin. But I won’t spoil the ending.

LCRW on Medium

The internet should reward quality thinking, not clickbait. Medium says they have created a better home for writers, journalists and experts. It's simple to use, free from ads, and connects you to curious, avid readers, so you can focus on what matters: putting your best work out there.

Deal with the Devil

Dante and his allies discover his lost home, Earth only to find the malevolent galactic force he had been struggling against found it too and was already there.

Polka-dots Make the Day More Normal

In 1962, DC Comics introduced Polka-Dot Man with irregularly-sized and differently coloured dots. The Venezuelan fashion designer Carolina Herrera also used polka dots on most of her dresses during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Much of the Japanese artist's Yayoi Kusama's work features a polka dot motif. The Polka Dot Door is a Canadian children's television series produced from 1971 to 1993 or…

LCRW Inklings

What if there was a place you could meet your fellow writers virtually? What if there was a place where you could read your draft work to others, without having to edit it or spend hours using a spell checker? What if there was a place you could help other writers with their work… no prep necessary? Now there is. Every Tuesday 8 PM