Short Fiction

Like many others, I joined NaNoWriMo the first time because I thought I could write a better novel than some of the schlock I had paid money to buy and read. Long before the thirty days were up, I realized how wrong this notion had been.

In the latest hours of the night and the earliest hours of the day, a writer can find the solitude necessary for a long inward journey of the mind...

Writing a novel in 30 days? That's insane. The voices inside you head are all to glad to tell you what a thankless, silly challenge NaNoWriMo is.

The USS John Rodgers was assigned to drilling holes in the water in the Persian Gulf when a junior officer suddenly became seriously ill. The sight and sound of the "Desert Duck" was sheer beauty as it landed ...

'Death' should, in fact -- in most circumstances, at least -- be most studiously avoided. And this is more particularly so, when that Death relates to one's own person.

blurb

Alun Evans is a twenty-three year old English writer currently studying film in Cornwall, the South of England. Mainly interested in short stories and poetry, he has been influenced by a number of writers, including Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Jack Kerouac, and Franz Kafka. He believes in the idea of simplistic writing to create as much emotion as possible in each sentence.

The hopseed bush can be grown into a nice tree, and adds color and texture to warm-climate gardens.

Missed the bus, missed the field trip -- but there is one thing that this kid knows about what to do when life seems more serious and sad than it should ...

In the City of Spires, there is a holiday that everyone celebrates, a holy-day of the human heart. Even the darkest winter must give way before it ...

Mad Lord Patu of the Homemade Beer and Mbanje Reefers has an artificial leg. Most days, that's just about all he wears, so its origin was bound to come up in conversation sooner or later ...

It has been shown in survey after survey that people fear public speaking more than they fear death. Would you be able to do it? The answer is Toastmasters International.

The "Calcutta Sly" was known in every port from Amsterdam to Mombasa by her distinctive flag and powerful sails, and no finer ship ever rode the indigo swells or carried a finer crew.

Roger White is a trapped man. When someone comes to rescue him, will he recognize the face of a friend or of an enemy, and will he have the strength and the courage to fight his way out?

Author KK Brown brings an important lesson about writing and its consequences.

Deadlines, day jobs, and distractions: they're all part of a writer's life. But here's a hint: don't mention pizza in front of non-writers when you have a story brewing!

Hermann Potgieter's grandfather was a clever man as well as a great marathon runner, managing to win the Comrade's Marathon many times. However did he do it?

Oh, to be sure that when you sit down to write, the funny stuff will be right there at the tips of your fingers -- wouldn't that be worth a pouchful of gold and silver? "Fork over some big-time gold pieces," says Aser, "and you will be a regular laff riot."

A lovely invitation to dine with Lord Patu -- but how could one have forgotten to inform one's wife that the host normally doesn't bother with the aggravation of clothing?

When you look into someone's eyes and recognize that their loneliness matches your own, all you want is to take their hand and walk with them ...

Release from pain, a happy haze of comfort. That's all Trina can ask for any more. That, and to watch what lies outside her window ...

Just a little reminder this week ... be nice to your mother.

Uncle Edgar was watching the evening weather with me the other day, and told me not to worry so much about the freakish unseasonable rains we've seen this Spring. "You want weather to worry about? I'll tell you what kind of weather you'd need to worry about!"

For some sleep is a precious activity during the day. When Helena's sleep cycle gets interrupted, she'll go through anything to get back into her cozy bed and enjoy the dreamlife--even if it means battling a strange creature. (Originally appeared 2005-08-08)

Laws can be useful guidelines for establishing order. But a set of laws that works well in one circumstance doesn't necessarily work well in another. Occasionally, it's better just to scrap the whole thing... (Originally appeared 2005-07-04)

A slightly alcohol-soaked narrative outlines a tale of mercantile sin and meteoroligcal salvation as a graying barfly describes the night he piloted the Davemobile through the Storm of the Century. (Originally appeared 2005-03-27)

Life may be all games for virtual reality play tester Tod Ruckle, but the fun drained out of it a long time ago, somewhere between the ex-wife, the downsized job, the mortgage payment he can't meet and the compulsive gambling problem. But a phone call out of the blue may just change all that. Part 1 of 5. (Originally appeared 2004-08-14)

Maybe he was going to die for that rock, but he wanted to make sure his grandchildren had a good life. All he had to do was get there first, and hope for some sweet savior to bring him some air ...

A freak? Far from it! Little Buddy was the most considerate roommate ever.

Being wise isn't easy, especially when doling out wisdom about marriage that includes boobs and pit vipers.