English has a lot of little quirks, but one of the quirkiest is all the words it has for groups of animals. If you look at a site like Owlcation, you can find a huge list of words, many of which sounds like they’re just made up, but probably were used very long ago. Still,…
Limited Sky
Limited Sky “You’re applying for a game developer position?” The manager flipped through my application in confusion. “Yes.” “Your background is law, though.” “I am a lawyer currently, but I’ve been studying coding for several years. If you look at my portfolio—” “No, it’s great.” The manager looked uncomfortable. “I’m just afraid you’re a bit…
Muse on Monday – May 30, 2022
Because of movies, we tend to think of action stories as having to do with fighting, crime or some other sort of swashbuckling adventure, usually since those are the most exciting stories to watch. However, an action story can be any kind of high-energy story that has a fair bit of movement. This week, I…
Writing Corner: The Right To Write
Today’s post is written by guest writer, Susannah Bianchi. Check out her slightly-on-slant essays and novels at athingirl.com. The Right To Write The Right to Write is my favorite go-to writing book by esteemed author, Julia Cameron. Though I have others…Bird By Bird, by Anne Lamott, Stephen King’s On Writing, hers is the one I…
Muse on Monday – May 23, 2022
I’ve been away from the site for a couple weeks since I’ve been down with COVID. It might have been a time to do some writing, but unfortunately, it was not the asymptomatic variety. But I’m back now and almost as good as ever. This week’s prompt is the first line of a story: In…
Self-Delivery
I got the idea for this story on Wednesday, but I got COVID earlier in the week, so this is the first I’ve had the strength to write it down. You could chalk this up to my fevered brain, although I write this kind of thing all the time, so I guess that’s no excuse….
Muse on Monday – May 9, 2022
When we think of conflict, we often think of very dramatic things: wars, murders, and attacking creatures if it’s external or fights, gossip and backstabbing if it is interpersonal conflict. However, conflict does not always have to be big. It could be as subtle as a girl trying to get a particular seat in class…
Writing Corner: Writing Spaces
When it comes to writing productively, when and where we write are very important and very individual. Everyone is going to write best in different circumstances based on their personality. Personally, my ideal writing situation is in the evening in a coffee shop. I’m a night person so that is when I’m the most awake…
Wolves and Dark Fire
Wolves and Dark Fire I wake with my face in the furry back of a wolf. It does not have the musky smell of an animal—these wolves smell only of ash, and if the damp is up, mold. It is a smell I am used to. I sit up and put my back to the…
Muse on Monday – May 2, 2022
A lot of art is about contrast and that is true for fiction as well. Putting two very different things next to each other helps us to see and understand both of them better. For example, we can understand being rich and being poor better in a story with both rich and poor people in…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 