This story is written as a response to the Muse on Monday writing prompt for July 14, 2025: Write a story about coffee or tea or another hot drink. Tea Minutes Left How long did a cup of tea last? Mike had never considered it before. In truth, he almost never remembered the actual drinking of the…
Tag: Muse on Monday
Muse on Monday – July 14, 2025
There seems to be a hidden divide, at least in my culture, between coffee and tea people. Not that there is any fighting, but people generally prefer one over the other (I like both, but I am definitely a coffee person). Then there are those special cases who only drink hot chocolate or something else….
Bringing a Knife to a Laser Fight
This story is written as a response to the Muse on Monday writing prompt for July 7, 2025: Write a story about an anachronism. Bringing a Knife to a Laser Fight They told us we could pick any weapon we wanted for the semi-annual battle royale. It was all in virtual reality, so no one…
Muse on Monday – July 7, 2025
Recently, I visited an island with no cars or motorized vehicles at all. Everything was done with horse-drawn wagons and carriages. It was like stepping back into the 19th century (except, luckily, for the air conditioning). Still, it was charmingly anachronistic. An anachronism is anything that doesn’t fit in the current time period, either because…
Muse on Monday – June 30, 2025
This week, I want to look at birds. Birds are pretty fascinating for a lot of reasons: the fact that many of them travel long distances every year, much more than land animals; they have a big range of sizes and diets and characteristics, from the hummingbird to the ostrich, and they live in every…
Muse on Monday – June 23, 2025
The novel Leviathan, by Scott Westerfield, takes place in World War I. The situation is the same as the history we know except that the British have living machines made through genetic engineering and the Germans have steampunk mechanical machines, like walking fortresses. This is what is known as alternate history, where we imagine history…
Muse on Monday – June 16, 2025
Welcome to another week and another Muse on Monday! Today’s prompt is what I call a one-piece prompt, in that it gives you one piece of a story premise but leaves enough room for you to fill in the details about setting, genre and plot. Story Prompt: June 16, 2025 Write a story about a…
Muse on Monday – June 9, 2025
Story Prompt: June 9, 2025 Write a story based on the picture below: This is a picture of the county courthouse in Erie, PA. I’m not sure why it’s lit up blue, but it makes a cool effect. If you write a story with this prompt, send me a link to your story on your…
Muse on Monday – June 2, 2025
There is a quote by the science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke that goes “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” This means that while a gun or a lightbulb might seem like magic to someone from thousands of years ago, a tractor beam or teleporter might seem like magic to us, since it…
Muse on Monday – May 26, 2025
One of the main elements of fiction is conflict. There has to be some problem to solve or it is not that interesting to read. A lot of stories take place in horrific circumstances, where there is conflict all over the place. However, could you write a story in a seemingly ideal situation? What would…
The Green-Walled Treehouse 