I made it through the weekend, even submitted my final short story for the first ever (!) 48-Hour Short Story Race three hours ahead (!) of the deadline. With anticipation, I refreshed my inbox repeatedly, waiting for the directions and my assigned prompts. I'd read the welcome email a number of times, but the prompts... Continue Reading →
I entered a writing competition, a 48-hour short story race. Maybe I'm making it into more than it actually is, but because I'll be judged and I'll receive feedback, I'm putting some serious level pressure on myself. "No pressure, no diamonds" So. From 7:00 p.m. tonight until 7:00 p.m. Sunday, I'll be plot diagramming, drafting,... Continue Reading →
Cactus League pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in Scottsdale, AZ in a mere 12 days on February 12. The spring air is slowly, slowly trying to gain momentum. And I can almost hear the crack of the bat. I can almost smell the hot dogs and peanuts. The Cactus League, a debut from... Continue Reading →
I'm a sucker for a romance novel. Give me a forlorn woman in search of a man to take on a date, show off at a wedding, or flaunt in front of an ex, and I'm in. Yes, I realize this all seems very anti-whateverism that people often expect from me, but these kinds of... Continue Reading →
Teddy must learn who she can trust; can she trust herself and her abilities? what about the rest of the Misfits? her teachers? It’s also darker, having graduated from the young adult feel of Harry Potter to the decidedly troubled times in which many middle-twenty-somethings find themselves.
Some stories are more like vignettes - short, succinct, to the point - while others develop into longer tellings. Both types - the vignettes and the longer stories - follow characters who seem at their most bleak. But Johnson does more than let them wallow; he explores the depth of the bleakness, the weight of it, and the heft it takes to get out.
Amy Bloom's first foray into creative historical nonfiction with White Houses is nicely done. With an intimate look into the lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Bloom manages to build a story about the things that were often left unsaid through her narrator Lorena Hickok.
Holly Black has done an exceptional job with world building, taking standard tropes in faerie tales and putting her particular spin on things with "The Cruel Prince," the first in a new series from Black, who is a seasoned writer of lore. I stayed intrigued by the story, compelled to continue reading how a mundane-born... Continue Reading →
shelly. walston. writes. 