All Posts

1. Blurred Lines (1/27/2023) - You can read the story in a new tab here.
2. The Subtle Invasion: another WIP (12/27/2022) - Read in a separate tab here.
3. Beyond the Far Horizon: a WIP (12/3/2022) - Read in a separate tab here.
4. DarkWinterLit: A Grandmother’s Love (8/8/2022) - Thanks again to Suzanne (EducationalMentorship.com) for considering another of my stories for inclusion in her blossoming online literary magazine www.DarkWinterLit.com. “I don’t do that anymore. Please stop asking.” Morna set down her cup and stared at her daughter in-law. Women in the township had come to know that stare, one tempted fate to counter such a …
5. DarkWinterLit: Trinket Troll (8/8/2022) - Thanks to Suzanne (EducationalMentorship.com) for considering my story for inclusion in her burgeoning online literary magazine www.DarkWinterLit.com. Squiccus hums in low, rhythmic tones and the chipmunk’s breathing slows. With gnarled hands, he pets the disheveled fur down the nape of the creature’s neck; its capture had been—difficult. You can read the rest here:https://www.darkwinterlit.com/post/trinket-troll-by-dave-cline
6. Short Story: Opus Maledictus (7/23/2022) - Here’s a piece which I purposefully designed. It turned out a bit long, given that I wanted it to unfold with intent. I’ve made numerous, no doubt erroneous assumptions within it, but so what? It’s fiction. You can read it in a new tab here.     One side note: the name of the main …
7. Short Story: Cylinder (sf/space) (5/9/2022) - This is the first ~2000 words of a nerd-candy, sci-fi, space story I started over on my other blog. It’s nutritionally bereft, but fizzles on the tongue like Pop-Rocks. View in separate tab here…
8. WeeFee – a placeholder for The Content Economy (12/28/2021) - This is just a place to put this document (now 4 years old). Direct link, here. Why WeeFee? There is no easy way to pay digital content creators directly. Current means to award cash distributions directly to a writer, blogger or videographers requires either locked-in membership / subscription (Youtube, Medium), a Patreon account or a …
9. SepSceneWriMo 2021 (10/2/2021) - September Scene Writing Month has come and gone. Here are the scenes compiled into a single document. View the scenes in a new tab: here.
10. No Good Game (7/24/2021) - Direct Link
11. Hazelle’s Lament (7/24/2021) - Direct link. This is the completed version. ~6k words. Sorry for the length. Might take about 15 minutes to read.
12. Sunlight Burns a Frosty Edge (1/17/2021) - [A continuation from part 2] Direct link
13. Mushrooms are Fruit (1/9/2021) - [A continuation from part 1] Direct link
14. Jetsam bangs a curious drum (12/29/2020) - Direct link
15. One day on the river (10/25/2020) - A skim of ice, peanut brittle thick, rimmed the banks of the Rapidan river. It crackled when Tom slid the canoe into the December chilled water. He swung the boat parallel and held it steady while Ted boarded the front and the boy scrambled into the center, his .22 pointed safely across the river. “All …
16. A vignette – loneliness (10/14/2020) - Five subway trains had stopped, disgorged and consumed meals of commuters and tourists then eased their silent weight into the westbound tunnel, vanishing like wraiths. Sounds of the sixth train echoed its arrival. However, the blast of warm air, pushed in front, went unnoticed. Mr. Derby Lough sat tucked in his herringbone coat and gloves, …
17. 2020 SepSceneWriMo (10/11/2020) - For those of you who follow this breakout new writing trend (cough)… You can find my 2020’s contribution over here: https://anonymole.com/?s=sepscenewrimo
18. Comments and likes have no value (9/11/2020) - The social and economic world struggles daily with the inundation of opinion. But what is opinion worth if it costs nothing to produce? Ages ago, when “letters to the editor” were the only way to share your opinion with the world at large, such offerings had worth. It costs something to write a letter, type …
19. Apocalyptic Poetry (9/10/2020) - The Once and Future The sun’s dour eye blinks,and Earth’s banded blanketsqueezes tight. Auroral snakeswrithe and pluck pizzicato, wiresstrung from towers. Lightswink, flicker and die. Snuffed candles when strangersstagger to the door. Begging. Stealing.Ratta-tat and duck, small-arms popprecious bullets, distant,then so close. Shhhhh. Bread shared today, cans covetedtomorrow. The nearest weapon servesbest. Stay your hand, …
20. Apocalyptic Scenario 5.b (8/15/2020) - Another crazy tale from the End-Times collection. Rough Draft. Full page here.
21. Writer’s Workshop: Exercise 5.a (8/9/2020) - The below referenced writing exercise is from my Writer’s Workshop. We’ve continued to hold sessions, virtual now, and this latest had us writing a story—together. One person would write a sentence, scene let’s say. The next would propose a character. The next, conflict, the next… Whatever. And so on and so forth. It was fun, …
22. Not Magic (8/1/2020) - Another short story seeking to publish. First Draft, 1000 words max. The full page version here.
23. Apocalyptic Scenario 9.b (7/19/2020) - Another for the pile. First Draft. Full page.
24. In a Well, Wishing (7/18/2020) - Another short story… (First Draft) Full page.
25. Earth Mother (7/11/2020) - I’m considering submitting this piece for flashfiction publication in some ezine somewhere. Therefore, if you have comments or suggestions, do share them so that you can help me polish this to a high sheen. Note: The one site I’m targeting will not accept a piece more than 1000 words. You can view the full-page version …
26. The Froghopper sends his regards (6/28/2020) - There are rocks of granite that perch like pensive trolls upon the fire escape. They scrape when you move them. Too big to tumble through the slats, they grow there, stalagmites formed from tears cried by grandmothers over murdered children. Spittlebugs gurgle their beer and leave a mess for the barmaids. They tip poorly. Without …
27. Apocalyptic Scenario 1.b (6/24/2020) - In the post nuclear war, survivors eke out a living.
28. Apocalyptic Scenario 5.a (5/17/2020) - This premise was first revealed to me through an Australian movie called These Final Hours.
29. Review of Blue Across the Sea (4/16/2020) - Audrey Driscoll (WordPress) has written an excellent review of Blue Across the Sea (BATS). Audrey, Thanks for your time and effort in reading a novice’s first novel and writing such a well composed and accurate review. I’m in your debt. Dave Cline ~~~~~~~~~ https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1010969 Audrey Driscoll  (SmashWords) reviewed on on April 15, 2020 This post-apocalyptic, …
30. Apocalyptic Scenario 8.b (3/29/2020) -
31. Apocalyptic Scenario 4.a (3/1/2020) - [To view as a full page, right click and view Frame in new tab/window.] I’ve been to Lake Taupo and the Tongariro river. Beautiful place.
32. Apocalyptic Scenario 2.b (2/15/2020) -
33. Apocalyptic Scenario 7.c (2/15/2020) - The sea lapped seductively at the hand-cut coral blocks that half-ringed the tiny harbor. The crystal water invited a lovers gaze. Stare deep and let me embrace you, it seemed to say. Even at low tide the waves soaked the top of the rocks. Nero sat on the last block at the harbor’s end stitching …
34. Apocalyptic Scenario 8.a (2/1/2020) - Full page can be found here.
35. On the edge (1/21/2020) - I look around and see at least a hundred cars, their headlights, gawking like spectators at a cage-fight, all staring down into the rocky canyon that drains its dust into Area-51. Julie stands next to me, her hand in mind. I can smell the tequila on her breath. She sways a little at the edge …
36. Yaldabaoth – for Dracul Van Helsing (1/11/2020) - “Pour me a pint or I tarn yoo into a toadstool!” Yaldabaoth banged his empty stein, a stag’s head to one side, a boar—tusks and all—the other, loudly on the dark-wood bar. “You dent the mahogany, ya wee pest and I’ll drag yoos out of me bar by the nape of your foul Irish neck.” …
37. Apocalyptic Scenario 1.a (12/27/2019) - For Brian @ https://bmhonline.wordpress.com/ Brian’s SoundCloud recording of the below wintry tale: “The sun has forsaken us. In our hubris and our folly we struck the match that burned the world. Held aloft for years, our arms fell, whether from fatigue or spite it matters not. We lit the flame, the sprouting mushroom flames and …
38. Apocalyptic Scenario 3.b (12/23/2019) - “Shouldn’t there be twelve?” Terndill shut the lid on the cooler. “This is not some supermarket checkout, Bo.” The warm spring breeze filtered past the chainlink and razor wire bringing the smell of rich earth and white pine pollen. The forest and glades surrounding the compound glowed beneath a full July moon. Bojine, ‘Bo’ Durnoc …
39. Apocalyptic Scenario 3.a.i (11/24/2019) - Listen, I’m going to tell this tale, but you need to understand something… Hold on, I’ve got a primitive alert system rigged across this hillside and one of my alarms is jiggling something bigger than a ground squirrel. Denton breaks open his double-barrel and drops in a pair of blood-red #6 duck-shot, the only type …
40. Apocalyptic Scenario 5.c (10/19/2019) - “Did you see this?” I held my phone up to the woman sitting next to me. We were wheels-up, Chicago bound from Kennedy Airport, the six a.m. eye-opener. “I’m sorry, can you hold it a little further away?” She was older, seventy maybe, with eyes that look liked they’d been shielded from pain for decades. …
41. SepSceneWriMo: Catcha-22 (9/22/2019) - “She’s not taking your calls or email.” “No shit. You guys took my phone.” I scratched at imagined flea bites. “Will she see me?” “Sorry, no direct communication of any kind. ” “What? How can I explain or defend myself?” “Defend? ‘Guilty as a scorpion’, she called you.” I considered the imagery and realized she …
42. SepSceneWriMo: 16…21 (9/21/2019) - 16 The far side beckoned, a lover’s glimpse, but between the river’s banks fierce rapids churned. Slick rock promised a deadly fall, while the sucking water, forever folding onto itself, rumbled tympanic threats. To cross here was suicide. Yet, retreat offered a worse fate, the admission of failure, his dreams of conquest ruined. 17 A …
43. SepSceneWriMo: Fifteen (9/15/2019) - Food of the Gods Chaco pinched the joint from El Hefe’s nimble fingers. He set the point to hover near his lips, disappearing beneath a draping mustache and inhaled a stream of reefer smoke into his barrel thick chest. “Yo, Chaco. Save some for us, cabrone.” Miguel the interpreter, sleek with words and gracious, empty …
44. SepSceneWriteMo: 12,13,14 (9/14/2019) - Memento Mori It should always rain for funerals. Bobby rode his bike to the cemetery. I bet I’m the only kid there. The plot had been dug at the far edge, nearly into the woods that surrounded the lonely graveyard. She probably likes being separated from the others. At least a dozen folks gathered around the hole; …
45. SepSceneWriMo: Eleven (9/14/2019) - Drought The floodwaters receded months ago leaving carcasses drying beneath an unrelenting sun. A burning eye that baked cracks in the mud-pan flats, deep crevices where even the tadpoles became stuck, rigid in their slow desiccation. While they could, magpies gorged themselves. Within a week the birds moved on, their black and white feathers kiting …
46. SepSceneWriMo: Ten (9/14/2019) - 10 X Down range the flagman, hunkered below the 1000 yard berm, stood and waved the black signal flag—another “X”. He lowered the four-foot wide target, taped over the pinky-thick hole with a circle made for the task and hoisted the target back up for Riccards’ last shot. Riccards, sharpshooter for the Army’s 103rd, let the …
47. SepSceneWriMo: Niner (9/9/2019) - Lacy’s Run Lacy’s grip on the polished brass pole held her like a bronco rider beyond her mandatory eight seconds. The calliope music didn’t help. Neither did the rotational momentum nor the pumping motion—up down, up down—like she needed her bucket filled during the Dust Bowl, and her well had run plum dry. “Lacy dear, …
48. SepSceneWriMo: Eight (9/8/2019) - Missing “She’s this tall,” Tooq held his brown hand up to his chin, “and she laughs like a goat when you tickle her. And… and she’s all I have left.” When the bomb detonated beneath the fruit seller’s stand during Tuesday morning’s market, Tooq and his sister had been two stalls down, hunkered in a …
49. SepSceneWriMo: 5, Six, 7 (9/7/2019) - Orbital Odyssey “What’s the count?” Dicky sat scrunched into the corner of the capsule trying to speak calmly. Mel Falori, Dicky’s co-worker, tapped the digital read-out, habit from decades of watching space exploration movies, the numbers held firm. “Over a thousand, now.” Dicky tried to slow his breathing, but the building CO2 tricked his mind …
50. SepSceneWriMo: Four (9/5/2019) - Long Pig The King’s cook thrashed about the kitchen seeking inspiration, a sign, a clue of any kind that might, by the end of the day, afford him his life. An emissary from a distant province had arrived the evening past. Notice had filtered down that the King required a fitting banquet. The oaken backdoor’s …
51. SepSceneWriMo: Three (9/4/2019) - Rosie Dorothy plucked another plastic bottle from the dumpster behind the Classic Town Mall. The bottle still held three quarters of its brown-colored fluid and her cheap trigger-handled claw slipped and let it drop. Damn kids can’t finish what they buy. She tried again and this time used two hands to pinch it and releasing …
52. SepSceneWriMo: Two (9/2/2019) - Steely Thorson fingered his winnings. Within just an hour he’d accumulated three times his stake. His competitors shuffled anxiously around him. They can wait, I’m in command, now. He readjusted the rolled-up sleeves of his green plaid shirt, stretched out the kinks in his neck and placed one knee in the dirt beside the mostly-round …
53. SepSceneWriMo: One (9/1/2019) - Bay the Hunting Hounds The desert sand cooled as the night wore on. Imkep struggled behind his brother, Teth, who frequently paused to support him. The wound in the younger’s calf, a slice delivered by a poorly shot arrow from a guard’s bow, seeped little now that a crust had formed. In the east the …
54. Zeepbuds (8/30/2019) - “Where did you get these earbuds?” “Why? What’s wrong?” “They’re certainly not an Apple product. And I’m sure Samsung…” “They came in the mail. A promo deal for some new game I checked out.” “How long have you worn them?” Ricky went to scratch the back of his ear but the doctor intercepted his hand. …
55. Secondhand Sushi (8/13/2019) - Ikiro hated his father. He was not alone in this sentiment; he knew one of his sisters hated him too. Ikiro’s father wasn’t a bad man. Bad was reserved for Maachi the street-sweeper who, Ikiro had seen, kicked young dogs he found nibbling at nothing in the gutter. Once the man swung his broom and …
56. The Gribble’s Eye: Chapter 21 (7/21/2019) - In the near dark, the white Range Rover pulled into the parking lot next to the Avebury Lodge. Sadie reached across to open the opposite passenger door to free Harry from the car’s confines. He’d become more and more agitated as they approached Avebury Henge. The smoke had been thick around London. Not just Hyde …
57. Smells Like Teen Angst: Cindy #3_a (6/5/2019) - Cindy Number Three flipped through a magazine at the last candy stand before Gate 42 and her flight back to Tampa. A black auto-caddie carry-on followed her like a puppy as she slotted the teen rag and headed toward the gate; she’d be the last to board. “You almost missed your flight, young lady.” A …
58. Down the middle (5/28/2019) - I no longer question the Gift. It’s there when I want it, crackling at my finger tips. Like a power, like electricity but nothing like either. I call it the Split. I draw a line with my mind and the whole becomes halves. Any whole. Want me to cut your cantaloupe in half. Done. Arguing …
59. The path less traveled (4/25/2019) - “Don’t move,” Aubrey breathed, her breath so close to Rann’s ear it nearly caused him to lift his foot . He whispered back, “I can feel the wire. Can you…” “I said, don’t fuckin’ move.” Aubrey’s grimace barely let her words escape. “I can see the line of it straight back to, somewhere. It disappears beneath …
60. Past the Gate (4/22/2019) - Steel hummed beneath her ass, feet dangling on the ocean side of the rail. Wearing dark leggings and a hoodie she doubted drivers would notice her. Or care. Out of options, out of sight. Out of mind. She tucked closer to the cable strut to which she clung. When a gap opened between cars, the …
61. Seamslice: a multiverse shim (3/2/2019) - Teheo Kodashev steals things. He doesn’t need them nor want them. Things present themselves: cars, luggage, jewelry, things most often owned by the wealthy — and they vanish. Somehow, throughout the years, Teheo has avoided detection. The means, he would tell you, are by the special place in which he hides the evidence. A place only …
62. I man the pumps (2/24/2019) - I man the pumps. Been doing it since I was twenty-three, about ten years now. Tomorrow, I’ll have to head up to Charleston to check-in with Dooley, he’s been getting wicked foul-ups from leopard mussels on his intakes. I’ll have to help clear those out. But today, I’m driving the Savannah Line, scannin’ for leaks, …
63. Storytime: an unraveling yarn (2/18/2019) - The tale you beg is old and tired. I’ll not tell it again. Give me a new beginning, one tugged by the threads of your heart.” I glance about, taking in their their small eyes peeking from the shadows. “Well?” “Can there be dragons?” Cressan pulls the woolen cloth to her chin. “Dragons? No, I’m …
64. Mother — a story of Mars (1/10/2019) - Sharp rocks gouge at my back. I’d lain there watching the greasy yellow sky grow dim for hours, unable to lift my arms to shield the sun from my eyes. My O2 nanny begs me to move, get up, get going. “Why?” I ask her. She surprises me: because of all the paperwork she’d have …
65. Wicca Abides (12/8/2018) - The ping of the worn hammer echoed across the compound. Sed shook the sweat from his forehead and drops sizzled on the dull-red iron band he was shaping, a collar strong and heavy. “She’ll not be rid of this one.” He plunged the metal back into the glowing coals readying the strip to receive the …
66. The Gribble’s Eye is live! (10/29/2018) - Hard Copies The Gribble’s Eye Dave Cline $9.21 Blue Across the Sea Dave Cline $9.42  
67. Title – Hell, I don’t know (9/20/2018) - — If this yearning in my gut wont quit , I may have to write it out. — Disgust is the foundation of every emotion. It’s there to provide humility. — The stars beckon, but their grasp is slight. — I’ve wanted to live those lives, but obligations are my burden, my shackles. — Tomorrow …
68. Blue Across the Sea: new cover (9/11/2018) - Self publishing means I need to create my own covers. The first version of BATS was me drawing and hacking it up like a fifth-grader. Sorry job that. This version, done by my friend and artist associate Yulian Mulyono (who did all the artwork for The Gribble’s Eye) is 1000x better. I loaded him up …
69. Canapés filled with mud (8/23/2018) - If agony were the least of my sensations, then the taste in my mouth would barely register. Blood, its tang and slick coating, dribbled down my chin. Too bad it’s my own, I thought. If it were his… I could have called this adventure a success. The man deserved to die, no, not just die, …
70. TGE is COMPLETE! (8/18/2018) - The Gribble’s Eye (TGE) is now officially complete. All 50 images are in and shaded and added to the manuscript. And to share one which really hallmarks the action, here is an image from the end of the book — a real dynamic scene. These two characters have names in the story — but you’d …
71. What would you say to Hemingway? (8/17/2018) - What would you say to Hemingway? The Idaho sun is rising above the treetops. The Sun Valley home you find yourself within smells of Hoppe’s, old leather, whiskey and sweat. He’s there, sitting in a stiff backed chair behind a desk. You’ve plopped yourself into a leather stuffed monster that nearly swallows you whole. “Papa,” …
72. East Coast Maps: West is up (8/1/2018) - For those who like maps, who are aware and/or interested in the early colonial years of the United States, here is a fascinating article with maps that often use compass West as the map’s North. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-early-virginia-maps-had-west-at-the-top In it we see a map (Library of Congress copy) drawn by the famous Captain John Smith. It’s magnificent. …
73. I’ve got a glass eye (7/28/2018) - How big is The Gribble’s Eye? Megan over at http://HandmadeGlassEyes.com could tell you… Or, as you can see for yourself, it’s about the size of a golfball. Maybe I should draw a socket and eyelid on my hand. It looks almost fake there. But it’s real, 50mm across and stunning.      
74. The Gribble’s Eye: a serial 1.3 (7/17/2018) - Sadie held her flashlight in a tight fist as the cave’s inhabitant began to emerge. First a thin stick-like leg tapped forth. Then another. And another. In the red-tinged light she could see each jointed appendage was covered in prickly black hairs. The massive spider’s feet, two of which turned out to be hands covered …
75. The Gribble’s Eye: a serial 1.2 (7/16/2018) - “A wish, made by a child, sends shivers into the world. Vibrations through existence. And deep within the Earth, entities exist, beings that listen to such vibrations, beings who hear the wishes of children.” Professor Brimson’s eyebrows twitched as he waited for a reply from his guest, Professor Richard Clarke. Clarke had begun to drift …
76. The Gribble’s Eye: a serial 1.1 (7/15/2018) - NOTICE: I’ve started to re-read TGE and find that it needs some serious upgrades to craft. I’ll be adding these in the coming years. I’ll be releasing an abridged version of The Gribble’s Eye as a series of posts focused on the images masterfully created by Yulian Mulyono. These installments will be a much condensed …
77. The Gribble’s Eye: Cover assembly (7/14/2018) - The cover is taking shape. With the chiseled stone “Eye” that I tapped into the patio in the back, we’ve begun our trek that leads through the forest to the glade where there blooms a sun drenched pool of possibility. The “Eye,” as Widowcranky has insisted, must be a real physical object, else the treatment …
78. BATS – twitter promotion (7/4/2018) - And so it begins. The self-promotion, back-alley descent into peddling one’s own wares. Well, I had to give it a try, just to see how the process might go. Morgan Wright provided what looks to be a simple, pervasive and low-cost venue for announcing my novel (or your novel). Morgan delivered on her promise. I …
79. Medic! Whiteout, STAT (6/13/2018) -   I have a great copy editor. She’s dedicated, technically focused, a great speller and grammarian. And she’s free. We edited Blue Across the Sea at least four times before we called it quits and just published the thing. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39719790-blue-across-the-sea She bought herself a hard copy from TheBookPatch and proceeded to find glitch after glitch. …
80. A Paleo Friendship #2 (5/21/2018) - Sleep eluded me. Or so it felt as the chattering of a rock-rodent woke me from my dazed stupor. I fisted a hand full of gravel and threw it in the wretched creature’s direction. I suppose I’d dreamed of the sea for I convulsed and heaved my stomach into the ashes of my now dead …
81. A Paleo Friendship (5/20/2018) - I danced over top of the dry stones in the river making the far side without slipping. Sounds of pursuit followed me. Whoever it was cared nothing for stealth, limb-cracks and shuffling sounds echoed through the thick green-needle trees. If I could disappear on this side, work my way upstream, and cross again — with …
82. Sathena comes to grips (5/7/2018) - “I don’t know if what happened was real or…” Sathena flexed her fingers examining the tips as they curled. Allie, still recovering from her wounds, perked up from the berth within their sailboat as they traveled out through the calm seas outside Edinburgh. “I was barely conscious from that beast’s attack, but I distinctly remember …
83. My tapeworm and I (4/17/2018) - My human has absolutely no taste, whatsoever. The beast will eat tacos then beer then double-mocha-fudge ice cream. All in an hour. And it is I who must put up with it. And I do. What choice do I have, he and I are one. Well, two, technically, but from outside my host, who could …
84. Blue Across the Sea (4/1/2018) - Blue Across the Sea depicts a world 200+ years in the future when the Great Basin of the United States has refilled with an inland sea; The Bonneville Inland Sea. A youth sails the sea, discovers a culture across the water and joins them. They adopt and teach him and he becomes one of them. A misunderstanding disrupts his life there and he escapes with a partner to sail the sea once more.
85. Argus and Hermes drink wine (3/26/2018) - “I seem to have lost my harp.” Hermes settled down on a boulder next to the giant resting there. “Could you keep an eye out for me, Argus?” “If I could catch you, you foul freak, I’d tear that smirk from your face and cast it to the Heavens. Maybe there it would entertain us with …
86. Batcave, North Carolina (3/9/2018) - Nestled in the hills of Appalachia North Carolina, in a town called Batcave, an abandoned summer camp sat since the ’50s, waiting for our reclamations group. Our six cars and a van pulled into the gravel lot and with blades and shovels we cleared our way through the brush to the camp hall. The director …
87. The Pulse and Glow 1.1 (2/23/2018) - The Pulse and Glow By Dave Cline February 2018 ~~~ The world balances at the tip of peak energy. More, ever more, beg the people of the planet. And who are the First World nations to hold back those of the third? But their plea for more rings hollow to disdainful plutocrats. And every engineer, …
88. Sarresh and Gor (1/14/2018) - The knife sliced down the side of her rib cage. Her scream, like shattered glass, blasted across the town’s roofs. What she was doing perched atop the peak of the priory knave, she would never tell. Her eyes rolled back in her head, she grabbed at the wrist that had struck the blade down her …
89. Random Setting Number Four (1/13/2018) - From: http://writingexercises.co.uk/create-a-setting.php It’s the middle of the night. There’s been a heatwave for days. You’re on a desert island. There’s a lonely feel to the place. I can sense that I’m not well. I feel alright, physically, but I can’t escape the constant roar of the surf; the sound fills my head like a cotton …
90. Shadow Shoals 1.5 (1/8/2018) - ~ 5 ~ Deus rose with the sun the next morning. In the previous darkness, he and Jessa had pulled the mats in, their stink much reduced. He check in on Kasmira, who remained sleeping, the half glass of spikejack she’d drunk to ease her pain having worn off in the middle of the night; …
91. Shadow Shoals 1.4 (1/3/2018) - ~ 4 ~ Inside the cabin, K found the space divided by plank-panelled walls. The greater portion held a kitchen area, dining bench and, to the north, towards the front door, a sitting area with a pair of padded rocking chairs, a low table, a writing desk and a standing clock with a face that …
92. Non Sequitur Tuesday (1/2/2018) - • To whom does God pray? • Earth, Wind and Fire. So, where’s Water? You know, to complete the elementals? I guess he’s all wet. Washed up. A soggy voice. Damp instrumentals. Or did he soak the others? Drown them in a gushing tide of icy disdain. • If the woodchuck chucks wood how many …
93. Shadow Shoals 1.3 (12/5/2017) - ~ 3 ~ K realized that returning to reassure Tove had clouded her thinking. “We could have used that boat,” she admitted. The blind woman tilted her head. “But, how are you here? Did you not sail or row?” Tove had eventually composed herself after her brief lapse of emotion. K looked at her and …
94. Non-Seq Drippleday (11/30/2017) - Do you think the Pope likes chocolate or should the Kangaroo sit this one out? If you use a toothbrush why would the buckle flap unhinged? Sally dipped her finger and seventeen times three. Beneath the rotting log there lived a mouse that found that balloons shouldn’t be trusted. Barkley fell and barked his knees …
95. Shadow Shoals 1.2 (11/28/2017) - ~ 2 ~   K imagined that this island would provide little shelter. Over the decades, rising seas and yearly hurricanes had submerged what had once held a small settlement. Now, only ancient foundations, like jagged teeth, and the stumps of trees showed amongst the ocean grasses that overwhelmed the sea-swept island. The girl at …
96. The way of things today (11/20/2017) - You walk in, a mirrored straight razor dripping blood in one hand, a flipped-clip hand grenade in the other, and you ask the room, “Who dies next?” You hand her a bouquet and whisper, “I’ve hidden a wasps’ nest in this, enjoy.” You ice-pick the tire of a cop car waiting at a traffic light, …
97. Shadow Shoals 1.1 (11/18/2017) - I’m starting a new novel. Shadow Shoals. It takes place in the same era as my Blue Across the Sea novel (~230 years from today, after a pair of coronal mass ejections destroy earth’s technological civilization). It’s about an older woman, who fishes and wanders, philosophizing to herself and to orphans who feel drawn to …
98. Warming up (11/10/2017) - “Wha’cha doin’?” “Warming up.” “You mean like exercise or breathin’ or something?” “No, more like musical patterns.” “Oh, like scales n’ such.” “Yeah, like scales of some coelacanth dredged up from the depths of an ocean trench near Madagascar, its body thrown to the deck of a Somali trawler and kicked about as the freak …
99. Can I help you? (10/27/2017) - “Can I help you?” The words feel utterly inadequate now. Now that I know how little my efforts would help, in the end. The weather’s pounding onslaught left a bare fraction of the lives I’d struggled for, but it left enough. Enough to allow me peace knowing I did what I could. Not enough to …
100. Random Setting Number Three (10/26/2017) - From:http://writingexercises.co.uk/create-a-setting.php It’s dawn. There’s a mist rolling in. You’re in a rough neighborhood. There’s a desolate feel to the place. Last night was rough. Rip out your throat and feed it to the coyotes, rough. Not your own throat rough, but, the half dozen falsies that tried to wreck your camp when they popped up …