I haven't shared fiction with you in a while, have I? Here's one you'll likely find in my third collection of short fiction. Yes, another book is coming. Call it a spoiler. Share your thoughts about it in the comments, won't you? Enjoy your Friday and have a bon weekend. *********************************************************************** The Choice The envelope sat …
Summertime Essentials. (?!)
As expected, the drizzly/rainy/cloudy/depressing 50-degree days of just last week quickly turned into 80-plus degree days in the big city. Our very sad spring went right into cheerful mid-summer. Out came the cute dresses on ladies, the sandals, the much-needed pedicures for toes that appeared to have been trapped in coal mines and were used …
Contests.
I recently submitted a few of my pieces (two short stories and a poem) for some writing contests. I submitted them with the reminder to myself that 1) I'm not the only writer in the world, and 2) there's a high likelihood that I won't even place, because see #1. I should tell you that I don't …
About your Author: Round-Up.
Seriously. Why are we doing this? You don't have a book to promote. Is that why you think I do this feature? To promote my fiction? What other infernal reason could there be? We've talked about plenty of things via this feature. The weather, working out, health. It's fun. Debatable. Anyway. What's going on? You got …
The Wedding and the Web: The End
* It was a lovely wedding. There was an orchestra and ice swans and roses flown in from Marseilles. My sister Charlotte was rhapsody in white; my other sisters and I wore lovely gowns in various shades of blue. Even Irene Vine, as she cried in the front row, allowed Danny to pat her hand …
The Wedding and the Web: Part 6
* “Nervous about tomorrow?” Andy Flood asked as he walked into the break room that morning. I stood by the counter, stirring my coffee and deliberating over my resolution from a few nights ago. “Actually, no. I’m kind of looking forward to it.” “Good. I’m glad.” “Mostly because of what Carmen may do.” I watched …
The Wedding and the Web: Part 5
* At the co-ed bridal shower a few evenings later, I watched Sanford and Charlotte twirl around on the dance floor. Our parents had rented a much smaller ballroom in a smaller hotel for the event, but it was no less swanky, as it was a black-tie affair. Caroline, Danny, Carmen, and I sat at …
The Wedding and the Web: Part 4
* Charlotte eventually settled on a venue for the wedding—the grand ballroom of the Hotel del Coronado. Gradually, painstakingly, the colors were picked, the dress was finally chosen, and the bridal party wined, dined, and fêted the bride-to-be. Specifically, this bridal party consisted of the three of us: one matron of honor and two …
The Wedding and the Web: Part 3
* When I wasn’t sitting by Charlotte’s side during the wedding preparations, I was a litigation assistant for a law firm in the city. The world of lawsuits and trials was a significant diversion from frilly dresses and color swatches, and far more interesting. Nevertheless, my busy job didn’t necessarily mean I could escape from …
The Wedding and the Web: Part 2
Charlotte may have been the fragile baby, but I was the one with the problem. The short of it, akin to a plot from a frothy, clichéd soap opera: we had all grown up together, the Vine sisters and Sanford; I fell in love with Sanford somewhere along the way; he fell for Charlotte. And why …
This Square Peg. 