It began innocently enough with a parody on the "If you give a mouse a cookie" books. Just an innocent look into the mind of an author with a new character idea. The next year, on October 31, while I was handing out candy to ghouls masquerading as kids--or vice versa, it's hard to tell which Continue Reading
Short Stories
The First Exclusive Glimpse of the Next Not-So Fairy Tale
What began as a "short story" became a series beginning with Princess Paisley. Not satisfied with that story (a rather silly and ridiculous tale), I embarked on a journey to tell a real fairy tale--one full of adventure and courage. One that cost the hero dearly if he dared to be the hero. I think Continue Reading
“Bringing in the May” ~a FREE May Day Short Story
I remember her voice... soft, eager. Mom was always as steady as Gibralter, but occasionally, I knew something really meant a lot to her because her voice would get that special quality to it. "We'll just put these flowers in this like this..." She tucked white alyssum in the little plastic Continue Reading
When Your Novel Is Awful, Shovel a Little Death into It
I made this video the other night. It says it all. I’ll wait while you have a laugh at my expense. … … … Yeah. So after I finished with that, I did just what I said. I went for the classic NaNoWriMo scene generation ploy… The Traveling Shovel of Death. This little bit of NaNo Continue Reading
The Perplexing Question of the Doors: How One Life Changed
“You wake up in an unfamiliar room. Picture it—is it a living room? A bedroom? A kitchen?” The class eyed one another with a predictable combination of confusion and annoyance. Seated square in the middle of the room, Lance Pengully kept his expression bored— a move of self-preservation. But Continue Reading
One Woman’s Epic Win in the Format Battle
To call Bobbie a bookworm might have caused a bit of an uproar in the Collier house. Bobbie, to be precise, would never have stood for it. As a self-professed devourer of fiction, she couldn’t fathom how something that could barely beat a snail in an inch race could possibly describe her literary Continue Reading
The Pitfalls of Being Real and How to Combat Them
It happened again. Another person asked how homeschooled kids can possibly hope to cope in the "real world." I wanted to bang my head. Because if you pulled a publicly educated kid from the Bronx and set that kid in rural Iowa, he'd be a mess. He wouldn't know how to deal with that real world. Continue Reading
Night Before NaNo: A parody
It's that time! Time for this year's NaNoWriMo poem! T'was the Night before NaNo T'was the eve before NaNo And all through the house We were frantically cleaning-- Even my spouse. The blue bowl was filled With candy to spare In hopes that costumed darlings Soon would be there. The Continue Reading
Through a Kid’s Eye–Sorta
A popular Christmas movie, A Christmas Story, has a humorous repeating theme. “You’ll shoot your eye out.” I always thought I didn’t like the movie for its stupid leg lamp or the way it makes parents look like idiots, but a memory from my childhood revealed to me that my animosity goes deeper than Continue Reading
All I Want For Christmas Is a Short Story?
(Merry Christmas from all of us at Just the Write Escape) A Mama for Christmas Toys filled the shelves—cars, robots, games, plush animals, and dolls. Two full aisles of dolls, to be precise. Dolls that looked like little girls of eight, Barbies, mini dolls, baby dolls, dolls that wet, cried, Continue Reading
Writing Prompt= Short Story
I don't really know what they're all about. I've seen them mentioned in books about writing and figured they were ways to get you over writer's block or something. Since I've managed to escape that malady to date, I've never looked into them. However, yesterday one of my new favorite blogs had Continue Reading
