Today, I arrived at 1:30 for my 2 pm book reading and signing at the Ojai Public Library. I met Ellie, the librarian, who escorted Ray and me to the meeting room, and we worked out all the logistics: thermostat, seating, bathroom location, etc., then put out my in-law Cindy’s excellent cookies along with mineral…
Tag: fiction
Flash Fiction: Fellow Grievers
Jacqueline heard the crows and felt called. Their caws brought her first to the window, where their black bodies balanced on the telephone wires, then outside to peer up at them. Caw caw caw, they sang, and she felt a strange calm. They brought her peace in a way she didn’t understand. A young woman…
Similes Gone Wrong (and Right)
I know, I know—a deep dive into similes isn’t what most people rush to read. Dear Lord, you might think, just how wacked-out has this poor woman gotten that she is now worrying herself silly about the difficulty of a simple figure of speech? Dear, dear, the poor thing needs a vacation where there is…
Writing Advice: If I Think It’s Brilliant, It Probably Isn’t
I’ve come to understand that real writing doesn’t even begin until the crappy writing is on the page. Only then do I have the breathing room to go back and shape it into something as good as I can make it—at the level I’m currently writing. Sure, part of the process is about refining, growing,…
Be Bold, Be Steady: What My Teachers Have Taught Me
I’ve been thinking lately about the writers who shaped me. My writing path has been a long one—starting with essays, moving into novels, and then finding a home for a while in flash: flash fiction, flash memoir, and flash essay. After my two brothers died of AIDS, I began a memoir that eventually evolved into…
An Approach to Writing Flash Fiction That’s Fun and Fast
I wrote the story below a while back during one of those quick writing exercises I like to do when I’m looking to stir things up creatively. I grabbed a deck of alphabet cards—the same kind I’ve used with younger kids when they’re learning letters—and spread them face up on the table. From that deck,…
Flash Fiction: A Matched Pair
Madeline was tired. She had been boxing up all sorts of antiques all afternoon since the owners, Maude and Jason Fredericks, were going out of business. These boxes would be heading to an auction where they would all go for what Maude described as “pennies on the dollar.” Madeline was especially upset about three different…
Flash Fiction: Where the Kindness Is
I wrote this a while back, but saw it tonight and thought that we could all use the reminder to go where the kindness is. I do, at least! Also, sometimes we do just have to walk through the pain. No fun, but that’s the truth. Happy Wednesday to all. Len “I don’t know what…
Flash Fiction: A Life Composed Anew
Janet wasn’t sure why life felt so complicated these days. Maybe it had something to do with the way the wind never seemed to stop blowing, tugging at her short gray hair, and stirring memories of happier times—before Chet died. Chet, her husband of 35 years, who’d woken up one morning saying he didn’t feel…
Flash Fiction: Edith’s Tear
This is a story I wrote a while back. I thought I would share it tonight because I like the main character’s voice, and the ending made me smile. Dad gives me a wink, like we are pals or something. We’re sitting in our kitchen having eggs and waffles on a Sunday morning. I’m not…
20 Minutes a Day 