On The Road to Catmanduel

According to Wikipedia, "a road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives." Frequently this involves exploring the theme of alienation . All this often enmeshed in a mood of actual or potential menace. All of which helps to create intimacy and tension between the characters.But this is only background for this story.

HATTIE'S ADVENTURE

Dogs may be more essential to a writer than a pen. Dogs and babies fall into the same category. Beyond the fact they are so darn cute… you never really know what they are thinking. They can't completely express what is running through their heads. As humans, we find it impossible not to express for them. To fill in the unspoken sentence, so to speak. But babies grow up.

Dogs represent that unspoken covenant between the writer and the reader. As a writer, we can never really know what our readers are thinking. But when we make that connection between the author and the reader… there's nothing else like it. All you have to do to see the joy of that connection is look into the eyes of a dog when you figure out what it wants. Readers who connect with your stories have the same eyes.

A Poem

The most famous name associated with the search for immortality was the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, Legend says that he was told by a native American that a fountain of youth could be found on the island of Bimini and that it would restore youth to anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. The native was probably a poet.

Mother Nature's Lament

The children wanted to stay home and play,
I call the wind to blow in a snow day,
Now they shout,
"It is hard work shoveling the driveway",
People need something to complain about

A Little Backstory

"Die, why won't you die?" Dr. Lermatov screamed, all control lost now.

Sasha should have looked at his face, but all she could see was the scalpel glittering in his hand, then hand became fist, held high.

But Lermatov wasn't looking at her. His gaze had swerved to her coworker and friend Alex. 

Window Star

During World War I, British and German soldiers put down their weapons to celebrate the holiday spirit together, in a remarkable event known as "the Christmas Truce." All of them earned their blue stars and way too many earned sliver and glod stars as well.

New York Blues

Should there be specialized Holloween celebrations in Greenwich and Dulwich? Should pigs stay away from Nottingham, Birmingham, and Buckingham? Is the only reason one comes to Cambridge is to cross the bridge? How many prople play chess in Winchester and Chester?

Looking for Writing Contests?

The Writer magazine list of contests with deadlines from tomorrow to the end of 2021.
Mary Heather Noble won the Creative Nonfiction "The Human Face of Sustainability" essay contest for "Acts of Courage." She received $10,000 and publication in Creative Nonfiction.

Home

The home in poetry can be a fabled, dreamed about place, the location of childhood remembrances, or the physical remainder of a days only recently past.

Attack of the Poetry Virus

This is the poem I wrote many years ago. It is made up of samples of the many different poetic forms but certainly not all of them. It was fun to do and I hope fun to read

Attack of the Poetry Virus: A collection of poems inspired by "A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms" by Paul B. Janeczko.

Time Well Spent

Everyone should begin by asking themselves what their actual values are, and then reflect on how they can let others live out their values. What kinds of social environments make it easier to be creative, to be honest, or to connect adventurously? We should all make a list of places where people find these things easier: camping trips, open-mics, writing groups, and so on. And then write a poem.

Good-bye

I knew it would be today. I could feel it in my bones as the gray dawn streamed through my window this morning. My last morning. My last sunrise.

The Madonna

Chapter 1

The Madonna's eyes beckoned. Such sparkle, drawing Sasha into the room even though the Madonna's rapturous gaze never left the infant Jesus in her arms. A soft light delineated the rubies circling her head, the alabaster of her skin, the pave jewels of her gown – the clearest blue diamonds Sasha'd ever seen. And yet…what was it? Something seemed…

Face One's Demons

After achieving a decisive victory over the ruthless Ipis who rule the galaxy, Dante Carloman negotiated a treaty that saved all humans from extinction. The treaty allowed the humans and their allied species to become a semi-autonomous sector on the fringe of the Ipis empire—as long as the current Ipis empress, Fravashi, remains alive.

The Sisters of Fire

This new series by Kathryn Shay follows six firefighters, ten years after they became friends in their fire academy recruit days. Each book shows their strong connection, as well as the in-depth story of one of them. Each book also addresses a contemporary issue women face, including domestic abuse, death of a spouse, divorce, blending family with career, discrimination in the workplace, and pursuing a new path in life.

A New Dawn

Now you try. Here's a word spill. Using as many of these words and your own words write several Cinquain. The more you practice, the better. As soon as you get the hang of this form, you will begin to create your own, representing what you're experiencing in your day to day life, using images from nature to connect to human nature, like Haiku.

Rustic Accommodations

I sure hope that feller didn't have a lot of enemies; Lord knows I had more than a few myself. I was wanted in 3 states for stage robbin' and such. I ain't never killed anybody before though I got blamed for it once. I didn't even kill this feller either, he kinda killed hisself through ignorance, I just failed to enlighten him of certain vital knowledge I happen to possess.

Alaric's Gold

"Sir," Private Baker threw a quick salute as he ran towards Captain McLain. "We ran into some old guy up the trail a bit. He started shouting and waving when he spotted us."

Captain Mark McLain pulled off his helmet, scratched his closely cropped hair and growled, "Well, what the hell do you think you should do about it? You know the orders. Our boys and the Brits are landing in Italy somewhere along the Amalfi coast in a few days. We can't take the chance that he'll tell the krauts there's a platoon of US Army Rangers roaming around Calabria, prepping for the invasion."

Best Tips

Lately, I've had more than one story in the works at the same time—a separate notebook for each one, or more precisely, a loose pile of notes and reference material that aspires to, one day, assemble itself into a coherent narrative.

LCRW Inklings

What if there was a place you could meet your fellow writers virtually? What if there was a place where you could read your draft work to others, without having to edit it or spend hours using a spell checker? What if there was a place you could help other writers with their work… no prep necessary? Now there is. Every Tuesday 8 PM