Veterans Day Brawl: A Middle-Grade Mystery
Welcome to my public writing journal, and Thank you to our Veterans! I’m glad you stopped by; I have a special treat for you today. Over the past three days, I’ve been working on a sketch for a Middle-Grade short story. The first day, I spent several hours on story structure and development. Day two, I wrote the first draft. Day three, I finished and revised that draft. This is the most time I have dedicated to a single sketch on this blog, and it took considerably longer than the normal one-day prompts and sketches you’re used to reading.
November 11, 2013
Happy Halloween
For those who celebrate it; Happy Halloween! I wanted to do a fun themed writing exercise this morning for Halloween, so I came up with the prompt,
November 1, 2013
East of Ethan
Thank you for visiting my public writing journal. This writing exercise was inspired by a passage out of one of my favorite Steinbeck novels. You can guess which one by the title. I spent an hour sketching this out yesterday—the 22nd—and a good hour today—the 23rd—spent revising and editing. The exercise goal for myself here was controlling reader emotions, as well as information release control. Also, I was just having fun writing.
October 23, 2013
Detective Jimmy Hallaren of New Mexico
I wrote this scene sketch this morning to play with my sentence construction. I hope you enjoy the read.
October 15, 2013
The Strangest Hat and the Oddest Girl
Sophie’s wiry fingers quivered violently as they pressed glue in place, attaching a lace veil to a felt bonnet she had laid out on her workbench; her joints swelled; if she stopped now, she might sleep through the night without waking in painful sweats; but Sophie would not take a break; if Sophie stopped making hats for even a moment, she feared all she would do is stare at the old grandfather clock in the corner and count the seconds until her niece arrived to take the horrible creation out of her shop.
October 5, 2013
One Flew Over the Food Court
Yasmin and I took the kids to the Shopping Mall on Saturday after our workout. We promised Adam to buy him the latest Blox constructible. It was still morning; the food court scuffled with cuckoos and stirred with the stale stench of the dying; but my gut moaned and the family agreed; lunch must come early.
September 27, 2013
Died in a Hot Shop
Old man Jackie had a dry, tacky mouth; made it hard for him to swallow. He worked in a hot shop — you know the name? Hot shop, a name used in the days, call a place a hot shop to say the place makes irons, see? Iron drills, iron arms, and bits, see? Well, Jackie, this man was a hot man with a tacky mouth and not a hair on his head. The heat from his torch burn it straight off. The skin it left there was like wax paper; leave your hand feeling slick with sweat. He had a very unfortunate aspect I tell you, but that’s none his fault. Sure there are other jobs, but poor Jackie couldn’t have been good at much else; he couldn’t read nor write, and he drank more than any man should; but so what? Jackie wasn’t a bad guy, and he sure didn’t deserve what he got.
September 20, 2013
At the Old Ball Game
Old Kramer Lindorf struck the mound with his cleated toe — two outs, one batter up. The Baltimore Tigers were closing in on their first victory of the season and it was all thanks to Kramer’s seasoned pitch; twisting over the plate at speeds over 100mph. The only thing he needed to do was keep the batter on the plate; when who else should stride to it but young Smithy Smithers; fresh from his trade out of New York, cocky as hell, hat turned back, and black chew steaming in his cheek.
September 13, 2013