Who Put the Short in Short Story? Not Me
Happy belated International Private Investigator Day! My website went up shortly before P.I. Day in 2014, so it’s sort of my informal two-year anniversary as well. I was just feeling nostalgic rereading my previous two P.I. Day Posts (here’s Year One and Year Two; and yes, aloha shirts still make me feel like a walking armchair with buttons.) Last week, I promised something special to celebrate. Then this pesky little tropical storm swept in, distracting me and throwing me off schedule. It was so humid the day before the storm hit that you could watch our bare feet leave footprints Read more…
Magpie Moments: Do Your Office Supplies Enable Your Paranoia?
Did you know that this Sunday (July 24th) is International Private Investigator Day? I’ve got something special in mind for next Friday (fingers crossed) for a belated celebration. In the meantime, I thought I’d share what passes for excitement in my writer’s world: new office supplies! I’ve previously confessed my love for Post-its (Peeking at Process; Resolve to be Resolute). Well, my infatuation with office supplies doesn’t stop there. Last week, I was chatting online with a group of writers about tools and strategies for longevity. We’re all trying to figure out how we can make it to next month—much Read more…
The Writer’s Environs: What Plants Engulf Your Structures?
Here’s the second installment in a series I started a while back and forgot about—I mean, hadn’t yet returned to: The Writer’s Environs. The idea is to reflect on the places we live, both the commonalities and the things that make each piece of the world unique. In the first installment, I asked, What crosses the road? (Yes, pigs are still crossing our road; it’s been a very heavy pig season.) The question this week: Which plants are most likely to take over the world? Anyone who’s lived or spent any time in the South is familiar with the apocryphal Read more…
Will The Robots Help Me Tie my Shoes, Too?
I’m ready for the Evil Robot Overlords to take charge. Then there will be no need to worry about our calendars. Regular blog readers probably know by now that making decisions (or making myself make decisions) is not my strong suit (About to Get Grounded and Inner Blue-Slapper, for example). You know what’s even worse than making decisions? Putting those decisions on a calendar. Of course, committing something to your calendar sucks you back into the decision-making matrix, often making you reconsider the original decision you’re now trying to schedule. (Well, I know I said I would, but come on–who really does that Read more…
Magpie Moments: Careful with Those Summer Leftovers
I’m posting this on July 1st, so Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north! And Happy almost-Independence Day in the U.S.! (Apologies to the Brits if you feel left out; in light of the recent Brexit kerfuffle, you’re welcome to crash our parties so long as you don’t bring Pimm’s.) This holiday season seems a particularly appropriate time to share a cautionary Magpie Moment (bits I snatched from real life and incorporated into my fiction). To set the stage, Sydney has just returned from a prison visit that included a detour for a box full of pastries. Her Read more…
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