A Is For Aunt. Specifically, A is for Aunt Theodolinda, an ancient relative of the Crabtree family. All of the Crabtrees call her Aunt Theodolinda. But whose Aunt, exactly, is she? *** Christmas Eve Aunt Theodolinda, after a time, came to herself. “Dear me!” She said, genteelly, gazing about her. … Continue reading
I am once more participating in the April A To Z Blogging Challenge! For an explanation of this event, click here. Today is the day of the great Theme Reveal, and I am eager to reveal mine. It is to be a mystery, and every day in April (except Sundays)… Continue reading
First, a doleful announcement: I have failed to attain the dizzy heights of Round 2 of the NYC Midnight Short Story Competition. Jack And The Banshee-Bird was, in the judge’s opinion, pretty good, but not quite good enough. Alas! But, gentle reader, do not repine! I have a piece of… Continue reading
I have once again entered the NYC Midnight Short Story Contest. In this delightful contest, one is assigned a Genre, a Character, and a Subject, and must write a story in the assigned genre and including the character and the subject. This time, I was assigned: Fairy Tale A Woodworker… Continue reading
Do you want to make awesome bead-people, suitable for use in Christmas ornaments, last-minute Christmas gifts of the decorative and frivolous sort, and assorted other crafty projects? You do? Well, I’ll be! And here I am, just bursting to tell you how to do just that. First, here are a… Continue reading
A Slideshow Drama! Continue reading
I. The Birth of Cuthbert The Progenitor Meet Cuthbert The Progenitor (or Ur-Cuthbert, if you prefer). Alec and I made him by accident while we were trying to make a Halloween ghost prop. See, Cuthbert’s head is a helium balloon; the long balloon and the inflated glove are full of… Continue reading
In my last post, I asked my readers to spot all of the clues/mystery tropes/mystery genre conventions in the passage below. I said, rather mysteriously, that I counted between 12 and 16 of the things myself. I now present you with my own list of Clues, Tropes, and Genre Conventions. … Continue reading
In murder mysteries, there is generally a certain amount of text between the title page and the discovery of The First Corpse. This text usually Sets The Tone and Builds Tension. It is also Positively Salted With Clues; this is so that The Reader will Feel Like An Idiot later. … Continue reading
Yippee! I made Round 3 of the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Contest! My assignment for this round was: Genre: Horror Location: A Laboratory Object: A Toy Train Without further ado, then… My Round 3 Entry for the NYC Midnight Flash Fiction Competition Doorways It began on a Tuesday evening, three… Continue reading
