Fiction
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The Dinner Party Guests (fiction)
It all started with a dinner party. Five young couples coming together for an evening of dinner, drinks, and maybe a seance. The host was Arthur Pearson, son of a prominent banker in the city, destined to fill his father’s shoes. Throwing such dinner parties was something of a sport for Arthur, who loved throwing his family money and influence around to get others to do what he wished. No one would refuse a dinner invite from a Pearson. Arthur was fascinated by the results of bringing different people together who would normally never find themselves in the same room. He also was fascinated by the trends of the Spiritualism…
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Rumblings (fiction write)
We like to think that we have the whole world mapped and figured out. Battling governments having laid claim to every inch of free land that they can find. Point to any place on a map and people are likely to be able to offer some rudimentary knowledge or generalization about the area or people. We like to think that we know our neighbors, any surprises that exist must be far away from us. Humans like to believe that they know everything there is to know. There will always be those people who are eager to claim authority and expertise, to spout off as if they have all the answers.…
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The Talisman
The little white door blended in seamlessly with the wall around it, and Lucy probably wouldn’t have even noticed it if Connor didn’t point it out to her. It was small, the top of the door was level with the top of her head and it was maybe only a foot wide. In place of a doorknob, there were two latches – a tarnished old slide latch and a shiny and new-looking latch with a lock. Connor pulled a small key out of his pocket and started fumbling with the lock. Lucy looked at the door and wondered what could possibly be hiding behind it. It was much too small…
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The Picture Frame
The girl searched through the dusty old boxes in the garage, looking for some treasures worth keeping. Amid the crumbling papers and broken records, one item stood out – an empty picture frame with beautiful swirled edges. She didn’t know why she felt so drawn to this empty frame, but she quickly took it home and filled it with her artwork before hanging it on the wall. She soon realized that there was something special about this frame. She leaned closer, the artwork seemed to be moving ever so slightly. When she reached up to touch the picture, her finger just kept going until she found her whole self pulled…
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Fairy Judgment
This post is a response to an assigned writing prompt for my local writing group. We had to respond to the question “In what way do you judge strangers before getting to know them?” through the eyes of characters in our writing. I answered this question using some of the characters from the novel that I have drafted and am currently working on editing. “Fairies are always so judgey,” the creature complained. “We are not ‘judgey’!” Maeve argued. “Judgey isn’t even a proper word. How would a groundling like you even know what fairies are really like? I can’t imagine that you have many fairies visiting you in this…place.” Maeve…
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The Patron
The tired, old bookseller heard the bell over the door ring and looked up from his coffee to see who had entered his shop. He studied the young woman and wondered whether she was just a casual tourist or one of the few who felt the pull from one of the Books hidden on the back shelf. The old man had grown tired of running the shop and now was only open a few hours a week, he often thought about closing it, but he felt a calling to keep it open for those special few who needed it. The woman did not seem to know what she was looking…
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The Bookseller
She walked down the narrow, cobblestone alley; she had never noticed the old bookstore there before. The sign outside said simply: “BOOKS Wednesdays 10-2”. She walked in to discover shelves and shelves of unfamiliar dust-covered books, not the walls of classics or contemporary books she expected to find in a bookstore. These were books about magic, fairies, spirits, and spells. The bookseller glared at her as she reached to dust off a book hidden in the corner. This was the book that would change everything. This was a six sentence story that had to include the prompt word CLASSICS. To see more six sentence stories responding to this prompt go…
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Know the Novel: Introducing Misfit Magic
I feel like I have really found my groove with writing again recently. For the past few years, any time I sat down to write, I would feel guilty and like my time was better spent doing something else. The act of pulling out my computer became a task associated with finishing my thesis and high levels of stress. I have always loved writing, but for a while I found every excuse available to avoid writing. I am so happy to be back writing again. I rediscovered the joy in writing. There are still a million reasons for me to put off writing, but I feel more committed to writing…
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Halloween Housesitting
The job requirements were simple, she just had to spend the night in a vacant house to make sure that no Halloween pranksters messed with it – easy money. As she walked up to the door, the house was surrounded by a fog so thick she could barely see two feet in front of her. She pushed the old, creaky door open and stepped inside. She heard a door slam in a different part of the house as the lights flickered off and on. This house was supposed to be unoccupied so she shouted out to see who was there. Suddenly the lights went out and then the laughter started.…
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The Dragon Warrior
His heavy sword clashed against the dragon’s nearly impenetrable scales and the dragon snarled. He heard footsteps behind him and swung around just in time to block the Dark Knight’s attack. As he raised his sword toward the knight, he could feel the dragon’s fiery breath singe his back. This was the fiercest battle the mighty warrior had ever fought, but nothing would stop him from rescuing the King and retrieving the stolen jewels. He heard a woman shout from the far end of the field, so he laid down his sword and turned to run toward his mother. He would return to battle later, but now the little dragon warrior…
