Dear Characters: A Confession
I’m going to kill you. Please don’t fight it.
After all, you either die on the page, on your own terms, or you die when they close the book. Which is worse?
A quick 33 words for the weekend Trifextra challenge. Head on over and read the rest of the entries (it won’t take you long)!
Happy Friday!
Receiver
“Pick up the phone.”
“This phone?”
“It’s ringing.”
Colin listened a moment, to the far-off sound of the freeway and cars driving through the mist.
“Is not.”
The stranger made no reply, simply inclining his head toward the phone. Colin shrugged and grabbed the broken receiver.
“There’s not even an earpiece on it, mate. How’m I supposed to hear?”
The voice that replied sounded digital and broken, like a recording from some earlier era, but the feeling of hot breath as the stranger whispered in Colin’s ear was distinct:
“The better question is: How am I speaking without a voice?” Read the rest of this entry »
Life in Onomatopoeia
Slurp
Wahh!
(Birth)
Haha!
*Scrape*
Wahh!
(Childhood)
Ooh
Mmm
*Slam*
Wahh!
(Adolescence)
Honk honk
Tappity tap
Sigh
*cha-ching*
Wee!
(Adulthood) Read the rest of this entry »
Tough Guy Bobby Caduzo
“A little… light for a mob joint, isn’t it? I mean, watercolors? Artsy mirrors. Glass eggs in baskets? I thought we were here to meet ‘tough guy Bobby Caduzo.’ This don’t strike me as a place for no tough guys.”
“Hey shut your mouth, would ya? Show some respect. Bobby’s right over there.”
“Where? I only see the broad at the counter.”
“Bobby is the broad at the counter, stupid. Barbara Caduzo.”
“Sal, I’m in deep with these guys, man—how’s some chick supposed to help?”
“Heh. Tony, sometimes it’s real obvious you grew up without a mudda.” Read the rest of this entry »
Madelaine
“I see that look on your face: You don’t believe me, and I don’t blame you. But I do love you, Sean Brennan—after a fashion.
Shh. Don’t interrupt, sweetie. Let me explain:
When I came to see you four days ago (or three and a half if it please you) I told you I was desperate, and that was true. I’d come to unlock my place that morning—let in the day shift and count the take from the night before—when I’d found a note slid underneath the door.
Philippe Bonté, the cochon that owned the place before me, was threatening to run me out. He’d changed his mind about the sale, and told me he was coming back to take the place by force—with a few of his guys for good measure, naturally.
You ok, honey? You want another drink? Suit yourself… Read the rest of this entry »
Echoes
I watched my brother’s face as the cocktail of drugs took effect. His eyelids fluttered and his eyes rolled, and beads of sweat began to appear on his waxy skin. I made sure the contacts were secure against his scalp.
“Turn it on,” I said. Meher’s hand went to the switch, but he hesitated.
“You would do this to your own brother? Your own blood?”
“Of course,” I snapped, “as I have with thousands of patients before. I would not make myself a hypocrite. Besides, it’s perfectly safe—and if there’s any chance of finding out what happened to him, I must try.”
I composed myself in the silence that followed, and repeated calmly:
“Turn it on.”
Meher complied; the machine snapped to life and the faint crackle of current filled the room. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ll be the first to admit: I’ve been a little slow on the uptake with using platforms like Twitter and Facebook to get my writing out there. First, it felt a little presumptuous to create a fan page for myself when I haven’t actually published anything yet; then it just seemed like I could never have enough to say to fill up a Twitter feed or timeline.
But I’ve been chipping away at it, so as a service to the other writers out there who feel the same way, I thought I’d share some of the resources I’ve stumbled across in my searches. After all, it’s never too late to learn!
The Book Doctors Present: As You Like It, Or the Power of Facebook for Authors
7 Essential Elements for an Author’s Facebook Page
Facebook for Authors: How to get Started
Facebook Strategy for Authors: In-Depth Discussion
Gaudi
I tried to give the form of nature to the works of man. The organic curve, the subtle softness—an answer to the harsh lines and right angles we use to distinguish ourselves from the beast.
The Segrada Familia, Park Güell, Casa Batlló: these were my life’s work.
Perhaps the world laughs at me now, struck by a tram and left to die in the street—literally a victim of the industrial age. But, if so, they misread these symbols.
For in my death I will reveal what man truly is: an object. Inert.
But a work of art. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been bad, reader friends, and waited too long to get my list of May short stories together. Consequently, the May 1st deadlines are out the door. My apologies!
There are still a few chances to submit though, so let me lay the sweetness on you:
The Talisman
“You took a piece of my heart?”
“Isn’t it romantic?”
I frowned. Les Moelleux was clearing out as we drank, and apart from the few dancers that remained, undone in the laps of patrons in dark corners, we were alone.
“And your story about someone robbing your place? That was a lie?”
Madelaine smiled.
“Well… it was half true. The other half is that they wanted me dead, too.”
She sipped her drink and swirled the ice.
“I needed you to help me stop them,” she said, “but, when you couldn’t do that, I needed a talisman for protection instead.”
She fingered the chain around her neck and winked, but I was done with this game. My hands were shaking. Read the rest of this entry »
