Unpublished*

The Past: I've been working towards becoming a person that can say they're a writer without laughing for about six years now; I've read a  lot  of craft books and worked on my own writing projects during that time, with mixed success. There has been a lot of frustration to go along with my efforts, to date. I periodically cruise the internet and look at MFA programs and online writing classes. I miss the structured learning that schools provide. I already have an MBA and can't justify the expense of going back so I figured I could get the same information by reading how-to books and JUST WRITING. That's what they all say, right? Just write! Unfortunately, I would reference the first five years of my journey as proof that alone doesn't work for everyone. I'll give you an analogy: when you're learning how to hit a baseball, you just have to get up there and swing the bat; eventually you start making contact and it's uphill from there. It's very lin...

The NaNoWriMo organization is dead. I agree with the community that killed it. AI has no place in the creative space and the original  NaNoWriMo  organization was pushing it as a cash-grab, but I digress. With that being said, I like the idea  of National Novel Writing Month. These were the rules: Writing starts at 12:00:00 a.m. on November 1 and ends 11:59:59 p.m. on November 30, local time. No one is allowed to start early and the challenge finishes exactly 30 days from that start point. Novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before the end of November in order to win. These words can either be a complete novel of 50,000 words or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later. Planning and extensive notes are permitted, but no material written before the November 1 start date can go into the body of the novel. Participants' novels can be on any theme, genre of fiction, and language. What a challenge! You basically have to write over 1600 words each day in ...

I am currently working on my submission for Press53's October 2025 53-word challenge . This month's prompt is a plant . I like their competitions because they are free and have to be exactly 53 words. I find the restriction forces me to be more creative. Since I'm working in that space today I thought I would post some of my previous entries—none of them are winners. April 2025: The prompt was slip . Sigmund crashed through the woody underbrush, carving a snowy path to Miller’s Pond. At the edge, a surprised rabbit bolted across the ice. The hound followed, the pads of his feet struggling to find purchase but his momentum carrying him forward. He fell and spun across the ice like a furry ninja star. August 2025: The prompt was a cycle . I was a man for far too long. Bitten by a stray, I’m hairy all day; Only at night, when the moon is just right, can the man come back and play. But now when I change it feels wrong. As a dog I’m virile and strong—until I get neutered one day...

Oh, my sweet sweet scribblers! For most of 2025, I've been attending a Friday afternoon writing group called Scribble Society. It's held at my local library (Jefferson City, TN) in a room with sound-proof glass all around it so you can look out and see the shelves of books marching off into the distance and they don't have to put up with us when we get rowdy. Usually there're about five or six of us in attendance, reading things we've written that week or talking about our projects. Sometimes we spend a little time writing quick-and-dirty prose from prompts, or we just geek out about our favorite authors. It's always amazing though. The long and winding road: I started writing a book in 2020 during the uncertainty of COVID-19. Like many people at the time I picked up a hobby because it seemed like the thing to do. Writing, playing guitar, or painting miniature models of factories is better than sitting around and waiting for the world to end, right? I've alw...