Whole-heartedly a fan. She's a mesmerizing performer, and I love her songwriting. Having daughters who loved her helped make me a fan.

Well, I followed my own advice and wrote crap all day yesterday. Staring at 600 words I'm about to dump right into the trash.

I'm rested though. Dragged by butt through the entire day yesterday, but got a good 8 hours of sleep last night.

Buying burgers and brats today for a small cookout tomorrow, bur other than that it's the same old day.

Coffee would be swell. Sara, what cookies do we have coming in? I'll stick with a rocket for now.

Sorry everyone is feeling so blocked. My cure for writer's block is just to write badly for a couple days. There's usually a good sentence or two in there. Delete the rest. I'm about to waste a bunch of words on the MRI story, since I don't really know where it's going.

Woke up INSANELY early today, around 5, awakened by thunder. I'm not tired yet, but expect it to hit me hard later.

A LOT of coffee please.

Quote by gillianleeza
Paul Tremblays's newest, Horror Movie.

I bought it, but haven't read it yet. He's so good!

Quote by Mendalla

O Caaaaaaanadaaaaaaa!

Good morning and Happy Canada Day!! For today, everyone is Canadian while they are here in the cafe.

We've Timmy's Dark Roast coffee, and Red Rose and Canadian Breakfast tea. Hot water is ready for other beverages. Iced tea and lemonade are mixed up fresh and waiting in the fridge. Boxes of Timbits are on the counter for your sugar fix.

Funny, I don’t feel Canadian.

Happy Canada Day, all.

Strange doings in the U.S. this morning.

Back here at home, things are fine. Same old day today. I have no ideas for the contest on another site, so I will stick to the MRI demon story (which whispers to me that the could be a novel).

Coffee please. And a sugar cookie.

In writing don’t merely adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”: make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please, will you do your job for me?”

C S Lewis

I will try to remember to keep adding more rules. I think there are 36 in all. They are so good.

Quote by JamesPBear

It's also very good.

Thanks Mr. Bear.

Well that was unpleasant.

Hot day today, and not much planned. Write/walk/baseball. Still pounding away at the demonized MRI machine story.

A coffee, please, and a GRIMACE cookie! How did I miss those?

I counted the words like 10 times. I think I’m right at 70,

Bees terrified Jan, though she'd never seen one. So, she was terrified of summer. One year, as she sat alone on the stoop in the summer heat, she heard a buzz, and froze. The bumblebee came around the corner, buzzing comically loud, stumbling and bumbling from one gorgeous flower to the next. How could she have been scared of something so simple and beautiful?

When it stung her, she laughed.

Morning all.

Nothing new here. I keep forgetting about WG’s contest! 70 words. I will try to work on that today. As Ape said on another site, I am starting to spread myself too thin.

Making popcorn for the debate tonight. Gonna be a hard watch, but we will do it.

Coffee please. And a rocket cookie. Do we have one of those?

Quote by Mendalla

Paging JustAnotherSapphic. If you're at all into country, this might be of interest. It was recommended as a "road trip disc" by, of all places, Scientific American. Well, the editor of their daily newsletter anyhow.

https://store.tompetty.com/products/petty-country-a-country-music-celebration-of-tom-petty-cd

And I see Mike Campbell of The Heartbreakers guests on one track, so I guess this is official. Personally, I am intrigued by Rhiannon Giddens doing "Don't come around here no more". Her folk-bluegrass sound could do interesting things with that song, I think.

I've heard of this, but haven't listened yet. Dierks Bentley, who we are seeing in August, has an excellent cover of American Girl on it.

Mets beat the Yankees yesterday!

Write/walk/baseball/repeat. In other news, I've turned Talia onto...wait for it...The X-Files! We're starting with Season One and working our way forward. Roughly an episode a night.

Coffee and cookie please!

“The Applebees of music” is pretty funny, but Tom Petty seems to be pretty universally beloved. Fine with me. Did I tell you I saw once in concert. Lenny Kravitz opened. Good concert.

Hot today. Acupuncture and writing. And I know no one cares about this but me, but the Mets are playing the Yankees. We’ll likely lose, but it’s a rivalry. Sorry Red. Has anyone heard from Red lately?

Anyway. A coffee and a million cookies please.

Quote by WriterGirl

I know I’m alone when I say I don’t find any Beatle appealing. Or their music. (please don’t throw things at me)

My wife doesn't like the Beatles either. So I won't throw anything.

Quote by WriterGirl

Hiya everybody!

I’m sponsoring a fun writing challenge. 1st place 500 coins ($50). Second place 375 coins ($37.50).

See link below.

https://www.storiesspace.com/forum/stories-space-writing-prompts-challenges/summer-24-hint-fiction-writing-challenge-for-lots-of-coins

Oh, this sounds like fun! Cool prompts too! I should have something by the end of the day. Or the end of tomorrow.

Ringo, Elyse? The least unattractive Beatle, in my world-weary eyes. What about John? In a related note, I have a strong memory of my Mom and my sister talking about Paul McCartney, and how he was almost too pretty. Note the “almost.” They both loved him.

Another hot one! Writing today, plus a short walk out in that sweltering heat. And the Mets game tonight! Life is good.

Coffee please. And a spaceship cookie!

Good morning all.

Gloomy weather has left, and perfect weather is coming in, not too hot, not too cool.

I'm editing all day. It's the Weird Western I sold, and they must have cut 50 commas of mine (along with more substantive changes). a long day looms.

Coffee please. LOTS of it.

Quote by Mendalla

Good morning!! Feeling a bit livelier today and attempting some writing. If this keeps going, my new piece (the already discussed sequel to Night Of The Wind) is headed for at least novella territory. Will probably be doing chapters, even. But we shall see.

In the meantime, here's some Private Reserve French Roast from Las Chicas. Teas are Assam and Irish Breakfast. Hot water is on for other goodies. Cold beverages are looking good.

How's things?

Slight warning about Paypal:

Apparently, my account is set to use my existing balance first. Which means that I quite unintentionally used my comp winnings to pay for my Uber home from the airport transport depot the other day. 😲🤣

Chapters would be cool. Good luck with the novella.

I’m still alive, so the Demon of the MRI didn’t get me. Those tubes are such weird places. I asked the guy if anyone had ever died in an MRI tube, and he reeled off three times people had died. The pacemakers are the most horrific - apparently the wires fry!

Any2ay. Coffee would be swell. Got any Grimace cookies Sara? The Mets went 7-0 after her threw out the first pitch this month,

Quote by Mendalla

In Canada that is. Was a bit of a long trip but saw some interesting stuff along the way. Favourite might be Gdansk, Poland, which kind of surprised me. We even visited the shipyard in Gdansk where Lech Walesa worked and Solidarity started. There's a big "European Solidarity Centre" there that traces the history and has some artifacts and recreations from the era. Gdansk also has a lovely medieval-Renaissance Old Town. And it is all in walking distance.

Talinn, Estonia and Lubeck, Germany (our shore trip when we docked in Kiel) are also nice, historic cities.

Anyhow, I am back. Putting on some Deathwish Dark Roast coffee. Teas are English Breakast and Twining Four Red Fruits (which I discovered at our hotel in Oslo after the cruise). Hot water is available for whatever other hot drinks you might wish. Washed the pitchers and made fresh iced tea and lemonade. Sodas are stocked up.

So how goes it?

Glad to have you back. That is quite a trip! I love Polish history.

Off to the brain scan today! To avoid vague-posting here, I am having some sort of weird progressive numbness, fro my feet all the way up to the top of my head. It’s not 100% numb, more like it’s been dialed back. It’s kind of disconcerting. Anyway, neuropathy is partly to blame, but that doesn’t explain everything. Thus, the brain scan.

Other than that things are peachy. Cool, overcast day out, which I quite like. I’m done with memoir for a bit, and sliding back into horror these days. Thus, the brain scan DEMON! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I’d love some coffee!

Quote by DenimAngel

I get to see the Braves July 7th when they play the Dbacks and then again August 9th when they play the Rockies .

That rocks! I've seen SO MANY Mets/Braves games, I am actually writing about the 1999 playoffs, and the best baseball game I ever saw!

Back from acupuncture. Should be a chill day.

Hope everyone is well. I'd love a coffee!

These guys are paying 10 cents a word!

Ghoulish Tales
This magazine wants “short stories that fit our personal definition of the word GHOULISH, which is “fun horror that aims to celebrate all things spooky.” Note that we said fun, not funny. Comedic stories are definitely allowed, but it’s not all we’re looking to receive. We want stories that remind us why we love the horror genre. We want to have a perverted little smile across our face while reading. Make us slobber like idiots. Turn us into the Sickos.jpeg meme. We love body horror. We love weird shit. We love experimental, gutsy narratives. We love being ghoulish.” For the June open call, they are “only considering fiction and non-fiction from writers who have never been published before. We want to see work from new writers only. I suppose you could call this the New Ghouls issue.” They have detailed guidelines about eligibility for this issue, please read them carefully. Length guidelines are up to 5,000 words for fiction, up to 2,000 words for nonfiction. Pay is $0.10/word. The deadline is 30 June 2024. Details here.

Hey there Ape, hey, Gill.

I hope the fathers and the single moms playing Dad and the cool uncles and anyone else celebrating enjoyed Fathers Day. I did. And the Mets won! Whe do you see the Braves, Sara?

Nothing big shaking today. I have a MRI on my brain this week. That should be fun. I am planning on writing a horror story about a demon in the MRI machine, so I will be sucking up the details.

Coffee and a cookie!

Hey everyone!

Coolish day today. Talia and I are meeting an old high school friend for dinner. Haven't seen him for decades! Should be fun. Also, I expect to be feted on Sunday.

Coffee and a cookie please!

crickets

Ditto from yesterday.

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess

It's a balmy 58 degrees F here on Mackinac Island. We've had a string of days where it barely reached 60, so I am hopeful the weather channel isn't lying about it hitting 69 this afternoon. We've been waiting for temps warm enough to enjoy a pool swim (heck, we've been waiting for weather warm enough to wear shorts and skip the sweatshirts).

I got up early to write, and the toddler was up and at 'em 5 minutes later. Fortunately, his dad woke up too and is taking him on a bike ride (thank goodness my son's foot has improved enough to ride his bike).

I've started a new story for this site, but I haven't had much time to write with the kids and grandkids being with us this week. That's okay. There will be time to write when the vacation is over.

Hope all y'all are doing well!

Sounds like great fun.

Not much going on over here. Coffee and the news and a blank page.

Hope everyone is well!

Quote by gillianleeza

I saw the trailers for Maxing and Beetlejuice; they both look good. I saw The Black Phone and thought Ethan Hawke was brilliantly creepy. I didn't know they were making a sequel. Bill Skarsgard seems like a great casting choice for Nosferatu.

Longlegs sounds like something I'd like.

A Quiet Place - Day One.

I saw Longlegs called the scariest movie of the decade. I wanna see all these movies. I’ve been staying away from the Maxxxine / Pearl / X franchise. Is it worth it?

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

I think I'm having a bit of an existential crisis, so to speak, over the Beatles cause I love Ringo 'n George...'n now John too.

...but one thing I will never, ever do is love Paul. Him's a bit too phony for my taste.

I’ve always been a John Lennon man. Go watch Get Back on Apple - hours and hours of documentary. It’s fascinating, though it is LOOOOONG.

Hot and sunny, thunderstorms in the afternoon - my kinda day. And the Mets are finally playing again, after all the traveling to London and back. So I can actually watch some (losing) baseball.

Coffee and teas are out, cookies are in a silver platter. Enjoy the day.

Quote by Cora

I hope the best for your vacation and your parent’s health, gillianleeza. I am happy you will be spending some time with your children. I firmly believe everything will be okay; that you will have a great time with your children and your parents will rest easy.

I live my life by a quote from St. Pio, “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” Never have those words failed me.

Rest easy, wonderful gillianleeza. I hope that your vacation with your children will be fun and relaxing. I hope your parents will not undergo any difficulties, rather rest easy.

Hope is beautiful. ❤️

Ah, hope. True words, Cora. Here’s a little Emily for a Monday morning.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all - - E Dickinson

Cool and rainy here, with is welcome after a hot sunny week. We are heading to summer feeling hopeful. The cats and Talia and I are all still lazing in bed, but I am about to jump up and go make more coffee. Finishing up my writing about New York this week (The Oort Cloud, on Substack, if anyone cares). Today’s installment is musing on the deaths of a couple good friends, and the monster of addiction.

So, hope is a welcome thing to talk about this morning. Thanks, Cora and Emily,

Coffee and tea and cookies are in the usual places.

How goes the Girl and Bear book James?

Off to the coffee pot!

Yum! A coffee and a rocket cookie please!

We are seeing a free, outdoor production called 2 Gents, which is a 70 minute version of Two Gentleman of Verona, with 6 actors doing all the parts. Sounds weird, huh? But the price is right!

Tomorrow the Mets play IN LONDON! Woo-hoo!

Enjoy the weekend everyone.

Hoo boy, crickets the last 24 hours.

Nothing new here. Hot and sunny, and new words on the horizon.

Costco coffee and sniffs some kinda tea here. Hope it’s still fresh. The cookies are amazing though, even if the tea is iffy.

Seize the carp!

Good morning all.

Hottest day of the year so far today - we'll hit 90. Getting dry out there.

Same old thing here. Write, walk, baseball, repeat. Watching an excellent show with Talia - Evil. Sort of an X-Files but with exorcisms. Really good.

Costco Coffee and Zoomy Kitty teas and travel cookies are out.