I'm plugging in the percolator, got the tea kettle whistling, the cookies I haven't eaten on a platter (there's not many).

Chill day, though lots of good writing news. Definitely sold one story, probably sold another, and a podcast coming out this week. When it rains it pours. So I'll have 3 events in the same week and nothing for the next six months. Oh well.

Tired today. One of those hunker down and write kinda day.

Coffee and a baseball cookie please.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

Well yeah, it’s satellite cause it’s on SiriusXM, but it’s not a podcast or anything - just him telling stories and playing music.

I, admittedly, don’t know half of what he’s playing but I’m also really just listening to hear him.

Elyse, I owe you one! We watched a bunch of Drew Carey Show this weekend. It holds up really well. Everyone in that cast is SO GOOD. We started in season one, so I'm jonse-ing for the opening songs in the later seasons.

Sold a story this weekend! Yay! And Talia just got two poems published! She's not crowing about it much so I'll crow for her. She's such a good poet. And such a fine wife.

A decaf and a cookie please.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

It’s free on the Internet Archive. And yes, they have the entire show.

OMG thank you! We'll probably watch that this weekend!

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess

Thanks for the company.

I always enjoyed Christa Miller on Drew Carey and Scrubs. She’s in a new show with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford called “Shrinking” on Apple TV+. It’s a great show but I’m left wondering every week if she had some kind of plastic surgery because her cheeks and mouth look a little off. Idk and the Internet search was no help. LOL. I ended up going down a rabbit hole on that one.

I love her, but thought her face was getting a little rubbery toward the end of Scrubs. She is a hilarious actress. I really like Deitrich Bader too - we’re almost obsessively parcelling out Better Things, a few episodes a weekend, and he is VERY good in that. Such a good show. I highly recommend it.

Elyse, how are you watching The Drew Carey Show? I’m wanting to watch it now.

Not much going on today. I gotta figure out some plot stuff. Maybe watch a little baseball

Coffee and a Mets cookie please?

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

Yeah, that’s the song. After a certain point in the show, it’s kind of a lottery in terms of which of the three theme songs (Moon Over Parma, 5 O’Clock World, and Cleveland Rocks) you’ll hear.

I was a huge fan of Ian Hunter back in the day, and so was a huge fan of Cleveland Rocks way before the show. They’re all really good openings. What a creative show. Great cast.

I’ll kick back with Kat for a cup of tea. It’s been a long day, I could use the relaxation.

Quote by WriterGirl
And Verbal, reading your story about being locked up in jail (trapped in small spaces my biggest fear) gave me a severe panic attack, so I may or may not have contacted a voodoo priestess who may or may not have affected your story's outcome. 😈

Thanks WG.

Congrats to the winners, and the top ten, and everyone involved in the brave act of trying to tell a story. Pscyhed in particular to see Pnin get some recognition.

Quote by Ping
Oh Verbs, darling…

I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. (Repo Man reference)

Big congrats to the winners - especially Pnin, who I've not seen around here much, but is a stunning writer (Papa Smoked a Pipe is also stellar). Congrats, of course, of course, to the other winners, the runners up, everyone who entered, and everyone who has the courage to put pen to paper (or finger to key).

It's a cold and sullen day out there. Gonna stay inside and drink hot coffee, Hope everyone is doing well.

A coffee and a cookie please!

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess

Woke up way too early. After multiple attempts to go back to sleep, I gave up and will likely need a nap later. Been working on a few stories this morning. Taking my brother for a swim at 10 and then I have the rest of the day to get ready for my nephew and his best buddy who are coming down for Spring break tomorrow for a week. Hubby is gone till Sunday so it’ll be nice to have some company and additional help with my brother.

Hope the week is going well for all y’all. I apparently picked up a cold in Michigan, which bums me out. But it seems to be running its paces rather quickly so I’m hopeful it won’t bog me down for long.

Sipping a cuppa tea while the cat snuggles up with me maybe I will take that nap sooner than later. LOL!

I HATE waking up too early beyond nearly all other things. I can't ever nap for some odd reason, so if I'm up too early, I'm up too early. Glad you have the afternoon and evening free.

Congrats on getting published Anna! That is a huge accomplishment. The culmination of a lot of hard work.

I have a new front tooth! Went to the dentist yesterday, and finally got the damn thing done. Took awhile.

Tricky bit of writing coming up today. Let's see if I can pull it off.

Other than that, lazy day. Mets are on ESPN today though! I'll listen to that!

A coffee and a cookie please.

Welcome Susie.

Wonderful weekend. I organized my baseball cards. Just under 500 of them, late 80s through early 90s, including the Mets 1986 complete set, which is worth a little bit (though not a lot) of money. I have a TON of old Expos cards, if you Canadians are interested. A smattering of Blue Jay cards too.

AND I got to watch the first baseball game of the year yesterday. Ah, life is good.

A coffee and a bat cookie please.

Hey, no one’s here! Percolator on the stove, tea kettle heating up, lotsa cookies.

Baseball games today! I might not get around to listening to one until Monday. In a week I’ll be tired of Spring Training and ready for the season to start.

Warm weekend here, no real plans. These are the dog days of winter, with no more three day weekends or holidays til summer.

We are contemplating a trip to New York in September. Broadway and baseball baby!

Coffee and a cookie!

Good luck with this!

Sorry about the ice, Ape. I imagine it's pretty bad where a lot of you are. We got a little bit, but it's white and pretty.

Watching Alex Murdaugh (what a name!) testifying live now. Dramatic! It's such a crazy trial.

Same old thing here. Watch the trial and write. It's No Talia Thursday, so the cats took an Uber to the cat toy store before I woke up, to avoid my shenanigans. Cowards!

Coffee and a cookie please!

Quote by Mendalla

Because sprite called you a fascist?? 😕

🤣

Good evening. Just swinging by. I'll put on some herbal tea for those needing something to relax.

Nah. Got an "in" for a group I would love to do a project with - totally out of the blue. It was cool. My youngest also got a major promotion. Could it be my kids will finally end up financially independent? Stay tuned....

Not much today. It's cold and snowy, but most people in the path of this storm got hit much worse. Things're okay here. Two new comp entries to read, from two of my favorite writers!

Time to get to it. Happy Ash Wednesday. I'm giving up nothing for lent - hit me with a coffee and a Mardi Gras cookie!

I am having THE BEST DAY!!!

Quote by Mendalla

Woo hoo! A Red Rose and some king cake, please! ape prances merrily wearing multiple strings of beads

(But is careful not to throw them after reading verbal's comp entry)

You're under arrest! throws you against bus

Yay, Annie's in! Looking forward to reading an entry from our resident James Joyce (Jane Joyce?).

Therapy today, which I generally enjoy. Other than that, done with rewrites, so back to writing new words today.

I think I sold a story! They asked for a "hold." We'll see - it's been a while. I'll let Talia speak for herself, but she's having some success in poetry-land.

Sorry you got hit with Covid again Gil. Take care,

Baseball games next week, even if they don't count!

Coffee, and that cherry shortbread sounds tasty, Sara.

Quote by sprite

i started out here writing fiction and then, at some point, it became therapy... writing this, i realized how much i missed writing the fiction - as for the therapy... there's not the suffocating, burning need to cleanse myself these days, so who knows, i may just get active again. thanks for the shout out. i really loved what i did for the comp - whether or not it does well doesn't really matter, to be honest. i feel like i've already won.

Looking forward to reading yours sprite, and thanks for your generous comments on mine. As for therapy vs. story, I never try to work out personal problems or issues in my fiction, but they ALWAYS find their way in. Like Tom Robbins once said: "Writing is like juggling. Whenever you spill something, make it look like part of the act."

Lazy day today. T is getting her hair done, and I am wrestling with an incalcitrant plot and playing fetch with the cat.

Enjoy your Sunday folks.

EDIT: RIP Richard Belzer. Loved that guy.

We'll miss you Larry.

I'll turn the lights on and get things going.

Hug those you love. As often as you can.

Quote by redwriter

Have to have yet another carcinoma cut off my ear on Monday. I'll have no ear left at this rate. I wouldn't care, the sun is being blamed but it doesn't shine that much here on the NE coast. Does anyone have a spare? I've been to the ear shop but they only had Doctor Spock or Mickey Mouse ears--and they would clash with the one I have. I could get a matching pair but they would clash with the shape of my head!

It's 13 hours since Sara was here so I hope the coffee is still hot--yes, a latte and--oh, only Valentines cookies (that's past) --still, they are made with Sara's flawless skill, so why not? Mmmm, scrumptuous!

Sorry to hear about the ear (there's a pun in there somewhere), Red. I've had nothing cut away yet, but a bit of colon (unnecessarily as it turned out). Now I have a semi-colon. Tip your waitresses.

Red, you should get antennas, like My Favorite Martian. That's dating myself!

No Talia Thursday. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, but will do my best to push through. Hope it's not a sign of actually getting sick.

Coffee and a cookie please.

Same old deal hre

I can't imagine ever getting tipped, but cool. Is it like cow tipping?

Huge snowstorm rushed in last night, and it's supposed to snow all day. I'm fine with that, I have no plans to leave the house. Lots of child drama yesterday, and I am tired, so hopefully I can put on headphones and ignore the world and get some writing done.

I hope everyone is well. A coffee and a cookie please.

blinks, gets the percolator perking, the teaolator teaing, all the cookies out on a pretty platter

There we go.

HUGE snowstorm hitting this afternoon. Like, up to a foot. We are preparing to hunker down. If you're gonna hunker down, Valentine's Day seems the perfect day to do it. Assuming, of course, you don't have reservations anywhere.

Editing day today. I tend to be lazy on editing day. On writing days I pump out 1000 words with regularity. Editing days I have no goal, and so tend to wander.

I have a love poem up for Talia here: https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/poetry/dentistry

Anyway. Happy Valentine's Day. Coffee and a cookie.

Good exciting game! Good halftime show. And now...it's Spring Training!

Can't write today - I have a dentist appointment, Wah. I'm going to rewrite these first 80 or so pages anyway: too much has changed plot-wise since I started and I want it all to match. I'm trying to take more care than I did last time. Mindful writing. BE the word....

That's all from me! Let's Go Mets! Braves and Jays and Nats and Padres too! Everyone's team!

A coffee and a baseball cookie!

Thanks for setting up.

I'm on drain-cleaning duty today. Smelly dirty work. But it will make Talia SO HAPPY.

I'm actually going to watch the Super Bowl this year. I like the matchup. Truth be told, I'll probably spend a good deal of the game playing video baseball. That's not irony, but it's close.

Spring Training starts tomorrow!!!

Wah! I have to critique all day, for critique day tomorrow. I wanna write. Boring day today.

Thanks for the set-up, James.

Sorry about your friend Sara, and out thoughts will be with you on Saturday. Funerals, in my experience, are kind of comforting. I hope, that if you cry, it is soothing in some way.

Sunny and cold here. I'll keep a half an eye on the Super Bowl Sunday, but that Monday start of Spring Training is the real fun. I'm tired of playing video baseball.

Seize the weekend! A coffee and a cookie!

Thanks for setting up Ape. Sorry it's so wet and cold. Cold and snow flurries here, though the wind seems to be dying.

Trying to fill a major plot hole today. Like, major. Middle of the evening last night night it occurred to me. D'oh! No forward motion until I solve it.

No Talia Thursday. The cats and I will be constructing a balloon-assisted surveillance device, to float above the neighborhood and keep an eye out for any suspicious activities.

Seize the day, all. A coffee and a strawberry shortbread cookie. You are right about baseball season Sara - you can smell it in the air. I love that pitchers and catchers always happens around Valentine's Day.

Two more comp entries! Yay!

I slept 9 glorious hours last night! Woke up fully charged and ready to go. 1000 words and a revised chapter outline. Woo-hoo!

State of the Union was kinda nutty last night. Lotsa yelling and heckling! I used to run polling for a certain ex-President, and State of the Union was the craziest work day of the year, next to election day. I never miss it after that.

A coffee and a coo...OMG I'M STEALING ALL THE COOKIES AND RUNNING AWAY (though only to this little table over here).

Thanks for the set-up James.

A no Talia morning, but she should be back by afternoon. I am bogging down a bit on the WIP, though still churning out 1000 words a day. I hope a rejiggering of the plot isn’t on the horizon. I’ll give myself the same advice I give others - finish it first. See what you’ve got before you pull out the editing pencil.

I hope someone else enters the comp. Those two entries are getting lonely.

A coffee and a Bambi cookie please.

Thanks for the setup Sara, and thanks for the cookies. I’m so sorry about your friend.

Oh, I love me some Roger Miller. He wrote a Broadway musical about Huck Finn I’d kill to see.

I did a horror writing podcast yesterday. We talked like two hours! Two really wonderful writers did the podcast. Made me feel like a real writer. It was nice. Today, same ol, same ol. I have another difficult scene I don’t know how to write.

That earthquake in Syria sounds just awful. Thousands dead. Sigh.

Enjoy your day everyone. A coffee and a cookie from the QuickDraw tin.

I like to sing.

Talk radio or music radio?