Digital, sadly. The paper newspaper was was one of my great joys, and I read it daily for decades. Until…I didn’t.

Ride a horse or surf a surfboard?

Nice cup of coffee Ape.

Day two of Talialessness (she does come home at 5). The cats are resentful. I am restless. She popped her head in here yesterday, and I think she might submit something soon.

I tried to write a murder scene yesterday and it didn’t go well. It was hard to get the tone right. I’m gonna toast up a bagel and pour another cup of coffee and then take another run at it. Wah.

Coffee and a yummy cookie please.

Quote by TaliaRussell

Good morning, all - tough week ahead - my usual hybrid schedule won’t be in effect due to a team member’s vacation. I have to be in the office by 8 every day! Wah!! On the plus side, Verbal and I will be heading to IHOP soon!

IHOP was a poem. I'll be eating the other half of that turkey melt today.

A coffee for my wife, garcon?

Thanks for the setup Ape.

Talia is at work ALL WEEK. Wah. I’m a little bummed. I will miss her during the day. As will the cats, who are currently hid in the bed (shhh, don’t tell them I know). It time for my all feline production of Bat Boy: the Musical!

I am reading a story live this week, on Wednesday. I’ve been tinkering with the thing for a long time. I am really fond of it, and am even practicing for the reading (something I rarely do).

Coffee and a cookie would be lovely. Time to write.

Write a story.

Write 10 flash or write a 10,000 word story!

Quote by Mendalla

It's based on a videogame, rarely an auspicious start for originality. Interestingly, the reviews I have seen have been fairly positive. The fundamental problem is how long can you keep people being stalked by the living dead interesting. The people being terrible thing is more interesting to a lot of watchers than the zombies, I think.

I think the whole genre is kind of played out and was never overly fond of it to start with. I like Night of the Living Dead (the 1968 black and white B-movie that started the genre) and a few others have been interesting but overall, not my thing.

I'm REALLY liking it. I think it's taking the zombie genre in a few new directions.

Actual hunting. I think. It's been awhile.

Get chased by a bear or chased by a mountain lion?

Quote by Mendalla
I was remarking to my wife in NOLA that I have not been in an IHOP since I was a kid. We had breakfast there (still International House of Pancakes then) when my family visited Florida. A lot of US chains are starting to come up here right now so maybe we'll have one here someday.

It was really good. Talia had an omelet, I went for the turkey melt. Yumsters.

Quote by Mendalla

That might make a better story than anything I come up with. 😜 Or was it a boring thing you did to get the NOPD pissed at you.

It's a surprisingly dull story.

Summer storms

Know what coming, or appreciate the surprise?

I did spend a night in jail during Mardi Gras, back in the day....

Watching Sharp Objects with Amy Adams. I started it years ago and got bored because it was paced so slow. Giving it another chance. It IS slow, and she drinks an improbable amount of alcohol. But it's pretty good.

Thanks for the coffee Ape. Yeah, real life is grayer than vacation.

11,000 words into the new thing. Current writing issue: my antagonist is way more interesting than my protagonist.

Talia gets to stay home today! Yay! The cats are relieved.

A coffee and a slice of leftover birthday cake and I'm off!

Happy birthday, Larry!

Thanks for the setup Ape, and good to have you back.

The meth-fueled, slapstick, convenience store robbery scene went fine. The lesson here for me is: write with confidence. You can get away with a lot if you power through, playing to your strengths. I write emotion well, I write action badly, so in action scenes, focus on the emotion.

Anyway. We'll see if it works.

Coffee and a beignet please. I'm gonna get powdered sugar all over the cats!

summer rain

A full moon or a thin crescent?

walks, in, blinks, and… IMMEDIATELY STEALS ALL THE COOKIES! THE BANDIT STRIKES AGAIN!

Guess that theft will keep me from running for office.

Happy birthday to your loved one, Red.

Hi Kat. pets Chessie

Woke up to snow, if not quite as much as was predicted. Also woke up to a little fox in the snow, who has been hanging out in our back yard lately. He’s so cute! And seems healthy and alert. I think it’s just a safe spot for him (or her), no coyotes or bears to chase him. He hangs out by a rock and follows the sun across the yard, like a cat. Such a treat!

Nothing today but writing. Coffee would help. As well as ALL THESE COOKIES! HAHAHAHAHA!

Coach trip along the coast (and we might do just that!)

Morning run or afternoon walk?

Quote by gillianleeza

It would be fun to be in New Orleans. Not much fun around here. I've been helping my Mom deal with my dad, who will need surgery. He does not remember the trip to the ER or the surgery consultation. Not sure how we are going to handle it all. Dementia is cruel and harder on caregivers, in my opinion.

I can't sleep, so I'll hang out, enjoy the peace and quiet, and have some cookies.

Cheers Everyone!

My heart goes out to you, and I hope you get some sleep. When my wife went to the ER while in the throes of dementia she was terrified. I shiver even rethinking that. Godspeed, dear Gill.

Nice to see you popping your head in Ape.

As for political office, I think I have decided to go to the grocery store after the coming snowstorm blows over, and collect signatures for an afternoon. If I get 50, I will send them in. That would put me on the ballot. I won’t win, but I hope to get some insight into the process.

Writing about a convenience store robbery today. I have NO IDEA how to write a realistic robbery. This might take a few tries to get right,

Coffee and a blueberry shortbread cookie please.

What's in the back yard? A bear? Ridiculous. Honey? Honey?

Hey Roland, hey Sara.

Yeah, Roland, I love Jeff McNeil. Churning out hits like there's no tomorrow.

I got an email from a political party asking if I'm interested in running for office. Just talked with Talia, and I'm going to take a tentative step toward it, and talk to someone this week. I have written some stories that might be problematic.

Gonna go see M3GAN today. I've been avoiding all the hype so I can see it fresh. All I know is that Marnie from Girls is in it.

Coffee please.

A horror movie sounds like just the deal, Gill.

I woke up to pee at 7 a.m., just as the sun was rising, and saw a fox in out backyard. I called Talia over, we looked, went back to pee and saw an elk in the same spot. Like, hanging out with the fox. What a great way to start the day!

Of course, after all that I couldn't get back to sleep, so I'm pretty frikkin tired. But, all I gotta do is critique some stuff and do a little shopping.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thanks for the set-up, James.

Glad to hear from you Scott. I'm a little jelly, a cruise is on my bucket list, and I think we will probably do one soon.

No Talia Thursday. My novel critique group has THREE novels in it currently, so I've got some homework between now and Saturday. PLUS two stories to critique for Monday critique. Dang. Lotsa reading ahead

Meanwhile, I'm knee-deep in chapter 4, and wondering if chapter lengths should all be similar. Thoughts?

Roland, my team is the Mets (thanks for asking).

A coffee and a Deputy Dawg cookie!

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess
I've decided I need to do more of that...reach out to people. I'm notorious for getting lost in my own little world.

You and me both Kat. Glad you are recovering.

And Sara, I'm glad we didn't get Correa. We already HAVE a shortstop. Spring Training is a month away!

Tired again today, but fine. I wrote 1200 words yesterday, handily. Finished chapter 3. Then played like 5 hours of MarioKart and The Show 22. I suspect I will do the same today.

Anyway. I'd love a blueberry shortbread cookie from my pal Quick Draw. And a coffee!

Quote by gillianleeza
I watched Jurassic World Dominion last night. I enjoyed seeing the cast of the original reunite for this film, but the story was so-so, and it went on too long.

I finished that last night too! The original cast was the ONLY reason to watch it. swoons at Laura Dern It didn't make any sense. Just dumb. I understand Chris Pratt wanting to be an action star, but I like his jokey/goofy persona more.

Thank you James.

Tired but pressing on today. I only wrote about 300 words yesterday, so I am pissed at myself. I went to the dentist, and my daughter had some drama, so I didn’t have the full day to write. Still, today may be a bit of a slog.

Sorry about your Grandson, Roland. Sounds painful. I remember how I slammed my kneecap into a metal pipe we were using as a base for baseball. They thought I’d shattered my kneecap! I hadn’t, though that knee has given me problems ever since.

A coffee and a cookie would be wonderful.

Quote by rolandlytle
A week ago, Liz and I viewed the new 'Avatar' movie in 3-D. It was quite a good film. The vistas and world were absolutely amazing. It had exciting character development. It is what you expect from a three-billion-dollar movie. The weakest part was the idea that caused the conflict.

I really enjoyed Avatar 2 as well! It was just so FULLY immersive, I felt like I was there after I got used to the glasses. I agree about the conflict being the weakest part: it worked best when you were just hanging out with the characters, learning about Pandora. I'd go see it again.

Thanks for the setup James.

Warm sunny day here. The cats are lazing, Talia is working. Spent much of the weekend in parental emergency mode (Kat just wrote about this!) but I think things are calm now.

I didn't sleep well. And I go to the dentist today. Wah. Still, the blank page beckons. I am really trying hard to write slower and more mindfully this year, so I don't wanna just bust out 1000 and be done.

Hey, I read a REALLY nice piece of writing here. Give it a look! They're new here (I think), let's give them some encouragement.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/general/pa-smoked-a-pipe-and-it-smelled-fine

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess

Been fighting a stomach bug the past few days. Although it could very well be food poisoning as that lasts longer than I realized. Only one other person got sick though, so it could be just stomach virus.

So I will skip my typical tea in favor of a Coca Cola. I will be in the corner, watching football (American that is) and working on a new story. Anything to keep my mind off my tummy.

Yikes! I hate food poisoning! Feel better. I really enjoyed your micro - you described the terror and joy of parenthood in 100 words perfectly.

Roland, sorry your head is mushy today. I'm hoping things will improve, it's nice to see you around here.

We went out to breakfast at our favorite place, and the wait was long, and the food and coffee was cold, so I'm in an irritable mood. Trying to edit, but my head isn't in it. Maybe I'll take a nap.

Until then, I'll have a cookie to munch on.

Quote by TaliaRussell

Hey Handsome - buy me a coffee? ❤️

You betcha. Want a Scooby snack too?

Garcon, two coffees two of your finest Scooby snacks!