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?

Quote by gillianleeza

It was. I kept thinking the guy who showed up was going to be bad. I loved the episode, and I am a fan of Nick Offerman and was happy to see him in this role. I'm on a Linda Ronstadt listening spree now. My only worry is that future episodes will not live up to this episode.

Nick Offerman was SO good. I wonder how much knowing his previous character on Parks and Rec helped with this.

You're right, I don't know if the rest of the series can live up to this.

Quote by Mendalla

Guess that's the positive side of that balloon. A nice universal excuse for what ails ya. 🤣

Every time the internet slows I get scared it's an EMP device on that balloon.

BAGEL! I have one every morning, though I have to stop - too much white bread and butter.

Barefoot or slippers?

No sunroof in my minivan, but it has had my kids puke in it several times, and if the back seats get wet the smell is still lurking. Ew.

Writing today. No Talia. Trepidatious cats. Nothing new. Hitting a little imposter syndrome in the WIP. I’m blaming that Chinese spy balloon.

Thanks for the setup and the cookies. I’ll take a cup and a ginger snap!

Quote by Mendalla

Good morning. Putting on some Jamaican Blue Mountain for the coffee set. Teas are Irish Breakfast and Cream of Earl Grey. Hot water is on, as always, for hot chocolate or other teas.

Things are all set up for my new car. Just need to confirm how much the insurance is going to cost and when my broker can get it added to the policy and then I can finalize my pickup time. Yay, no more juggling my schedule around my wife's.

Story is happening but slowly. I've got a glitch in it that I need to sort out before I get too much further.

My boss is having nasty side effects from his second shingles shot. And guess who else is due for that? 😲

Have a nice one, gang!

The shingles shot is the one we got this week! The first one hurt like f, this one was fine for me (Talia had some pain).

Still writing slowly, trying to get through a tough bit. I'll stumble through today, like every other day. No Talia Tuesday. If I get blocked I'm going to teach the cats to cook.

Those two Mardi Gras comp entries are getting lonely, folks! Someone else enter!

A coffee and a cookie please!

Quote by KatarinaTechgoddess

Coffee, tea, or whatever your beverage of choice might be…

All drinks are on me today! ☕️🫖🧋

January was apparently a successful writing month for me here on SS. I managed to snag a top author and a top story badge overnight. My back is feeling well patted and I appreciate my friends here who have read and liked my stories. Thanks!! 😎

Hubby comes home today, YAY! I’ve slept so poorly this past week. I predict I will sleep like the dead tonight. 😴💤

Hope all y’all have a great day. I’m off soon to take my brother to the eye doc.

Congrats! Where do top authors/stories get posted? I don't see anything on the front page.

Thanks for the set-up James.

Boring day, though I guess that's a good thing. Snow is melting, temps are WAY up. We got vaccine shots yesterday, I am fine, but Talia's arm is kinda achy.

I ground out 1000 words yesterday, but I am mired in a hard section of writing right now. No distractions today, I just have to write my way out of it.

Sigh. Time for a bagel and then time to write.

A coffee and a goalpost cookie please.

Good morning everyone.

Talia and I are off to get vaccines today. Fun! Actually, it won't be unpleasant - it's the pharmacy at a grocery store, so we can get congratulatory donuts after.

I've got a comp entry up, if anyone is interested. It's a true story! I even called up my buddy I was in jail with to check details! Anyway, a snapshot of my misspent youth. Young and Dumb in New Orleans, a play on George Orwell's Down and Out in London and Paris. https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/general/young-and-dumb-in-new-orleans

Writing another difficult scene today.

A coffee and whatever is in the Quick Draw McGraw cookie tin.

No spoilers, but The Last of Us last night was incredible.

Good morning, and thanks for the set-up, Ape!

I am putting finishing touches on a comp entry. It's sorta left field, but most of my ideas come out of left field. I'll play with the details during the day as I work on the big project.

Other than that, a pretty chill day looms. Snow has stopped, but it covers the countryside, very pretty. It's 2 degrees outside, I'm not leaving the house until I have to. Talia and the cats are fine company.

The Last of Us was frikkin amazing last night.

A coffee and a butterscotch marshmallow cookie, pretty please?

Quote by Molly

Non-fiction is allowed, Just no mico, flash, poetry, song, or play.

The word limit is the standard 10,000-word limit that the site has.

Thanks Molly. This memory might be a tad more exciting than I had first remembered it to be.

Okay, I am taking a shot at telling my non-fiction adventures in NO today. Two questions: is non-fiction allowed? And is there a word limit? I looked and couldn't find answers to either.

Ooh, cinnamon sugar treats! Gimme gimme!

Thanks for the set up Ape.

Two comps in the air, and I wanna enter both, but I gotta write my stuff too! So much to write, so little time. I guess it’s a good problem to have.

No real plans, for today or the weekend. Really should finish that Friends Lego with Talia soon.

Cheers everybody. A coffee and a cinnamon and sugar thingie please.

No coffee? gulp

Okay, I've got this does all the coffee and tea stuff

It's not pretty, but it will suffice.

I got an email from the Dems - there are over 20 people running for city council.. They suggest: Fire Protection Board, Parks and Rec Board, Water District Board. I would, but I have NO expertise in those areas. I wouldn't vote for me!!! So, it appears my running for office is a thing of the past.

Reading went well. Therapy, writing, and grocery shopping today. Mild fun.

Coffee please,

Hope your migraine eases Sara. Those’re tough.

Ape, thanks for the setup, and good luck with the doc.

I’m reading a story I am fond of tonight online. It’s about raising daughters in a time of monsters. If you are interested, DM me, I will send you a link. Other than that, a pretty chill day.

No Talia. Wah. The cats are restless.

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?