blinks

I can do this. I can do this. Don't panic. Here's the coffee grounds. Cool. Hey, here's the tea! And I know where the water is. Let me plug in this percolator and...we are good to go!

Starting a new story that broke the first time I tried it. Trying to mix a father-daughter drama into an alien invasion. It's a balancing act, and all the plates fell and broke the first time.

We got a TON of trick or treaters last night! Yay! I'm pysched to be in a big Halloween nabe again! We gave out books too, along with candy. Books without candy would get your home (understandly) egged.

A coffee and one of Sara's strawberry shortbread cookie. And whatever happened to Myrtle's honey-bread dealios? Those were good.

Quote by redwriter

Cannot find it, Verbal. Last submission shown is your poem. Is there a title?

I took it down.

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!

Good morning all.

I have a story up on the front page. Be nice to get a read or two if anyone wants to read it. It's got a bit of a agenda.

https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/horror/dont-bother-running

Other than that, not much going on. World Series tonight! Go Phillies! We are putting the garden to bed this weekend, after a freeze this week. Borrrrrring. A play in Denver next weekend though!

A coffee and a cookie!

Quote by JamesPBear

I'll root against the Astros, so I guess that means I'll root for the Phillies. Besides, Bryce Harper surely deserves a ring, and this is his chance to get it.

The odds, though, say the Astros will walk all over the Phillies. Let's see if David can slay Goliath once again.

At least the Phillies have a great mascot. The Phanatic is the best in the business!

Phillies are old-school National League - I can easily get behind them. And you are right James, the best mascot in the biz (sorry Mr. Met).

Tommy LaSorda beating up the Phillie Phanatic:

Thanks for the setup! Sorry Sara, cold weather is coming - snow is predicted today, though none yet, except for a dusting on the mountains.

No Talia Thursday. Teaching the cats to make me toast. They do a good job, but they keep licking the butter.

I finished a story yesterday, so today is an edit day. I don’t know if it’s any good or not.

Other than that, snuggle with the cats and stay warm. One of Sara’s strawberry shortcake cookies and an extra hot coffee please!

My Heart is a Chainsaw, Stephen Graham Jones. A final-girl-in-a-slasher survival tale. It’s great.

Quote by JamesPBear

Evening, all! Busy day – we had a skylight replaced, which is…fun. This is a new (to us) house, and we're trying to make sure everything is up to scratch before the winter.

Almost there. Going to replace the thermostat with a smart one, and then re-engineer some of the eavestroughing. After that, whatever's left will have to wait for Spring.

Meanwhile, I'd like a mug of Red Rose and a couple of GF cookies, if there are any. I'll sneak back into the corner, and maybe try to get some reading done. I'm having trouble concentrating today. I may be coming down with something.

We'll see.

Smart thermostats are easy to install and so worth it.

My daughter was in the hospital, and is doing okay, but it has been a bit of a sleepless night.

I have the last two or three sentences left in my Kill Your Landlord story. A happy saga of a girl and her cat-creature ridding the world of pernicious capitalism. Yeah, it’s a weird one.

Coffee and a cookie please.

Yeah Ape, our warm weather ran out too. Snow is on the mountaintops as of last night, and it's cold and windy.

Thanks for the setup!

Chill day today. No baseball, too cold to walk. I'll write and stay inside and warm.

A coffee and a cookie please!

I'd love to see you dressed as an Arab, Elizabeth.

I like to think of this coffeehouse as a collective: whoever shows up first gets things going. *plugs in percolator, set up assorted teas, puts out some of S's cookies and M's bread things.

I submitted 6 stories in the last two days. Because rejections usually happen fast, I'm bracing myself for 4-5 rejections in the next few weeks. Yuck. I'll be happy if one sticks.

I need coffee but the cat is on my lap, and Talia's at work.

Kitty, I have some bad news.

Still in the high 70s here, but autumn is on its way, you can feel it in the air.

Finished a story (the tentacles in the basement story) that I'm really proud of, so I'm going to aim high and submit it somewhere good. We shall see. I just got a rejection after they held onto the story for TEN MONTHS.

Nothing else going on. Start a new story today about...wait for it...a cat. Or something that appears to be a cat. Root for the Yankees to lose tonight.

I hope everyone is well. I'd love a cookie and one of those honey things from yesterday. And...COFFEE!

Those look frikkin awesome, Myrtle. And they go perfect with coffee? Say no more.

Lazy day, after a pretty busy weekend and Monday. Today, tidy up the tentacle story, take a walk, and TWO good baseball games on.

Larry, don't know if you pop in here any longer, but I'm rooting for your Padres. You did the impossible - you beat the Dodgers. Good luck in the post-season.

Coffee, a cookie, an another hunk of that delish bread. Time to work.

We had a freeze last night too - had to pull in the rest of the tomatoes, which we are trying to ripen on the windowsill.

Sorry about the Braves, Sara. At least you can still root against the Yankees!

We did a Halloween reading at a library this weekend - went really well. Saw some good friends. Also got a rejection of a story the mag had for 10 MONTHS. That hurt.

Enjoy the day all. Coffee and a cookie please!

Good Lord! Empty again! Here I am, the latest riser in the world, and yet I'm still catching the worm!

gets the pecolator perking, the tea-oltor tea-ing

Since I ate all of Sara's cookies yesterday, I brought some of my own in recompense. My apologies. Snickerdoodles!!!

Gill, I am glad fall is treating you well. I would rather cut off my hands than give up caffeine. I'm happy it's working for you though.

Three baseball games today, and I should be finishing up my tentacles-in-the-basement story. Spoooooky! And I get to read in public tomorrow, at a library in Denver, and see some old friends.

Enjoy the weekend all!

I wrote 1000 words. I thawed some chicken. I watched the January 6th hearings. I watched some of the Astros/Mariners game. Now I'm going for a walk.

Good morning, ever...hey no one's here! I'll get some beans perking, and some water boiling. And I'll eat...ALL THE COOKIES!!! Hahahahaha!

Not really. I left a couple.

Working on a new story today, involving basements and tentacles.

Enjoy your Wednesday everyone!

Nicwe to see you here, ITM.

Congrats on making it to the post-season Sara.

My comp entry dropped on another site. Not a lot of reaction - but I've never entered a comp post-changeover, maybe that's how it is these days.

Anyway. Writing all day, baseball on in the background. Coffee would be swell.

Why, yes, the Mets are the only 100-win team to ever go down in the Wild Card round! Thanks for asking! I realize it's not just me, the Canucks in the crown are bumming because the BJs are out of it too.

I did submit to a Noir contest on another site this morning. So that's kinda fun.

Anyway. Tiring weekend. A coffee would be wonderful.

Sorry about the Jays, you two. The Mets were the only team not swept, so they will face their destiny tonight.

Critique group is FINALLY done with my novel. They like it. It's likable. But it needs a lot of work.

I'm doing a Halloween reading at a library next week. Is it cool to post this here? If not, feel free to delete it, or ask me to.

Anyway. A coffee and a cookie, and let's go Mets!

Congrats to all the winners! Fun comp!

It's cold and drizzly today, but I don't care, because I get to watch baseball ALL DAY LONG! Library sale today too, so I will take a couple hours off for a bag of books.

Enjoy the day everyone. Coffee and hundreds and hundreds of Sara's cookies!

I like Kimmie's comment about poetry working different muscles. Congrats Kimmie and ITM and Ape for the podium wins, and the runners up for, um, running up.

And Molly, thanks for pulling all this together.

Yay! Fun comp!

Last night was Ghostbusters, which holds up really well. It's just funny, and it works. Tonight will be Hellraiser, which amazingly I've never seen.

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! I'm a big fan of marriage. It's good for a person. I wish you great happiness.

Well, the smoke alarm went off in the middle of the night, so I am a bit groggy. I swear we have 15 smoke alarms, and I had to wander around waiting for the beep every 30 seconds so I could track it down. Sheesh.

Still, up and raring to go. A coffee and a leaf cookie please!

Pork loin breaded with cornmeal (homemade Shake n Bake), baked potato, broccoli

Good morning all. Yes Sara, we did miss you.

Hoping to finish the first draft of my comp entry today. There's some stuff in the middle I messed up, so I am by no means done. But I'm looking forward to finishing a first draft.

Talia took the day off. It's cool and drizzly here, but that makes it kinda cozy.

A coffee and a scarecrow cookie please!

Quote by Mendalla

I have both versions written. You're right, the "Nalia dies" version (that's the character's name) definitely packs more of a dramatic wallop. Eff, it hurts to write about grief, though. Been through a bit too much of it myself, I guess. I snuck a wedding of sorts into the "Nalia lives" version so it had me tearing up, too. Maybe I am just too sensitive to be a writer, eh.

I write about grief a lot when writing horror. I think a lot of horror is wrapped up in grief and trauma.

Anyway. Meaningless double header today, but I will watch. Playoffs start on Friday. (Sorry Red.)

Time to write the Noir! A coffee and a cookie!!!

Braves really kicked the Mets butts last weekend. I'm limping, and I only watched. Congrats on taking the division, Sara.

I slept well and woke up ready to rock. Another day, another comp. Ape, I think you should kill off your character - did you notice all the dramatic stuff you started talking about once you came across the possibility? Make strong choices. Read Lonesome Dove?

We saw Smile this weekend. I reviewed it on another thread here, but I'll repeat: scary and skillfully made.

Coffee and a cookie!

We saw Smile last night. Very, very good. Scary, and with some surprising realism, connecting the dots between trauma and horror. Perfect example of taking a premise and just following the string--no tricks, no wasted moves-- to a logical conclusion. Highly recommend it. Talia about ripped my arm off she was so scared.

I think providing both the positive and negative sides of religion in your world would go toward keeping it real, as well as adding more interest by exploring a really complex subject.

I've not done much world building, but I'm finding with the current WIP that the details are really best left to the second draft. Paint the world with bold strokes the first time around, then figure out what is working and what isn't. Then you can start editing and refining the world and its rules and its history when you tackle the next draft.

But I'm pretty new to all this, so I'm no expert, and mostly in learning mode on this one.

Nice contest, great turnout! Good job Molly, and thank you! I have read all the entries, and commented, and probably managed to hit the did-I-click-it-or-not like button about half the time. I really enjoy the conversation as writers read and comment on each other's work - the very definition of a writer's community. Proud and happy to be a part of it.