Welcome to the Spot Writers. This month’s prompt is to write something with these words: emotion, thumb, copyright, chapter, misery. This week’s tale comes to us from Val Muller, who attributes the tale to imagined pandemic insanity (she is currently too busy to actually be insane herself). Val is the …
One of my favorite novels is Ray Bradybury’s Dandelion Wine. In the novel, the main character has an epiphany that he is alive. I have written about this in my blog several times over the years. I know it sounds simple: yes, if you are reading this, you are alive. …
Welcome to The Spot Writers. This month’s prompt is to write a story where water plays a role. It can be a lake, a river, the sea; rain or just some water to drink. This week’s contribution comes from Cathy MacKenzie. Cathy’s novel, WOLVES DON’T KNOCK, a psychological drama, is …
Welcome to the Spot Writers. This month’s prompt is to write a story where water plays a role. It can be a lake, a river, the sea, rain, or just some water to drink. It comes to us from Val Muller, author of the Corgi Capers mystery series. Metamorphosis By …
This is not my first review of an Anderson book—I am obviously a fan. I’d say this is a good early YA/advanced middle grade reader. I had purchased it back when I read Chains, also about the early American time period, then shelved it for other things. I saw it …
At the beginning of July, when I heard that conditions would be ideal to view the recently-discovered Neowise comet, I smiled inside. I have a bad track record of viewing cosmic events, and this sounded like my chance. When I was very small, my parents took me to see Hailey’s …
I received my print copy of the Elizabeth River Press annual anthology last week (link here). I’m pleased that my story, “Angel in the Pod,” was included. I like to think of it as a kickoff of my writing comeback. After about four years of not sleeping through the nights, …
Welcome to the Spot Writers. This month’s prompt is to write a story inspired by the phrase “back to normal.” It could be a pandemic-related story about getting back to normal, or one about not getting back to normal, or a story about something else entirely. The Fairy Lady By …
I heard about this short novel as it was mentioned briefly in something I was reading about Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, a novel I greatly adore and teach almost every year. When I read the synopsis—a young man who grew up in Nazi Berlin under the gaze of a …
Welcome to The Spot Writers. This month’s prompt is to write about something “summery.” Today’s post is written by Phil Yeats. In December, 2019, Phil (using his Alan Kemister pen name) published his most recent novel. Tilting at Windmills, the second in the Barrettsport Mysteries series of soft-boiled police detective …