Val Muller

The Electronic Wordsmith

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Welcome to Spot Writers! The September 2014 prompt is to use the following five words: bubbles, airplane, attention, facts, solved.  This week’s contribution comes from Kathy L. Price. Initially being lazy, Kathy used all five words in one sentence:  I solved the problem of having bubbles develop in the model airplane fuselage by paying close attention […]

The current challenge for The Spot Writers is to use three of the four words: radio, dress, attic, photo. This week’s writing comes from Cathy MacKenzie. Her most recent publication, BETWEEN THESE PAGES, is a compilation of 18 short stories. The book is available on Amazon and Smashwords:   The Key Augustus slammed the journal on the […]

Have you ever heard of Elf on the Shelf? It’s that game where parents buy an elf and then arrange it at night doing weird things—which the kids can then find later on. Well, my husband has created his own version… using Mordles. It started a while back—with a dream, actually (you can read about […]

Today’s little tale comes from Catherine A. MacKenzie. The current topic is “magic brew” and what follows is an excerpt from Cathy’s short fiction “Between the Good and the Bad,” which (if her muse cooperates) is being expanded this month for NaNoWriMo. (November is National Novel Writing Month; write a 50,000 word “novel” in one […]

Welcome to the Spot Writers. The prompt for this month’s project was “teeth.” This week’s contribution comes from Deborah Dera. She actually cringed at the prompt this month. It came through right after she had finished procrastinating about making a dentist appointment; and it hammered her recurring nightmares about her teeth falling out home. She […]

Welcome to the Spot Writers. The prompt for the writers this month is to use three of the following words: tub, motorcycle, papers, or hard.   This weeks’ post comes from Deborah Dera. Deborah traditionally ghostwrites articles and web content and is currently mentoring other freelancers. She hopes to put together her first eBook for […]

This week’s post comes to us from Cathy MacKenzie, who writes mainly short stories and poems. The theme for this month is “water.” Cathy hopes you enjoy her story! Cathy’s new book, compiling 18 of her best and most recent short stories, titled Between These Pages, is now out on Amazon. Print version is $10. […]

Is Lorelei Cecelia Franklin a tragic character? Her mother tried to warn her. Her friends tried to warn her. All of Faulkner’s servants and acquaintances tried to warn her, too. Even Faulkner tried a few times despite his reservations. But, like Oedipus, Lorei seemed fated to find her place within Faulkner’s mansion. Is it a […]

This book hooked me from the start. It begins with a deranged boy, Don Julius, trying to solve a code hidden in a book. We learn that this is the bastard son of the king. When the king arrives to pay a visit to the boy’s mother, he scolds Don Julius for not being masculine […]

I read this book at the recommendation of my sister, who has read every one of Martinez’s books. The novel follows the tribulations of “Never Dead Ned,” a man who begins the novel as an average guy with a desk job who is called upon to lead Ogre Company. This is a rag-tag company of […]