My Favorite Mondegreens Reading time – 2 minutes Everybody know what mondegreens are? Good, let’s proceed. Also, this would be a great character trait for one of the folks in your next story. Leads to wonderful dialogue, both in real life and fiction. As if anyone around here cares about real life! To make this […]
Reading time: 4 minutes Under the category of Stranger Things Have Happened – I mean that literally in this case because, look above – someone (okay, John Frain) just won a writing contest. OFF THE MENU Theme: Transformation. 800 words max. Bribing the judges with alcohol, while not condoned, was never expressly prohibited in the rules. […]
Because everyone loves statistics (when someone else compiles them), we present the final tally to wrap up the 2016 A to Z Blogging Challenge on this blog: Most Viewed Letter Award: S for Shoplifter A record-setter for my blog (begun in February, so not much data yet), this post had 81 views the day it […]
OMBUDSMAN Dwight had never heard of Larry Sullivan until their first meeting. The ombudsman had gotten a call from a reader and wanted to know about Dwight’s sources for a few stories, including the series that earned Dwight the Pulitzer nomination. You didn’t have to be a good investigative reporter – and Dwight was a […]
NURSE When the light flashed outside Room 8, Suzanne and Mary played a desperate game of Rock, Scissors, Paper. Losing, Suzanne begged, “Two out of three” only to watch Mary wave and stroll the opposite direction. Suzanne inched toward the room, thinking they never taught a course at nursing school for dealing with a man […]
KNITTER The family gathered on the front porch, their niece laughing at the stories Aunt Pearl spun, pleading for one more before bed, giggling the words out: “Tell the one where you guys first met.” Pearl remembered the day twenty blissful years ago when she walked into the fabric store and spotted Kitty, the resident knitter. […]
INVESTIGATOR Investigator Zambrano shifted his weight in the chair, striving for comfort in an uncomfortable situation. Worst part of the job. “No easy way to say this, ma’am, except to tell you we located your car, and the man inside, in the driver’s seat, he was killed. He had -” “NoNoNoNoNo,” Patricia said, speaking over […]
Reading time: 4 1/2 minutes My mom turns 49 again today. Good thing I studied English more than math so I believe her. Like I do every year. I’ll try to ask her age when I take her to lunch, but I know that question will stay behind my lips. I also know that after […]
Reading & viewing time: 4 minutes I referee high school basketball. Absolutely love it. The sportsmanship. The national anthem. The constant challenge. Camaraderie with fellow officials. Tossing the ball for the opening tip. It’s a great game, and I constantly find things to inform my writing. And sometimes, magic happens. Special nights, against all odds, both […]
Reading time: 3 minutes. Would you, could you name your kid Adolph Hitler? A father in New Jersey did. It came to light when a bakery refused to scrawl “Happy Birthday Adolph Hitler” on a cake a couple years ago. It turns out many states and countries have laws for naming your kid. I didn’t […]
John Davis Frain 