This is my entry in another of Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenges. The challenge was to write a short story around the idea of an invasive species. You can see the challenge here. The idea for this story has been bouncing around in my head for a very long time, and I have a book-length treatment in mind for it. The challenge gave me the impetus to begin telling the story with what appears below. # # # You can…
I just finished watching a movie, the 1987 Suspect, starring Cher as an attorney, Dennis Quaid as a lobbyist and juror, and Liam Neeson as a deaf and dumb homeless person accused — falsely, it turns out — of murder. It’s all very 1980s, complete with the melodrama, fashions, music, over-saturated color, and earnest plot, and with Toronto standing in for an American city, in this case Washington, D.C. The movie is okay, if a bit slow-paced and low-key at…
Thank you, Jimmy Buffett, for that title. It’s June 1 in this part of the world, and here in Florida that means just one thing: It’s the first day of Hurricane Season. We mark our lives by seasons. Spring, Summer, Autumn (which some of us call Fall), and Winter. Wet and dry. High and Low. Tourist and Quiet. Hurricane Season, and the other half of the year. It’s a way of marking time, which seems (at least to me) to…
I’m learning that launching a new blog is a bit like starting a novel. I want to make the lead as strong as possible, with enough of a hook, to immediately pull in the reader. I have a general idea where I want things to go, but I know that there will be plot twists and unexpected developments along the way, and the ultimate destination remains an open question. I’m open to epiphanies. So that’s my lead paragraph, and I…