How I Met The Spyders
I’m Apeksha Rao, a YA author from India, and I’m here to talk to you about my debut novel, Along Came A Spyder.
Antipatheia
Steel-gray, the morning sky, done with night’s temper tantrum, spent, resigned itself to quiet weeping. Joy, sapped of strength and spirit, lay lifeless on a disheveled bed, clothed in crimson. “Why are they still here?” Anger seethed, and gnashed his teeth, unable to look at his son and daughter. He tossed a bag of coins […]
Bullfrog and Bullfeathers
Having grown up with unruly twin brothers whose tall tales were as hilarious as their lies were pellucid, she was more than a match for this lot, but they mustn’t see her crack a smile, let alone laugh.
Dessert for Breakfast
“Normally timorous Tilly” may steal your heart, then shatter it. But don’t let that stop you from reading this short, short story and cheering her on.
Red Paint
When all you can see is red, it’s easy enough to focus – but hard to clear your mind of all thought and meditate.
Stolen Valor
For every tall tale on the Internet, there’s a back story. It doesn’t always have a happy ending.
Unfathomable #AtoZChallenge #SixMonths #ZombieBlogHop
The story, so far: Six months into 2019, and I was losing my mind. I saw down on the front step, closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and reached into my purse again. It could not possibly be empty. And indeed, it wasn’t. I swore under my breath, a mixture of irritation and relief. […]
Talent #AtoZChallenge #SixMonths #ZombieBlogHop
We should have seen it coming, but we were all so caught up in the work, so distracted by each breakthrough and invention, that we’d barely had time to breath, eat, or sleep, let alone consider the logical and ethical ramifications of what we’d accomplished.
Saved #AtoZChallenge #SixMonths #ZombieBlogHop
I felt as though I had willed it into being. It couldn’t not be there, and so, there it was.
Reaching #AtoZChallenge #SixMonths #ZombieBlogHop
Six months into 2019 and I…
Reviving the Zombie Blog #WriteBravely #WriteTribe
It’s a little dysfunctional, this business of killing off my blog once or twice a year, just so I can revive it.
I love a challenge.
A Periodic Sentence #AtoZChallenge
Perilous storms on the horizon portend tragedy. And help to illustrate a couple of literary terms as they tug at your heartstrings. Plenty of pathos.
a2zchallenge2019, atozchallenge2019, flash fiction, pathos, periodic sentence
Fiction, Hell's Little Paving Stones
Civility
“You could, at least, be civil about it.” “Why the fuck should I be?” Alex stopped in her tracks and glared at Gabe. “You talk a good fight about equality, but denying to others the ‘rights’ you claim for yourself is just everyday bigotry.” “That’s no reason to drop the f-bomb every five minutes. And […]
Grammar Nazi
In a preemptive edit, I sought the annihilation of exuberance, indefinitely. There would be no negotiations; scholarly standards were strictly structured – some might say “cursed” – to ensure the disarmament of excessive excitement. Ruthlessly, I lined up the errant sentences, identified their bouncy little exclamation marks, their now impotent interrobangs, lined them up against […]
ccc, comma, creative copy challenge, exclamation mark, flash fiction, interrobang, period, prose poetry, punctuation, wordplay
The Haunted Pizza
Your writing prompt for Halloween is inspired by a post by children’s author, Dee Leone: I’m not at all sure she meant for that to inspire tales of terror, but since she’s not been seen online since posting this (as of my posting this, anyway), I thought we could amuse ourselves by writing […]
autonomous pizza delivery vehicle, driverless cars, haunted pizza, writing prompts
#Inktober2018, Fiction, Visual Perspectives
Killing Four Prompts with One Sketch #Inktober #Inktober2018
Could’ve been five, with the soap bottle. I was so surprised to see diamonds dripping from the faucet, this morning, that I scorched the toast. Scorched toast is so brittle, so breakable; half of it crumbled into tiny bits that got washed into the drain, along with priceless diamond dust and a few good-sized chunks. […]
breakable, drain, expensive, ink, Inktober, Inktober2018, scorched
Gerald, the Grumpy Garden Gnome
Gerald, the lawn gnome, had grown tired of being “cute.” He had looked it up, one night, in a dictionary Elizabeth had carelessly left lying on the front stoop. It did not mean handsome, or manly, or noble. No, “cute” was something whimsical and trivial and Gerald had been in a foul mood ever since he’d learned the […]
Blogging is Like Baton Twirling
What was that hackneyed advice someone always trotted out, eager to prove they knew nothing at all about the process of writing? Ahh, yes: “Write what you know.”
advice, bad advice, blogging tips, ccc, creative copy challenge, fiction, flash fiction, writing tips
Feet in the Sand #WriteBravely #WTFOW2018
Ah, that Little Mermaid – what did she know? They say the sand is always more appealing on the other side of the water’s surface. I lay back on the little wind-surfer board and let my fingers trail in the water. There wasn’t even a hint of a breeze; I was just drifting with the […]
Things that Go Thump #WriteBravely #Fiction
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but this is the last car we have available.” The agent shook his head at the monitor and shrugged. It was a small, older car, and no one had a key to the trunk, it seemed. The family ahead of me would never get all their bags into it, clearly, and they […]
dysfunctional, family, featured, fiction, mystery, plane crash, writebravely, wtfow2018
Curing the Reading Drought
The Reading Drought How does someone who loves to read, who considers themselves an avid reader, end up going through long, dry spells without actually cracking open a book? This feels like the unburdening confession of a dirty secret I’ve lugged around far too long. I should have Googled sooner: It’s not just me. Read, […]
