The Dude stepped out of the saloon’s swinging doors and stopped short. “Oh, Lord, here comes another one,” he muttered. Chewing on a stalk of hay, he watched with increasing disgust as a wide-eyed young woman stumbled in and out of the businesses that lined the street. She hugged a sheaf of papers, tied neatly with string, to her chest, and one fist clutched a stack of full-color brochures and business cards. The wad of advertising material increased in size with each stop, and her expression drooped at the same rate. Continue reading “The Dude”
Month: April 2013
Flash Fiction Star of the Week: Leonard Little
Leonard Little is the readers’ choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. Thanks also to everyone who participated – excellent entries!
The winning entry is rewarded with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.
Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:
Continue reading “Flash Fiction Star of the Week: Leonard Little”
Changing Voices
Guest post
by Melissa Bowersock
I’m a novelist by trade; the current count stands at nine. That count ranges over the various genres of action, romance, fantasy, western, spiritual and satire. As you can see, I like variety and I will tell any kind of story that grabs me by the throat, drags me to my chair and insists on being written down.
I’ve also learned that every story will demand a different voice. The romance novels will often have a more flowery style to them while the action stories are more clipped and direct. My spiritual novel, Goddess Rising, demanded an almost archaic voice, while my satire of romance novels, The Pits of Passion, bounced irreverently between gushing descriptions and off-the-cuff puns. The voices seem to arise naturally out of the story and require very little effort on my part.
So when I was inspired to write the true story of my aunt, an Army nurse and a prisoner-of-war during World War II, I thought, “No big deal.” I’m an author; I should be able to “auth” any kind of story there is, right? Continue reading “Changing Voices”
Featured Author: Joni Parker
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Joni left the windy city at the age of 8 with her family to Japan where they lived near a US Army base. Upon return to the United States, she lived in Phoenix, Arizona where she graduated high school and began college. Discouraged, Joni quit college and joined the Navy where she became a photographer. After 3 years, she returned to college and got married. She got a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and an MBA before she decided to return to the Navy. While in the Navy, she was selected to attend the Army’s Command and General Staff College and graduated with a Master of Military Arts and Sciences degree. After 22 years in the Navy, Joni retired to travel the United States in a motor home with her husband. When he died unexpectedly, she returned to work in the federal government in a civilian job. Then, she got the writing bug and left her job to devote more time to her new passion. She currently lives in Texas and is a member of the Writers’ League of Texas and the Writer’s Garret.