We went down the steel stairs, down and down. “With these levers, you can control the whole hospital.” He burst out with a braying laugh. “I’m kidding. I have no idea what they do. In here, now.” He opened a door leading off the corridor. The room was dark and clean-smelling. “Can we turn on the
Read on »Archives: August 2015
Review of Hawser
Posted by jaffalogue on August 25, 2015 Hawser by J. Hardy Carroll My rating: 5 of 5 stars This historical fiction novel is highly recommended. War novels are not my usual go-to, though I do enjoy an Erik Larson historical fiction now and then. Hawserbrought WWII and the Air Force’s role in the American European campaign
Read on »Heirloom
I could tell from the look on his face that he couldn’t fix it. He held it between his blackened fingers, turning it this way and that. “This,” he said, “is junk. Not worth repairing.” I swallowed. “But my father gave this to me. He said it had been his father’s. It’s an heirloom.” “Nonsense,”
Read on »At Your Peril
Every writer knows that it is unwise to show a first draft to anyone. They often learn this by bitter experience. But at some point you have to show it to someone. I mean, that is the reason for all of this. We want to connect with our readers, and the only way you can do that is by
Read on »Out With the Old
“Well, I sure ain’t sorry to see it go.” The old man sipped his beer, wiped his mouth on his jacket sleeve. “Even if they just put up something worse. Which they will.” Jessup moved his knight. “Ha! Bet you didn’t see that.” He ignored the board. “That goddamned mural always reminded me
Read on »Everything But Backwards
Ellery tugged my sleeve as we walked through the park on that last golden day of autumn. “Daddy, why is that man all alone?” He was five then, full of questions. If I didn’t answer quickly I knew he would race over and ask the man himself. That was Ellery in a nutshell. Impulsive to
Read on »Last Night’s Tornado
Shards of glass and ribs of jagged metal, splintered two-by-fours, sheets of galvanized roofing from a barn twenty miles away. Wreckage as far as you could see in any direction. “Look at the trees,” she said, sweeping the vista of twisted stumps and branches with her hand. “Yet the McDonald’s is unscathed,” I said. “Wonderful.”
Read on »To Scrivener or not to Scrivener?
That is the question. Sure, we are used to Microsoft Word, but is it really all that great? Let’s take organization. If you halfway know what you’re doing you can create a style with chapter headings. Hell, you might even go down the rabbit hole of Microsoft formatting and set your margins, tabs and all
Read on »I Fear They Will Find Us
“Where did they go?” she asked again, her voice tight with ensuing panic. He shook his head. “Maybe they thought we got lost and decided to look for us.” “But we’ve only been gone a half hour.” Her eyes were wide as she scanned the empty desert rippling with heat. “I wish we’d brought water.”
Read on »Best I Can Recall
I admit I was a little drunk when it happened, so I am not perhaps the most reliable witness. There was a girl on the cruise, much too young for me, not that this fact lessened my interest. I had managed to convince her to come ashore with me to a small café I knew
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