I wasn’t planning to immediately write more in the setting of Professor Calamity and the Clockwork Cowboy, but the new prompt from storyaday.org fit too perfectly. It’s to create a story inspired by this Eagles lyric: “The towns lay out across the dusty plains like graveyards filled with tombstones waiting for the names.” This story … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #24: How to Kill a Killbot →

This story is definitely my most experimental yet, as I’m using the official prompt from storyaday.org: Write a story in the form of a list. It may have turned out a bit messy, and the formatting got screwed up (I hope it's not too unreadable), but I enjoyed trying something very new. The story indirectly … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #23: Professor Calamity’s To-Do List →

We’re into the final ten days of the Story A Day May challenge! So far, I’m happy to be keeping pace with my goal of >1k words per story. It’s been wonderful writing practice. Today’s prompt from storyaday.org: The banging on the cabin’s door is incessant. Your character throws the soufflé into the oven and … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #22: The Knight of Keys →

Today’s challenge prompt from storyaday.org is to “Write about the boy you see on either side of the reflection”. And for inspiration there’s a picture of a dark silhouette reflected in a pond, which you can see on the official site. This time, my story is a completely unfaithful re-telling of the Narcissus myth. *** … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #21: Beneath the Surface →

Today’s storyaday.org prompt is simply to write a story inspired by food. This time, mine features a hard-boiled office worker on the trail of a break room thief. *** The Maltese Bread The most difficult case of my career began on a typical gloomy day in this office of saints and sinners, with a hard … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #20: The Maltese Bread →

Today’s storyaday.org prompt is to write about a mysterious object found in a thrift shop or antiques market. This time, my story is about a seemingly-broken music box found in a thrift shop, and what one woman will do to possess it. *** The Maddening Melody There was no place Josie loved better than a … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #19: The Maddening Melody →

The latest storyaday.org prompt is a very serious one: There is a llama sitting on the seat beside you, drinking coffee. No one else finds this odd. He turns to you, about to speak. This time, I wrote a portal fantasy, where the narrator goes to great lengths to avoid falling into any magic portals … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #18: Chewed Up and Spit Out →

Today’s prompt is to write a story about a character who can’t wait to leave town, inspired by Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem Travel: . . . there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take, No matter where it’s going. This time, my story features a spy, who needs a way out. *** The Last Train … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #17: The Last Train →

Today’s prompt has an interesting backstory you can read in full at https://storyaday.org/2021-day-16/ , but the quick version is that a character’s mundane activity is changed by seeing a message on a sign. My story is about an unusual cowboy, who takes a road less traveled. The whole last scene wound up more rushed and … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #16: The Clockwork Cowboy →

We’re halfway through the Story-A-Day May challenge, and fittingly the challenge prompt of the day is to write about a character who’s at a halfway point (of any sort). This time I wrote an adventure story, starring a cryptozoologist having the best, and worst, day of her life. *** The Cryptid Conundrum Sasquatch was real, … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #15: The Cryptid Conundrum →