By Jeff Couch It was a bright and sunny day. As I stepped through the shiny door of the Holitown diner, the bell on the spring gave a hopeful ring. I was hopeful too. Maybe, finally, this was the right place and time. I stepped up to the counter and […]
CUPID, P.I.
Jack Wallen offers up an easy trick to help you lean how to use a comma (as well as the actual rules of using a comma).
2 Minute Drill: The comma trick
By Jess Austen Jared loved a bookstore. He loved the smell of the books, the feel of them in his hands. There was nothing more sensual in the world than the leather bound cover of a book. Or the cloth binding of a hard cover. With the dust jacket. Just […]
The Easy Pick Up
By George Eckel I lifted the orange crate labeled Valentine’s Day off the stack of boxes piled high against the side of our two-story, stucco house. The lid was smeared with years of dirt, dried water stains, and reminders that rodents lived unseen right next to us. “They’re breakables, Al!” […]
Thank you for being my Valentine
By Jack Wallen “I never said you were icky!” Declared Tommy, hands in his pockets and feet scuffing the ground beneath his Converse All-Stars. “Did too!” Cindy was adamant about what she’d heard. Her friends even stood behind her nodding their little blond heads. “You said you didn’t want to […]
The Perfectly Imperfect Moment
By Jesse V. Coffee Marlene stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around her long chestnut curls, and using the other to dry herself off. She stepped into the bedroom, trying to think what the hell she was going to wear…and stopped in front of her full length mirror. […]
Unsuspecting Love
Jack Wallen explains why he believes so many writers have trouble writing the first sentence of a new work (and how to ease that task).