When Fawny walks alone, and she walks alone often, she keeps the river on her left and the levee on her right, so she won’t get lost. But on this day when the levee curves at the bend near the university, she wanders into a stand of cottonwood trees and passes through an invisible curtain … Continue reading Blue Danube
Tag: magic
Memorie and the Coyote
This is a reprint of one of my most popular stories, a fun little mystery for October. Enjoy! Memorie is in a cozy pace, propped up with pillows and notebook, herbal tea and the most affectionate of her three cats at her right hip on the sofa next to her. She has arrived at this … Continue reading Memorie and the Coyote
Stolen Conversation
Written with the prompts: conversation stealer, I am I am, the story of your name, the name of a bar in New Orleans, the brother stared out the window, new ways to harvest, oozy rat in a sanitary zoo (palindrome), naps Ruby the Hummingbird was a conversation stealer. It was her habit to fly through … Continue reading Stolen Conversation
Maddie Greenwood and Her Pig Jane
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: broken promises, behind closed doors, beyond words, what do you see? I'm not so strong anymore, a lion came to me on my way home, wanted to disappear, adult (as a verb), sunlight through the curtains, the neighbor's pig, weird, choose tiny, what you should know, … Continue reading Maddie Greenwood and Her Pig Jane
Bread Cats
It's May! We've just celebrated Beltane (or May Day) a time when the veils between dimensions becomes very thin, and all kinds of magical creatures are liable to peek in on our world. Here's a favorite story for this time of year. After midnight the day-old loaves of bread in the bakery turn into slumbering … Continue reading Bread Cats
The Fairy Path
I wrote this poem nearly forty years ago, give or take a decade. But it's April, National Poetry Month, and I thought I'd drag out a few old favorites of mine. My late cat Hibiscus makes a cameo appearance in this poem. He was a long-haired gray tabby, with caramel colored strips on his face, … Continue reading The Fairy Path
How to Find the Muse
Welcome to April! It’s National Poetry Month! I started writing poetry nearly fifty years ago, when I was in college. I started getting published when I was in my 20s, learning to make my way in the world outside my parents’ house. My poetry and I were young together. Poetry for me was short, intense … Continue reading How to Find the Muse
The Poet, The Coyote, and The Canon Wireless Printer
It was a pretty simple prompt the other night: in the tradition of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, give your story an enticing three-item title. Sorry to sound like an ad for Canon, but I’d just bought a new printer so it was on my mind. The bigger reason I’m including the brand … Continue reading The Poet, The Coyote, and The Canon Wireless Printer
The Tall Woman
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: charisma often glitters, fished, kind of like entering heaven, clear lake, exciting day, apprenticing one’s self to a human, lives in the mountain, don’t burn yourself, relationships, notice what you notice, laughter broke out, magic, a tall woman A tall woman lives up the mountain in a … Continue reading The Tall Woman
Animal Magnetism
Written with my Thursday night group with the prompts: whatever you do, won’t piss off the crow; you can’t walk your alligator on the streets of Chicago; you keep that up and you’ll never have to worry again; looking for drive-by love; everything you need; here at last. And yes, I did name the protagonist after Julie … Continue reading Animal Magnetism