Category Archives: Uncategorized

January 1, 2016

That First Cup of Optimism

Happy New Year everyone! This is my first story of 2016 and so I wanted to make it an upbeat one to set a tone for the year. I wish you the best possible 2016.

This picture is one that was first used about 3 years ago and was my 4th ever Friday Fictioneers story. You can read it here if you want.

Jared took his first sip of coffee in 2016. It was instant, but such was life. Even unemployed and confined to the house, he still felt good about the coming year.

He should open his own cafe. It would have to be in his house, and the bank would never give him a loan, of course. Still, Big Dan owed him a favor, after the . . . unpleasantness.

He went for the mail and his ankle bracelet beeped in warning. He looked back at the house and pictured his cafe in his mind, its neon sign welcoming in customers:

The House O’Rest.

27 Comments | tags: coffee, fiction, flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers, house arrest, optimistic, The House O'Rest | posted in Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized

December 24, 2015

All I want for Christmas is a not guilty verdict

By David Stewart

Well, Merry Christmas everyone. It doesn’t look very Christmassy here at the moment, with the warm weather and green grass, but I guess I can’t complain.

This week’s Friday Fictioneers story is the first repeat that I participated in before, back in 2012; in fact, it was my 3rd story ever, which you can read here, if you want. I was tempted to use the same story, but I ended up writing a different one.

Okay, I ate the milk and cookies. But I did not eat the Elf on the Shelf.

I know the empty little suit is incriminating but it wasn’t me. Go ask the dog.

True, the suit was found in my bed.

Okay, I admit I ate the elf, but I didn’t attack the presents. The shreds of wrapping paper were planted.

By whom? No clue.

Fine! I shredded the presents, but that was before the fat man climbed down the chimney. I didn’t kill him, I swear.

This is all very stressful, your Honor. I request a scratching post recess.

21 Comments | tags: crime, fiction, flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers, funny, quirky | posted in Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized

December 16, 2015

Outside the Window

By David Stewart

Well, for the first time in quite a while, I’m actually posting this on Wednesday. Despite this being exam week, I’m actually not as busy as I have been in the past few months.

A bomb exploded. Amna saw the orange death-flower blossom a mile away.

She ran water for dishes—

A helicopter thundered overhead.

rinsed a plate—

An angry line streaked from the ground.

washed the cutlery.

The helicopter exploded.

She refused to hide. This had been her home for her whole life.

Somewhere nearby, she heard the rattle of rifle fire.

They won’t change me, she thought savagely. They won’t win!

Her favorite cup, which she had been gripping unconsciously, shattered. She stared down at the blood dripping into the dishwater and realized, suddenly, that nothing would ever be the same again.

27 Comments | tags: denial, dishes, fiction, flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers, war | posted in Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized

December 14, 2015

One Small Step for a Chicken

By David Stewart

One Small Step for a Chicken

Vanessa was one nervous chicken. She took a deep breath, and stepped out into the bright lights. Cameras flashed.

“Thank you,” she said. “I am proud to be the first chicken to be appointed as CEO of a Fortune 500 company. One small step for a chicken; one giant leap for poultry-kind.”

She was sweating through her feathers. Stress always made her— oh no, not now.

She felt the pressure but couldn’t stop it. Seconds later, a giant egg dropped onto the platform.

Shocked silence.

“Looks like I’m being productive already,” Vanessa said. The audience laughed, relieved.

She had this.

17 Comments | tags: business, CEO, chicken, embarrassing situation, fiction, flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers, funny, quirky | posted in Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized

December 10, 2015

Green-Walled Tower Fiction-T’s are Here!

By David Stewart

I have a line of T-shirts, as you may know, called Fiction T’s, available here: http://fictionts.spreadshirt.com. My friend Amy Reese just did a great write-up about them here.

AmyReeseWrites

Fiction-T’s from the Green-Walled Tower are here and just in time for the holidays!

David Stewart from the Green-Walled Tower blog has created these incredible T-shirts. I know you’re probably wondering how a T-shirt can be incredible…make no mistake these shirts are stupendous! Why? Because these shirts are Fiction-T’s. David has published his short fiction stories on the back T-shirts. He’s so clever.

David has shared many stories on his blog, many of them dark and twisted, which is why I enjoy them so much. For his Fiction-T’s, he offers seven different stories, all of them are highly creative and imaginative. I had a hard time choosing my favorite. I decided on Three Men Walk into a Bar, a great one for bloggers. You know those moments, when no matter what kind of situation you’re in, you think, “This would make a great blog post. Now excuse me while I take a photo.” You know…

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December 8, 2015

What are your alphabet sites?

By David Stewart

One nice thing about web browsers these days is that they’re so darn helpful. You start typing something and they jump in and try to finish your thoughts. And they’re often right too. Recently I went through my browser to see what sites come up with each letter. These aren’t necessarily the most visited sites in total, but are the most visited for each letter and provide an interesting snapshot.

Muppet-Alphabet-FINAL-2

A: athingirl.com

The blog of my friend, Susannah Bianchi

B: bobybangladesh.wordpress.com

The blog of one of my students

C: cracked.com

D: dictionary.com

E: esl.org

Not a site about English as a Second Language, as you might expect from someone who teachers ESL for a living.

F: facebook.com

G: google.com

H: huffingtonpost.com

I: intensiveenglishuiu.com

The blog for my Intensive English Program

J: jukepop.com

This is an odd one, since I think I’ve only been to this site once. It’s a writing/publishing site. Apparently, J sites aren’t that common for me.

K: kayak.com

L: lulu.com

A self-publishing site I use if I need a book printed.

M: mail.google.com

N: netflix.com

O: oelweingrandtheatre.com

The theater near us

P: print.uiu.edu

Clearly I don’t visit a lot of sites that start with P. This isn’t even a real site. I typed it in by accident once.

Q: (none: apparently I don’t go to any sites that start with Q)

R: rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com

The blog of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, the moderator of the Friday Fictioneers group

S: spreadshirt.com

This is the site I use for my T-shirt line (available here!)

T: thesaurus.com

U: uiu.edu

My university website

V: verizonwireless.com

W: wordpress.com

No surprise here.

X: xkcd.com

If you don’t know what XKCD is yet, go there now.

Y: youtube.com

Z: zonmal.com

This is a great site for anyone who wants to look up Chinese characters that are used in Korea. You know who you are.

So, what are your alphabet sites? You know you’re dying to go look now.

6 Comments | tags: alphabet, browser, websites | posted in Uncategorized

December 2, 2015

Sapphire Eternity

By David Stewart

The sea was calm and empty in the way a Twitter feed wasn’t.

Jake sat on the edge of the cliff, looking out into sapphire eternity.

He reached for his phone, realized he didn’t have it, realized that was the point.

What time was it?

The funeral was probably over.

They were probably furious with him.

How could he, of all people? they’d say.

He’d finally posted about her death, but couldn’t bear to change his relationship status.

He had to go back soon, he knew.

But for now he sat, letting it all drain out into that sapphire eternity.

11 Comments | tags: death, escape, fiction, flash fiction, Friday Fictioneers | posted in Friday Fictioneers, Uncategorized

October 20, 2015

Fall at Upper Iowa University

By David Stewart

Here are some pictures I took of our town and university for my work blog. It’s quite beautiful around here lately.

Upper Iowa University

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September 13, 2015

9/11/2001 Solemnity Interrupted

By David Stewart

Clearly I should have read this two days ago, on the actual day. I’m reblogging this because Susannah has a powerful way of expressing things and she was actually there and she’s right that we should remember. In a lot of ways I don’t want to remember September 11, at least I don’t want to remember and relive all the pain and heartache of that day. But still, we shouldn’t forget.

athingirldotcom

We must never forget….

I live right near the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, and on the night of September 11th I went there to see if there was anything I could do: answer phones, comfort someone, that sort of thing.

When I walked in their side door on 80th Street you could have heard a pin drop. Not one casualty so far, same as the hospital where I had just been giving blood. Dominick, one of the directors said, what they had expected hadn’t happened, at least not yet, but then while talking, a hearse pulled up.

The first fatality to be brought in was Father Mychal Judge, the beloved Chaplain of The New York Fire Department who, when he heard what had happened, rushed downtown to help. When the South Tower collapsed he was killed instantly.

There’s a famous photograph of firefighters carrying him out of the…

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August 30, 2015

Why Writing a Novel Is Like the AK-47 Rifle

By David Stewart

“Perfection is the enemy of good enough” is a great line. This post talks about writers demanding perfection during the rough draft phase and how damaging that can be, but I was struck by perfection at the other end. I mentioned to my wife today that I was starting the 9th draft of my current novel and she said I should call it done and get it published. I, however, want to give it one more go to polish it up. What do you think? How do you know when a piece of writing is done and when it could still use more work?