Crazy Quilt
Stitching life's tales together any which way...This is a patchwork collection of accounts from my life. Every word is true!Well, ALMOST every word. Some tales need just a little embroidery.…
Roots and Branches
True tales from my family tree. A counterfeiter flees on skis across the snowy slopes of Norway. A young New Zealander sails off to seek his fortune in the Australian gold rush. Homesteaders struggle through the tough times of the Great Depression, while moonshiners and bank robbers in Model T Fords prowl the back roads of Minnesota and Wyoming, not to mention Henry Ford putting in an appearance.Quick reads of only 500-600 words each!…
Flashback: tales from ages past
Glimpses out of the misty reaches of the past: Celtic rebels, a footsore Norman squire, a Roman lost in a haunted forest, & many more tales.…
Bits of Whimsy
A collection of whimsical flash fiction, written to weekly prompts…
Gossamer
(cozy fantasy.)Her aging heart sputters, her life drawing near its end. Emily barely musters the strength to follow a trio of cats one evening, into an eerie light that winds like silken strands through the night. Gossamer threads tangle and flare then die away, leaving Emily feeling younger than her years. She abandons her walker and waltzes on nimble feet down the dark neighborhood street, marveling at all the intertwining tendrils that most humans can't see. But one is a muddy muted color, jagged and spiked, leading from one vandalism to another. The broken window of her friend's house frames the prowler -- just as he catches sight of old Emily, wandering the streets alone.Cover photo: by Thomas Stephan on Unsplash…
Spun Again 3: folktales, world-wide
Retold folklore from around the world…
Hatchlings: fantasy and sci fi tales
A menagerie of flash fiction, hatched from ideas of many colors from here, there, and elsewhere: mostly fantasy but a sprinkling of sci-fi and contemporary.…
Writing Tips Galore
I'm a hoarder of information. Want a peek at my hoard of writing tips? I'm not a dragon jealously guarding a pile of riches. I'm glad to share!A hoard of tips... a horde of tips... Ah, that whimsical, baffling language puzzle that is English!…
Fiddle and Fjell: a family saga of Telemark, Norway
A tale of my ancestors in Norway, from 1701 to 1843. Upon a barren framework of names, relationships, place names, and fragmentary dates of life events, I built a saga of what might have been, bolstered by tons of research and then a thrilling personal visit to the sites themselves.…
Refuge: excerpt from Troll and Trylleri
Jorunn (age 15) and Oddleif (age 12) are already spooked by the claw-tipped tracks of trolls in the snow. Midwinter, near dusk, not the best time to be snowshoeing through the 9th-century uplands of Norway! Check out this scene from the end of Chapter Two.…
Golden Horseshoe, Golden Harp: Norse ballad into prose
A tale of love and enchantment from the Norse ballad "Villemann og Magnill"…
Three Magic Boxes
Addie and Liam have three magic boxes and a jillion wacky adventures. Come see what happens next!Written for a sick little 4-year-old.…
Spun Again 2: folktales from Telemark
Retold folklore from Telemark, Norway. Main source: Tussar og Trolldom, by Kjetil A. Flatin, 1930, with Tov Flatin, 1991…
From Bay to Backwoods
Dramatized family history from two centuries ago, the west side of the Pond. Follow two twining lines until they ply together. ~ Names, dates, places, and relationships: from fact. Settings and background events: based on fact and history. Dialogue, unnamed characters, incidental details: product of author's imagination.…
Ghost Riders
Wayne is a drunken son-of-a-gun cowpoke, riding a battered cowpony named Coot. Trudging home from a wild visit to town, Wayne gets a wake-up call that comes galloping out of the storm. Flash fiction based on an old country-western song.…
