This is an ornament I made myself. If you look closely, you may recognize the Victor Bilibin image I used for the back of my handmade Tarot cards.

This ornament was made as an example of a simple craft one could do with stickers. For this one, I took 5 rectangular stickers and placed a piece of Seahawks ribbon in the center. Each sticker is folded in half and attached to two other stickers. When the stickers are all stuck together, the outer edge can be cut into a desired shape. In this example, a ball.

Though this example is not very Christmasy and was hastily (and shabbily) constructed. The concept is sound and a fun craft to do with kids. Maybe I’ll make some nicer ones for the tree this year.

#vss very short story

Harper couldn’t figure out why her mother kept saying decapitated dragons didn’t belong on the Christmas tree. Ever since she learned the story of St. George and the dragon, she was pretty sure decapitated dragons belonged everywhere.

Today’s Poetry Prompt and Poem

Today, I’m between examining my poems from the PAD Chapbook Challenge and getting my prompts for MoSt New Year’s Poetry Challenge, so I chose a prompt from Poets on the Page. This prompt from Morgan Dragonwillow felt appropriate for today:

What inspires you?

What keeps me going, keeps me writing poetry? It is to understand life, to see it through the lens of my words, to see where they will lead.

What keeps you going?

Prompts:

What was the last photo you captured? Write for ten minutes about the photo. What emotion does it convey? What draws you in?

Word Prompts:

Inspiring

flow

capture
camera

This prompt inspired me to go out and take some pictures and I am so glad I did. The light was perfect!

Two Of One Or One Of Two

Inspiring reflection
Attempts to capture light
Ever changing in natures flow

I stand at the horizon
Neither above nor below
Feeling the vast distance the light travels

Water and sky meet in light
Mirroring mountains, clouds and trees
I see soundscapes in the patterns

Frequencies imagined by my inner ear
To hear the music of the mountain and the trees
Joined by the light on the water through clouds formed by water in the sky

Editing Focus

Inspired by: Revision And Self-Editing (Write Great Fiction) by James Scott Bell

Take a look at each of your minor characters. Make sure they are each unique with their own voice and visual distinction.

For each minor character, ask:

• What is his purpose in the story?
• What audio-visual markers can I attach to her?
• How can I make each marker more unique or memorable?
• What plot possibilities–a twist, a revelation of my protagonist, a setup, a premonition, a mood–does the character offer?
• How can the character irritate my protagonist? Or help her in a unique fashion?

#FlashFicHive

For yesterday’s challenge, I worked on a couple of ideas for the 53-Word Story Contest over at Prime Number Magazine. The theme for the month is: A story about a box. I will be brainstorming more stories around this idea. And will post the best lines from the non-entrants for the retweet swarm today.

graphic by Anjela Curtis

Today’s themes are:

#murdermonday SICK #martialmonday RUN #MuseMon STRONG #lovelines TWINKLE #moodmon FED UP #DecWIP PROTAG’S BIGGEST FEAR

graphic by Mica Scotti Kole

Don’t Forget To Read!

Reading short stories is a great way to get some reading in when you’re feeling short on time. I’m enjoying a couple different short story collections this month:
Five-Carat Soul by James McBride
and
The Best of Talebones edited by Patrick Swenson

What short story collections are you reading? Do you like a short story collection you would like to recommend?

Happy Reading and Writing!