Kate Bitters's Blog: The Bitter Blog, page 4

The Evil Eye [Story #5]

Week 5! How are you holding up?This week, I was tasked with writing a short story for my speculative fiction writing group in East St. Paul. The prompt: You’ve received an unusual gift from someone. Ready, set, write! Here’s what my brain cooked up. If you want to play along and write off the same prompt, I'd be interested to read whatever you concoct. 

It seems more like an omen than a gift. I twist the bead around in my fingers, spinning it back so it looks away from me, then forward. T...

Billboard Man Wore a Bowler Hat [Story #4]

I'm writing a story a week for 52 weeks. This is story #4.Thank you for subscribing to the Bitter Blog.


Billboard Man wore a bowler hat and loose-fitting black slacks because that’s what they told him to wear. He walked uphill, grasping a leather attaché case and watching images swim in and out of his vision. Long-lasting aloe lotion. A high-tech raincoat. Whiskey snifters. A trailer for Shoot-Em-Up III: The Taming.
Billboard Man made a mental note to buy the lotion. The note was recorded and m...

The Suspicious Garden [Story #3]

Week 3 of 52 weeks of stories. Stay tuned and subscribe!


Once again, I was inspired to write a story about the aftermath of the Paris tragedy. It’s a children’s story with a big message.
Little humans: There are lots of big words in this story! Ask your big human to explain them to you and then discuss the meaning of this story (This is also a message for big humans *nudge*)
Big humans: There is a physics theory that goes like this: Every moment in time is infinite and is experienced forever. I....

Not All Bears [Story #2]

I'm writing a story a week for 52 weeks. This is story #2.
Not All Bears was grimly inspired by the November 13th tragedy in Paris. I am saddened by the lives lost, and I fear the inevitable backlash against the people who are only associated with the killers vaguely, through a religion that does not generally preach violence.

Not All BearsKate Bitters


On the night Grizzly killed my family the sky was the color of wet coal. The moon had hunched her shoulders and was looking away from the tundra,...

She Flies [Story #1]

Follow me on my journey as I write a story a week for an entire year. This is story #1.
Oil pastel drawing by Kate BittersShe follows the sound of her own voice out the door and across the ragged lawn, into the first field and along the furrows separating the neat rows of corn by no more than a handful of inches. They grow the corn closer together now; the system demands a claustrophobic cluster of will-be food. Such proximity was impossible a few decades ago, now it’s the norm.
It’s the only...

52 Stories in 52 Weeks

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I have a confession to make: I haven’t been writing.
Sure, I’ve been doing my freelance stuff—writing blog posts, newsletters, and website copy for clients—but I haven’t been writing for myself. Putting pen to paper or hands on keyboard and just going for it. I’ve almost forgotten how it all works.
That’s what happens when you give up creative writing for a couple months: it becomes difficult. Words don’t effortlessly enter your brain; characters that you’ve develo...

Be a Galapagos Finch

Needlepoint Finch. Photo courtesy of Marloes Duyker
I listen to RadioLab. A lot.

This past summer I've been digging my way through the archives, listening to episode after episode. Some of the freelance work I do is passive (i.e. taking photographs of textiles or whipping up simple graphics), so I keep myself company with a good podcast. Part of the reason I've velcroed myself to RadioLab is because of the brain-tickling topics that often call believe systems into question or approach a familia...

What $2 Can Get You (Plus, an eBook Sale!)

Hello friends and readers! Wednesday the 2nd marks the first day of a four-day eBook sale for Ten Thousand Lines. You can snap it up for a mere $1.99 from now until Saturday. What can $2 get you these days?

-A pack of gum
-3/4 of a gallon of gas
-A Wendy's cheeseburger
-Vending machine fruit snacks
-Suave shampoo
-8 gumballs
-2 postage stamps
-A candle
-One ticket on the MSP Light Rail
-A package of shirt buttons
-A scratch-off lotto ticket
-5 colored photo copies at Staples (seriously!)
-A package of bas...

Space to Think

This past weekend, I found myself in the Badlands of North Dakota in 100 degree heat. As my partner-in-crime rode the 50 mile Maah Daah Hey bike race, I went for a 12 mile hike. Crazy? Maybe. Worth it? Absolutely.


I trekked through a petrified forest, stunningly stark landscapes, and near-dry creek beds. I ventured from the trail and bushwhacked my way through 3-4 miles. I saw prairie dogs (hundreds), bison, wild horses, a gigantic elk, a fox that had just made a kill, some grouse, and a red-t...

The Haircut Incident (On impulsivity and taking risks)

Today I cut my hair.

Ok, ok. I realize that's not big news. Thousands of people get haircuts every day. But this was a little different. My thought process went something like this:




Sure, this was a small, simple act. Yes, hair grows back. But it was thrilling nonetheless. I unearthed a part of myself I've missed--the reckless, impulsive part.

When I was a little younger, I'd dream up things and do them. When I lived in Portland, Oregon, I decided I wanted to drive to California one night. It wa...