D.N. Schmidt's Blog: DNSchmidt.com, page 3

Quick Writing Tip: Horror and Cell Phones

If you’ve ever written a horror story, you might have run into the problem of cell phones. Why can’t your characters just call for help? Why don’t they just phone the police or the army or NASA and get rescued? If your story is set in the modern era, you can’t just ignore phones and hope your reader won’t notice. […]

Zipper

Mark turned off his alarm and sat up, yawning. Susan wasn’t in bed next to him. “Odd,” he thought. “She must have gotten up early.” He climbed out of bed, grabbed his phone, and headed to the bathroom to get ready for work. Susan had left a pile of clothes on the bathroom floor, mostly dresses and other clothes she […]

The Night Hunter

A Science Fiction Short Story Six weeks before she left Earth, Fiona went out drinking. She was scheduled to give her first presentation at a geology conference the next day and she wanted to calm her nerves so she could sleep. She finished her second cocktail and stood, a little wobbly but stable enough to walk home. She headed outside, […]

Baking Jokes

World Baking Day is is celebrated annually on the third Sunday in May. This year, celebrate the joy of baking by making a pie, some cookies, maybe some bread, and sharing some jokes! A Baker’s Dozen of Baking Jokes: Why are cookies the only fortune telling baked goods? What about prophetic pies, or destiny donuts? You could write a whole […]

The Window Woman

A Sci-Fi Flash Fiction Story Rick never saw her move in. One day, the house on the corner was empty, and the next, she was inside, standing in the window. No moving van, no car, but there she was. Strangely, the “For Sale” sign never left the yard. If she was squatting, she wasn’t trying to keep it a secret. […]

15 Reasons for Your Alien Invasion Story

If you’re writing an alien invasion story, the first thing to consider is why. Why are your aliens coming here? Space travel is difficult. The immense distances combined with the laws of physics means that getting to Earth would be incredibly expensive. Why would realistic aliens invest so much of their time and resources just to get to our corner […]

All His Burning Eyes

A short horror story It was just after sunset when the eyes first appeared outside of Emily’s window. It was too dark to see a person, but their eyes were clearly visible. They were red and bright and watching her with an animalistic desire. She felt her cheeks flush. “How long have you been there? Did you see me changing […]

Car Jokes

Car jokes in mirror are funnier than they appear. Long commute got you down?  Is driving everywhere driving you mad? Cheer up with this collection of car jokes! (And I’m not just talking about the Pontiac Aztek!) This weekend, I’m taking an Uber to visit my parents, and then tipping extra so the driver does the visiting for me while […]

Stranded on Europa

A Science Fiction Space Travel Story On the last day of his vacation to Europa, Hank fought back the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something. It felt strange to not be packing a suitcase. All the clothes he had bought there were disposable, and his souvenirs were entirely digital, mostly holographic posters and tchotchkes. Traveling via mind transfer saved […]

The Hole in the Wall

Bobby weaved through the piles of boxes, bags, and books, heading down the hall to his bedroom. The new house was a little run down. The floors were missing a tile here and there, and the ceiling was cracked in places, but it had a large yard and a pool, so he was happy. He wanted to spend all day […]