Stephen L. Thompson's Blog, page 44
September 10, 2013
Your thoughts on an ebook cover and blurb
(This was first published on Bubblews.)
I am in the process of polishing up a science fiction story I’m planning on self-publishing as a Kindle ebook. The image is my idea for the cover, and this is my working blurb of the story:
On The Day, for reasons still unknown, people began changing. They went to sleep as their old selves and woke in their beds in different bodies: bodies that had belonged to other people. And each time they fall asleep, they wake as someone new. Set months later, “The O...
July 31, 2013
Stephen L. Thompson’s July 2013 Newsletter
Welcome to my electronic newsletter, covering July 2013.
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My publication news for the past month:
None.
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This month I broke my streak.I had written every day for 345 days until July 10.There were several reasons for this.When it’s really hot, I don’t feel like doing anything, which goes against me having so many things to do like picking blueberries.But the main reason, is I was starting to burn out on writing.I was writing every day, but I was doing it because I had to.So I took a...
July 9, 2013
Stephen L. Thompson’s June 2013 Newsletter
Howdy,
Welcome to my electronic newsletter, covering June 2013. Sorry this is a bit late, but these last few weeks have been a bit hectic.
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My publication news for the past month:
Publication of my poems “A Price too High” and “For the Public Health” on my Bubblews Profile.
Publication of my stories “Figures,” “Hmmm,” “You Didn’t Pray Hard Enough,” “Details,” “Hot Heads,” “House Call,” “The Buzzing of Flies,” “A Not so Different Future,” “Heartbeat of the Night,” “For Want of a Pen,” “Directi...
July 2, 2013
Wednesday Writing Prompt
I’m trying something new with my Wednesday Writing Prompts. Namely, I’m posting them on my Bubblews profile. You can find the prompt for this week here. You can leave your comments here, or there, or wherever you want. 
June 30, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #13 – “Memories”
MEMORIES
Taking a sip of her coffee, Laura said, “So, tell me something about yourself.”
Ed shrugged and took a sip of his coffee. “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know.” Laura looked around the coffee shop and saw a flier for a “Christmas in July” sale from some local business. “What was the most memorable thing you ever got for Christmas as a kid?”
Ed looked at her for a few seconds, then began laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“The most memorable thing I ever got was a severed foot. In my stockin...
June 23, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #12 – “Woggy”
WOGGY
“Are things that bad?”
Anne swiveled her chair around to see her husband Tom leaning against the door frame. “What?” she asked.
“I’ve been standing here for a couple minutes watching you stare blankly at your laptop.”
Anne glanced at her laptop and said, “It’s mocking me.”
With a drawn out, “Okay,” Tom stepped behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “How is your laptop mocking you?”
“It’s sitting there, ready to be typed on, but I can’t think of where to start.”
“The beginning,” Tom sug...
June 22, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #11 – “Directions”
DIRECTIONS
Something woke Peter. He glanced around his darkened bedroom, but couldn’t see anything. Then he heard what sounded like someone bumping into his kitchen table, followed by a muffled curse.
Peter rolled out of bed and landed in a crouch. He reached under his bed and found the baseball bat he kept there.
Standing, he rushed to his bedroom door. He eased it open and looked out into his living room dimly lit by a streetlight. At first, he didn’t see anything, but then a tall man wearing...
June 19, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #10 – “For Want of a Pen”
FOR WANT OF A PEN
“David, open up!” Sarah pounded on his door a few more times, then paused to listen. When she didn’t hear anything, she pounded some more.
A door opening behind her made her turn around. Across the hall an older woman was peaking around her door. “Is there a problem?” she asked.
“Hi, I’m Sarah Walsh, David’s sister. I haven’t heard from him for several days, and I’m starting to get a bit worried.”
“He mentioned he had a sister,” the woman said.
“That would be me.” Sarah pointed a...
June 16, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #09 – “Heartbeat of the Night”
HEARTBEAT OF THE NIGHT
“Daddy?”
A small hand on his shoulder woke Mike. He half-opened his eyes and said, “Hmm?”
His seven year old daughter Cindy whispered, “I hear something outside.”
This brought Mike fully awake. He sat up in his sleeping bag and fully opened his eyes. It didn’t matter because it was pitch black and he couldn’t see through the plastic tent side anyway.
He expected to hear something scratching, or perhaps snuffling, but when he stopped to listen he heard – as if from a great di...
June 11, 2013
30 Stories in 30 Days #08 – “A Not so Different Future”
A NOT SO DIFFERENT FUTURE
Opening the control panel, Melanie exclaimed, “What a mess.” She put her hand on her husband John’s shoulder and said, “Just sit right there.”
John – watching robotic gladiators pummeling each other – replied with a grunt.
A few minutes later, Melanie returned with a can of compressed air and a duster. She gave a quick spurt from the can and a small cloud of dust filled the air. “Oh my.” With each successive spurt, the clouds became smaller, until the dust was gone.
She...
