Stephen L. Thompson's Blog, page 55
May 31, 2012
Stephen L. Thompson’s May 2012 Newsletter
Howdy,
Welcome to my electronic newsletter, covering May 2012.
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My publication news for the past month:
None.
* * *
This month I wrote 8,235 words, giving me a yearly total so far of 45,633, meaning, I’m well over halfway to my goal of 80,000 words this year.
I wrote every day in May, so I still have seventeen free days when I don’t have to write. And I may need them in the beginning of June, because I’ve picked up something and there will probably be a couple days when I won’t feel up to writi...
May 11, 2012
40,000 words!
If you follow my newsletter, you know that my goal this year is to write 80,000 words. Well, as of May 11, I have written 40,024 words. So it looks likely I’ll meet my goal. Of course, writing almost 19,000 words last month played a huge role.
April 30, 2012
Stephen L. Thompson’s April 2012 Newsletter
Howdy,
Welcome to my electronic newsletter, covering April 2012.
* * *
My publication news for the past month:
Publication of my stories: “Unforgettable,” “Black Market Books,” “Is That How it Works?” “An Eye for an Eye,” “A Cabin Under a Cloudy Sea,” “Free Crap,” “Bad Scifi is Universal,” “Stuff Happens,” “One Question,” “Job Security,” “Priorities,” “In a Rut,” “Bound to Happen,” “Bottomless Pit,” “If Only It Were That Easy,” “We the People,” “Quieting the Voices,” “Faulty Programming, I,” “Fau...
April 28, 2012
30 Stories in 28 Days!
I’ve met my 30 Stories in 30 Days Challenge with two days to spare! In a couple of days, I’ll put up a blog on my thoughts about this year’s challenge, but for now, I’m going to take a day or two off to relax and fully get over this cold I’ve picked up. After that I’ll take care of a backlog of paperwork I have, some projects I need to do for two writing groups I’m in, get back to work on my novel None of Them Knew the Color of the Sky, work on driving up interest in my book The All-You-Can-R...
30 Stories in 30 Days #30 – “It’s Tough Being a Writer”
It’s Tough Being a Writer
When Ron walked into his bedroom, his wife Carol was already in bed with her Nook. She glanced at him and asked, “What were you doing?”
“I was engaged in battle,” he replied. “My muse and I fought hand to hand across the Writer’s Block Wasteland and deep into the Forest of Ideas. In our struggle we climbed mountains of metaphors and sailed simile seas. It was an epic fight that left a river of ink spread across countless pages, and left me – for now – victorious.”
Witho...
April 27, 2012
30 Stories in 30 Days #29 – “Motherhood”
Motherhood
The unmarked car with heavily tinted windows slipped through the guarded gate in the predawn darkness. Yet even at this early hour, protesters were already lining up, trying to snap photos of the “mothers” to post online. The car pulled into the parking garage of the Qiba Corporation and stopped in front of a bank of elevators where two security guards – one male and one female – stood.
Thomas Gillespie opened the back door and stepped out. “Morning,” he called to the guards.
“Good mo...
30 Stories in 30 Days #28 – “Can’t Hack It”
Can’t Hack It
When Sue returned home from work, she found her fiancé sitting on the couch with a glazed look on his face. She sat down next to him and asked, “Where are you?”
After a moment, he slowly replied, “I don’t know.” Shaking his head, he looked over at her and said, “I’ve told you about Rob from work, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“We were talking today and he told me he had watched this really stupid movie over the weekend, Trees of Death.”
“What?”
“You know, the classic story of a scientis...
30 Stories in 30 Days #27 – “How Did They Get Our Number?”
How Did They Get Our Number?
“There he is.”
Mario waved to his three friends sitting at an outside table of the Brew Haus. “Hey guys. Sorry I’m late, I had a hell of a time finding a parking spot.”
Jason replied, “Sure, sure. We were talking about the big tackle last night. What did you think?”
“Oh, it was a thing of beauty.”
Greg shook his head. “You’re just happy that it wasn’t-”
A piercing tone filled the air, causing everyone to clap their hands over their ears, although that didn’t help.
After...
April 26, 2012
30 Stories in 30 Days #26 – “Idiot 2.0”
Idiot 2.0
Swiveling around in his chair, Mike announced, “I need an idiot.”
His fiancée Sue lowered the book she was reading and replied, “You’ll want to choose your next words very carefully.”
Laughing, Mike stood and walked to the couch. He sat down next to her and explained, “I’m working on my, as yet, untitled story, and one of the characters is a bit of an idiot. But I’m having a hell of a time trying to write his dialogue. I either make him sound completely brain dead, or there’s a subtle...
April 25, 2012
30 Stories in 30 Days #25 – “Connecting with the People”
Connecting with the People
When the commercial break began, Carol left the living room and went into the bathroom. She took the towels out of the dryer and carried them back into the living room. As she began folding them, she half watched the commercials waiting for her show to return.
After the hyped up ad for kids’ cereal, there was a slick commercial for the latest smart phone followed by a cheesy one for a local car dealer. But the next commercial began with a man sitting in a chair before...
