Paul J. Fleming's Blog, page 3

A Curious Cow

Michael was almost out of breath as he ran up to his friends amid the crowd. He’d heard that one of Farmer Pickles’ herd had strayed from the normal route to the dairy and had brought the village traffic to a standstill.
“What’s it doing?” Michael asked while trying to catch his breath.
“It keeps stopping to look through the shop windows,” Charles said with unfettered glee.
“I think it’s just curious,” Betty said.
“A curious cow?” Michael said with an air of mock suspicion.
They laughed and watched as Farmer Pickles encouraged the errant cow back toward the herd.

100 Word #weekendchallenge by @WriteStoryBooks
A Curious Cow – © 2022 Paul J. Fleming

A Curious Cow

Michael was almost out of breath as he ran up to his friends amid the crowd. He’d heard that one of Farmer Pickles’ herd had strayed from the normal route to the dairy and had brought the village traffic to a standstill.
“What’s it doing?” Michael asked while trying to catch his breath.
“It keeps stopping to look through the shop windows,” Charles said with unfettered glee.
“I think it’s just curious,” Betty said.
“A curious cow?” Michael said with an air of mock suspicion.
They laughed and watched as Farmer Pickles encouraged the errant cow back toward the herd.

100 Word #weekendchallenge by @WriteStoryBooks
A Curious Cow – © 2022 Paul J. Fleming

The post A Curious Cow appeared first on Paul J. Fleming.

Spilt Milk

“You said I should play hard to get!” Margaret said in protest.
“Hard, not impossible,” Edith replied. “Never mind, as there’s no sense crying over spilt milk, is there?” She lifted her cup and saucer up from the garden table and watched Margaret turn away to pout.
“She has her claws in him now,” Margaret said, her tone mournful.
“Then we must adopt a new, decisive strategy…” Edith said softly, her gaze drawn to the end of the well-manicured lawn. “How deep is the lake?”
Margaret shrugged, then turned to look at her.
Edith simply smiled and sipped her tea.

Entry into the 100 Word #weekendchallenge by @WriteStoryBooks
Spilt Milk – © 2022 Paul J. Fleming

Spilt Milk

“You said I should play hard to get!” Margaret said in protest.
“Hard, not impossible,” Edith replied. “Never mind, as there’s no sense crying over spilt milk, is there?” She lifted her cup and saucer up from the garden table and watched Margaret turn away to pout.
“She has her claws in him now,” Margaret said, her tone mournful.
“Then we must adopt a new, decisive strategy…” Edith said softly, her gaze drawn to the end of the well-manicured lawn. “How deep is the lake?”
Margaret shrugged, then turned to look at her.
Edith simply smiled and sipped her tea.

Entry into the 100 Word #weekendchallenge by @WriteStoryBooks
Spilt Milk – © 2022 Paul J. Fleming

The post Spilt Milk appeared first on Paul J. Fleming.

Quick Update

Never one to inundate the web with a plethora of musings, I have seemingly gone to the extreme and remained silent for quite some time.

The reason? Well, it’s mostly a mix of reading, learning and overall apathy to actually writing anything productive/interesting. If there was an Olympic sport for procrastination I think I would be in line for a medal.

So here we are in 2022. It’s been almost ten years since I began this journey of scribbling out fictional things for others to read and I’d like to think that I’ve learnt a lot during this time, but now the focus is more on my writing than learning the craft. I’ll never stop learning, but I really need to put more work out there for people to enjoy (hopefully!).

So – first out of the gate for 2022 is a small 100-word challenge set by the Writer’s Academy entitled “A Locked Door”. <<< Read it here >>>

Hope everyone is well and best wishes for the rest of the year!

Paul.

Quick Update

Never one to inundate the web with a plethora of musings, I have seemingly gone to the extreme and remained silent for quite some time.

The reason? Well, it’s mostly a mix of reading, learning and overall apathy to actually writing anything productive/interesting. If there was an Olympic sport for procrastination I think I would be in line for a medal.

So here we are in 2022. It’s been almost ten years since I began this journey of scribbling out fictional things for others to read and I’d like to think that I’ve learnt a lot during this time, but now the focus is more on my writing than learning the craft. I’ll never stop learning, but I really need to put more work out there for people to enjoy (hopefully!).

So – first out of the gate for 2022 is a small 100-word challenge set by the Writer’s Academy entitled “A Locked Door”. <<< Read it here >>>

Hope everyone is well and best wishes for the rest of the year!

Paul.

The post Quick Update appeared first on Paul J. Fleming.

A Locked Door

He held the ornate key and stared with trepidation at the small doorway, neatly blended into the décor of his late father’s study.
What secrets could possibly lay beyond which would cause his father to guard it with such ferocity?

He remembered that day when he’d been discovered beside it and the resulting rage of his father as he ran from the study, but there was something more…
A soft sound, like weeping from somewhere beyond that forbidden door.
He placed the key in the lock and turned it slowly.
Today, he would learn why he was sent away.

Entry into the 100 Word #weekendchallenge by @WriteStoryBooks
A Locked Door – © 2022 Paul J. Fleming

A Locked Door

He held the ornate key and stared with trepidation at the small doorway, neatly blended into the décor of his late father’s study. What secrets could possibly lay beyond which would cause his father to guard it with such ferocity?

He remembered that day when he’d been discovered beside it and the resulting rage of his father as he ran from the study, but there was something more…
A soft sound, like weeping from somewhere beyond that forbidden door.
He placed the key in the lock and turned it slowly.
Today, he would learn why he was sent away.

Entry into the 100 Word #weekendchallenge by @WriteStoryBooks
A Locked Door – © 2022 Paul J. Fleming

The post A Locked Door appeared first on Paul J. Fleming.

May 2021 Update

Without doubt, the past year and a bit have been frought with events all over the world – not least of all being the devastating swathe cut by the pandemic and all those variants. I’d like to ask the writers of Earth: Humanity and Beyond to ease back on the over-arching doom plot for the 2021 season and give the characters within a little more joy and light after the darkness which has prevailed.

For myself, it’s been quite a time of change as my better half is now home-based (and can keep a closer eye on me!), and projects around the house I’d hoped to put off were brought into being and now some rooms lie in chaos, as I’m sure is repeated the length and breadth of this country with people being trapped indoors. I’d wager that the likes of B&Q will see their profits increase for this period while many others suffer or are forced to close!

In the past few months I’ve been trying to force myself back into writing – anything! I did allow myself to slip into apathy as I sought out more and more things to read on the craft, trying to consume all the theories and nuances before spoiling a clean sheet of paper with ink but this has become, in itself, a method of procrastination. It’s much easier to pick up a book or tablet and read about writing than actually perform the act itself.

So, to ease me back into actually writing stuff I’ve been scribbling out short scenes of flash fiction based on varied prompts. Things in genres I’d not normally tackle, or settings I’d not have cause to depict, in an effort to just allow a bit of creativity to flow. This is ongoing and there are scribbles on paper with actual ink which will never see the light of day, but others I’ve determined will find their way on here under the quick reads section. Two have already made the leap from page to screen.

The good news is that these small exercises have me wondering about Liverpool Gothic or Tales, and there are a few pages roughly drawn out with notes on characters and situations that have emerged as I’ve been ‘in the zone’. I’m also quite intrigued with Kindle Vella which is being trialled over in the US at the moment, which is more episodic in nature and may be a way forward with these stories when the program is rolled out to other countries. The aim is to craft them as novellas or novels, but while they are being written I could release them in part as an ongoing series. I’ll have to see how that avenue develops, but it’s interesting nontheless.

Anyway, I have some rooms to try and put back together and a whole bucket list of prompts demanding attention to be written and committed to screen, so until next time…

Paul J. Fleming
May 2021

May 2021 Update

Without doubt, the past year and a bit have been frought with events all over the world – not least of all being the devastating swathe cut by the pandemic and all those variants. I’d like to ask the writers of Earth: Humanity and Beyond to ease back on the over-arching doom plot for the 2021 season and give the characters within a little more joy and light after the darkness which has prevailed.

For myself, it’s been quite a time of change as my better half is now home-based (and can keep a closer eye on me!), and projects around the house I’d hoped to put off were brought into being and now some rooms lie in chaos, as I’m sure is repeated the length and breadth of this country with people being trapped indoors. I’d wager that the likes of B&Q will see their profits increase for this period while many others suffer or are forced to close!

In the past few months I’ve been trying to force myself back into writing – anything! I did allow myself to slip into apathy as I sought out more and more things to read on the craft, trying to consume all the theories and nuances before spoiling a clean sheet of paper with ink but this has become, in itself, a method of procrastination. It’s much easier to pick up a book or tablet and read about writing than actually perform the act itself.

So, to ease me back into actually writing stuff I’ve been scribbling out short scenes of flash fiction based on varied prompts. Things in genres I’d not normally tackle, or settings I’d not have cause to depict, in an effort to just allow a bit of creativity to flow. This is ongoing and there are scribbles on paper with actual ink which will never see the light of day, but others I’ve determined will find their way on here under the quick reads section. Two have already made the leap from page to screen.

The good news is that these small exercises have me wondering about Liverpool Gothic or Tales, and there are a few pages roughly drawn out with notes on characters and situations that have emerged as I’ve been ‘in the zone’. I’m also quite intrigued with Kindle Vella which is being trialled over in the US at the moment, which is more episodic in nature and may be a way forward with these stories when the program is rolled out to other countries. The aim is to craft them as novellas or novels, but while they are being written I could release them in part as an ongoing series. I’ll have to see how that avenue develops, but it’s interesting nontheless.

Anyway, I have some rooms to try and put back together and a whole bucket list of prompts demanding attention to be written and committed to screen, so until next time…

Paul J. Fleming
May 2021

The post May 2021 Update appeared first on Paul J. Fleming.