Adan Ramie's Blog, page 22

Percolating on Loss | Fiction Friday

Hot liquid served in a mug is little comfort in a troubling time, but when has a tragedy fallen that we haven’t been offered it?

Coffee or tea in a delicate china cup or a thick mug, it doesn’t matter; something about the way the steam rises from the surface of the drink brings something like closure to the bereaved.

The Story A Day prompt that inspired the following was, “Write the story of a picture.”

And, as I’m obviously quite obsessed with my wife, I chose a picture she painted long befo...

Graffiti and My Take-Away at the Lone Star LesFic Festival Series

I recently posted the first threein a four-part series on my rousing trip to Austin, Texas to attend the Lone Star LesFic Festival for authors and readers. Today I’m going to continue in a similar vein as last week’s flora, but with a more urban bent: graffiti.

[My apologies… I thought this had posted a week ago, but something went wrong – probably with my brain – and I’m only now getting it published.]

The thing I like the most about Austin is how unapologetic it is. “Keep Austin Weird” i...

That Darkness by Lisa Black | Book Review Wednesday

Have you ever started a book and, from the very first page, knew that you were going to love it? The book I’m reviewing this week was exactly that kind of book for me. That Darkness by Lisa Black gripped me from more than the first page – it had me in the first paragraph.

As a forensic investigator for the Cleveland Police Department, Maggie Gardiner has seen her share of Jane Does. The latest is an unidentified female in her early teens, discovered in a local cemetery. More shocking than the...

Digging Graves, Part 2 | Serial Sunday

Digging Graves

Part I | Part II | Part III

Jannie was the one who pointed out the problem with my first plan. I was ready, so close to getting started that I could smell the coppery scent of blood in the air like pennies on the back of my tongue. At first I lashed out at her. I sent her to her room like a child and pouted over my beautiful, flawed plan.

After a while, though, I got over it. I realized how right she was, and that she was trying to help, not sabotage me out of spite. It hadn’...

Broken Places by Rachel Thompson | Book Review Wednesday

Let’s face it: sometimes emotions suck.

The ones that suck the most are often those that have been with us the longest and have cut the deepest. I spent a large chunk of my life pretending that some of these deep, dark emotions weren’t real, or were a thing of the past, but they always managed to sneak back into my brain when I least expected it: out on a walk, watching a movie, writing a new story, or just playing with my kids.

Like the emotions themselves, these sudden flashes of memory and...

Digging Graves, Part 1 | Serial Sunday

This story was born from a Story a Day prompt that encouraged us to write about our own alter ego. A character who is like us in some ways, but very unlike us in others.

The main character in Digging Graves has a few things in common with me, but one thing that’s very different: she’s a killer bent on revenge.

Digging Graves

Part I | Part II | Part III

Gandhi said we all end up blind if we live for revenge, but he ended up dead, so what did he know?

I know I’m going to die one day. We all di...

Obedience within Dystopia with R.L. Daman | Spotlight Saturday Author Interview

Last October I posted about a writing challenge I entered hosted by an author named R. L. Daman. It was called “I Made the Darkness,” and I submitted my story, The Moppet Murders. It was chosen as one of the finalists, which was really exciting for me. He read my story and made a video that was uploaded to YouTube.

Since then, R. L. Daman has been a busy guy, working on his new novel, Supplicant, being in anthologies, and being incredibly far-reaching on social media. (Check all those out at...

Amanda’s Journal | Fiction Friday

Today’s story came hard at first, but as I wrote it, the words flowed more and more quickly, like blood from an open vein. Maybe that’s what it was in a metaphorical sense: blood from an old wound.

The prompt from C.S. Polcher on Story A Day was, “Write the real you.”

I took some liberties with the prompt. My name is not now, nor has it ever been, Amanda. I’ve never been told I was going to fail a class if I didn’t do a single project. And I’m not a high school kid trapped in a small town wit...

I Like My Brown Skin Because… by Julia A. Davis | Book Review Wednesday

I’ve posted a lot in the past about equality, rights, and prejudice because those are topics that are on my mind all the time. I live in a place (Texas, The South, or the United States in general, you choose) where bigotry and prejudice are spread wide in shouts as much as whispers, so from a young age, I was acutely aware of a sort of unspoken segregation that took place in my community.

In some cases, the segregation was loud and clear, like on the sign hanging on the way into my hometown t...

Top 4 Most Accepting Countries | In Other Words Tuesday

This week’s prompt for In Other Words is: “Everyone you ever meet knows something that you don’t.” – Bill Nye

Powerful and profound. To get to the meat of this quote, I thought I would push it further than the initial thought to acceptance.

We can choose to accept or reject ourselves just as we can choose to accept or reject others. But what does it really mean to be accepting? Does it mean you sit back, relax, and let things flow? Or does it mean you can disagree, put in your two cents, or d...