Libby Drew

I can totally picture the hiking boots. Mine called me sui generis. 🙄 He assured me it was a good thing, but when I told my sister I was going to look it up (in, like, a dictionary made out of paper, cause that's all we had back then), she said, "Don't bother. It means bratty."

Lucas realized the flaw in his plan when he woke up. He crept out of bed, leaving Macy and Jase behind, and went looking for something to drink. The fridge had a stick of butter and a jar of soy sauce. “Whoa, Mother Hubbard, you’re fired,” he said, pushing aside the Kikkoman’s. Nope, nothing hiding behind it. The pantry was in a similar state. He should have known. Hadn’t that been the point of this case? No food. The kids had scavenged everything. That was going to be a problem.

I wrote my first story because it's what I wanted to read at the time but couldn't find it, so I wrote it. I may not remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, but I remember this moment so very clearly. The ultimate wish-fulfillment. You can't please everyone. There are other authors that I absolutely love their stories and there's more than a few that just aren't my cup of tea. And for me, there are some that are hit and miss, depending on the genre and/or plot. Over time, I've taken to giving every author several chances to hook me. More often than not, I wind up very pleasantly surprised. Thanks for sharing these thoughtful and insightful answers.

I asked my dad what this word meant when I was about 12. He gave me a one-word answer. Even though it wasn't a complete or comprehensive definition, I've remembered it ever since. 😉

Yes, indeed. On all counts... Thanks for the comment!

Doesn't it though? Thanks for the comment!

Love this word. Will find a use for it soon. Also, that cat is my hero. My record on a balance disk is two seconds.

You will find out. Just please don't kill me if it isn't right away? 😉

Jase waited for Lucas to get out before letting his shoulders sag. One minute without appearing completely confident was all he was asking for. He needed more, but he’d take what he could get. Lucas took his time circling around to Macy’s door, which suited Jase fine. It gave him the opportunity to rub away the ache behind his eyes, which hadn’t faded despite the Tylenol. Macy’s voice drifted forward from the backseat. “Are you okay, Jase?” He’d forgotten he had an audience. Straighten

While it feels that somebody, somewhere, at some point in time should be speaking up for the dyrpath (is that the correct plural lol?), history has taught us that these kinds of atrocities occur far too often and are almost always justified by faulty logic. Poor thing! I am hopeful things get better for our protagonist.

LOL Right? Stay tuned then! Thanks for reading and commenting.

Does anyone revisit older, completed stories and update them? Not in the “A Starbucks venti used to cost $2.35 and now it’s $4.00 kind of way.” More in the, “I’ve become better at ‘show, don’t tell’ since I wrote this, so I’m going to rewrite this scene and improve it.” I’ve struggled with this since rereading some oldies of mine. In the end, I decided to leave well enough alone, even though some of what I wrote in the past makes me twitchy. I feel it’s a very personal decision, with no right or wrong answer. There are many authors here whose personal library spans years. Anybody feel like sharing their thoughts? Would you edit your older stories when you believe you can make them better, based on the writer you are now? Or would you not? Is preserving your evolution as a writer more important?

Lucas floored the accelerator as soon as they jumped in, and the passenger door banged shut, barely missing Jase’s foot. “Easy,” Jase said, fumbling for his seat belt. Lucas ignored him but risked taking his eyes off the road to glance at Macy. “You okay, honey?” She leaned over the console to lay her head against his arm, and he released a breath. At least she’d responded. The Jetta took the final turn out of the circle too fast, and the tires scraped the curb. Lucas overco

Well done and a happy new years to you and yours!!! Thank you both! Happy New Year to you as well.

Number forty. Jase had been waiting for this one. He’d been in Texas for three weeks, staying with some rancher while he waited for the dream to come to him. When it had finally, he couldn’t escape fast enough, leaving in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye to his lover of almost a month. After seven years, it was finally going to be over. He couldn’t decide between apprehension and delight. So close. Just one more person to heal. Number forty. And, of course, sh

Mmm. I do have some experience with deadlines from writing for fandom fests. It's been a minute, though. I agree, a deadline is a helpful tool for any task. Thanks for sharing.

That makes me incredibly jealous. To say I take a slow approach to writing would be generous. I would love to be able to write something in as little as a week. I definitely craft on turtle speed. 🤔

Awesome! I'm very excited! Thanks for all your hard work on organizing the topic and poll.

Thank you for such encouraging feedback. And in the words of Danny Torrance, "The world's just one big hospice with fresh air." We're all closer than we like to admit.

Yes! I know at one point I spoke on this site about the usefulness of stereotypes in writing -- from a purely narrative perspective. Alas, the exact time and place of that discussion is lost in the abyss of my memory. Apologies! But I appreciate you noticing. I believe no writer should dismiss the power of such a thing.

Excellent comments and questions all. I think they should mostly be answered very soon. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Only six other cars were in the lot, two of them minivans. Lucas couldn’t make out the colors in the dark, but he hoped one belonged to Melissa. He parked and collected Macy from the backseat. She curled into his arms, sleepy and lethargic, and he tucked the blanket around her as he made for the glass doors. They swished open and he stepped up to the admitting desk. Matching the nurse’s 200-watt smile with one of his own wasn’t easy, but he managed. More flies with honey and all that.

Is it unrelated, though? 😉

I didn't know this one. Thank you all for the information on this word's interesting meaning and origin.

Me too! ☺️