I used to think I was open-minded. Then I had teenagers. And they were... let's just say their tastes veered into the eccentric. My kids, my first two, simply would not play by the rules. And by rules I meant wearing dresses and liking it, using utensils at formal dinners, begging to sing in the …
Author: GriffithsKL
Cinderella, a Twister #writingexercise
I gave this assignment to my 5000 Words students. Take a fairy tale and either: Re-tell the whole thing in a modern adaptation or Choose a scene from the middle and use it to begin a story of your own that diverges from the original. Sometimes as my students write, I do too. Here's my …
25 Things That Scotch the Cat Is Probably Thinking in This Picture
I can't seem to stop laughing at this. I've been in mourning for three years over Kikki, but this makes me want to go get me some furry, purring lap love. Read Scotch's thoughts here: 25 Things That Scotch the Cat Is Probably Thinking in This Picture
Flash Fiction for Microcosms
1 Thessalonians 5:2 Charles Floyd began dying the night of the buffalo. Seaman was hailed a hero, and the whole Corps of Discovery was giddy over the near miss: how the Newfoundland kept the buffalo from trampling the officers' tent. No one was hurt, not even Charles. Still, death had settled upon him like the dreaded …
Zeroflash Fiction: Rampart
He studies her. Must be she's grading stories because her smile ebbs and flows. His heart's been slogging through the desert for years and now this-- mirage, his new team teacher. Like all mirages, getting too close strikes the vision, and he very badly wants to keep her. She's absent to the aura of her …
Dante’s Barn: A Short Story About the Gauntlet of Adolescence
Publication. That great Other reads your writing and deems it worthy to print. I'm pumped to share with you my short story is out today on Fiction on the Web, the oldest internet short story platform in existence (since 1996). They have a feedback field for readers. No sign-up necessary. I hope you'll read my …
Continue reading Dante’s Barn: A Short Story About the Gauntlet of Adolescence
Writing Conference Memoirette
I just attended the Lorain County Library's (awesome!) writer's conference led by Chuck Sambuchino. The most interesting moment of the conference was when Chuck read manuscripts and murdered them in front of us. Until that moment, I'd never actually experienced group tension in the flesh. It was like an invisible spider web stretched across the …
The Things I Carry
"What's it like, being dead?" "...I don't know, I guess it's like being inside a book that nobody's reading." - From Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried. This quote bowled me over. Not just because it's a fresh look at death, but because it captures my feelings. While I'm writing I Trespass, I'm "inside a …
The Proper Care and Feeding of the Writers in Your Life – Volume 1
Sometimes you stumble across a literary landmine. Blown away. Can I be infused with this man's sense of humor and word sense? Source: The Proper Care and Feeding of the Writers in Your Life – Volume 1
Flash Fiction for Carrot Ranch
I'm trying to leave my novel alone for a few weeks so I can read it with "fresh" eyes and polish it. Again. This polishing will be the fourth draft on I Trespass. Since I'm not actively writing my novel, my schedule is different. Like: Who moved my cheese? Normally I pick up a thread …
KL Griffiths 