Interview with D. Wallace Peach

An interesting interview with D. Wallace Peach

Cathleen Townsend

Today’s guest is the lovely Diana Peach, whose blog, Myths of the Mirror, I highly recommend. Welcome to the Beauty of Words, Diana.

Thank you, Cathleen, for the opportunity to talk about writing on your blog. I can do that for hours but promise to keep this short.

It’s wonderful to have you. Let’s start at the beginning: when did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I wrote stories and poems in high school and college, but it never occurred to me for one second to be a writer. I was a theater girl, and that too went by the wayside as the demands of work and raising a family took precedence.

Then, in 2010, my husband took an 18-month job in another state. The kids were already living on their own, so we sold our house and moved. I flipped a house (once is enough, thank…

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THE PLANETARY INSPECTION EXPLORATORY SYSTEM

 

This story was written for Sunday Photo Fiction–May 30th, 2016. Each week the host, Al Forbes, provides a picture prompt. The challenge for each member of the group is to write an original story or poem with no more than 200 words, not counting the title and inspired by the prompt.

To read the other stories written by group members, just click on the link below, then on the little blue frog in the blue box.

The link to the other stories this week is as follows:

https://sundayphotofictioner.wordpress.com/2016/05/29/sunday-photo-fiction-may-29th-2016/

Genre: Humor/Fantasy Fiction

Word Count: 200 Words

THE PLANETARY INSPECTION EXPLORATORY SYSTEM      by P.S. Joshi

A cloaked saucer flew low over the planet Earth. Zeebot peered out the viewport and called to his teammate.

“Cogot, I’m seeing some of the strange sights the other inspectors viewed on former flights. Somehow we have to let the people of this planet know they’re not alone.”

“Never fear,” said Cogot as he peered out in interest. “We’ll think of something. We have our new Lazer Writer Thingy that inscribes letters in any language. We just need to find a spot where all earthlings can read the inscription and be informed.”

“Yes, I have on my Thinking Cap Thingy now.”–Zeebot adjusted the purple helmet with three wires sticking out the top–“How fortunate we overheard people of Earth discussing these. We must keep up with their technology.”

He flicked an orange switch on the side and the wires began to hum, “Hum-m-m-m.” They then broke into song, “We’re thinking, we’re thinking, we’re thinking.” They zapped the idea into Zeebot’s brain. “I have it!” he shouted.

The two turned on the Laser Writer Thingy and wrote the message on a steel bridge over a busy highway,–THE PIES.

“Now they’ll surely know there’s been a planetary inspection,” Cogot bragged.

 

Guitar Mancer — Episode 9: Mancers

Episode 9 of Teagan’s Serial, “Guitar Mancer”

Write On

Some great advice to writers from Jo.

Lit World Interviews

Sometimes you read a book. It hooks you from the first sentence, and just keeps on getting better. It makes you laugh. It makes you cry. It inspires you to do better, or be better. When you reach the final page, you feel like you’ve lost the best friend you ever had. Then you open your own manuscript, and find that suddenly, from nowhere, an ominous lead ball has miraculously appeared in your gut. You could never write like the author who penned the fabulous book that you’ve just finished reading. In fact, your writing sucks. Big time. And there it is. You can’t write at all anymore. Every sentence is fiddled with. Or worse, deleted. And the next few weeks are spent trying to write just as beautifully as the magical creator of that perfect book that you can’t get out of your mind. But it’s no good. You…

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CHICKENS NEAR THE SEA

Photo Copyright: Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Here we are for another week. Today we’ve gathered near a virtual body of water. Our hostess for this group meeting is the talented and gracious author and artist Rochelle Wisoff-Fields. We’re the Friday Fictioneers group. Our challenge for this week and every week is to each write an original story with no more than 100 words, not including the title. It’s supposed to have a beginning, middle, end, and follow the picture prompt for the week. This week’s prompt was supplied by Rochelle Wisoff-Fields herself. Thanks, Rochelle.

To read the other stories by the group members, just click on the link given below, then on the little blue frog in the blue box.

The link for this week’s stories is as follows:

https://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2016/05/25/27-may-2016/

Genre: Humor/Fantasy Fiction

Word Count: 100 Words

CHICKENS NEAR THE SEA by P.S. Joshi

On the planet Zenco, there was the beautiful Sea of Hushup. The only problem was it was full of vicious mermaids.

“Don’t worry, Druther,” Pictoo said as he read the latest information. “Those mermaids are located only around the island in the middle of the sea. The shores are safe.”

Druther was worried, but he had little choice. He’d signed on for this job of checking water quality as all others were strangely taken.

The two began work. There was a splash of silvery tails and fanged-tooth mermaids appeared. “Who do you think gave out your information?” they asked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get Caught Reading — The Sign of the Ape 4

The last episode of Teagan’s adventure, “The Sign of the Ape 4”.

Teagan's Books

Image courtesy of Chris Graham

     Welcome, one and all!  It’s been fun participating in Get Caught Reading Month.  I hope my zany and bizarre story encouraged people of all ages to read.  Last week my real-world schedule caused me to put blogging on the shelf.  But look what grand company I had, thanks to Chris Graham!  

When we left our heroes…

As many of you know, a few elite bloggers (and their pets) banded together with one quest — catch the Story Reading Ape reading.  During the first chapter, I found a shimmering airship outside my window.  The pilot looked suspiciously like Cornelis Drebbel.  Before I knew it, I was in Time Square beginning a chase to “catch” the Story Reading Ape in the act of reading.

In Chapter 2  Suzanne from A Pug in the Kitchen and I met a number of…

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World Development checklist:

A thorough list of topics to consider for world building.

Oooh I have a bunch of these covered in Nwa Pante Rising. 🙂 Weirdly I skipped religion.. and annual rituals. I think it’ll be okay, maybe I’ll develop something in the next book, or maybe the Magi have theirs. The Aphandians are animal based lifeforms, centaurs, weres and whatnot. The Magi or Empryrians are magic wielding humans and the Chronotechs are all techy, borgy types. Maybe they can be prone to OCD behaviors.

🙂
~Kaw

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THE SLOPPY DRUNK

 

This story was written for Sunday Photo Fiction–May 22nd, 2016. Each Sunday the host, Al Forbes, provides a picture prompt. The challenge for each member of the group is to write an original story or poem with no more than 200 words and inspired by the prompt.

To read the other stories written by group members, just click on the link below, then on the little blue frog in the blue box.

The link to the other stories this week is as follows:

https://sundayphotofictioner.wordpress.com/2016/05/22/ sunday-photo-fiction-may-22nd-2016/

Genre: Humor Fiction

Word Count: 200 Words

THE SLOPPY DRUNK

My head pulses to the beat of a constant drum. My eyes bulge and it hurts to open and close them. A searing pain spreads across my eyebrows. My stomach is now empty but I’ll probably never eat again. If I do, my future days will be spent bending over a toilet bowl.

What is that terrible smell? Oh no, my roommate, Meg, is heating a toasted cheese sandwich in the microwave. The sad thing is, I’ve always loved toasted cheese. No more.

“Just a little wine,” I’d said. “I hardly drink,” I’d said.

Some time later I was laid out on the floor with my friend Rick sticking a cold handkerchief in my face.

“Take me home,” I’d said. “I feel sick, dizzy,” I’d said.

Now, lying here, my mother’s words come back and make me feel worse.

“It’s bad enough to see a man who’s drunk. A drunken woman looks terrible and sloppy.” I took for granted she’d seen drunken, sloppy women first hand. With that disgraceful picture in mind, I’d vowed  never to be a drunken woman.

Someday this disgraceful episode will probably get back to her, but she’ll never hear it from me.

When I yelled at God

A remarkable true story.

A Blog About Surviving Trauma

I have cried out so many times to God, asking Why. Why all the pain, why all the suffering. The only answer I have gotten is that God is love, and I can trust Him.

I went through a couple of years of heavy binge drinking after my dad died in January of 1988. Two years after his death, as I was going through yet another divorce from yet another abuser, I drank all the booze I had, which wasn’t much, maybe two beers. Then I walked out into a freezing snowfall, in coastal Maine where I lived at the time. I walked for 17 miles that night in the snowstorm, along an unpaved road that was so isolated, there weren’t any houses or power lines for most of that distance.

As I walked, I yelled at God about all the things that are WRONG in this life. I yelled…

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Guitar Mancer — Episode 8:

Here’s Episode 8 of Teagan’s “Guitar Mancer” serial.