Soil regeneration is a term I’ve stumbled across these past few weeks while watching garden videos. Robert Rodale described this approach in the late 1980s. So, why am I so late in learning about how to care for the dirt beneath my feet? I’m not a farmer, but a tree hugger worried about the effects... Continue Reading →
Shopping at the grocery store Wednesday, Dick and I found a 'Hot Deal' on blueberries. The question 'Do I have time to put-them-up?' flitted across my mind. Not really, but I'd find a way because this was a 'Hot Deal' I didn't want to pass on. The last of our homemade blueberry jam devoured, I'd... Continue Reading →
Sawyers suffer from sawdust and sinuses. Dick and Jane milled the long-dead dried-up old Hickory on a blustery day. It wasn’t the worst windy day they’d experienced. What made this day memorable was the direction of the wind. It blew the sawdust straight into their faces. It didn’t take long for the dust masks to... Continue Reading →
Some time ago, in the twenty-first century, Dick and Jane received a desperate phone call from their propane company. “Have you seen the size of our trucks? You need to trim back your trees. Branches are brushing against the sides, and top of our vehicles.” Well, if Dick and Jane wanted hot water and to... Continue Reading →
Instead of writing, jeez don’t roll your eyes at me, I was taking a break scrolling through Facebook. You know, to give my brain a break. Well, anyway an ad was playing a video that caught my attention. I didn’t turn on the sound but read the subtitles on how this person did this one... Continue Reading →
What’s harder, writing or marketing a book? After publishing The House on Moss Swamp Road in October, I have a total of four reviews. I’ll be honest, I’m thrilled to have them. But I’m told I need 20 or more for Amazon to include them in the also bought and you might like lists. To... Continue Reading →
I answered the office phone. My husband asked, "Have you heard?" “Heard what?” My mind immediately jumped to last night’s terrible event in Las Vegas. Did we know someone who had been killed or hurt at the country concert? “Tom Petty died.” His words shocked me. The refrain ‘the day the music died’ from American... Continue Reading →
I love my editor. I really do. And she did her job by cutting out scenes that slowed down the story or didn’t add to the plot. But, but I liked the prose I’d worked so hard on. From the cutting room floor, here are a couple of my darlings I parted with from The... Continue Reading →
Entering writing contests is like riding a roller coaster, and it's a great learning experience. It gives you a deadline, a word limit, and a theme. Perhaps a genre you've never considered writing. There's nothing like fear to get your creative juices flowing. Shake it up. Try writing in first, second, or third person. Try... Continue Reading →
A Short Story by M.J. Patrick
I lay my last bill on the polished granite countertop. “Let me buy this round.” If I appear desperate, the odds of sleeping in bed tonight decrease considerably. The mocking voices in my head are quiet, due to the amount of liquor I’m consuming...
M.J. Patrick
Author M.J. Patrick 