Short Story: Death Ate My French Fries

Its bony fingers hovered over the crispy potato strips. "May I?" 

        

I nodded absently and replied, "Help yourself,” as I waved my hand towards the plate, giving permission.

Short Story: Help

Here's a short story I wrote in the spirit of Halloween. It was originally done for my Creative Skills Development class. The idea was to take something typically considered innocent and turn it into the evil main character of a scary story. Constructive criticism is welcomed! The story is behind the cut...

Short Story: Grandpa

Grandpa 
“Let her wear it,” my grandmother says wearily. “Someone should get some use out of it now.”

Without saying a word my mother pulls the nightshirt over my head. It’s far too big for a five year old, but I want to wear it. It’s my grandfather’s nightshirt. My mother moves to the bed and starts to pull the blankets back.

Poem: Marshmallow

Marshmallow

I sit and watch the embers float by
On a warm summer breeze, tinged
With the pungent, acrid, scent of smoke, freshly cut grass,
Charred hot dogs, and wet swimsuits.
A leaf rimmed with fire catches
My eye. It mesmerizes me. I follow its meandering path
As an updraft lazily lifts it
To the sky. Yellow and orange dance seductively,
Flickering and leaping (clumsy, graceless)
Across its dried face. Peals of
Laughter ripple through the air
Mingling with excited shrieks and whoops,
Drowning out the snap, crackle, and roar
Of the raging fire
Before me. A loud popping snap
Brings me back to
My current adventure.
I pick up a stick and
Strip off the soft, papery, bark.
Impaling a marshmallow (Stupid, silly, girl!)
On its point, I walk towards
The clubhouse. The chain
Looped through the
 Door’s handles glimmers in the firelight.
A twig snaps under my
Foot alerting them to my presence outside.
They bang on the door
Making the chain rattle. They move from
Frantic begging to pleading to
Threatening to crying to silence.
A siren wails in the
Distance as I extend my marshmallow
Laden stick towards the (giggling, pointing)
Hungry, eager, flames devouring the clubhouse.
They should not have laughed at me.

Short Story: Jack

This is a hint fiction story. If you're unaware of what hint fiction is, it is a story of 25 or fewer words that hints at a bigger, more complex story. This type of story is not easy to write because a ton of information has to be packed into very few words. My attempt at hint fiction:

Jack

“Would you like some company tonight, guv'nor?” she inquired. He offered his arm, “I certainly would, luv.” He smiled, his next victim acquired.

Short Story: Invisible Beasties (A Branching Dialogue)

This is a branching dialogue I wrote as an assignment for my Full Sail University Storytelling class. I'm sharing it here because I'd love to write for games and being able to write branching dialogue is an important part of that. As usual it's a snippet of a larger story that has yet to be completely written.

Short Story: Melisande

Melisande was suddenly and very lucidly awake and had no idea why. She lay very still, listening intently, for whatever it was that had intruded upon her sleep. She did not open her eyes or change her breathing for fear that she would give away where she was hiding.

Short Story: The Laundry

Here's a short story I wrote as a Masterwork for my Creative Skills Development class at Full Sail. I rather enjoyed this assignment as the characters took on a life of their own and the story pretty much wrote itself. Enjoy it after the cut...

Short Story: Today Sucked

Here's a short story I wrote that consists of dialogue only. It was challenging in that actions had to be conveyed through dialogue or dialogue tags without the tags becoming repetitive. As always, constructive criticism is welcome. Story after the cut...

Short Story: Finally

This is a short story I wrote based on real events described in a news article. I find it interesting how everyday news (or not so everyday news such as this article) can become a writing prompt.

Short Story: The Charity Bin (A Short Script)

This story is my first attempt at writing in script format. It's very elementary and I definitely need more practice. Constructive criticism is always appreciated as I would like to refine my script writing skills.

Short Story: I Do

This is a short story that draws from my personal experiences. While it is very loosely based on my wedding I did take liberties. Enjoy the story behind the cut...

Short Story: Chocolate Boogers

Chocolate Boogers

Ian quickly grabs Liam’s hand and blows his nose onto it.

Liam jumps up and looks at his hand, now full of chocolate boogers. “Holy heck,” he says in disbelief. He looks wide-eyed at Ian, a huge grin spreading across his face. “The candy actually melted before Sam made the jump!”

They look at the chocolate boogers and remember the start of the afternoon…  

Post: Mental Flailings

So many ideas float around in my head that its hard to focus on one. If I'm finally able to focus on one and expand it, the expansion brings with it another avalanche of ideas. I swim through those and find the one tidbit I wanted, the one thread to pull. I pull it and the process starts again.

I'm struggling to corral all these ideas. So, I made a promise to myself a few days ago that I would write something, anything, every day. I was hoping it would help organize these ideas into a cohesive, usable format but it hasn't worked.

Why? The answer is simple. I start to write and the writing pulls the thread and more ideas tumble out. I end up on tangents that have nothing to do with my chosen subject. I try to find my way back to where I started only to find that I've lost that thread and am holding a completely new one. How does one organize, tame, such random mental flailings?

I'm considering stream of consciousness writing to see if that helps. I've avoided it for one simple reason, I cannot stand to read it. Faulkner makes my brain weep in frustration. Then again, there must be something to it as Kerouac and Thompson are legendary. I don't expect to become legendary but I would like to tame my ideas.

And yet, I'm hesitant. What's the worst thing that could happen? The worst thing that can happen is that I realize I not only can't read it but I can't write stream of consciousness either. On the other had, the best that can happen is that I tame my mental flailings and actually get some stories finished.

I need to stop hesitating.

Post: A Step to the Left

She clicks on the link and reads the blog post. It gushes about how another writer shows promise, is going places. No one gushes about her work that way. No one even notices when she publishes something. Well, except that one lonely cheerleader who tells her that her writing doesn’t suck.

She thinks someone paid that one cheerleader off.

She realizes that she is nothing special. Her work is mediocre and not likely to stand out in the crowd. And it is a crowd. Every one of her classmates turned from peer to competition as soon as the degree was conferred.

Chin up, people tell her. Nose to the grindstone. Keep hacking away and one day you’ll see some fruits from all that labor.

She does. She sees nothing. She is patient. She writes, submits, and writes more but nothing. No rejection but no acceptance either. She feels that she is yelling into a void. Making any type of progress seems like a Sisyphean task.

Perhaps her passion lies elsewhere. She loves stories, loves telling them. But there is something that she loves more, something that pervades her very being. A passion that has burned bright since her earliest memories.

History.

American, British, European, and Scandinavian history. And not just history but the stories that history tells. The myths, legends, superstitions, and folklore.  How these stories sprang from every-day events and were exaggerated into folklore, and then blown up into myth.  From fireside tales of the psycho with a hook coming to get the hapless campers, to internet-born Slenderman, to Irish Halloween origin tales of Stingy Jack, they all fascinate her.

She’s on the wrong path. That is why the blog post discouraged her. She sees her path now. It’s a little to the left of the one she’s on.

She takes a step to the left.

Gaming: When Guild Wars 2 disappoints

I've tried to write this post a number of times in order to express my disappointment in and frustration with the new "Feature Pack" that Guild Wars 2 released on April 15, 2014. It's taken me nine days to personally digest the monumental game changes, sort through public opinion of them, and boil it all down into something that makes sense to me.

Then I realized that through out the whole process one important question remained unanswered. "Why?" Why did the development team at ArenaNet feel these changes had to be made? Sure, they gave a myriad of reasons in the teaser articles they shared under the guise of keeping us informed. Those reasons ranged from the typical need to balance the game to untypical need to keep our armor from clipping during combat. In fact, pre-release the game developers seemed very free with information, as if they wanted us to understand what was going to happen to the game. Looking back now, I see that those articles are full of just enough of the right kind of information to head off a pre-release revolt.

I have eight characters. Seven of them are below the maximum level of 80. Thanks to the reengineering of traits, I now have no desire to level them the rest of the way to 80. My sense of progression, my sense of accomplishment, has been completely wiped out. If I wanted to grind levels, I'd go back to Lineage II! The really sad thing is, though, that when I heard about having to hunt grandmaster traits in the open world a la the original Guild Wars, I was very excited. I loved the thrill of finding the boss, killing it, and taking it's elite skill for my own. How much fun would it be to do that in Guild Wars 2? Well, not much, to be honest. Join a zerg (if you're lucky enough to be on at event's scheduled time - because everything's scheduled now), auto-attack, and go get a snack. No thrill. No excitement. Whooo, you got the grandmaster trait. Whoopee. Pretty soon I'll be able to face-roll the keyboard and win the game!

One group this "Feature Pack" has shined a lot of light on are the role players. I'm not a role player myself but I feel for them and the fact that their communities, and role playing in the game in general, have been shredded by the institution of the mega-servers. Not only are they are being trolled (sometimes rather rudely, too), but they've lost the ability to tell the stories they want, how they want, when they want, and with whom they want. They can't meet up with friends or guild mates to role play because the mega-server has spread them across various shards with no way to sync up except to log in and out repeatedly. Even then there is no guarantee they'll all make it to the same shard.

I'm not even going to go into the new wardrobe, dye, transmutation, and town clothes fiasco except to ask, "Why?"

Why, ArenaNet? What was the thinking behind the redesign of these game systems? As professionals, you should know that to take away a player's sense of progression in a game is a huge, HUGE, no-no. You should also know that messing with the cosmetic elements of the game is also a huge no-no. As an aspiring game and narrative designer, I'd love to know what the thought process was behind these changes.

As an avid player that loves Guild Wars 2, I'd love to see these changes rolled back. Please. Give back my reason to pla

FSU: I did it!

After four long years I've finally graduated from Full Sail University with a Bachelor's of Fine Arts in Creative Writing for Entertainment. What an accomplishment. What a trip! It was one of the most frustrating, exhilarating, and transformative experiences of my life. I certainly will never forget it, the lessons learned, or the friends I made along the way. Thank you, Full Sail, for giving me this opportunity. Thank you, professors, for seeing my potential and forcing me to rise to it. Thank you Emily, Amanda, Katti-Anne, Yshaia, Jessica, Mari-Anne, and Corey for commiserating and supporting me along the way. Y'all are the best! Lastly, thank you to my family. I never would have accomplished this with out your love, understanding, and support.

I can't believe it. It still hasn't sunk in. I'm a college graduate!

Now, what to do with my degree? Oh, the possibilities!

Gaming: Wild West Town - Tips and Tricks

Wild West Town is a hidden gem of a social game that is available through Facebook. It is set in the old west of American history complete with cowboys, Indians, and the Pony Express. It will keep you occupied for hours with its witty narrative and amusing quest lines. Every game has its tips and tricks and Wild West Town is no different. Listed below are some that will help you get the most out of your in-game time.

Crops:
• If you want to level up quickly, plant as much cotton as you can afford. Increase the number of plots after each harvest and you’ll soon be raking in the gold, supplies, and experience points.
• If you don’t have enough oil to level up using cotton then an alternative is to plant squash instead.
 • If you’re going to be away for a while cook a Big Lunch in the cookhouse. For two mutton chops, one pork chop, and one prize winning pepper your crops will become wither-proof. This meal also restores any withered crops to full health.
• Water your crops! It doesn't use any energy and it gives you experience points. Sometimes it will even give you some oil.
• Plant lemon trees in your orchard. They give supplies, oil, gold, and experience points!

Collectibles:
• Always collect water from your well. Having it in your inventory will speed up quests that call for it. You also won’t have to wait for the collection timer to reset in order to cook some recipes that require it.
• Remember to collect bank notes daily from the bank. If you do, you will soon have a nice pile of notes that will come in handy when you need to bypass tricky quest requirements.
• Oil is necessary to complete many tasks around town so don’t forget to build your Oil Derrick. You can collect oil from it every 3 hours. You can also get oil by planting certain crops and digging with the shovel. 

Livestock:
• Buy the maximum number of buffalo (10) as you can. They are expensive but are worth it. They give out 80 supplies when fed. This will allow you to quickly fulfill quest requirements that ask you to earn a certain number of supplies.
• Buy as many cows as you can. They give out 110 gold when fed. This will allow you to quickly meet quest requirements that call for you to earn a certain amount of gold.
• If you need gold, buy livestock! Most animals like the pig, sheep, and dog will sell for twice their purchase price once they have grown to adult.
 • If you need energy, buy horses! You can have a maximum of 10 in your town. Each time you feed one you will get two energy in return.

Gameplay:
• Don’t accept a neighbor’s help if you need to do the action to fulfill a quest requirement. If a neighbor does it for you it will not count for the quest!
• Don’t sell decorations! If you need room in your town then store them in your inventory. Quests will often ask for the same items repeatedly. If you have one in your inventory then pulling it out and placing it in your town will often satisfy the requirement.
• Don’t clear away all of the debris that shows up in your town. Set aside a small area for it to collect in. This will be helpful when quests ask you to clear a certain number of debris. You won’t have to wait for more to appear!
• If you have active quests do not collect from your town’s buildings until a quest calls for it. That way you won’t lose valuable game time waiting for a building to reset in order to satisfy a quest requirement.

These tips and tricks are by no means the only ones. If you have a tip or stumbled on a trick that will enhance gameplay, please share it! See you in the Wild West!

Gaming: Hello Kitty Online Review at MMORPG.com

Most people disparage Hello Kitty Online as a child's game while others feel it's not a true MMORPG like World of Warcraft, Rift, or Guild Wars. This animosity piqued my curiosity. Is Hello Kitty Online as bad as many say it is? Should those who are less skilled at gameplay than the typical MMO gamer be taunted with admonitions to "go play Hello Kitty Online"? I took the plunge and found out. Read about my experience here: Hello Kitty Online: Very Much a Niche MMO.

FSU: Art and Ideals in the 21st Century

I was tasked by my Art History professor with finding pieces of art that either detailed what is important to the 21st century person or best describes the ideals of the 21st century. To do this I browsed the extensive collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I believe the three pieces I have chosen show both. Join me behind the cut to see my choices...