5th Coffee

Welcome - Ommwriter

2012-01-25T07:27:00.000-08:00

One of my on line editors writes this bit of encouragement.

2012-01-24T13:21:00.001-08:00

How I deal with rejection/frustration:

I write.
I enjoy writing.
Anything that harshes that enjoyment gets punched in the face.

I'm quite a happy guy. :)

100 WORD STORY SUGGESTIONS - Google Docs

2012-01-22T10:22:00.000-08:00

100 WORD STORY SUGGESTIONS - Google Docs

Nick's Writing Blog: Five Literary Devices to Make You a Better Writer

2012-01-20T13:37:00.000-08:00

Nick's Writing Blog: Five Literary Devices to Make You a Better Writer

Why did e e cummings business fail ?

2012-01-19T15:37:00.000-08:00

He was under capitalized.

Maud Newton

2012-01-15T10:16:00.000-08:00

Maud Newton

Narrative Magazine

2012-01-15T10:15:00.000-08:00

Narrative Magazine Online magazine where a lot of today's established authors publish--also open to new and emerging writers.

Duotrope

2012-01-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

Duotrope Welcome to Duotrope, an award-winning, free writers' resource listing over 3775 current Fiction and Poetry publications.

Self-Publishing: Our personal perspective | Self Publishing Team | Duolit

2012-01-14T09:01:00.000-08:00

Self-Publishing: Our personal perspective | Self Publishing Team | Duolit

Short Story: Empire

2012-01-10T12:08:00.000-08:00

They always sat together in the great room. They had their favorite characters, their favorite seating, and their favorite loose teas. Their seats faced the big, front window, and they had the view of the walk and the morning activity outside. “Look at that guy. Isn’t that Dave?” “That’s what we call him, but his real name is Greg.” Mark took another sip of tea, and pointed another character out to Mavis. “Look at that bozo. That’s Buckles. He was so full of Oxycodone the other day that his eyes were bouncing around in his head like two, black marbles.”

Mavis rearranged her legs on the old couch, and picked up her notebook. She scribbled a few lines, took a sip of tea, and ranted about The King. The King was an older guy that always sat by the door to the hall. He surrounded himself with a couple of the most beautiful of the women, and spoke softly to them as they leaned in to listen. He had a mane of flowing white hair, and a Bolivian sweater over his silk slacks. He commanded the room and the attention of the women, as he wove his stories and related his exploits and exotic treks around the world.

No one but Mavis and Mark knew the true background of The King. The King was a retired insurance man, that was well read and a fan of The Travel Channel. He spun stories he cobbled together from stories he read or travelogues he saw on cable television. Anyone that met him thought he was amazing and brilliant, not knowing the true source of his wondrous and spellbinding tales.

Neither Mavis nor Mark exposed The King, feeling sorry for him, and empathizing with him to such an extent – knowing that The King, his audience, Buckles, Dave and they, themselves, were all residents of the same sanitarium.
~~

Pub. http://www.flash-fiction-world.com/empire.html 8 Jan., 2012

Two short pieces, revised

2012-01-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

Mom brought me a cold drink. I had been under her car for a couple of hours on a hot day, and she wanted to check on me, since her only child was under a two-thousand pound automobile in the yard.

I made up my mind, and I was ready to tackle the inspection and rebuild of the automatic transmission in my Mom’s Mustang. I worked in a makeshift shop, connected to my old garage, and under a canopy-covered gravel driveway. Before I slid the heavy transmission from beneath the car, I pried the transmission loose from the engine’s flywheel.

As I jostled for position, a couple of quarts of warm transmission fluid ebbed from the transmission tail section as I rested it on my stomach and between my legs. I started laughing. She asked, “What’s so funny?” I said, “I think I know a little of what it’s like to have a baby.” She poked her head underneath the car to see my stomach and legs covered with the red fluid, and she laughed until she couldn’t get her breath. Mom and I had never been more close.

I had shared my own version of childbirth, but only the weight, sweat, and red fluid on my body. I felt as if I had accomplished something by working on a complicated mechanical device, and I had shared that fleeting, intimate connection with my mother. I felt like a man.

##

My friend’s birthday party spilled into the patio of his little cottage. A Willy Nelson record was playing, so I asked a woman to dance. I had poured myself enough wine to bolster my courage, make me light on my feet, and courageous enough to ask someone to slow dance to a Willy Nelson ballad.

We both laughed a lot and Janie and I danced for hours-several times to the same tune. Later, we found ourselves in her shiny, new, red BMW, playing kissy-face and making promises we couldn’t keep. I loved the smell of the leather and the quality of the stereo.

A couple of hours later, we collected ourselves, and I left. As I walked towards my tired, old pickup, I turned three times to admire the shiny, red BMW in the driveway.

How I Wrote a Book: Step by Step to Kindle Store | Ben's Blog

2012-01-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

How I Wrote a Book: Step by Step to Kindle Store | Ben's Blog

Simultaneous Submission -- Definition of Simultaneous Submission for Creative Writers

2012-01-01T10:47:00.000-08:00

Simultaneous Submission -- Definition of Simultaneous Submission for Creative Writers

BLACKWELL ON WRITING: The Long and the Very Short of It - Brainstorm - The Chronicle of Higher Education

2012-01-01T10:32:00.000-08:00

BLACKWELL ON WRITING: The Long and the Very Short of It - Brainstorm - The Chronicle of Higher Education

'Surge' thrown 'under the bus' on annual list of banned words - USATODAY.com

2012-01-01T09:45:00.000-08:00

'Surge' thrown 'under the bus' on annual list of banned words - USATODAY.com

8 MS Word Templates That Help You Brainstorm & Mind Map Your Ideas Quickly

2011-12-31T09:43:00.000-08:00

8 MS Word Templates That Help You Brainstorm & Mind Map Your Ideas Quickly I don't use these kind of tools, but they may be helpful to others that write.

The Gender Genie

2011-12-31T09:28:00.000-08:00

The Gender Genie Worked for me this morning to analyze and verify writer's gender on Twitter. I was curious.

Q&A: Publishing Your Own E-Book - NYTimes.com

2011-12-29T12:12:00.000-08:00

Q&A: Publishing Your Own E-Book - NYTimes.com

Myrna Pancakes; latest draft

2011-12-29T10:45:00.001-08:00

Each mile she drove and each corner she turned tested the shocks and springs of her old Saturn. She was a big girl and filled most of the front seat, spilling a bit onto the passenger seat, and dribbling into the back. Both front windows were made of plastic sheeting and duct tape. She didn’t seem to mind. Myrna, her large bosom pressing against the wheel, pushed ahead; proud and determined. She was late for the first serving of pancakes at The Pancake House.

Every morning at seven sharp, she drove the Saturn as fast as she dared to the lot behind the restaurant so she could be the first to be seated. All the waiters knew her. She squeezed into the booth, holding her breath as she did, and when her flesh came to rest, she was ensnared in the booth; her bosom covering a good part of the table and pushing the syrups, napkin holder and utensils from her reach.

She ordered the large, all-you-can-eat stack and two glasses of milk, large. When her pancakes came, she slathered on the butter, asking for more right away, and drowned each of the pancakes in a thick, blanket of maple syrup and more butter. She ate them quickly, keeping her eyes focused on her plate and making calculated and deliberate moves with her silverware so she wouldn’t waste any motion getting the large portion to her sticky and shiny lips – by this time, dripping with butter and syrup. She asked for another stack. When they came, she had finished both glasses of milk, so she ordered another as she built her pyramid of cakes, butter and syrup – a little faster this time, as the time was drawing closer to the time to get to her morning appointment. She always saved the best bite, and the biggest bit for last. It was her way of giving herself a special treat.

Myrna had an appointment to get her nails done this morning. She wanted some silk wraps on her acrylics this time, and was determined to get the exact shade of red that matched the lipstick that her boyfriend liked. Her boyfriend, Gordon, was a retired dock worker. At one time, he weighed 45o pounds, but after his stomach was stapled, he dropped to 300. He had back trouble, foot trouble, hip problems, and had a score of operations performed for various things, including hernia operations, thyroid, teeth extractions, etc. In his late 50’s he had worn out most of the useful parts of his body, but managed to coax his penis into active duty with a double dose of blue pills purchased on the Internet.

They made love after supper. Supper was always the most elaborate of meals and the height of ceremony. Potatoes were to be done just so, with milk and butter, then spooned carefully back into the baked shells. The meat, pork and beef, was to be roasted, then seared on the grill so the grill marks would cross and re-cross the face of the chops and steak. They both ate until they were a little dizzy, then they put the dishes in the sink and went to Myrna’s room to cuddle. They tore ate each other like they were opening packages of cookies. In a few hours, all that remained were remnants of Gordon’s eyeglasses and his white, wool socks.

Haiku Magnetic Poetry Kit

2011-12-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

Make your own magnetic poetry kit, or stick these words in a jar and use them as cues:
&
a (3)
about
above
after
almost
always
am
an (2)
and (2)
are
as (2)
ask
at (2)
autumn
bark
be
before
beneath
between
birch
black
bloom
blossom
blue
breath
but (2)
by
call
can
cat
child
cicada
cloud
cold
come
commercial
concrete
could
crab
creak
cry
-d (2)
dandelion
dawn
dead
did
do (2)
dog
dream
drop
-e
early
eat (2)
-ed
-er
-es
-est
evening
every
eye
face
fall
field
fish
flower
fly
for
freeze
friend
from
full
garden
give
grass
green
happy
hard
harvest
has
have
he
hear
her
here
him
his
hot
house
how
howl
i (2)
ice
if
in (2)
-ing (2)
insect
investigate
is (2)
it
journey
know
later
laugh
leaf
leave
let
life
light
like (2)
listen
live
look
lunch
-ly (2)
make
man
me
melt
moon
more
morning
mouth
mushroom
must
my (2)
never
night
no
of (2)
off
on
only
or
our
out
owl
people
petal
plant
purple
-r
rain
refrigerator
rise
road
roof
rust
-s (2)
sad
said
say
see
she
shell
shiver
shore
side
skin
sleep
small
smile
snow
so
some
song
soon
sound
spring
stand
still
stream
summer
sun
tear
television
than
that
the (3)
then
there
they
this
though
thought
through
thunder
to (2)
too
tree
trickle
up
use
very
walk
wall
wander
want
was
watch
water
we
weed
were
wet
when
which
while
whisper
who
why
wild
will
wind
window
winter
with
woman
wood
would
-y (2)
yellow
you (2)

twitter magnets | a delicate push

2011-12-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

twitter magnets | a delicate push

Hear your written words, free and built in to Win 7

2011-12-20T07:43:00.000-08:00

Windows 7 text to speech is built in to Win 7

Hear text read aloud with Narrator

Windows comes with a basic screen reader called Narrator, which reads aloud text on the screen and describes some events (such as error messages appearing) that happen while you're using the computer.

You can find Narrator in the Ease of Access Center.

To open Narrator, click the Start button, type "Narrator" in the search box, then select Narrator from the list of results.

Once you start Narrator, you can highlight text on screen and the narrator will read it.

Writing for the Web: Guidelines for MIT Libraries

2011-12-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

Writing for the Web: Guidelines for MIT Libraries

Find a Good Writing Group – Things to Ask or Find Out

2011-12-19T04:48:00.000-08:00

Find a Good Writing Group – Things to Ask or Find Out

Tutorials for Audacity sound recorder.

2011-12-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/index.html Follow this link to tutorials.