by edward | Sep 3, 2023 | Talents, Talents Universe, Writing
“She sits on the Big Gray Rocks”
big gray rooks

Mississippi River at the Moonwalk, French Quarter, New Orleans, March 2019 02, by Infrogmation
Big Gray Rocks
Anil looked up from his workstation in Ops.
“Does anyone know where Mike is? I’ve texted him twice, no reply.”
“Marconi and the Lakefront?” Lyn asked.
“No, I had Kate check there,” Anil replied.
“Ask Mary Margaret. She’s best at predicting his moods,” Lyn said.
Anil nodded and texted Meg.
I’m not surprised he’s gone off the grid for a bit. You heard the news, right?
“News?”
“Yeah, Jimmy Buffett passed away last night.”
“That’s a shame, but it’s not something I’d put high on the ‘news’ list.”
“You’re not a Parrotthead, Anil. I’ve got this, I’ll have him call when I find him.”
“Thanks!”
Meg got up from the table in the courtyard at Celtic Bayou Gifts and Metaphysical Supplies and stuck her head in the shop. Tara looked up from behind the counter, where she was reading.
“Oui, Madame?” Tara asked.
“I’m stepping out for a minute,” Meg said.
“No problem!” Tara said.
Meg stepped out of the shop’s carriageway a few minutes later, after ditching her flip flops for a pair of Doc Martens. She stepped out onto Chartres Street and walked towards St. Louis Cathedral.
“Past the boutique — I guess Fleurty Girl counts as a Boutique?”
She paused in Pirates Alley
“Down the alley, to the river…he got the places out of order, but the spirit is there. Sorta like Williams did with the streetcar directions,” Meg thought.
And there he was, sitting on the big gray rocks.
“I’m not taking off my boots and socks down here, you know. Nasty funk in that water!” Meg said, as she made herself comfortable next to Mike O’Donnell.
“Hey. You figured my location out?” He asked.
“Yup. When I remembered you said you were saying Saturday morning Mass at the Cathedral, it wasn’t hard to suss out. Anil thought you’d be out at the Lakefront,” Meg replied.
“Legit, legit. But ‘In the Shelter’ is such a good song, and one of the men at Mass was humming it as he walked out of Church today,” Mike explained.
“How about you check in with Anil, make sure he’s not losing his mind, and we’ll go for a cheeseburger?” Meg suggested.
by edward | Aug 6, 2023 | romance, Trains
Below is a sneak peek of this content!
Trains and Tinder is a short coffee shop snippet. Trains and Tinder “Are you Renee?” The man asked. “No, Bess. Tinder?” Bess Murray said. Chris Marinello rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Sorry, I’m Chris. Meeting someone for coffee.” “Well, so am I! Good luck,” Bess replied. She was about to turn when the horn of a train engine sounded, startling her. “It’s the Amtrak Crescent train, headed to New York, and one of the special engines is in the lead,” Chris explained. Bess paused to watch the train pass. Just as the train started crossing the underpass over Canal Boulevard, she heard a car horn, honking incessantly. After about thirty seconds the driver, a woman, put the car in park and...
by edward | Aug 4, 2023 | Personal Log, Writing, Writing Prompts
Below is a sneak peek of this content!
My Personal Log for this week is a bit behind schedule. Imagine that. Personal Log 20230804 I need to treat these log entries as self-care. IOW, practicing what I preach. I post inspirational memes that say, stop, work on yourself, then I start a three-part blog post on swimming pools for the history blog. Is that self-care? Arguably, but so is taking the time to stop and think. Maybe I'm stressing too much over a couple of days, I guess. Trains Y'all know I'm a railfan. I wear the "foamer" label as a badge of honor. I don't apologize for it. One of the reasons I like the PJ's Coffee on Canal Boulevard is its proximity to the "Back Belt,"...
by edward | Jun 26, 2023 | Fiction/Fiction Writing, Patreon, Writing
Below is a sneak peek of this content!
What impact does your morning routine have on your writing? In or out morning routine OK, it's not great, but you get the idea: Yawning, she sat up in bed as a giant grey tabby cat nuzzled her. She slowly planted her feet on the floor and made her way to the coffee maker in the kitchen. Within minutes, she held a steaming cup of chicory coffee between her hands, allowing the warmth to course through her arms and into her body. Time to get the day going. Most of us have a typical morning routine that involves struggling to get out of bed, make coffee or tea, and placate a hungry familiar. (Doggo people likely have the added step...
by edward | Jun 23, 2023 | Writing
Below is a sneak peek of this content!
Details on the Presbytere are an example of Historic Images Research Historic Images Research Historic fiction, be it romance, literary fiction, even fantasy/paranormal, requires a bit of background research. While genre readers forgive a writer for many things, but blatant inaccuracies blow up the moment before it happens. Attention to detail OK, it's not likely that readers would be upset if a writer mentioned the cupola on the Presbytere when writing a story set in 1934. A hurricane blew the cupola off the roof in 1915, and wasn't replaced for decades. It's going throw me off, but, it's a venial sin. Thing is, it's an easily avoided sin. Sure, you have photos from your walking tour of the Quarter...
by edward | Jun 20, 2023 | Patreon, Talents, Writing
Below is a sneak peek of this content!
This status update section will keep patrons abreast with the projects. Edward's writing status update This will be a regular thing, hopefully weekly, to establish some organization to my fiction thoughts. I have a tendency to get all over the place on stuff, and Covid didn't help any. So, let's start the list baseline in this post and build on it in the future. Projects detailed: Trivia - romance Talents 3 - continuation of magick/urban fantasy universe Vampires - combination of historic interludes with a murder mystery. Dragons 3 - continuation of Dragon's Danger and Dragon's Discovery. Trivia I've finally got a working title for the romance novel. Trivial Tacos is a (at this point) twelve-chapter romance novel set in...