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Posts Tagged ‘Writers’

Today, a free fiction short from Colby Devitt and the Grist Climate collection:

The Case of the Missing Lake

On the morning of April 8, 2200, Lake Ballona went missing. A pair of hikers ventured down from the Hollywood Hills on a day excursion into the Tongva Wetlands. Where the area’s largest body of freshwater met seawater to create a brackish habitat, they discovered an empty crater. Lake Ballona was gone. Vanished overnight. Only muddy puddles remained where the lake had swelled the day before. There were no signs of violence. 

Excellent opener. I hope you enjoy the rest!

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Today is officially a crazy day. By that I mean a mad scramble to get day job work done, including the projects I expected and the three others I did not expect. Lots to juggle, and while I may have bobbled one tiny little thing, it all worked out fine in the end.

I also managed to get up early and write a very (very) short story before all the craziness began, so I’m calling it a win!

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“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, and more complex. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”

― E.F. Schumacher

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Photo by weston m on Unsplash

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How to Think

“It’s the questions we can’t answer that teach us the most. They teach us how to think. If you give a man an answer, all he gains is a little fact. But give him a question and he’ll look for his own answers.”

― Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man’s Fear

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I wrote a drabble yesterday but decided not to share it. Why not? Because it’s dark and it’s sad. I like to keep things largely upbeat here, for my readers and for myself. 

That doesn’t mean I’m all unicorns and rainbows, obviously, but I want you to come away from this site feeling at least a little hopeful. I try to focus on the future, and I hope that it’s a good one. 

Sometimes that means facing down darkness, and I’ve done that before even in a 100-word format. Not this time, though, so I’ll keep it in my files for now.

Still, progress is progress, and I’m happy to be writing!

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“It was never the right time or it was always the right time, depending on how you looked at it.”

— Ann Patchett, Bel Canto

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“The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have.”

— Henry James

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When I hear a story like “crown jewels stolen in brazen theft,” my first thought tends to be “Now what?” (Ok, my first thought was, wait, France still has crown jewels? And then the other thing.)

I have zero interest in actual theft, but you never know when this sort of information might come in handy for fiction. That’s where experts come in. Here’s a law professor and specialist in art crimes on that very subject.

You’ve just stolen a priceless artifact – what happens next?

The high-profile heist at the Louvre in Paris on Oct 19, 2025, played out like a scene from a Hollywood movie: a gang of thieves steal an assortment of dazzling royal jewels on display at one of the world’s most famous museums.

But with the authorities hot in pursuit, the robbers still have more work to do: How can they capitalize on their haul?

And here’s another professor on what might happen to this particular loot.

What will happen to the Louvre jewellery after the heist? There are two likely scenarios

The stolen jewellery includes well-known pieces that are easily recognisable. This will make it difficult, if not impossible, to sell them on the black market, even to well-heeled collectors and buyers.

(Oh, and given post-heist updates, I’d probably add “Don’t drop the loot and / or leave DNA behind” to this list of handy suggestions.)

Perhaps this will help you think about a (fictional!) story.

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“The gifts you possess can lift you up or pull you down; it all depends on how you use them.”

— Arthur C. Brooks

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Today, a story by the excellent Arthur H. Manners. Dark, yes, but with a beautiful thread of hope.

Woodsong – Flash Fiction Online

It hit me last night, as a chorus of woodsong filled our hiding spot: we’re never getting out of here.

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