Writing collaborations and their challenges

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Writing your own novel has its challenges—creating a logical plot and doing all the research yourself, struggling with self-doubt, no second pair of eyes to spot your glaring errors, and all the pitfalls of not having an automatic accountability buddy.

But working on a creative writing collaboration is a whole new ball game. Whereas, before, any extra eyes belonged to advisors, in a collaboration, they belong to story co-creators. If you had never relinquished control of your story, you would be in for an awakening. Continue reading “Writing collaborations and their challenges” →

The Man Within, Chapter 6 – a novella excerpt

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Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

I walk through the hospital’s dizzying corridors. I’ve been seeing mother for the past four days. She was diagnosed with late-onset schizophrenia. The doctors are giving her anti-psychotic drugs, under observation. They will release her once they are confident her prescription is working. I’m only glad there is treatment for her condition.

I see Nurse Doris up ahead—the psychiatric ward sentinel.

“Hello William,” she says as I reach her counter.

She sports an ostentatious smile, like a salesperson. Continue reading “The Man Within, Chapter 6 – a novella excerpt” →

Tranquil – a short story

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It is always cold. No matter how many fires I build, the halls remain frigid. Flame-light licks the walls like phantoms preying in the night—the only show I see down here. The smell and taste of dampness is like poison in the air I breathe—and it never departs. Though the labyrinth twists through the earth, I know the way out. But I cannot leave. I always feel their eyes watching, quizzing and burrowing into my soul.

Sometimes I hear them through the walls, like they slither, their powerful tails raking the dirt as they go—tails which should only serve them in the currents. It is only because of the fires that I can even see the pale ghosts. Fires they don’t want, and which they quickly extinguish when they care less than usual for my comfort. Continue reading “Tranquil – a short story” →

The Unlikely Instigator

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After seeing the announcement on a supermarket television, a hefty, grey-haired man stood motionless at the till. In front of him was a trolley brimming with groceries. He held a wallet in one hand and a wad of cash in the other.

He was hesitant and merely stared at the cashier, unblinking and frozen. In that glaciated moment, a young man dressed in the tightest possible t-shirt and jeans, with short hair styled to stand on end, leapt into the store.

“Didn’t you here?” he yelled with a feral look in his eyes to match his unruly, black hair. Continue reading “The Unlikely Instigator” →