Basement Missives

I’m probably about a week late on this assignment, but I felt that it was important to compose this piece all the same. On his blog, author Chuck Wendig regularly presents writing challenges in which authors need to take the a theme or object and develop a flash fiction piece. Then they’re supposed to post … Continue reading Why I Write →

I'm in the middle of enjoying a roast beef sandwich, barbecue chips, a granny smith apple, a brownie, and an Arnold Palmer, and all I can think about is whether or not I should go and try to score an extra sandwich before they're put away. The convention workers, seeing that everyone had already gotten … Continue reading “I’m Full:” Content or Stuffed, an Episode in Eating →

I started slinging pizzas again for the summer for what I thought would only be about one to two shifts each week, but it's been a steady three. I don't really want to work this many shifts each week, but at the same time it's a good deal of money for fairly easy work. Summer time … Continue reading Get out of the way! →

No, not the "End of Days," in a biblical sense, nor the Schwarzenegger flick of the same name (that movie was pretty bad, but we do learn that Arnie's character puts his faith in a Glock 9mm, because he tells us, directly). I'm talking about the last days, or to be more specific day of school. … Continue reading End of Days →

I never read the The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne, which is odd because based on the description of the series, these books would've been and should've been right up my alley. My students talked up the books as some of their childhood favorites so I jotted the title down in one of my … Continue reading There’s Magic in the Trees →

As of late, I've failed to add anything new to my stories, and I'm a bit disappointed in myself. Do blogs count as writing? Technically I'm hitting a word count, but these words aren't helping me finish off my pizza-delivery-tragic-comedy. Tomorrow's a new day. Scratch this one. Huzzah and ever onward! -Gus

When I was in sixth grade, my cousin Charlie was a freshman in high school and taking a beginning guitar class. Anyone who's ever taken a beginning guitar class knows how they go: students spend a bit of time learning theory and practicing basic skills, and then fill the rest of their time with learning … Continue reading All is by My Side →

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I thank my mom for taking on the consistently tenuous task of single-parenting, for sacrificing much to ensure that I had more than enough. She instilled a love of stories and reading and fostered an environment for creative and imaginative play--she read to me, bought me … Continue reading Mother! →

Tonight I had a real tough time pushing past apathy and procrastination. Just couldn't seem to get in the mood to write, but I knew that if I didn't write tonight, there's a good chance that I wouldn't write tomorrow. So I pushed through. I'm coming to the end of this story and it's the … Continue reading Giving the Critic in My Head a Voice →

It's been awhile since I've had decent Mexican food. Apart from family and friends, Mexican food is one of the things I miss most about California. I could go into a multitude of restaurants and taquerias in most towns in Northern California and procure a decent burrito. Hell, even the goddamned taco trucks made high … Continue reading Chimichanga →