Prompt: When I hear the word Gangster, I think of old school Al Capone. Show me a likable character that still falls into the gangster category and what is their story? Another long one — 5K 1. Excelsior It was getting close to 8:00. There was an expected knock at the door…

Contest entry. Lyrics or poem. What are your shortcoming, insecurities. My riff on Linda’s: You’re No Good. I’m No Good I’m no good. I’m no good. I’m no good. I’m no good. Babe, I’m no good. No good. I stay in bed longer than I should. I don’t do as much…

Contest entry: Protagonist has lost something. 3K story. Be warned. Night Word count = 2977 Character prompt: Protagonist has lost something. There is a man sitting at a bar with his fingertips touching a tall glass. If the glass was not there, it would be as though the man was in…

Lessons learned. My gift. I’m on a writer’s committee, 8 New for me, how hard can it be? 8 Be an adventure, should’ve been fun. 8 Sadly my hell had just begun. 8 We’re on Google Drive to share, 8 A spreadsheet is my chore, my care. 8 Finding nuggets among the dross. 8 Making sense of it all my cross. 8 More challenging the fruitless hunt, 8 More interesting the affront, 8 When silent deadlines appear, 8 Accompanied by sneers and jeers. 8

Welcome to MarieAnne and Friends newsletter. Summer is here. Here with a vengeance. Other places have it worse, but this is bad enough. Think we’ll ever make the transition to all renewables? In UtALECh I’m not optimistic. …

Contest entry. My take on what it is like to be 76. Growing older, getting slower, more lines, less hair. More’s behind than ahead, less hope, more care. Getting older comes with pain and regret. Dreams unfulfilled, memories to forget. So much promise left behind. So much undone. There may not…

A proposal to eliminate war. Let’s eliminate the reasons for war. Let’s eliminate the war mongers. I propose a special World Court for War Mongers. This would be a 10–20-member panel of respected diplomats. They would be charged with identifying the men (or women) who are causing the most harm…

My rebuttal to ‘Try That in a Small Town’. Step over your uncle passed out in the street, Steal from the widow who has nothing to eat. Set fire to Tom’s meth lab ‘cuz you can’t compete. Not much else to do when you’re dying in a small town. Run…

A poem about the prison of tradition. Imagine a world without change. What your life was yesterday, Will be your life tomorrow, And the day after. Day after day. What thoughts you have are your father’s. What dreams you have are your grandfather’s. You can’t cope, can’t adjust, can’t change. Your world is…