Book outline COMPLETE.

Finished.

So now, a break from that--call it a palate cleanser...a literary sorbet--and back to short stories and flash fiction.

Did I ever tell you the one about...

...how me and my boyfriend went to Yosemite, and I got sick right after the orange juice and missed our nice breakfast (fancy bacon!) at the Ahwahnee, but that wasn't the worst of it since he's more stubborn than anyone I know and thought he knew better than the ranger and decided to keep his new bag of peanuts in a zipper bag in the minivan we had rented ("I just bought them! I am *not* throwing them out. End of story.") resulting in loss of door (one) on said minivan due to A BEAR ATTACK?

Have I told you that one? No, I have not, because it has not yet been written. But it will be. 

Hey writers: Your craft and the drink

As I write champagne-tinged tripe (good lord, let there be as little tripe as possible), from the comfiest-looking chair in this hip lounge, I wonder how many writers will be watching The Rum Diary (quite sure I don't need to explain this one). How does the drink affect you? Do you swear off it when trying to write or pull the bottle when you get serious? 

Mmmm...rum.

Contest: 50-word story (my submission)

It’s the small things

by JJ Thorpe

(get it? irony! or maybe not…I always get that one wrong…)

The grey hipster fedora was wedged between the jersey barrier and a dented, shiny hubcap. Its perilous position sucking oily fumes, a strong breeze away from being blown into the fast lane and crushed, should’ve lessened its jauntiness but did not. I drove faster, encouraged by his small win.