“What is it you want me to do?” she hissed.

There was no alternative, no matter how much I wanted one. She was my twin, yet not for the first time, I wondered how it was possible we came from the same source.

“I want you to take revenge for me,” I said.

“I’d be delighted. The ties that bind, and all that.” She laughed, her mouth so wide she looked like a hyena. I saw the same thing when I watched myself laugh in a mirror once. I only smiled, thereafter, when I was in company.

“What has you all hot and bothered, sister, dear twin, you of the copper curls, just like mine, you of the violet eyes, just like mine?” …

Who knows why my path has taken the course it has?

One of my most beloved and favorite writers, Ray Bradbury, was asked about the path of his life and he said all paths mattered. It was just “You were born to be you and I was born to be me. That’s a real mystery.”

He’s right.

We are each here to thrive in our own way…

I see what I know now like stones under the clear waters of a brook, whereas before it was more like seeing into a muddy lake. The difference? Just as Ray Bradbury describes — I know now I am here to be my own unique self. …

A man steps into an old battlefield that comes to life…

It is an old battlefield. A military graveyard. Just bones left, scattered across the valley far to the east. The data records show that close to twenty-two hundred were killed in that place, counting both sides. I’d seen the initial reconstruction. A Witness in the cliffs had filmed most of the real-time battle for survey reference. He had been a hundred feet above it all, and used his vantage point well for the long shots, but those were overdone, all the same.

The Viewing outcome bothered me somewhat, for he had used blue light and no sound. The soldiers died silently, only their mouths open in screams that therefore meant nothing. Death without sound isn’t quite the same. It is as if I’m watching someone’s dream projection, not viewing a real event. The whole thing was supposed to appeal to a large audience, after all. So far this one has attracted only a few observers, here and there; and the participant viewings have been limited. I think the lack of sound is at least part of the cause. …

Do you have a dog as your friend and companion? If so, you know they see you as the be-all and end-all of the perfect pack. For you, they show unconditional love. You are the heart and center of their world.

What Exactly Is the Difference Between Having a Dog and Having a Cat?

You don’t need a special survey to tell you the answer. You know why you love your dog as much as your dog loves you. These traits give some clues … :-))

• Do you notice whether you and your dog have anything in common? Very likely — for what else would bring you to choose one dog over another? I favor the golden retriever, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by me that we are both as gullible as could be. Every new person is automatically a friend! …

What makes us change a word, or a sentence, or a paragraph, or even sometimes whole pages, in anything we write? For a good writer knows the need and value of revision, of making the work better, crisper, salient, relevant — and meaningful.

The process, however, is much more than refining our text, no matter what our subject is and no matter what our genre or style may be.

Within the word revision is the idea of re-envisioning, a whole other process. …

…and why we love mysteries!

Who can resist a good mystery? It is one of the most popular genres and shows up not just in novels and short stories but also in movies, television, video games, board games, and live action “Mystery Weekends” at resorts and on cruise ships.

While the element of mystery is a part of all storytelling, true mystery as a genre is different from the thriller or horror.

In a thriller the main character is trying to prevent something from happening and his or her life is always at stake in the chase. A horror story is focused on creating an environment of terror and unremitting fear for everyone. …

The primary thing that separates the political outlook of conservatives from liberals is the apparent belief conservatives have that they — and only they — are inherently deserving of privileges and rewards and special treatment in social and political decision-making.

That is the definition of entitlement…

Interestingly, the conservative does not have to be rich, though most of them are. We see how true this is when some people with just a middle-class or a working-class salary will still follow rich conservatives like gods, as if the lifestyle and outlook of those wealthy gods were theirs to share. …

Writers cannot help but compare themselves to other writers — it comes with the territory. The real question to ask, however, is what to do with what we discover in the process.

The answer can guarantee our writing uses our authentic voice with joy, or it can shut us down so we cease to write at all.

Obviously, the second option brings nothing to the table. If we stop writing, no one can read, see, or experience the words and worlds we have envisioned. No one can share in the emotions we give our characters or our ideas.

If we stop writing, no one ever gets to see how passionate we are about what we do, or sense the enchantment of what we have created. We have let go of what we love doing, what derives from our innermost being. …