The fortune-teller’s tent was set out on the pier at twilight, just as the crowds thinned. Janine was going to love it. The interior was dimly lighted, the table draped in velvet, and long, diaphanous veils caught the candlelight. I stepped out of the tent, replacing the folds covering the entrance, and waited for the love of my life to show up.

I could hear the soft rush of the waves at low tide against the shore. It was a summer night to hold forever.

“Ah, an early and eager customer.” I turned and saw the fortune-teller coming down the…

You have been treated unfairly and unjustly. You have been slighted, ignored, trivialized, criticized, and dismissed. Often, you have no way to say your piece and protest such treatment without risking your job, a friendship, family peace, or belonging to a group.

We all feel the flames of resentment when someone triggers us. But what is behind our reaction?

Doubt about our inner worth, and our very human desire to belong.

Think about it — what drives most of us (unless we are sociopaths)? …

Step right up, ladeees and gentlemen. Yes, I mean all of you! This elixir I hold in my hand is not for women only. Its extraordinary powers lie in an element hidden for eons in a vast desert, found by chance during my last journey to Mars. Trust me, my friends, it is the fountain of youth at last!”

The barker swept his arm in a wide arc to show his treasure to the crowd that had gathered. The jar he held out caught the sun’s rays in flashes of emerald and gold. Beside him on the small stage was…

I wanted everyone to play my game, and being stalled in orbit by storms on the planet below gave me the perfect opportunity. Our navigator said he could guide us through the layers of turbulence to the surface, but the captain vetoed that. So we all gathered in the dining hall for snacks and to watch the latest hologram transmitted the night before. As usual, it was bland and boring. Ta-da, time for a little excitement.

“Having fun, folks?” I called out, which met with shouts of “No way!” and a few darker words of the same ilk. …

First Chapters…

The rider came out of the west as shadows lengthened across the moor. Three watched as they stood outside a small stone cottage. Few travelers were ever seen in that region, and rarely a woman, but here was an exception. They heard her push the horse to go faster, her long silver hair wild in the wind.

“Ah nivva expected ta see ‘a. It’s Donald’s bairn, as sure as ah’m standin ‘eear.” The speaker was the shortest of the three, old and wizened.

“If you say so, Alayn. I’ll trust you on it, not that your eyes are…

My beloved paternal grandmother passed away when I was six. She was 67. I saw a photo of her daughter, a beloved aunt, when she was almost the same age. They looked so alike. Older than we look now at 67. Yes, it matters we take care of ourselves. But it is also a state of mind, for in their time family was their center and the rest of life essentially not available. They were deeply creative people, but no outer path to follow. How lucky we are now to have a choice, one that allows us to go further, however many years we have left.

Thanks for this!

Let me be Neil Gaiman for a second and remind you that there is no perfect storytelling recipe that works for everyone. However, I offer the truth — there can be your perfect story.

Writers know when they have written one. Ray Bradbury famously described writing The Lake after a few years of writing stories for magazines and knowing he had created a real story for the first time, a story that was whole and true and uniquely his own. In that moment, a star storyteller was born.

That is what your perfect story is, one you have written that…