Ah, Christmas. That magical time when for four weeks out of the year, we cover our houses with all manner of lights, inflatables, and nativities that somehow capture the wonder of the season. Followers of my Facebook page know I’m not a big fan of Christmas. It feels like a lot of clutter and tolerating…
I’m visiting family for Thanksgiving week, so I’m a little surprised Funny Friday is happening. I didn’t have an idea, until my mother-in-law literally placed one in my lap. The dog’s name is Daisy. She’s my brother-in-law’s pet. My brother-in-law is a fifty-year-old landscaper. I’ll just let you chew on that for a moment. The…
Readers choose a story because they think it will hold their interest, so why do they sometimes skim or stop reading the story? There’s probably a variety of reasons, but I’ve noticed a few trends in comments in my critique group and from my own reading habits that may offer some insight. 1. Long, elegant…
I was recently discussing wine with a few friends. Don’t worry; the words “oaked” or “bouquet” didn’t enter the conversation. We were mostly telling funny wine stories. For example, on one wine acquisition outing, I was approached by an employee who seemed to know a thing or two about the more popular wines sold at that…
I had a pretty unusual day. School was delayed on account of the too-far-below-zero temperatures, and since I work in a school, so was work. I had time to run errands before work, and afterwards I decided to have lunch at a full-service restaurant by myself (note to fellow introverts: do this! It rocks!) and go sweater shopping before…
Last week, I tweeted my blog post about stereotyping characters with the #MondayBlogs hashtag. The user in the pic loved it, retweeted it, and had some questions for me. This is part of the conversation that occurred. I’ve been thinking about the last question ever since. Is defying expectations the key to a good story?…
The great thing about Funny Friday posts is they make me find all the funny in the world. Today’s post takes something that can be uncomfortable and turns it into something that could brighten someone’s day: the tip jar. I think tip jars are a mainly American thing, and to be honest, I don’t always…
This will surprise some writers in my critique group, but I’ve been on the fence about writing on this topic. I’m such a POV (point of view, in case anyone’s lost) stickler that this should be a piece of cake. I’ve had writers in the group see my crits and ask me to crit their…
Happy Halloween!! Today’s post is all about costumes, mainly funny or awesome costumes. I’ll start with me and my boys posing in our minion costumes – because it’s my blog, and I can. Ha. Now that we have that out of the way, I bring you a collection of costumes I found from around the…
I’m writing this post on my phone and in the darkness of my room. See? Dark. My boys think I’m asleep. There’s no school today or tomorrow (I want to kiss whoever decided teachers don’t have to deal with roomfulls of kids on Halloween. That is true mercy.) Anyway, I don’t have to be up…
Allison Maruska 