Wreathed in Smoke
Hey everyone. Wreathed in Smoke has now given me two firsts: First new story in some time and first re-posting in an even longer time. I generally own my mistakes. Good or bad, they are all there for you to…
In the Dark of Night – Part 20!
There are two essays which have molded my outlook as an author more than anything else I have ever read. The first is The Talent of the Room by Michael Ventura. I am abridging it in monstrous fashion, but he…
A Realization Which Lifts A Burden
I’m going to do something that I rarely, if ever, do within these four HTML walls: I’m going to write about myself. Once you’re all done laughing about the fact that I literally write a preface sharing my life story…
In the Dark of Night – Part 13
This story post and all those that have come before it and will come after it are dedicated to Amanda Gay Barton-Bigley Wallace. She may not have been perfect, but she was everything that could ever have been asked of…
In the Dark of Night – Part 5
We all relate to writing differently. We are able to find within ourselves the parallel that works best to fit the task of writing into our lives. I personally have equated writing, seamlessly, to about seventeen various activities that I…
In the Dark of Night – Part 4
2020 is an aggressively terrible year. One day, however, it shall be something we use to help others. Wisdom can be found in suffering. It dwells beneath the horrid surface, waiting for us to find it. “But Justin” you cry…
In the Dark of Night – Part 3
I spent two days in the hospital last week. It nearly cost me my job. If I have to go back to the hospital, it will cost me my job. Our country is deeply flawed on a lot of things,…
In the Dark of Night – Part 1
A long, long time ago I became an author. Okay, so it was only 2016. I’m referring to the mileage with that one, not the model year. So much has happened since 2016 that I might as well not even…
A New Take on Terrible Advice: ‘Write Drunk, Edit Sober’
“Write Drunk, Edit Sober.” ~ Source Up For Debate Everyone is given this advice at least once when they start on the authorial path. It’s become a cliched right-of-passage, usually passed along by some dude-bro at one social function…
The Sundered Sarcophagus – Part 3
What a wild and wonderful weekend! My wife ambushed me with the following ultimatum Friday evening: Play World of Warcraft: Classic with me or lose me forever. Okay, perhaps that is a touch over-dramatic, but my wife did have a…