John’s Journal – page 1 – I haven’t written much fiction. And what I did write, at least in the past, was mostly just plain hard work. Poetry was always easier for me. Even writing a piece in a traditional style was always easier than prose. I guess I was a bit hung up on the rules, till I threw them away. That and finding that I could combine fiction and verse into one form was the breakthrough for me. Having said that, somehow it still feels like it shouldn’t be this easy. This book is almost writing itself. Not that I’m complaining. Long may it last.
All Blog Posts in the Category ‘Stories’
The Sparrow Stone – Chapter 3
Knolley and Wenna – The others? Speaking of which, and which witch is which, I’d like to introduce to you the best friend a silly wizard ever had, just back from the Elven court, the Love of my Lives, a spellcaster of spellbinding beauty and unearthly skill, The Sorceress – Morwenna! […]
The Sparrow Stone – Chapter 2
The Second Spell – Truth be told, I don’t have a cat. Sorry if that’s a disappointment for you. Poets often have cats, it seems. A pet to pet between easily acquired phrases or a distracting friend to play with when the words won’t come. Wait a minute, I don’t think I mentioned that I’m a poet. An unconscious, on purpose, omission, no doubt. After all, I did want you to read the book. But you’re not like that, are you? You wouldn’t drop me like a hot tomato (your use of language is fascinating) just because of an occasional affair with an old love – words? I don’t have a dog either, though I like their enthusiasm. I like […]
The Sparrow Stone – Chapter 1
The First Spell – Welcome to Scriber’s Ford, a small village quite lost in the land of Soulstra. And welcome to the home of Kiernan. Kiernan the Wizard to some. Kiernan the Crazy to others. Kiernan the Nomad. Kiernan the Bard. Kiernan the Bad Housekeeper said an aunt older than sunshine but twice as good at […]
The Sparrow Stone – Preface
An Invitation – The flames move strangely tonight. They speak to me of Bards and legends, the storyteller’s campfire, a circle of faces looking up, wanting more, much more than the stories can give. What do I want? I want to try and set all this down. It might be a spell worth casting. Though I […]
Three Portraits
An exercise of the mind and heart is once again called for. A pen is picked up. The hand obeys reluctantly, but lets the black blood flow freely nonetheless. Three portraits fall out of love. Three pictures of the same man, taken by the same woman who is still invisible. She becomes clearer as a reality while fading as a dream. […]
The Ivy Spell (Of OMNIA)
The piece below this intro is basically a thank-you note to OMNIA for their wonderful music. The first time I heard it, I immediately connected with their work at a deep level. In fact, coming at just the right time, it helped me to see some things that I needed to be reminded of. Something […]
This Side of the Cloud
There’s a bare wall. And a picture window hidden behind the branches of an old juniper bush. There’s the across the street neighbours’ new car. Right now, it’s in their driveway. There’s the sun and, for a moment, that particular angle of radiance at this time of day on […]
A Night in the Life
This is an old short story that I wrote in 1995. As I recall, it’s the proper length that a short story is supposed to be. I didn’t try to make it that length, it just turned out that way. I only mention this because it strikes me as funny. Why? Because “A Night in […]
Christmas in June
I just finished this story. No bus stop this time but, like the others, it did happen. I suppose the traditional thing to do would be to publish it next December. But who says Christmas has to be limited to a few weeks? In fact, let’s all be Christmas rebels and be kind to each […]
