Of Zeppelins and Mermaids and Insiration!

Hello, Faithful Readers. I just realized that my last blog post was on the 1st of April, so I'm coming up for air!

First, the news:

1. I've been a writing demon, lately! I've written a rather lengthy new short story entitled, "The Whale Queen." I originally wrote this story back in the early 00's, but it ended up being environmentally preachy, and that's definitely where I did not want to go with this story! I really like the latest version much better. It is now 3,636 words, and 13 pages long. The expression, "coming up for air," is a funny idiom, considering the content of the story. What's interesting, is that it doesn't feel finished--It's like there's more left to say... I don't know. If there was a soundtrack to this story, it would Sven Vath, "Caravan of Emotions." (The song itself is very long, but worth the listen... Very mellow.)

2.  I'm toying with a new story idea: A German WWI crew member on a Zeppelin, heading for a bombing raid of London toward the end of the war. No one is under any illusions--Zeppelins have been shot down with increasing frequency, and the tide of the war has shifted against Germany. The crew member decides to defect. I don't have all the details worked out yet, but I've been doing a ton of research on Zeppelins, crews, etc. (For my Bachelor's, I did a research paper on the Zeppelin raids on London).

3. I am working hard to produce my first collection of short stories by August of 2021. This is my personal deadline - (The Dead Line - Sounds like a cool idea for a story!), so we'll see what happens. There are some stories I've shared, and others that have never been released.

4. Had my second Covid shot on the 21st. The 22nd, I was feverish, sore, and my body was not happy! I was flat on my back for a couple of days. Back to normal, now. (At least, what constitutes normal for me...)

Inspiration

I've finally come to a conclusion about how I am most often inspired. Some people are inspired by the vision of a particularly colorful character, (which was what inspired my story, "Punch.") while other people are inspired by snippets of conversation, a headline, or they'll search out a writing prompt.

Personally, I've always found music to be my biggest inspiration. When I close my eyes while listening, my imagination kicks into overdrive, and it has actually generated at least five of my short stories. With music, my tastes are all over the place: Classical, metal, ambient-trance, rock, folk, etc.

And people close to me are likely to say, "Well, hell, Frank! I coulda' told you that!" 

But no one did, and it's taken me this long to figure it out. But that's okay, and everything is perfectly in place and unfolding just as it should.


I will soon be adding more content, doing book reviews, and I seriously mean to be here more often. Sometimes, life just gets in the way! Of course, it's good to be alive. (The alternative, after all, is rather grim!)

As ever, questions, comments, and shares are appreciated! :-) Thank you!!