Inspirations, the Stories Space Coffee House: If you're reading this it just might mean I'm back, sorta. If you're not reading this, well, congratulations.

Not me working on something to be posted here for once, I swear. Nor is it me knowing the thing I'm working on is a tear-jerker. 

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

Not me working on something to be posted here for once, I swear. Nor is it me knowing the thing I'm working on is a tear-jerker. 

Quote by Mendalla 

Nothing wrong with tear jerkers. Just look at the box office for movies like Love Story.

EDIT: ...well, here it is. https://www.storiesspace.com/stories/poetry/broken-parts-1

Don't say I didn't warn you about the tissues.

Goooooooood morning!!! And if it is not morning where you are, just remember that it is always morning somewhere!

Coffee is brewing, kettle is boiling. An assortment of fine looseleaf and bag teas has been added to the coffee bar for your enjoyment.

I am playing with an old story. It's been posted elsewhere but I actually wrestled with that when I wrote it. Needs a hefty rewrite in the third act, but I'm not really doing much else creatively right now. If nothing else, it gets me writing, which I have not been doing as much as I had intended on my vacation.

Good morning all.

Guess who lost again last night?

I now know more about magpies than...well, people who who a lot about magpies. And, actual magpies. I'm still scared I'll finish this story only to find the main myth in it (throwing bleach on a crow) is totally stolen. I'm sure I stole it, I just can't find the source. My writer friends say f*ck it, make it your own story. I am hesitant.

Crows and magpies HATE each other: https://www.birdforum.net/threads/why-do-crows-hate-magpies.143191/

I'm very behind on stories - I apologize. Reading a lot of stories of other sites, and for critique groups. But I'll get to them. Maybe this weekend.

Okay, time to start up the day. I'd love a coffee. And a...oh my God, look at all these cookies! Three umbrella cookies too.

Hi people 

A beautiful day here even if it is cloudy

A large iced coffee sounds good to me

*Peeking in the cookie jars*  still in good shape:) 

*Giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats* 

Looking like a Netflix and chill kind of day 

Stay safe everyone! 

Might need earplugs this weekend. Local airshow (recently voted best in North America in USA Today) is on this weekend. We aren't that close to the airport but I've been hearing jets a lot starting mid-afternoon or so. They do it as a drive-in (something they started last year due to pandemic restrictions). No ground displays and you watch the flying show from your parking spot. They even have some local food people delivering to viewers.

Going to try a new story idea. Great opening but have, as of yet, no idea where it goes from there. Loosely based on an incident from my life (the opening is) but I'll probably go somewhere different after that, maybe even magic realism.

For now, though, I'm scarfing some cookies and putting the kettle for green tea.

I know I say this a lot, but I'm so soft for Jane right now that it's not funny. 🥰🖤

She makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and I just want to hold her tight and give some of that warmth back to her. She deserves it and then some.

Ape prances merrily into the cafe. Looks around. Puts a basket of danishes and muffins on the breakfast bar. Cleans up cookie crumbs around the Sesame Street jars. Loads the coffee maker with some Jamaican Blue Mountain. Fires up the kettle and puts some Kenya Tinderet (new tea I just bought) in the pot 

Good morning! Hot muggy and grey. We are up to the third day of this crap weather. By the time it ends, I am back to work. Lovely.

Good morning all. Thank for the coffee Ape.

Talia didn't sleep well, so we are staying close to home (we would have stayed close to home regardless but now we have an excuse). I'll write and take care of my True Love. I think the Mets are scheduled to begin losing around 5.

I REALLY wanna go see Candyman this weekend. I love every piece of movie DNA in it, from Barker and the original story to the excellent first movie and Peele being involved in this iteration. The trope of repeating some name into a mirror scares the F out of me. I won't do it. I wouldn't let my kids do it (they did anyway, I've since learned).

I wrote one of my best stories ever about it.

Anyway.  Enjoy the day everyone. Coffee and ten thousand sugar cookies please. 

Quote by verbal

I REALLY wanna go see Candyman this weekend. I love every piece of movie DNA in it, from Barker and the original story to the excellent first movie and Peele being involved in this iteration. The trope of repeating some name into a mirror scares the F out of me. I won't do it. I wouldn't let my kids do it (they did anyway, I've since learned).

I wrote one of my best stories ever about it.

Anyway.  Enjoy the day everyone. Coffee and ten thousand sugar cookies please. 

  

Haha ..for someone who loves forum ..I'm seriously starting to have some serious questions ..how do I turn off seeing signatures 😂😂😂😃 it's seriously blowing up my screen ..especially when one has to scroll through so many postings

I know there's a thread for questions 😂😂😃 it's just too much scrolling via phone to find an answer 

Oh ..and hey hey everybody 😂😃👋 

Remember, be kind. Stay safe. Keep smiling!

Quote by etairay

Haha ..for someone who loves forum ..I'm seriously starting to have some serious questions ..how do I turn off seeing signatures 😂😂😂😃 it's seriously blowing up my screen ..especially when one has to scroll through so many postings

Sounds stormy around here, but maybe it's the (bleep) jets from the (bleep) airshow. Just lots of noise, no rain yet.

Hi peeps 

A large iced coffee sounds yummy in my tummy

It's a beautiful day here. Need to get something written.

I have fresh cookies today. *moving the old cookies to the emergency cookie tins behind the counter.

Today's offerings:

In Big Bird : pecan divines , orange cookies,fudgy chocolate cookies and butterscotch sugar cookies

In Cookie Monster: ginger snaps, fudge a roons, golden raisin whippersnappers and peanut butter and banana cookies

In Elmo : vanilla sugar cookies, brownie cookies, peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies , cranberry orange cookies

*Giving the adorable critters fresh water and treats*

Hope everyone is having a great day! :)

Quote by Mendalla

Quote by verbal

I REALLY wanna go see Candyman this weekend. I love every piece of movie DNA in it, from Barker and the original story to the excellent first movie and Peele being involved in this iteration. The trope of repeating some name into a mirror scares the F out of me. I won't do it. I wouldn't let my kids do it (they did anyway, I've since learned).

I wrote one of my best stories ever about it.

Anyway.  Enjoy the day everyone. Coffee and ten thousand sugar cookies please. 

  

Strange as it seems, I never saw the first Candyman. Love the original story and Barker in general. Part of it is, I think, that the original story is so good, I don't really care if I see it adapted.

Good to hear, verbal. I know people actually had high hopes for this one given Jordan Peele's backing. Maybe when it hits streaming.

Good day (morning is almost over where I am)! Coffee is made, kettle is a-boilin'. My vacay is officially ending but I am actually kind of itching to get back to work. I have some work I want to do on fixing up my last project.

Not me having had an 'oh my god I have a type' moment cause of a Facebook ad of all things, I swear.

Quote by magnificent1rascal
Hi everyone!

After spending the day at a writers conference, I’m stopping in to unwind before heading home. What a wonderful spot this is!

Hi everyone

A beautiful day here 

Feeling a little bit lazy

But a large iced coffee would fix that problem

*Peeking in the cookie jars* we are in good shape

*Giving the adorable critters fresh water and evening treats*

Stay safe everyone😊

Quote by verbal

Tell us more about the writer's conference! It sounds fun!

Good evening everyone! Finally managed to get back here – apologies for the absence! And I've spent some time figuring out the new interface while submitting a story. It had me stumped for a while, but I just kept telling myself, "They know they have to make it simple enough for bears, they KNOW they do…" and kept plugging. Eventually, I figured out how it worked by trial and error.

Speaking of which: Where does red mean go, and green mean stop?

Good afternoon all, hope everyone is having a relaxing day and ready for the new week...

Just a quiet day here relaxing and doing some writing and patting my cats. 

Now that I have worked out the new submission process  its time for a nice cold iced tea 

Be happy 

So we have a riddle on the floor from da bear. I have no idea of the answer but I'll probably kick myself when I hear it.

Still warm and muggy here though it has improved over the last couple days. Supposed to cool off gradually over the next couple days.

Back at work this week. Fun, wow. Been kind of missing it, but as usual there's a metric f-ton of stuff waiting.

Anyhow, the coffee is brewing and kettle is boiling for tea. 

Finally got around to reading stories here on the new site last night. Lotsa new writers and stories here. Nice to be back in the groove. Easy to vote and comment here. And change votes - I'm happy for that, I have clumsy fingers. 

Still having trouble plotting well. I basically threw away my latest story without even a second draft, and I'm hoping the current one isn't listing in that direction. I'm a little worried I'm psyching myself out.

The Mets sucked slightly less than they usually do this weekend.    

Coffee and a raindrop shaped cookie please.  Enjoy your day all!

Hi peeps

A large ginger ale would be welcomed 

 Feeling awful today . 

There are leftover cookies in the cookie jars and in the cookie tins behind the counter

Fresh cookies when i don't feel like I've ran over by a big truck 😷🤧

Gonna go hibernate now 

Stay safe everyone.

If I mentioned this before, I'm sorry, but I learned how to make gifs and edit videos for use in said gifs cause of Jane. 

A lot of the gifs that I want to use for things don't exist so I've had to do it myself.

Quote by DenimAngel

Hi peeps

A large ginger ale would be welcomed 

 Feeling awful today . 

There are leftover cookies in the cookie jars and in the cookie tins behind the counter

Fresh cookies when i don't feel like I've ran over by a big truck 😷🤧

Gonna go hibernate now 

 

Stay safe everyone.

I'm expecting a slow day today. Drink coffee, write and edit, lunch with one of the daughters. Grill some salmon for supper. Yum!

I'm not writing well, and I don't know why. Keep at it I guess.

I hope everyone is well. 

Coffee and three of Sara's day old cookies please. 

Quote by verbal

I'm not writing well, and I don't know why. Keep at it I guess.

 

Kettle is on for tea.

There's always the

Quote by Mendalla

Quote by verbal

I'm not writing well, and I don't know why. Keep at it I guess.

 

Me, too. Have two stories sitting there with like half a dozen to a dozen paragraphs but just don't know where to go with them. Great beginnings both, but then my imagination stalls on trying to go further.

Kettle is on for tea.

There's always the Larry Niven technique for writer's block. Just start typing, and keep going, even if it's complete drivel. Eventually, your subconscious will kick in and take over. Then circle back and edit out all the crap.

It works, even if it seem stupid or contrived!

Hi y'all! I could murder a cup of Earl Grey tea, hot, please!

Hold it, did the bear just confess to murdering Earl Grey? Does this mean we now have a murder mystery going on in here?

The problem with using Niven as an example is that a lot of his later stuff really was drivel, even if he also put out some pretty fine s-f in the seventies and eighties. I have a gut feeling that he might be a tough read for 21st century me, even though I was a fan in the eighties.

But, yeah, that's kind of what I've been doing. The problem for me is that technique usually generates these wonderful openings that have nowhere to go and any attempt to finish them seems to end up with me figuratively ripping the paper from the typewriter and tossing it across the room.