Back in school, I never raised my hand. I avoided reading out loud. 2Pac may have wanted all eyes on him, but I hated it. Worse was the fact that my discomfort was glaringly obvious. Blushing may seem endearing but trust me, it doesn’t feel all that cute when your cheeks turn as red as tomatoes.

Underneath the discomfort was the fear of being scrutinized. Of being judged and found wanting. Better to keep to the edges and avoid notice.

You can skate through school like that. Life, not so much. Even things like group projects and presentations feel different…

Popular Prose

One of the biggest causes of writer’s block is perfectionism. The feeling that the work isn’t good enough yet – or that you aren’t – can leave you mired in self-doubt long enough to question why you even started in the first place. Once that sort of thinking creeps in, that particular story may not be long for this world.

The only real solution to writer’s block is to write. At some point, you have to put words on the page. Otherwise you’re not really a writer — you an aspirant, a pretender, a dreamer.

But that’s sorta like telling…

I only follow people here whose writing I enjoy. So I was especially distressed a few weeks ago when I discovered that Medium unilaterally decided I no longer wanted to follow Danielle Loewen and Heather Jauquet. Despite the fact that I read, clap, and comment on most everything they publish.

Fine — easy fix. Annoying, but I work in IT. I know how bugs sometimes sneak into software.

Then I noticed today that I’d also lost Sarah Cords and Amanda Kay Oaks.

WTF Medium!?

I can only wonder who else I might be missing. …

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Congratulations! You have lived through a global pandemic. Your complementary certificate is on its way!

We at PAC — People Against COVID— recognize that our trial is not yet over. You may have survived COVID but now you face the greatest test mankind has ever devised — other people. In order to minimize your discomfort as you re-acclimate into society, we have put together this handy list of do’s and don’ts.

Do read this and don’t hesitate to contact us for clarification! Namaste.

Grooming and hygiene

1. Sweat pants are not formal wear. We are voting on the legitimacy of yoga pants next week.
2. …

The only constant of writing here is that nothing is.

I first noticed something had changed early in April. My stats were up across the board. Not just views and reads — each read was worth substantially more. I’ve been on the platform since 2019 and am used to seeing pieces languish in the sub $5 territory before dying ignominiously. But suddenly my writing was making decent money. Was this a return to the halcyon days of yore?

And then Medium threw a bonus at me.

May was more of the same. I bought a MacBook with my windfall. At…

It’s a blistering 90-ish degrees here in Michigan. Naturally, I will be standing over a grill in a few hours because nothing is quite as comfortable as an open flame on a really hot day. I hear beer helps.

Here at Casa Pierce we are anxiously awaiting Loki, which drops Wednesday. I much prefer the Friday time slot personally.

On the pub front, we continue to grow rapidly! Closing in on 900 followers. At our rate of growth, we’ll cross the magical 1000 mark sometime in June. …

It’s not like I have a thing against singing. One of my favorite things is serenading my teenage daughter whenever she’s trapped in the car with me; she loves my rendition of Sweet Child O’ Mine.

I just have little patience for stories where the characters suddenly break-out in song. I guess I’d just rather get my dialogue and exposition the old-fashioned way.

Despite my predilections, I’ve discovered a few musicals that I genuinely like. Love, even. …

UNSOLVED MYSTERIES

Rose Parker had been married twenty-six years when the unthinkable happened.

“I asked George to empty out the dishwasher before I went to bed. The ballgame was on — there’s always a ballgame, somehow — so I figured he didn’t hear me and I’d have to do it myself in the morning.

“I had the shock of my life when I got up.”

The dishwasher was completely empty.

“Thought we’d been robbed by a cutlery thief. Or maybe the dishes had come to life like in that movie Beauty and the Beast and had danced out the door.”

But everything…