I’m releasing two chapters of ‘Be Prepared’ this week. On the 5th of December, Sinterklaas is leaving our country, leaving gifts for all the children that have been good all year. Three days later, I will publish chapter 16.
I was not very satisfied with how Chapter 16 formed a bridge to Chapter 17. The original text had the wrong emphasis, and it was becoming increasingly annoying. So, today I rewrote chapter 16. It’s up to you to decide, after you’ve read chapter 17, whether the bridge was stable enough to cross. Perhaps you can guess afterwards why I felt the need to rewrite this chapter. I’m surprised you haven’t commented on this in the comments section yet.
I will publish “Be Prepared” in its entirety before the end of the year. That doesn’t mean the story is over; I’m currently busy writing its sequel, “Assess and Adapt.”
In between, I’m also writing a short story: Healing Tears. I think it’s going to be a very good short story, but that means nothing, because I also laugh at my own jokes.
A star is born - the version from 1976 with Kris Kristofferson and Barbra Streisand - was the inspiration for my Halloween story this year. The song is called Hellacious acres and this is the last line of the text is:
Admission′s free you pay to get out
It stayed with me all these years. Admission free, you'll pay to get out. Enjoy Valhalla.
Link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptr9vCKpbrA&list=RDPtr9vCKpbrA&start_radio=1
Congrats to the winners of the Halloween competion.
Ever truly yours,
Han
I wrote the short story ‘the Nightingale’s Story, A prayer without witness,’ triggered by a Writer’s Digest challenge. Write a short story of max. 1500 words. So how hard can that be? It turns out it’s more difficult than I thought it would be — at least for me — to confine myself to that word count. I tightened it a tiny bit today, but it’s still 1849 words.
However, it is not only an exercise in compressed storytelling, but it is also an exercise in writing in third-person limited POV. Until now, all my stories were in first person POV, like the majority of stories here on this platform. I wrote the story on impulse, following a disturbing incident in my personal life.
A third thing that’s different is that my short story is a virgin. A “No Sex Story.” My first. Please be gentle with me.
Until now it only got three votes, so this probably isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but winter is coming, and I’m already adding winter spices to my tea. That’s OK, though. I wrote this for myself, but if you like it, that’s a bonus. And hey, it’s the season for bargains and bonuses.