Happy Summer, Friends!

It’s been a few months since I was able to touch base with all of you. The spring has been filled with travel, trials, and tractor pulls. (Okay, I didn’t actually go to any of those last ones, but now you’re paying attention.)

Now that things have settled down a bit, I’m happy to report that I’m back in production mode. My Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is completed. My manuscript for my first fiction book has been accepted for publication. I’m done teaching for the summer. And while other people head for the beach, I reorganize my life.

I’ve asked a few of my friends to drop by in the next few months, so you’ll be hearing from authors and artists from time to time. I hope you’ll click on over to their websites and support them with a comment or a “like” or investing in their art with a few dollars.

I’ll keep you posted on my book’s progress, and invite you all to celebrate with me!

Friday Flash – “Prizes”

  The Cracker Jack drawer was my favorite.

The cupboards built under the stairs were as old as the house itself, and required much pulling and coaxing to surrender their treasures.  I rooted through trunks and armoires during my summer week with grandparents.  Once I discovered the bin of yesteryear’s prizes, I barely missed television or neighborhood kids.

A lick-and-stick tattoo,

a plastic party snapper,

thumbnail-size flipbooks,

miniscule magnifying glasses …

the detritus of an old woman’s love for caramel corn and a hoarder’s sense of preservation.  These remnants considerately left in an accessible bottom drawer for children to discover anew each season.

I didn’t even mind the silent dinners.

Many thanks to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting the Friday Fictioneers group.  Each week a photo prompt is given with a request for 100-word stories.  You can read more flash pieces by visiting the site and clicking on the collections link.  As my interests include both flash fiction and creative nonfiction, my contributions vary in genre.   I trust you will find even life itself to be a good story.

 

Blackberry Days – Summer Seasons Taste Great

My parents have a berry farm.  It was supposed to be two rows of blackberry vines for Dad to putter with, and 4 years later it’s open to the public and becoming a local phenomenon!  Here are a few photos from the season… and if you are in the Branson area, be sure to take time for a sweet stop!

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For more information, visit Blackberry Lane Farm on FaceBook, or contact them via Email at dpfister000@centurytel.net.