Where’d she go?

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She got summoned for jury duty and never came back . . . well, it felt like that for a while at least. I got called in for jury selection on the morning of September 18 and wasn’t released until the afternoon of October 3rd. Would you believe I was juror 46 out of 51 and I still ended up sitting as an alternate for the trial? I think by the time they got to me, they were desperate.

And what a trial. 1st degree murder. I won’t go into the details because honestly, the people involved don’t need any more publicity. AND the sooner this event fades from my own memory the better. Let’s just say I know more about deciphering blood splatter evidence than your average citizen. For all you fans of trigonometry, this is your field!

So, I’m back going through the motions of my normal routine, thirteen dollars a day richer, with the thanks of the county, worn out and weepy, trying to catch up on the mountains of grading that piled up unattended while I was attending to my civic duty.

You see, substitute teachers teach, they don’t grade, so tests, reports and assignments waited patiently for me to get back and NOW THEY ALL NEED TO GET DONE. Yikes! 112 hours got sucked out of my life; it’s already two weeks later, and still I haven’t figured out how to squeeze them back in.

Photo © Aleksandar Radovanovic

Google

Rest in Peace Richard Matheson, 1926-2013

Matheson in 2008, from Wilipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson

Matheson in 2008, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are a handful of writers who I adore. Writers who sent my imagination soaring when I was a young girl and made me want to become a writer. Writers who influenced me as I developed my own writing style. Richard Matheson is one of those writers. He passed away peacefully yesterday surrounded by his loved ones.

A science fiction and horror short story author and novelist, if you haven’t read his work, you’ve certainly heard of it: I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come were both made into popular movies, neither of which reflect the actual content of what Matheson wrote.

Honor the man. Read the words.

I Am Legend

What Dreams May Come

Somewhere in Time

A Stir of Echoes

Hell House

Photo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson

Check Out DEAD LETTERS in Darker Magazine Online

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Back in 2010, I posted an article about how to come up with new story ideas (read archive here) and managed to generate my own story: what would happen if your dryer really was a portal to another time or place? And what if it decided to take more than the occasional sock?

I wrote the story during the summer of 2011 and it found a home today at Darker, a new online magazine, edited by Robert MacAnthony.

Check it out here when you get a chance and let me know what you think.

Update 5/23/12, the archive has been taken down…don’t know if it will go back up…Sorry 🙁

Photo © Igor Korionov