The Wednesday excerpts fell by the wayside after June 26, but I kept posting in the 52 Scenes challenge. I shifted gears from the “Write What You Please” challenge to a scene a week to finish the first draft of Salty Pause (Lighthouse Island, Book 2). Here’s how it ends.

Here's an update on my first novel-in-progress and two versions of the same very short story.

If you have a few minutes to read both versions, let me know which you like better and what differences in writing style and techniques you can discern.

A Spur of the Moment Visit from Tiffany

On his condo balcony a few blocks away, Donnie lowered the camera when his phone pinged with a text from Tiffany. Walking over, on her way. Just as well; he wasn’t having any luck photographing the Milky Way. Still a lot to learn about his new photography hobby.

Wonder why she’s stopping by on a Monday night? Not their usual routine . . .

I had two pieces due today. One was a 1200-word short story based on the prompt, “living.” The other was for the “52-scenes” challenge, based on the prompt, “flakes.”

Do you like reading courthouse dramas? I do! It’s not exactly the same, but there are a number of public hearings in Book 2 of the Lighthouse Island series. I sat through too many of these at the state level for work, and have watched too many local-level ones here on Tybee as the Short-Term Rental Ordinance has been debated.

Here’s part of a first draft of a hearing scene that I shared for workshopping (Warning: My characters say bad words. I can’t seem to stop them.)

Should i try to describe a Parrot Head tailgate when I’ve never seen it?

Here’s my new writing badge, for writing flash fiction every day from May 1 through May 30! What is “Flash Fiction?” It’s very short fiction, too short to be considered a short story. Here are the definitions . . .

Excerpts from “All About the Gold” and “Millionaire Millie” from the second book in the Lighthouse Island series (work-in-progress), along with one stanza of a poem called “Underneath the Widow’s Smile.”

Excerpts from “Freedom’s Herald” and “Belle’s Decision” plus 185-word mini-scene, “A Matter of Perspective,” from Book 2 in the Lighthouse Island Series (work-in-progress).

Here are all the badges I’ve earned from Deadlines for Writers.

An island girl’s journey

Purple is cool.

Lighthouse beam shine on!