Some of y’all SMGs (Social Media Gurus) are reminding me of youth pastors — Back in the days of my youth, my well-meaning mother still had hope for my soul. Like the good Lutheran woman she occasionally tried to be, she would send my sister and I to Vacation Bible School. There, any number of bell-bottomed, suntanned youth pastors (this was in Orange County…

We wanna just say no, but we can’t stop with the oh-oh-oh — I love me my divas. But sometimes you just want to give them a big hug and a shake, and reassure them, “Girl, you’re gonna be fine.” Here are six bangers that make me want to bang my head against the wall and tell these beautiful creatures they (and we…

Working too hard for clever conversation. — Billy and Joel were in an Italian restaurant, trying not to cause a scene. “Have you heard about Brenda and Edie?” Billy asked. “Yeah, good for her,” Joel said, blowing on his steaming cup of hot cocoa. The owner called it Liquid Tiramisu and said it was his grandma’s recipe…

Next time I say I never finish anything, whack me upside the head and send me this link. — As we say goodbye to April’s showers of prompts for 30-word stories, we look forward to a building bouquet of May flowers. As some of you might remember, I started this month committed to writing 30 pieces of micro-fiction, based on daily prompts delivered via the bird app. The premise…

The second third as we micro forth — And we’re back for Part Two of telling tiny tales. Regular Dead or Alive readers may recall the premise: Get a daily one-word prompt and write a 30-word micro-fiction around it. Without further ado, here’s the second batch of ten. 11. Sharing “… once I realized my baby wasn’t an alien and…

Micro is the new atomic, here are my first ten forays into the fray. — Twitter, like life, can be pretty random. A couple weeks ago, the bird app dropped an intriguing little egg into my nest. The premise: Get a daily one-word prompt and write a 30-word micro-fiction around it. It’s turned out to be the most fun I’ve had in quite a while…

№ 64 of 💯 — It’s never fun to work on the holiday. — “Wait! As a psychic empath …” Boom! Lydia’s brains decorated the wall behind her like a bone chip-laden Jackson Pollock. “She shoulda felt that one coming, eh?” Pinkie muttered as he side-stepped over her crumpled body, making sure not to step into the quickly pooling blood. He normally just does…

№ 63 of 💯: There I was, all coiled up and nowhere to go. — “No no no,” I said. “You go ahead, I’m not that hungry.” Was I just being polite? Well, to be fair it was our first date. I’ve really never liked French food, so when the waiter said tonight’s special was frog legs, I decided to skip the appetizer. “More for…

Maybe I’ll channel my inner Elsa and “Let it grow, let it grow” — My beautiful Marcio has left me. Mama was right—never have a relationship with a Brazilian, they will always break your heart. He’d been cutting my hair here in Barcelona for the past several years. I loved his work. Now he’s up and flitted off back to São Paulo. Gay hairdressers…