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My Latest Book - 101 DailyPrompt Pieces · 2 August 2025

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I finished my latest book. Finally.

If you have been keeping count, I have over two dozen books out on Amazon now. (They are not all available in print, but I am getting there.) This latest one is number 25, and it is a fun book.

It is fun because it is a bunch of short stories and poetry. And it was fun for me because I really did not do much work on it. I just had to format it and get it out there. Which I actually thought would only take me a couple weeks, but took seemingly forever. After all, I have been done with the writing since February.

The book is called 101 DailyPrompt Pieces. Its subtitle is Poetry, Prose, and Pith. It is a collection of pieces that I wrote for DailyPrompt, an app and website all about writing. Daily writing. The site and app have a new prompt each day. (I actually wrote about DailyPrompt a while ago.)

I probably should mention a little about my subtitle. Poetry and prose are easy to understand. They are just what they say they are. But the Pith section of the book needs a little explanation.

Pith is the meaty part of something. The essence, as the internet tells us. (It is also the rind of citrus fruits, which we throw away, but that is not what I am getting at here.) So the pith of my book is just tidbits about writing. DailyPrompt is mostly for writers so I figure that my book ought to be for writers too. (And of course for my few faithful fans.) And what better way to get people to start writing a book than to tell them to stop crying and just get on with the writing. (I may have phrased it a bit differently than that, but probably not.) Oh sure. I say other things about writing, but I have a difficult time sugarcoating the truth. People who say they want to be writers ought to quit talking about it and just write. And publish. After all, if I can write and publish a blog and a couple dozen books, then anybody can. And yes, I truly mean anybody. Okay. Maybe not quite anybody, but most anybody. (Sorry about the rant.)

At any rate.

This book was quite fun because it is a collection of all the short writings that I wrote as responses to daily prompts. And yes, I did them daily (or nearly so). I would write a piece for the prompt and almost always finish it that day. It was quite fun. In fact (I am sure I did not plan it this way), when I got to 101 pieces (actually a few more than that), I collected them into a file. Then, I formatted it, created a book cover, and voilà, a book was born. Or something like that. It was not really much more work than that, but it took some time.

(Now, I must admit that I have not done the daily prompts daily for a while. But I will hopefully get back to it. After all, flash fiction is quite fun. And if you have been reading my blog for very long, you also know that I like poetry. And you also know that DailyPrompt has helped me remember that I like poetry.)

At any rate.

I am not sure that the collection of poetry, prose, and pith will catch anybody’s attention, but it was a fun book to write. Both as a daily exercise and as a formatting project. And it is a bit different than the other books that I have written. Which is good from a marketing perspective. Maybe. I am actually not sure that people really read writers who write about a lot of different things in a lot of different genres. Then again, people read Stephen King who has written short stories, horror, and fantasy. So maybe people will read the different writings that I have written too. (Then again, I am not Stephen King.)

I am sure that even with my little rant, you want to go out and buy my newest book, 101 DailyPrompt Pieces: Poetry, Prose, and Pith. It is available as a digital and physical book. I hope you enjoy it (and any of the other couple dozen books I have written).

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Snow’s Gang · 26 July 2025

“Okay Numbers, give me the breakdown.”

“Okay, Snow. You’ve got it.

“Our underground casinos are rakin’ in the dough. Dice is even thinkin’ of other ways to expand there. We don’t make as much money with the poker games, when they’re legit, but we still win a lot. Some of those boys need a place to play once they get kicked out of the real casinos. So we take ‘em in for a cut of their action. But if they cheat, we get all their take and they’re out on the streets again.

“Wrench is workin’ the streets. We’ve got mobile chop shops up all over the city. Kids and pros from all over bring their merchandise to us. They know we can handle it. And they know we do not get caught. Everybody knows that a high-speed chase gets turned away. We don’t wanna sully your Snow White record. Right?”

“Hardy har har. Just get on with it.”

“Right.” Numbers continues, “Slick is turning all our dough into righteous money. I don’t know how he does it, but that money is pure as snow. No pun intended.”

“Continue.”

“Muscles and Knuckles are makin’ sure everybody stays in line. And whenever we have anybody past due on our loan list… Well, let’s just say, they aren’t overdue anymore.” Numbers adds, “But those two never do more than break a bone or two.”

Snow frowns.

“Right. No more broken bones. I’ll let Muscles and Knuckles know that. You know, they’re used to workin’ for more unsavory characters than you.”

Snow nods. “Is that it?”

Numbers looks down at his feet. “Well, you know, Sleezy and me. We’ve been thinkin’ that there’s a lotta money in…”

“No! Absolutely not! We will not get into any of those trades. We’ve talked about this before. If you insist on bringing this up, you and Sleezy can find other… employment. Got it!”

“Yeah. I’ve got it.”

“Anything else?”

“No Boss. That’s…”

Sleezy interrupts by coming in the door. “Sorry, Miss White. I couldn’t keep these people out.”

Snow nods. “That’s okay Sleezy. It’ll be okay.”

Two men in suits come in. They are obviously police officers. Numbers looks at Snow. She nods at him. Sleezy and Numbers leave and shut the door behind them.

“Sorry to barge in on you, uh, Miss White.”

“No. I am sure you are not sorry.”

“Right.” He smiles. “Uh… I’m Detective Mike Prince. This is my trusty associate Detective Parker Steed.”

Snow looks at each of them in turn. She looks directly at Detective Prince. “Charmed, I’m sure.”

“Yeah.” Detective Prince smiles. “I get a lot of that.” He looks Snow in the eye. “Listen, I can’t help but think that you and your crew are in the wrong business. I mean you could do a lot of good with your seven… uh… associates…”

“Dwarfs.”

“Excuse me?”

“Dwarfs. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

“Uh… Sorry, miss, but I’ve seen your guys. Let’s see… Sleezy, Slick, Dice, Wrench, Numbers, Muscles, and Knuckles, right. They are definitely not dwarfs. At least no dwarf like I’ve ever seen.”

“Nevertheless.”

“Nevertheless…” Detective Prince looks down, then he looks up again. He smiles. “Hey look. I think we’ve got the perfect setup here. You just shut down your operations, and then you and me and your seven dwarfs can ride off into the sunset. Snow White. Her seven dwarfs. Prince Charming. It’ll be the perfect storybook ending.”

Snow White smiles. “You’re right. It would be the perfect ending.” She frowns. “But it won’t be happening. Even though I always knew that someday Mike Prince would come.”

[Note: Originally published at DailyPrompt.com. Also, I did not really write to the prompt. I wrote it, then found a prompt that was close. (Yes, I know that you do not need a prompt.). Sorry, no pictures. You can use your imagination.]

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My Dwarf Name · 19 July 2025

The Seven Dwarfs do not live at my house, nor am I one of them. But if I was an addition to the Seven Dwarfs of fame, my name would be Grunty.

It seems that the seven dwarfs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs fame are always on people’s minds. Or maybe just around me. I have been called, Sleepy and Dopey mostly, but I may have earned other names in my time. And yes, I mean earned.

I can sleep pretty much any time, any place. (I do not like to do so on the road though. And I tend to find a rest stop when I am too tired to drive.) But that notion of sleeping any time, any place has earned me the nickname Sleepy. Naps are serious things and they are not just for kids.

Also, I have also been known to say a dumb thing or two. Or to need somebody to explain a simple joke. Yes, I have been Dopey a time or two or seventeen.

I am sure that I have been Grumpy and Happy and Bashful and even Sneezy too. But I am sure nobody has ever called me Doc.

Which brings me to my current dwarf name. Grunty.

Now, I know that there is no eighth dwarf. And I know that if there was, his name would surely not be Grunty. But apparently, I am he. I am Grunty. No. I do not go to the gold, silver, or jewel mines with the others. I do not sing, “Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it’s off to work I go.” Although I might sing it every once in a while on my way to work. (Yes, I can be that cheerful.) Nor am I ever workin’ in a coal mine, goin’ down, down, down. (Oops. Wrong song.) But apparently, I am grunty. And being grunty means that I have earned that dwarf name.

I never noticed that I grunt a lot. And maybe I have not always done so. But apparently, I grunt when I do this and I grunt when I do that. Just doing mundane things like lifting dishes from the dishwasher to the cupboard. Or maybe just lifting my arms above my head. Or maybe even workin’ in a coal mine, goin’ down, down, down. Apparently, I grunt doing those things. So apparently, my dwarf name is Grunty.

I must say that I rather like having my own dwarf name rather than being referred to one of the seven famous dwarfs. I mean there are only so many times you can be called Dopey before you start to think that maybe you are dopey. I mean c’mon. Just because I place my glasses down somewhere and forget where I put them does not necessarily mean that I am Dopey. Or maybe it does.

Still, when all is said and done, I am glad that I have my own dwarf name now. I am glad that, even though it is not very flattering, my new dwarf name is Grunty.