It seems like it was only a week ago since we last spoke. We were so innocent back then, weren’t we? We hadn’t even heard the term “path of totality.” I wonder how we were ever able to intelligently discuss religious experiences like this week’s total eclipse of the sun—and yet we did.

But enough of my rambling. Let’s get to the story of the week, prompt provided by Sue Suhn.

     So Glad They Included Me

The police department’s conference room is filled with detectives and FBI agents—mostly men, operating a bloated task force, top-heavy in supervision, destined for failure.

I stand in the corner, a junior detective, amused by the debacle. We’re up against a homicidal maniac who’s—get this, a woman. This is uncharted waters, and the baffled profilers offer ludicrous theories: She’s a man-hater… she’s a vigilante… she’s nonbinary with male tendencies…

Based on what I’m seeing, they’ll never catch me because they’ve never seen anything like me, and honestly, neither have I.

I’m just a sick and twisted girl.

Good luck, boys.

Prompt: Perfect ratio of fear and irritation.

Turning now to the latest update on my novel (Questionable Characters), I’m determined to meet my self-imposed deadline of 4/18 for the next draft (which is really just a lot of revisions and clean ups). I know I’ll get through the second round, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to slash as much as I’d like when it comes to my word count. I’m currently sitting at 103,000 words, and ideally, I’d love to send my manuscript off to an editor who only has to deal with about 90,000 words. As soon as I get through this second round, I’m really hoping to excise a lot of stuff that can clearly die on the cutting room floor. I have a document where I’m saving everything I cut, so if I decide I want to put something back, I should be able to do so. Entire paragraphs, possibly even entire scenes, will be up for potential cutting. The bottom line is that I can’t be too precious. There will be blood.

In other news, I’ll be attending my first poetry slam this Friday, 4/12, at 9 pm at Old Capitol Books in downtown Monterey on Alvarado Street. I plan to sign up and read some of my 101-word stories. If you’re as curious as I am to see what this will look like, feel free to stop by.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for listening.

Scotty out