If this is spam…why can’t it come in one of their great flavors (like Hickory Smoke or Teriyaki)?

Since we’re all a bit short on time, let’s jump right into the Story of the Week.

This week’s story was inspired by a prompt generously provided by reader I. B. Helgas.

    A Signature Failure

Overnight, the new police chief replaced the slogan, “To Protect and Serve” with, “We Can’t Meet Your Needs ’Til We Meet You!”

With that, she introduced her ground-breaking safety initiative, featuring her only strangers commit crime theory. The premise was simple: Have the cops turn strangers into friends by meeting every resident.

As a motivator, she issued autograph books. Officers earned bonuses based on how many resident autographs they collected.

While the cops were busy autograph-hunting at a picnic, a local thief who didn’t like picnics burglarized the chief’s home.

Noticeably irked, the new chief grumbled, “We’ve probably made enough friends.”

Prompt: My Give A Damn’s Busted

NOVEL update…Questionable Characters hasn’t generated any pages yet. That’s the bad news. The good news is that I feel like the improvements I’m making on the outline will result in monumental improvements to the overall story before I get to the next draft. I’m really trying hard to stick to the 15-beat story structure I’m using. It’s from the screenwriting world and it’s called Save the Cat. Maybe I’ll explain the origin of the name in another post. All you need to know is that the formula provides a way to tell a very solid story—at least that’s what it can do if it’s executed well. I believe it will happen for me (eventually). I def like where it’s heading—I just wish it was happening quicker, but I have nobody but myself to blame for that. I just need to keep my butt in the seat and keep plugging away at it.

So why am I writing this when I should be writing that? Great question.

L8er, Kids!

Scotty out