The Lazy Devil

It’s tough when your twenty-five year old son is hell-bent on becoming a writer.  You do wonder where you went wrong as a parent. Persecute yourself for having failed as a mother. Nights are spent wondering how your once, sweet little boy went from reading Possum Magic by Mem Fox to  —We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. 

Our son wants to write Horror. Claims given his childhood that this is the obvious choice.  I threaten to make his life more horrific. He laughs at me, threatening to base the evil character in his short story — The Lazy Devil — on me.

I respond with a swift, “You can go base that one on your father.”

We both laugh.  Maybe having a son as a writer will be okay. 

Three Wise Women

Wanting to get into the Christmastime spirit, the tea lady has taken to wearing a turban fashioned from tea towels.  The writer and C.E.O. of self-publishing Inc have done likewise, except the writer is wearing a tea cosy and the C.E.O. a beanie made from woven tea bags.  These three wise women from the west are seeking a star that will lead them to the Messiah — they have gifts for her — a newly sharpened pencil with which to write. An exercise book to write in.  And a bottomless box containing — time.