Part 3

The next day was much less eventful for Francesca. It was me that was the brunt of a salon work-over, coming out with long nails, a new look and earrings. I must say that when I looked at myself in the mirror I thought I made a good looking girl. My height, or lack of it, was certainly a factor in my favour.

Making Changes
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

I am in distribution. Ok, so I drive a truck. But I also distribute.

Long-haul work is hard. Guys like me don’t get paid enough. What’s wrong with supplementing income? Shit goes missing all the time. Some of what goes missing ends up in my lock-up. Some of that gets sold for cash. What’s the big deal?

My sister is a bastard.

No, she isn’t a bully. Being a bully would mean that she cared in one way or another about another person. She’s completely egocentric and she does what she thinks is necessary to get what she wants. If I happen to be collateral damage, if I’m hurt or humiliated, too bad. That’s why I was appalled to learn that I was going to spend the summer at the beach in Florida.

Working for his Aunt in a small bookstore, Alexis yearns for some excitement.
But when it finds him, it might be more than he can handle.
It all starts with a little parcel the postman brings.

(This is a pilot-part for a serial I may or may not write. Depends on the feedback.)
(The pilot has a completed story line with plot hooks for an extention.)

Positively Patsy Part 13

He moved to the other picture and told me that this was a picture of the Lady Olivia Reece who died in 1670. He said that it was she that paid for the sarcophagus that is in the church where Richards’s body lies. I was interested that they had him in a special place and the vicar told me that Richard was a very rich man for his day.

Chapter 1: The Catch

A Positive Attitude Part 1

I have always had a positive attitude in my life, it has helped me through some very low times and I have learned to roll with the punches. I have not been a very good person lately, and have been running with a few bad lads. I am, to be frank, a good get-away driver and pretty handy with a knife, if needed.

TG heroine Mantra (Malibu Comics) realizes that she is missing six days of time and finds herself living in a completely different (and disconcerting) version of her own life. She has to find out what in blazes is going on.

A Special Kind of Revenge
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Positively Patsy Part 9

When she hung up I stopped to think for a moment. She had rattled off a figure of twenty five million as if it was chump change. I picked up my phone again and rang Sarah. After telling her where I was and the task that Grog had set me, I asked her about the payouts from the tour and queried the number that Riordan had quoted. She told me that the tour was sold out for every show; so we had grossed one billion, two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars.

The Dark Lady
A Short Story
Based on a literary mystery
By Maryanne Peters

That is what Mr Shakespeare called me – “the Dark Lady”. The name is right enough. My mother was mulatto. She was attractive enough to earn the affection of the man what owned her. I was born by that joinder. To my good fortune my blood father had good conscience enough to provide a little for my mother, and by her graces when I enjoyed them, myself.

Positively Patsy Part 7

On the Wednesday evening there was a party, hosted by Annette and Maxine L’Estrange so, of course, all the girls had to look their best. We all were taken to the new building which was now fully equipped for the production of high fashion and cosmetics. The group now included Peggy, Marion, Libby and Janet as well as Angela and Mary. We were all stripped, provided with underwear, new make-up, shoes and evening dresses to die for.

Egypt, Eight Years Ago, Newly Discovered Archaeological Dig:
“Bart, tell me again why we are out here checking this site out?” Casey couldn’t see how this had anything to do with the CIA or National Security.

“The boys at Langley intercepted a message saying that an unusual artifact of unknown origin had been found.” Bart Hardy hated being out in the desert at night.

Jane took a deep breath as she peered toward the three hundred gallon tank that was slowly being filled with water. She was starting to have second thoughts about volunteering for the dunking booth now. As she released her breath she did her best to push those thoughts away from her. It was after all too late to back out now. And so with a growing sense of uneasiness she watched as the last few gallons of water were pumped into the tank.

Four men with similar interests come together for an All Hallow’s Eve private party to include something completely different. These extraordinary men of the world embrace one more new experience.

Positively Patsy Part 5

When we went to get dressed for the first show on the Friday evening we found that Maxine had supplied us with outfits with a Japanese flavour. All the girls were in variations of the ‘Lolita’ fashion so loved by young Japanese girls, while the boys had button-to-the-shoulder tunics with dragons front and back. On any other day I would have thought it over the top but, having walked around Tokyo and seen what was being worn in the street, I was interested to see what the audience, and the media, thought of our gear.

When Theodor Geisel wrote the Cat in the Hat he was already a well-established children’s author. Several of his books had been made into animated cartoons.

His publisher asked him to do what he could to reduce the literacy problem in the United States by writing a book that could be used as a reading primer. He was given a list of 225 words (There’s dispute on the actual number.) and told to make a story out of those words.

I didn’t learn to read by reading The Cat in the Hat. It didn’t come out until 1957 when I was nine and probably on to The Bobbsey Twins. I do remember reading The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins in the first grade, and being enthralled.

I can’t even estimate the number of hours I’ve spent with my children and grandchildren on my lap reading his wonderful “Dr. Seuss” books. In his honor, I made a list of the words used in The Cat in the Hat and devised a TG poem using only those words.

The sun would not shine.
I was too sad to play.
So we sat in the house
On that sad, sad, bad day.

Positively Patsy Part 3

We went back to the hotel and had dinner. In the evening we were sitting in the lounge when Grog came in with Peggy. He came over to me and asked if we could have a private conversation so we moved to a side room and sat around a table. He said that he had told Peggy about his plans for the final show and that she would support him afterwards.

Her Roommate
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

He was really no threat to our relationship. I suppose it says something about my insecurity that I thought he might be. I have heard it said that there are reachers and settlers in every relationship. A guy like me reaches high, and a girl like Miranda is willing to drop a rung or two to go out with me. That’s how I felt anyway.

On the planet Zhor, as in most pre-modern societies, careers appealing to women can at first seem rather restricted. But in so complex a civilization as Zhor's, a capable woman -- if determined enough --may discover that some rather unique fields of endeavor lay open to her. Lady Caron thinks that she has found one that will suit her nicely.

This story is inspired by Ranbarth's novelette "The Lancer's Tale," available at Fictionmania.

The Huntress
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

Positively Patsy Part 1

I sat there at a table in a nightclub in Hanoi and the lass in front of me had just told me she may be Grogs daughter without knowing just what this may mean. Not wanting to alert Pietro to the ramifications of the situation I just laughed and said that I had heard about loving drink but that was a good one.

Grant drove.

He spent Christmas with his folks in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, but now he had to get back to his job in St. Louis, Missouri. He had plenty of time, as it was Friday, and he didn’t start work until Monday. He figured he could just enjoy the drive. He would go to Omaha, then drop down through Council Bluffs to Kansas City, then cross Missouri to St. Louis.