What of the sanguine yesterday that you prize so much the dirty linoleum the patterns in the dust internal screams like fractals of light will you ever see inside that obsidian palace Words and photography by Denise Ruttan
Category: writing
Defiant Hemlock returns in December
I am sorry to disappoint the two people who keep up with my serialized neo-noir micro fiction story, “Defiant Hemlock,” but I have decided to put it on hold until at least December. I didn’t realize how much creative energy writing a novel would occupy in my brain, so I’d like to devote the next […]
Searching for music in a world of monthly subscriptions
I have an older iPhone 6s. Its battery is still fine. It still works just fine. Its screen is pristine and not cracked. So I have not wanted to pay hundreds of dollars for the latest model. But I decided to try Apple Music the other week, thinking, $10 a month gets you all these […]
Starship Earth
He doesn’t like this. The way the stars feel in his hands. All cold and rotten, slimy, like the fish he ate for dinner. He wants to clean himself. He desires to see his skin again. Empty of the callouses of the constellations. Will it ever be home? Will he ever come apart at the […]
Why I Don’t Read Book Reviews
This may sound strange from someone who writes book reviews for this blog. But I typically don’t read reviews in order to influence my decision on whether to purchase a book. I have been told that 80 percent of readers use reviews as their decision point, but I’m not in that group. Here is why. […]
Why Editors Matter
On Twitter, someone makes a controversial statement about writing that goes viral, and then other writers must glom on with subtweets to dissent. The current debate is regarding whether writers need editors. I find this debate rather perplexing because I don’t come from a fiction background, except for my undergraduate degree; I come from a […]
Flash Fiction: Yearning for Water
I present to you another piece in my series of unrelated flash fiction pieces. All photography is shot by me. “Yearning for Water” Story and Photographs by Denise Ruttan Kyra Bartleby emerged from the water, her skin icy at the sudden shock of air. She sat at the edge of the swimming pool and dangled […]
Flash Fiction: “Faery Dust”
I am going to be writing a series of flash fiction pieces to improve my chops to get ready to submit some for publication. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the shorter the work of fiction, the easier it becomes; because short fiction is hard and flash fiction is some of the hardest of […]
A few tips to take better photos from just your phone camera
Many people have more time on their hands now and want to learn new skills. Perhaps this is you and you’d like to improve your photography knowledge. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need an expensive camera to take good photographs; you just need a basic understanding of light and composition. A camera is just […]
On experimenting with exploring social media audiences for marketing
Two years ago, I quit Facebook. It was bad for my mental health, and I didn’t trust Mark Zuckerberg after his company’s handling of Russian interference in American elections. For some reason, having your friends in a private room judging you is more intimidating than a bunch of strangers on Twitter or Instagram judging you. […]
