The Remodel

I wrote the following story for one of my Fiverr jobs. I enjoyed writing it and the customer was happy as well. Win win! {:0)

Professor Armitan looked over the blueprints of the old mansion and scorned the amount of wasted space, especially in the attic. The attic would be perfect for an observatory! he thought. It’s always important to know where the stars before researching the more esoteric topics.

Armitan sat on the porch and watched the sun sparkle over Puget Sound while he called Flying Dormer to set up a consultation. Due to the limited space around the mansion caused by trees, the fact that some of the construction would be done off-site would make it a lot easier to manage.

At the consultation Armitan explained the windows he’d want in the attic for the observatory, as well as the expansions he wanted for a larger library, and the laboratory for the smaller experiments. Storage for chemicals, essential salts, and various compounds would be required for the latter. Plus plenty of ventilation. The largest part of the project would be the basement. Plenty of room for storing large boxes.

The consultant considered the drawings and made several suggestions of ways to improve on the ideas the professor had, for which he was very grateful. He was a professor, not an architect, after all.

When construction started, the crew was very professional and answered questions with easy to understand explanations. A few issues arose when they came across unexpected deviations from what was on the blueprints and what was actually in the house, but they easily were able to adjust their plans, and even made some special editions that the Professor wasn’t expecting, but would very much enjoy. Who doesn’t want a secret passage in their mansion?

When all the construction was complete, the professor was able to research and experiment in comfort and seclusion, where the eyes of modern science would not pry.

Share

I talked about 100 word stories at Toastmasters

Last week I spoke my second Toastmasters speech. It was project #2 about organizing. My speech was How to Write a 100 Word Story. As I appear to have a problem with putting my hands in my pockets while speaking, I write the following story as an example:

Edward Prairie Dog Hands

When talking to people, Edward habitually put his hands in and out of his pockets.

While visiting his forest-dwelling grandmother, who many of the cousins claimed could cast dark druid magic, she confronted his habit, telling him he had atrocious manners for a young boy. She warned him that something terrible would happen if he didn’t change his barbarous ways.

Sadly, Edward had trouble breaking the habit. One day he awoke to find his hands transmuted into wood. His habit remained until one day the friction of moving his hands into and out of his pockets set them aflame.

All I did aside from that in preparation was to make a simple outline on the areas I wanted to talk about. I did practice a few times, but I really needed to a few more times.

I did rewrite the story a few times as I practiced, realizing it wasn’t as good as it could be, and not a great example. After I finished it, I was much happier with the story and I could use the parts I rewrote as part of the speech. I did for get to mention how I changed the detail of the grandmother from simple being accused of casting dark magic into where she lived in a forest and cast druid magic. I did that so the fact Edward’s hands turning to wood would be less random and have foreshadowing.

Overall I did ok, but I botched the ending by adding some unplanned comments that trailed on and degraded the clear and strong ending. I’ll get better.

Share

My First PDF eBook is now for sale!

I’ve created a widget in my page on the top right where you can now purchase a downloadable, DRM free pdf of my latest story “Send In”.

I plan to make this available on the Kindle also.

For promotion I may give away review copies and run some other giveaways. Keep an eye out here for details.

Share