Welcome back to Blogmas 2025! If you're just joining us, Blogmas is my annual December tradition of posting holiday-themed content every single day from now through Christmas Day. It's ambitious, occasionally exhausting, and somehow I keep doing it year after year. This year, I've enlisted AI to provide daily writing prompts to keep things interesting. … Continue reading The Gift No One Gave
Magic
The Last Unicorn and the Tax Collector
A Fairy Tale for Modern Times In the kingdom of Eldermere, where morning mist clung to ancient oak trees and starlight pooled in forgotten meadows, there lived a tax collector named Cornelius Quillbottom. He was a man of precise measurements and careful calculations, with ink-stained fingers and spectacles that perpetually slipped down his pointed nose. … Continue reading The Last Unicorn and the Tax Collector
The Magnificent Bumbling of Wizard Fumblethorp
Wizard Fumblethorp adjusted his crooked pointed hat for the fifteenth time that morning and squinted at the scrying crystal that absolutely refused to show him anything useful. Instead of revealing the location of the dreaded Dark Lord Maleficus, it kept displaying what appeared to be someone's breakfast—a rather nice omelet, actually. "Perhaps if you tried … Continue reading The Magnificent Bumbling of Wizard Fumblethorp
The Memory Merchant of Bleecker Street
STOP! Don't read this story without going back and reading The Black Market Below Bleecker, a story I posted back in April. Today's entry is a follow-up that takes place in the same reality and features a few callbacks to that original tale. I promise, if you read that one first, you'll enjoy this one a … Continue reading The Memory Merchant of Bleecker Street
A to Z Challenge Reflections 2025
Whew! What a month it's been! As April comes to a close, I'm sitting here with a mixture of exhaustion, pride, and genuine disbelief that I've actually done it—I've written an entire novel in just 26 days as part of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. For those who haven't been following along, the A … Continue reading A to Z Challenge Reflections 2025
The Black Market Below Bleecker
Dave Winters considered himself a rational man. He recycled when convenient, tipped exactly 18%, and had strong opinions about people who took the elevator to the second floor. He worked in data analytics, lived alone in a reasonably-priced Greenwich Village apartment (inherited from his grandmother, thank you very much), and had never once entertained the … Continue reading The Black Market Below Bleecker
Harry Potter: Exploring Identity and Belonging Through Half-Blood Characters
In the rich tapestry of J.K. Rowling's wizarding world, few aspects offer as compelling a lens into themes of identity and belonging as the complex lives of half-blood characters. These witches and wizards, born of both magical and Muggle heritage, navigate a world where blood status carries deep social implications, even as their growing numbers … Continue reading Harry Potter: Exploring Identity and Belonging Through Half-Blood Characters
A Night Among the Living Books
Sarah's head jerked up from her textbook, a thin line of drool connecting her bottom lip to page 394 of An Introduction to Victorian Literature. Her neck ached from the awkward position she'd fallen asleep in, and the library was eerily quiet. Too quiet. The fluorescent lights were off, replaced by the dim glow of … Continue reading A Night Among the Living Books
High Noon and Dark Magic
The sun beat down mercilessly on Dead Man's Gulch as Thomas Cole stepped out onto the dusty street. His weathered boots left deep impressions in the parched earth, each step deliberate and heavy with the weight of years gone by. At forty-five, Cole had hoped his days of dueling were behind him, but fate had … Continue reading High Noon and Dark Magic
The Arcane Institute of Manhattan
The Chrysler Building towered over the bustling streets of Midtown Manhattan, its Art Deco spire piercing the early morning sky. To the casual observer, it was just another iconic skyscraper in New York City's impressive skyline. But for those in the know, it concealed a secret that defied the very laws of reality. Nestled within … Continue reading The Arcane Institute of Manhattan
The Confusing Middle 