Black Writer’s Weekend Atlanta 8/5/23

Pop Quiz at Lake Chagrin

  A man dreams he is sinking in the midst of a dying lake. Severe drought was causing the lake to recede at an unprecedented rate, but he had somehow found himself in the deepest part. The dreamer kept sinking despite furiously kicking his legs and flailing his...

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Black Writer’s Weekend Atlanta 8/5/23

Pop Quiz at Auntie’s

So, you’re visiting relatives in a small southern town and you awake with a severe headache. The morning sunlight feels like glass shards in your brain. As you search for the bathroom to get some Tylenol, you mistakenly turn left instead of right. When you look into...

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Black Writer’s Weekend Atlanta 8/5/23

Paris Minton

“Listen honey,” I said despite my thrumming heart. “You’re gorgeous. I only meet a woman like you once every 5 years or so. But when I do, somebody always ends up wantin’ to kill me. And you know I could find me a homely girl and be half as happy and live twice as...

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Black Writer’s Weekend Atlanta 8/5/23

Pop Quiz in a Cemetery

So, you’re standing alone in a cemetery as the sun is rising behind you. Suddenly, you hear someone say, “Hey, could you move?” You step to one side and turn to look around, but you see no one. You turn the other way and look around. Again, you see no one. Then you...

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Black Writer’s Weekend Atlanta 8/5/23

Now, Phoeby . . .

“Now Phoeby, don’t feel too mean with the rest of ’em ’cause  they’s parched up from not knowin’ things. Them meat skins is gotta rattle to make out they’s alive. Let ’em consulate themselves with talk, ’cause talkin’ don’t amount to a hill of beans when you can’t do...

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Black Writer’s Weekend Atlanta 8/5/23

The Dreamer

Dreams are a source of amazement, speculation, and intense study. The images dancing through our minds while we sleep seem to be telling us something about our past, present, or future. But, what are the sources of dreams? Are they simply fragments of our inner selves...

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Black Writer’s Weekend Atlanta 8/5/23

Flying

In “Time Conjurer”, I use the term “flying” to denote time travel my characters do by moving through the surfaces of photographs. This flight is meant to allow them access to people and places they cherish. These flights start as cathartic “vacations”, but become...

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Black Writer’s Weekend Atlanta 8/5/23

If I could go back…

Every time I see a new movie about a figure from the past I have to ask why our culture wants to re-examine and relive the past from the perspective of a medieval king, a Roman hero, a cowboy or a 1960s Rock star. On one hand, I believe some people wish to lose...

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