Jim Stitzel
Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of WordsExcerpts from Life
NaNoWriMo 2013 — Won!
So I'm writing a book. I can't begin to describe the thrill it gives me to be able to say those words. I've known for years that I wanted to be a writer of speculative fiction. I've toyed and dabbled with my craft, honing it and shaping it to the point where I feel...
Mousetrap
We have a mouse problem, and I am single-handedly fighting a one-trap war against these invasive, but adorable, little rodents. Our first sign that we had a problem was when we realized we could frequently spot, in the span of less than a minute, no fewer than four...
NaNoWriMo 2013 – Week One
Yesterday's writing saw the end of the first week of this year's NaNoWriMo for me. I'm actually really quite pleased with the numbers I've been able to put up in just the first week -- when I went to bed last night, I'd written 25,312 words in seven days. Coming at...
Fiction
Heart of Steel
He sat before his workbench, looking at his heart lying on the workspace before him. The steel mechanism that sustained his life lay open like a book, hinge at the back, clasp at the front (currently undone), gears and other clockwork mechanisms turning and clicking...
Pathways in the Dark
The room, if you can call it that, for it was enormous, easily the largest single chamber I'd seen down here in the dark, was a nightmare landscape of chaos. I had to shake my head and blink my eyes several times to try to rid myself of the vertigo it induced just...
Chase in the Dark
I ran through the tunnels, following the sounds of your laughter as they bounced off the walls around me. The shape of the tunnels played tricks on my ears -- every time I thought I was close to catching you, I turned a corner to find you were no longer there. You...