Does the ghost of a librarian that just couldn’t bear to be parted from her books frequent the library in your hometown? Does she reside there peacefully unless disturbed? Does she react like the ghost librarian from Ghostbusters if you try to talk to her? Or is she more like the ghost librarian at the…
Category: Writing Prompts and Exercises
Fiction Writing, Halloween Articles, Phobias, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Phobias Associated with Halloween
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• •For Halloween, authors take advantage of things that scare people. Some write stories that will keep you awake at night; others write stories that scare you for the moment. Any phobia would be appropriate in a Halloween story, but the following ones are more closely associated with this spooky time of year. Write your own…
Fiction Writing, Halloween Articles, Holidays, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Mad Hatter Day and Other Unusual Holidays
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• •Fiction Writing, Halloween Articles, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Haunted Hotels in the U.S.
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• •Fiction Writing, Poisons, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Cyanide, the Classic Poison
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• •Arsenic, cyanide, and strychnine are the classic poisons. The seemingly innocent little old ladies in Arsenic and Old Lace, one of my favorite movies, used these three poisons in their deadly elderberry wine. One gallon of this toxic wine contained one teaspoon of arsenic, half a teaspoon of strychnine, and just a pinch of cyanide. Unsuspecting…
Collective Nouns, Fiction Writing, Phobias, Writing Prompts and Exercises
A Barrel of Monkeys
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• •Fiction Writing, Poisons, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Monkshood, the Killer Plant
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• •Monkshood, the queen of poisons, is known by many names: wolfsbane, aconite, leopard’s bane, women’s bane, devil’s helmet, blue rocket, and friar’s cap. Her beauty is astounding, but her flowers of white, cream, yellow, blue, or purple are deadly. The Plant and its Poison Each part of this gorgeous flower, especially the leaves and roots,…
Fiction Writing, Suffering for Beauty, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Suffering for Beauty – the Victorian Corset
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• •A corset is an undergarment worn by some women to enhance the shape of their body. It is made stiff by whalebone or some other stiff material, and it is tightened by having the laces pulled. Remember Scarlett O’Hara’s tiny waist? She achieved such a small middle by wearing a corset and having the laces…
Fiction Writing, Phobias, Writing Prompts and Exercises
Pediophobia, the Fear of Dolls
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• •A phobia is an extreme dread or fear of something. When a person encounters the object of his or her fear, he could experience anxiety, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, an irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, dry mouth, etc. While this person’s phobia may seem outrageous or unreasonable to you, I assure you it is not unreasonable…