27 March 2020

Published March 25, 2020 by rochellewisoff

The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.

PHOTO PROMPT © Jeff Arnold

CLICK THE FROG TO JOIN!

Another installment to celebrate Women’s History Month. 😀 This week, a woman from my own tribe. Some of us remember her from the TV show in the 60’s called “I’ve Got a Secret.”

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

FOR SUCH A TIME

“I would’ve been taller.” Bella gaffed off her daughter’s complaints. “But we couldn’t afford it. Back to your homework.”

At 5’10”, twelve-year-old Bess stood head and shoulders above her classmates, garnering her the role of Olive Oyl in the school play. An honor she didn’t want.

As she matured, her awkwardness became statuesque grace.

Bess’s sister entered her in the Miss New York beauty pageant. Although embarrassed, she competed, refusing to use a pseudonym that didn’t sound “so Jewish.”

On August 15, 1945, in the shadow of the liberation of Auschwitz, Bess Myerson proudly wore the crown of Miss America.

*******

20 March 2020

Published March 18, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.

PHOTO PROMPT © J Hardy Carroll

Green, not blue, click on the frog anyway. (You were expecting maybe poetry?)

A little snippet about Claudette Colvin not COVID 😉 Another woman history glossed over.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

WRITE ME DOWN IN HISTORY

“’Thy kingdom come…’” The fifteen-year-old girl huddled on the musty cot, gazing through jail cell bars. Her arms ached from brutal policemen’s hands, gauging and yanking. “’…Thy will be done…’”

“Stand strong,” whispered Sojourner Truth.

“You shall overcome,” sang Harriet Tubman.

Now in her 90’s, Claudette Colvin recalls that fateful Wednesday, March 2, 1955, when she refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman.

“If she’d been an elderly white woman, I might have given her my seat.”

Few know or remember it was a child who inspired Rosa Parks and led her people out of bondage.

*

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It’s a Writer’s Life

Published March 13, 2020 by rochellewisoff

At first meeting with Kathleen Rodgers, we found we had much in common. Both of us are military wives as well as authors. As life has a way of separating even the best of friends, our writing paths took us in different directions. So it has been such a pleasure to reconnect with her recently. Now we have an agent in common as well–Diane Nine, president of Nine Speakers

Kathleen and me. We connected at first meeting. We found we have a lot in common. (Height isn’t one of them.)

About three weeks ago, in conversation, she asked if I’d ever thought of painting an old typewriter. She thought it would make a great note card for authors. I found the prospect somewhat daunting but decided I had nothing to lose. I’m extremely pleased with the outcome. Even my husband had only “Wow” to say about it. 😀

NEW!

So intent on promoting the prints and note cards, Kathleen has posted this wonderful, if not head-swelling, article on her blog. CLICK HERE for her side of the story. 😀

13 March 2020

Published March 11, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.

PHOTO PROMPT © Ceayr

The frog’s not blue, but will be if you don’t click her.

Genre: Women’s History

Word Count: 100

FROSTED YELLOW WILLOW

“Wong Liu Tsong often played hooky from school to see movies at the Nickelodeon.” Lily Wu read her report aloud. “When she grew up, she changed her name to Anna May Wong and overcame many obstacles to become a famous film star.”

Tim Wu rolled his eyes. “If it’s a great Chinese actor you want, write about Jackie Chan.”

“It’s Women’s History Month. Now—one of Anna’s biggest disappointments came in 1935 when Hollywood passed her over for the role a Chinese woman in The Good Earth.”

“So?”

“The role went to a Caucasian actress. What’s wrong with this picture?”

*Frosted Yellow Willow is the literal translation of Wong Tsiu Tsong.

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6 March 2020

Published March 4, 2020 by rochellewisoff

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The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

The frog is far from blue. Click him anyway.

Some of you might remember the following story. It’s a retread from the summer of 2014. When it came up in conversation recently, I decided it was time to give it another run. Different photo and some know the reason why. 😉

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Word Count: 100

WHAT’S ON THE MENU?

“There’s so much I haven’t seen, Mom.”

“It’ll keep. You’re only eighteen.”

“I’m a woman.”

“You’re still a child. The city will eat you alive.”

“It’s a full scholarship.”

Three months later, miles from parental scrutiny, Evelyn strolled into the Pratt Institute studio, virgin sketchbook under her arm.

She lowered herself onto an art bench, looked up at the statuesque model on a raised platform, held her pencil erect at arm’s length to calculate perspective and, with great relish, contemplated all that nature had bestowed upon him.

“Study hard,” her mother had said.

Evelyn smiled.

“I will, Mom, I will.”

Weekend Writing Prompt – “EPOCH”

Published February 29, 2020 by rochellewisoff

A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s Comment Section

I love the way these word prompts send me in very different directions. Usually straight down Memory Lane. 27 words, title not included.

THIS, THAT AND RECENTLY, THE OTHER

The day my anthology debuted was

overwhelming

epoch.

I write.

The publisher mysteriously vanished.

Still I write.

Four more books-in-print later,

I write.

I write.

I write.

On the verge of a new career in 2011.

Apologies to the inspirational Maya Angelou, may her memory be blessed.

Weekend Writing Prompt – Abysmal

Published February 22, 2020 by rochellewisoff

A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s Comment Section

Once more the word prompt took me to a personal place. I’ve used this very word to describe the following story. 93 words, not counting the title. Dedicated to a very dear friend who had a hand in my being alive to write this story.

HIS SUCCESS STORY

One would think a book signing at Barnes and Noble would be a guaranteed success. Right? Of course, right!

Or not.

Few patrons stopped to chat. I signed some of my three-hundred-page masterpieces with “Shalom, Rochelle.”

Then my former therapist, who saw me through my darkest days, showed up.

I threw my arms around him. “Wayne, you came!”

He beamed like a proud father. “How could I not?”

Four months later I learned of his passing.

In a single moment, my perception of that Saturday evening went from “abysmal failure” to “cherished memory”.

Wayne’s the one in the Hawaiian shirt.

WEEKEND WRITING PROMPT – MORPHOLOGY

Published November 30, 2019 by rochellewisoff

A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in Sammi’s Comment Section.

GRAMMATACIDE 101

Thank John Garland for inventing the English dictionary and Al Gore for the internet. Without them I would or I’d never’ve known about morphology or free (bad) and bound morphemes (badly). Hence, this lunacy might’ve been unreadable.

1 November 2019

Published October 30, 2019 by rochellewisoff

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The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.

PHOTO PROMPT © Fatima Fakier Deria

The frog isn’t blue but click him anyway. 😉

Genre: Historical Fiction

Word Count: 100

THE LIFE OF THE PARTY

Hibiscus aka Brownie brushed away a tear as she put the finishing touches on her article for the Detroit News. She wrote a good life, but her “Love-Haven” column was fantasy.

A divorced single mother, she became a top saleslady for Stanley Home Products.

However, a bowl made from polyethylene slag changed her life.

“Its burping lid is amazing.” At parties she dropped the full plastic bowl on the floor. It remained sealed, clinching sale after sale.

“Brownie Wise, my vice-president, you could sweet-talk a bee out of its honey,” said inventor Earl Tupper.

Hence, the Tupperware™ party was born.

*

The first woman to ever be on the cover of Business Week, Brownie Wise was a force with which to reckon. Sadly, her story doesn’t have a happy ending. Thanks to Earl Tupper’s ego, her name was expunged from the Tupperware company. While Earl Tupper sold the company for millions, Brownie Wise lived the rest of her life in obscurity, refusing to even own a piece of Tupperware.

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Brownie and Jerry Wise

Earl Tupper showing Brownie the raw slag

Brownie at her best

27 September 2019

Published September 25, 2019 by rochellewisoff

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The next photo is the PROMPT. Remember, all photos are property of the photographer, donated for use in Friday Fictioneers only. They shouldn’t be used for any other purpose without express permission. It is proper etiquette to give the contributor credit.

Frog delightfully rendered by Keith Hillman

Genre: Hysterical Friction

Word Count: 100

CRY OR LAUGH?

Despite prognosticators’ predictions for probable precipitation, we preferred not to pass up a potentially profitable fair.

Although overcast, no rain befell us Saturday morning. Excited energy prevailed over the park full of local artists whose crafts ranged from jewelry and ceramics to paintings and photography.

Patrons crowded my tent.

“Beautiful work.

“Magnificent watercolor technique.”

Sprinkles gave way to downpour. The crowds dispersed.

We did our best to shield my vulnerable artwork.

Sales from a few bedraggled diehards kept the day from being a total bust.

I shrugged and grinned at my damp-around-the-edges husband. “Not exactly our finest hour, is it?”

***

The rain was quite heavy at times. The tent next to ours collapsed on the artists and their ceramics. The park was a virtual swamp. Although some came back for day 2 on Sunday, many of us did not. Below are a few pictures of the ill-fated event.