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Everyday Drabbles #988: Dream Machine

May 30, 2023

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When the creators announced their technology to record and playback dreams, it was called a hoax, but they proved it worked and went into business.
The recording machine itself was simple, although franchises had a tendency to dress it up with LED lights. It scanned your brain activity and generated a recording in high-definition video.
Hardly anyone noticed the clause at the end of the consent form granting the company commercial rights to all dreams. Most people assumed that it meant reusing the recordings for advertising.
Until they hit their install base target, and the company turned on the paywall.

The Mountain’s Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!

The CRT Monitor

May 27, 2023

hughjodonnell Everyday Drabbles, Free Fiction , , , , Leave a comment

She was a collector of retro tech, and her latest acquisition was too good a deal to pass up.
The CRT monitor was dirt cheap, but that didn’t surprise her. Most folks wanted bulky items out of their storage spaces and never stopped to consider their value.
She didn’t expect the face staring back at her when she plugged it in. The pale girl reached out from behind the screen. She put her own hand against the glass reflexively.
The ghost could not remember how long she had been trapped in the dark. Perhaps this girl could break the spell.

The Mountain’s Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles #986: Red Rain

May 25, 2023

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When the red rain fell out of a clear sky, accompanied by a foul, burning stench, the village considered it to be the worst kind of omen.
The priest conducted an impromptu service in the church so that he might prepare our souls for what was coming next. He ranted before a packed house, speculating on the sins that had brought this punishment down upon us from Heaven.
I was the only one brave enough to stick out my tongue and taste the falling drops. It was worse than they thought.
The tomato juice factory two towns over had exploded.

Everyday Drabbles #985: Birthday Mirror

May 23, 2023

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Every year on his birthday, he would buy himself a mirror. He took each one home and spent an hour staring into his reflection. First, he’d memorize the person he was at that moment. Then he’d meditate on where he’d been and was going in life.
Then he would carefully wrap the mirror, label it precisely, and store it in his attic.
His friends believed it to be an affectation. But whenever he felt lost and directionless, he’d climb to the attic and unwrap a mirror. He would ask the ghost of his former self that lived inside for advice.

The Mountain’s Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!

Ride for Roswell 2023 Announcement Post!

May 23, 2023

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Hello Friends!It’s spring, and I am once again bicycling to end cancer.The Ride for Roswell is one of the largest charity cycling events in the U.S. and raises funds and awareness for Roswell Park Cancer Hospital. Roswell Park Hospital has treated and helped so many people in their fights against cancer, including my Mom, my aunt, and my best friend.The Ride for Roswell is a cause that is a very close to my heart. Today is also a donation matching day, the last of the season! If I can get five donations today, they will be matched up to $100! So please, if you can, help me in my ride to end cancer!

http://give.roswellpark.org/goto/HughJODonnell

Everyday Drabbles #984: Escape Attempt

May 21, 2023

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The Earth was dying. His solution was to escape: Find a new world and colonize it. He found a parallel Earth and jumped sideways, like changing the dial on a radio.
He found himself in a beautiful, lush forest. He smelled fresh, clean air for the first time in weeks. He heard birds singing for the first time in years. It felt like home, even if the leaves were pink instead of green.
He’d planned to steal this planet, but as he walked through the forest, he knew he couldn’t do it.
Instead, he went home and saved his world.

The Mountain’s Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!

Everyday Drabbles #983: Rainstorm

May 20, 2023

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She poured herself a cup of tea and listened to the rain pouring on the shelter roof. She’d heard that heavy drumming nowhere else in her travels.
She sat by the window and watched the storm outside rage across the rocky landscape, reshaping it before her eyes. She rarely took a break. Her duties kept her too busy to bask in the wonder of it all.
Later she would task a drone to collect samples. She would analyze them and send the data back to Earth. But for now, she just watched the rain: diamonds falling from an alien sky.

The Mountain’s Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!

Podcast Repost – Nutty Bites #242: Why We Love Short Fiction

May 18, 2023

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Nutty Bites 242: Why we Love Short Fiction with Hugh J. O'DonnellFriend of the show Hugh recently released a collection of drabbles, prompting Nutty and Tek to dive into, why we love short fiction.

You can now support Nutty Bites by donating to the Patreon campaign, through paypal or venmo () or through any other method. Patrons get the private RSS feed where you get shows before the main feed and you get special episodes like Nutty Bites after Dark and special bonus content; a thank you read on the podcast; and your promo or the promo of your choice played on the show (like in this episode).

Credits:
Recorded at NIMLAS Studios
Post Editing:  Nuchtchas
Music Licensed from Jerden Cooke

Nutty Bites is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Contact/Feedback:
(347) NUTTY42 or (347) 688-8942
www.facebook.com/groups/nuttybites/

Everyday Drabbles #982: Summoned Creature

May 18, 2023

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“Are you sure you’re alright?” The sorceress asked from atop his back. The demon gritted his fangs. It was the fifth time that morning.
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Because we could take a break if you’re tired.”
“Does my mistress require rest?”
“No.”
“Then we continue,” he declared. He beat his wings a little faster.
“If you’re sure.”
“You summoned me, Mistress.” He had been serving mortals for hundreds of years, corrupting their ambitions for his evil ends. His scheme was still millennia from completion.
But summoners today were so irritatingly polite he was tempted to destroy this planet and start again.

The Mountain’s Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!

Hugh Likes Comics: Batmanga

May 17, 2023

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Batman: The Juro Kuwata Batmanga Volunme 1
Written and Drawn by Juro Kuwata
Published by DC Comics

The Skinny: The Other ’60s Batman

During the height of the 1960s Batman TV show, Juro Kuwata a manga-ka who brought the Dynamic Duo to Japan with his own unique spin on the Caped Crusader.
 The resulting collection was not available in English in a complete format until 2014, but it is well worth your time and consideration. The art is a delightful mix of Golden Age DC and classic manga aesthetics, riding high on an international wave of the live-action Batman TV show’s success. The stories are all fairly straightforward and of their time, but also take some interesting swings. Eschewing the Dark Knight’s well-known rogues gallery, Kuwata turned his hand to making his own villains, opening with the very strong and exceptionally well-named “Lord Death Man” and setting Batman and Robin against a super-intelligent gorilla (not Gorilla Grodd) with a fun twist, a powerful mutant that echoes the creation of Marvel’s X-Men while looking like a weird space alien, and The Human Ball, which probably sounded less hilarious in the original Japanese.
 Kuwata’s art is striking and iconic, although the stories feel somewhat poorly served by manga’s black-and-white format. Several insert sections also include red tones for a deluxe feel, but one of the key clues for one of the villains includes the fact that his powers were color based. Which came out of left field in this black-and-white comic
Batman and Robin also have a distinct feel to them in this version, with Batman being much more of a man of action rather than a detective, and this Dick Grayson is delightfully sassy.
 While not exactly ground-breaking, this collection of ‘lost’ Batman comics feels both classic and astonishingly different. Kuwata’s style is distinct and iconic, while still highly recognizable, and Batman and Robin’s adventures don’t feel too far removed from his live-action TV Adventures. It is a curious little oddity that is well worth the time of fans of both anime and Batman, if only as a reminder of where the character has gone in his many years of publication history. Batmanga Volume 1 is available digitally from Comixology or in print from your local comics shop.

The Mountain’s Shadow is now available from Amazon and Smashwords!

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