illustration - amanda blake

This little piece from Amanda Blake is amazing - and all because of
its title: 15 people holding on to that which will determine their fate.
Wow.  Had to share.  Hopefully that gets your storytelling gears going..

on writing - kij johnson

But stories should not be cheap; they should cost the writer
something, and the reader something else.

- Kij Johnson 

photo stories - news - four leaf clovers

My short story "Four Leaf Clovers" is now up on The Colored Lens
to read for free.  Head on over for a spot of entertainment..

By aco

And below the fold...  some black and white photos I stumbled
across on Flickr today that seemed to me to beg for stories.
What is going on?  What will happen next?  Any ideas?

the well written - jonathan stroud

The bristling eyebrows shot up in mock surprise. Mesmerized, the
boy watched them disappear under the hanging thatch of white hair.
There, almost coyly, they remained just out of sight for a moment,
before suddenly descending with a terrible finality and weight.

- Jonathan Stroud, The Amulet of Samarkand

By Sarah Gordon (Rather Lemony)

a dreamer's wisdom - l. frank baum

I believe that dreams - day dreams, you know, with your eyes wide
open and your brain machinery whizzing - are likely to lead to the
betterment of the world.  The imaginative child will become the
imaginative man or woman most apt to create, invent, and therefore
to foster civilization.  A prominent educator tells me that fairy tales
are of untold value in developing imagination in the young. 
I believe it.

- L. Frank Baum

illustration - megan kimber

I would describe Megan as a master of visual personality.  Take
the first image, for example - each character has a specific posture,
expression, and visual leaning that fantastically communicate her
personality.  And no two are alike.  There are characters here
already, waiting for words, for histories, for paths to travel down.
Amazing.