Mary's 'Maginings and Musings

This conjuring was inspired by a “who’s on first”-type conversations I had with my older brother, Dan. You may know a couple named Myrna and Guy, but they are not the people in this fictitious tale. I just happen to like the names. This tiny story, recorded by the talented Neil Boone, I call “Mister and Miscommunication “.

90 percent of my writing is drivel—this putting pen to paper is the calisthenics I’ve been doing since I discovered the sport about 20 years ago. But here's the thing, I think some of it is really good. If I feel something when I write, isn’t there a chance someone else will too? Frost famously said no tears for the writer, no tears for the reader. But, the truth is no writing has universal appeal...

This story, entitled Slither, is the first ‘magining I’m recording for this podcast. There’s a reason for that. I wrote it in a class I took with Maureen Ryan Griffin in 2007. It was one of my earliest conjuring. When Ruth Moose, a professor of Creative Writing at UNC Chapel Hill, sponsored a Flash Fiction Contest through the Charlotte Writer’s Club in 2012, I shaped and edited Slither and submitt...

After my mother, Esther Struble, retired from a career in health care, she took up the hobby of writing. There certainly is some apple and tree stuff going on with this family. The photo you see of her was snapped at a book release party my brother arranged for her in Austin, Texas. I’m sure her holding the big fat book in the picture was their idea of a joke. Her book was only 54 pages long. Beca...

One of my favorite resources for writing prompts is the Writer’s Digest’s “Your Story” contest. Every other issue, the magazine displays a photo prompt, or sometimes a phrase, and asks for stories based on the prompt, 650 words or less. There is no entry fee, and the deadline is long allowing plenty of time for the seed to germinate, and grow into a fully formed story. This story is based on this...

In 2007 and before, WFAE invited writers in the community to submit opinion essays that, if accepted, the submitter would read on the air. I was very lucky to have had four of those accepted and air. These have since been broomed from the WFAE archives, but luckily my son, Brian, helped me save them on Soundcloud before they disappeared into thin air. This first one, which I call Life’s Toys, was...

For a number of years, our daughter, Cailin, came up with a daily email treat through the month of December. It was a beautiful, and thoughtful online Advent Calendar. This posting, the last one in the year 2019, was about a cassette tape I’d unearthed. She had recorded many ditties on the tape (which was intended for entertainment on the road) but this particular song is her original work, and ab...

An ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art . Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning.

This poem and the song that follows are about the train that washed off a railroad bridge in Belmont, North Carolina – the result of a catastrophic flood that happened over one hundred years ago – on July 17, 1916. I heard about this devastating flood and the train plunging into the river and thought it might make a good song. So I decided to learn all about it. I nearly went blind reading the 100...

In 2014 the alternative press newspaper, Creative Loafing, ran a short story contest. The prompt was “I forgot to pay my heat bill”. That was the genesis for this tale. It didn’t win then. It needed lots of work. Over the past 8 years, I edited and edited the story, one adjustment was to make it “media res”….so when the story opens it’s Ed discovering that the snakes he was planning to sell to reg...

He was almost four years old for god’s sake. A bit late for a weaning party, I thought. But, Julie is an earthy, touchy feely mother – in fact president of the La Leche League -- so who was I to tell her when to quit breast feeding?

The Mooresville Art Gallery in North Carolina turned the idea of Ekphrastic Writing on its head. Usually ekphrastic writing is based on a work of art, a la the book The Girl with the Pearl Earring , written by Tracy Chevalier, which is based on the subject in a painting by Vermeer. However, Mooresville challenged artists to do the opposite – create a work of art based on a piece of writing. My poe...

On Bois Blanc Island in Michigan, the place we visit in the summer, there are no grocery stores. So, supplies hauled over on the one-and-only ferry are a precious commodity, especially alcohol. This musing, my recollection of a real event, is about the tragic loss of a bottle of gold-labeled Francis Ford Coppola Cabernet while enroute to the island.

The following is my second essay--or musing--that aired on Charlotte’s local NPR station. This commentary was a response to receiving a direct mail solicitation about a motorized wheelchair. Yeah, I’m aging, but nowhere near needing that device! This musing is entitled “Getting Old is Hell”.

Before these recordings, I used to read some of my pieces to friends…sort of like a live podcast at the dinner table. The one that follows, about us contracting with a cremation service, prompted our friends, Terry and John to do the same. They gave this cremation service as a present to each other last year for Christmas. John died last week. Terry only needed to make one phone call and everythin...

This little conjuring is based on a Writer’s Digest photo prompt of a fellow standing in front of a Christmas tree. It is what I imagined the poor sod might be going through. The very talented voice actor, Neil Boone, brought the character to life.

Awhile ago I wrote a little something to be read at my funeral, or whatever will take place after my passing. And now that our cremations have been paid for, I might as well also record my eulogy. Who knows when that grim reaper with his trusty scythe might be comin’ ‘round the corner? Note the music source: "Promises to Keep" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Att...

The following piece won First Place in the 2015 Ruth Moose Flash Fiction Contest. The judge of the contest, Mary Curtis, said this about Gone Astray: "The simplicity of the story is effective, and deceptive. Through the protagonist, you learn the whole story and get a sense of an entire cast of characters. The writer conveys a roller coaster of emotions – humor, sadness, ruefulness, self pity, emp...

The story that follows, "The Medicine Man", was written by my mother. She died in 2008 at the age of 93. She would be so happy that this semi-autobiographical story, based on a childhood experience, is finally seeing the light of day. Esther was a treasure who inhabited the world with immense grace. Voice actor, Kathy Poelker, recorded this tale. I hope you enjoy my mother’s story as much as I do.

The piece you’re about to hear won first place in the 2022 Ruth Moose Flash Fiction Contest. The way this story came to be crystallizes why I love to write. Most everyone has enjoyed the sport of firefly catching, and that’s how the story started – reflecting on wonderful summer nights in my backyard. Setting the story in a bar with flashing lights added another layer. This flash piece (that’s fun...

Another WFAE Radio Commentary.

Another WFAE Radio Commentary.

The following are memories of my dad’s barber shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His original barber license was issued on December 10th, 1929, one month after his 19th birthday, in Jonesville, Michigan. I call this little recounting “Kenny’s Barber Shop”

To honor her deceased husband, Linda Matney, a writer friend of mine raised funds to build a Labyrinth garden in the center of Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. Following the completion of this beautiful tribute, she decided to pull together an anthology of reflections on heaven. Linda had been imagining heaven since the loss of her mother when she was seven. The death of her bel...

I signed up for an online writing class in 2007 well before online was even a thing. Sarah Selecky is a Canadian force-to-be-reckoned with. Her class, The Story Course, is informative and inspirational. I can’t remember what specifically prompted the following story, but whatever it was, it worked. I love the man in this story and the cat that adopted him. The story, entitled Edgar & Harley, w...