Musings & Tales

A night light for safety seemed like such a bright idea. Unfortunately, I failed to account for a few things lurking in the shadows—starting with the shadows themselves. Here's how my genius home upgrade lasted exactly one night. 📖 Read Bright Idea. Too Bright.  on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning...

The Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, 1776. Except they didn't. That famous giant signature didn't happen until August. So why do we celebrate the Fourth? Join novelist D. K. Wall for a short, mostly-true musing untangling the gloriously messy story of how America picked the day to celebrate its birthday. Twelve minutes. Bring a sparkler. 📖 Read 250 Ye...

Everything about modern customer service is designed to help us—except the part where we actually get help. This week, I descended into the purgatory of automated phone systems and evil chatbots in my quest to reach a real person. The technology might have been built to serve us. Or, more likely, to save companies money. Either way, we can only endure the indignities to find the holy grail, the on...

Everything in this 1983 movie is obsolete—except the part that matters. This week I rewatched WarGames and took a nostalgic, slightly cranky tour through the dead technology inside it: arcade quarters, acoustic modems, floppy disks, payphones, and pull-tabs. It's the gadgets that time forgot, the prices we used to pay for a long-distance call, and the one thing in the movie that still hasn't aged...

Best friends, inseparable, until one day they weren't. Two boys in my neighborhood have gone their separate ways, and I don't know why. Or what will happen next. So I imagine endings for a story whose truth I'll never know. How would you write their next chapter? 📖 Read A Fading Friendship on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Wheth...

Time moves differently in a warm, still room. Liam counts the minutes to escape, certain it will last forever. The clock has other ideas. A short tale about the daydream we never quite outgrow—the one where freedom is always just a few minutes away. You might recognize the feeling. 📖 Read Tick Tock  on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Ta...

I lost a point in college for writing "to boldly go." Turns out the grammar guides say otherwise, and I've been splitting infinitives ever since. Join me as I take a friendly swing at one of the most persistent grammar myths in the English language. Where did it come from? Why won't it die? And what do Chicago, Dreyer, and a certain starship captain have to say about it? Pull up a chair. This won'...

Who puts carpet in a Jeep Wrangler? This week, a mostly-true investigation into Siberian Huskies, dog hair magnets, and the great cargo-liner conspiracy. 📖 Read Who Puts Carpet in a Jeep?  on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% tr...

I promised my Ever Patient Partner in Life I'd do something. I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget. You can probably guess what happened next. The curse of to-do lists strikes again. Will I ever get organized? 📖 Read Note to Self  on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my...

My doctor believes a man of my age should deal with exploding oatmeal and gelatinous blobs. My mostly true experience with psyllium husk. 📖 Read Of Exploding Oatmeal and Gelatinous Blobs  on my website 📚 Curious about the reference to Mad Maverick McDougal and his band, Exploding Oatmeal ? Check out my novel, Sour Notes . Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musi...

Our anonymous hero rescued a lost dog. Then he asked for my help. The rest—chaos, tree rats, and fumbled phone calls—is mostly true. 📖 Read The Anonymous Hero on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I m...

Pollen crushes me every year. The watery eyes. The clogged sinuses. In my suffering, a story sprung to mind. What if aliens invaded during allergy season? 📖 Read Essentially Harmless: The Pollen Files on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's...

One brazen bear. Three Siberian Huskies. A hiking trail blockade. A shriek echoing through the mountains. Just another day in Asheville. 📖 Read Brazen Bear Breakfast Blockade on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except f...

Why was I racing around the yard before dawn, clad only in my pajamas, shrieking like a barefoot lunatic? I blame a certain Siberian Husky. 📖 Read Barefoot Lunatic: My Predawn Spectacle  on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true...

The New York Times recently profiled a person who claimed to publish 200 novels in a year with the assistance of AI. That article inspired this week's tale: a Faustian bargain between soulless creation and the simple belief that writers write. 📖 Read Writers Write on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinni...

Why do some books imprint a hum in our souls? Project Hail Mary echoed a classic that sparked the same wonder as watching the moon landing. 📖 Read That Old Familiar Hum: From Rama to Hail Mary on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100...

One day I'm sweating in shorts, the next I'm bundled against a snowstorm. How does one dress to survive the extreme weather whiplash of March? 📖 Read Weather Whiplash on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the p...

One long walk. Two humans. Three dogs. Three weather apps. Zero umbrellas. Zero thoughts about the building clouds. One soggy betrayal. 📖 Read A Soggy Betrayal on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I...

Ever suspect a sinister intent behind the origin of Daylight Saving Time? Let me share the demonic story about our stolen hour. 📖 Read The Stolen Hour on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up....

After receiving a dreaded jury duty summons, my initial annoyance transformed into creative glee, but the justice system held one final, ironic twist. 📖 Read Jury Duty on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the...

Ever tried to exercise with a dog in the room? How about three dogs? One exercise mat. Zero dignity. Caninesthenics. 📖 Read Caninesthenics on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up. 📚 Visit my...

What is the secret to everlasting love? For Hubert, the answer is simple. It isn't expensive roses or fancy restaurants, but a picnic basket packed with fried chicken, a glass of sun tea, and a simple bouquet of wildflowers for his beloved wife, Ava. Forever Valentine is a story about listening, the beauty of quiet gestures, and a Valentine's Day picnic that holds the weight of eternity. It’s a ta...

Exaggerated accumulations. Claims of driving skills. Legends of regional toughness. Winter reveals Snow Mythology under every drift. Over the past two consecutive weekends, Asheville has been hit by winter storms. Much of the eastern half of the U.S. has felt the pain. Social media has been on fire with claims that seem more mythical than real, at least in my experience. This story was originally...

The forecast calls for snow. The internet calls for panic. The grocery crowd calls for bread and milk. When a winter storm threatens, Gabe loses a fateful game of rock-paper-scissors and must venture into the suburban nightmare known as the pre-storm grocery run. His mission: bread, milk, and toilet paper. His obstacles: empty shelves, a shopping cart with the steering of a drunken goose, and an i...

A backpacking trip through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in New Mexico. A false sense of security. An unexpected breakfast with bears. 📖 Read Breakfast with Bears on my website Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the part...