The Sparrow's Nest

A writer tends to write what he or she reads. Literature is one of a writer's tools. In the words of Stephen King: "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write." That said, select your tools carefully. If you're reading trash, you'll produce trash. Do you want to paint words with a frayed brush and a broken handle that can give you and your readers splinters? Is the paint without, what I call, blood clots? Keep an eye out for good and bad writing. Some pieces are written beautifully, but the story is a piece of junk, and on top of that, there might not even be a story in there. It could be somebody's rant for all you know. It would be like going to the dollar store and picking out some trashy speakers just because they're shiny and colorful. When you're wandering the aisles of literature, testing out each potential tool, remember that just because it's there, doesn't mean it's legit...

I've had this idea floating around in my head for awhile, because somebody does own a tiger around these parts. I've always wondered what would happen if I was in the woods, and that thing had escaped, and I met it. That would suck. One day, I was wondering about it again, and the story wove itself as I wrote. I knew it was a keeper then. Up to date, I believe I've worked on this story the hardest. It was in writing this story that I finally understood what Ernest Hemingway said: "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." Come read the story  here .