In Wonderland: A Combination Of Fact And Fiction

Chapter 27 of the first of 2 stories (fiction) that I am currently writing (they are interconnected).

Here is the newest chapter for In Wonderland: A Combination of Fact And Fiction:

27. Effie walks into my kitchen, sporting an orange tube top highlighting her freckles and black shorts that flaunt her long legs, giving her the look of Hippolyta just stepping out of a blue pickup tr…

Updated 2 of the earlier chapters for the 1st of 2 stories (Chapter 21 A Small Stone and Chapter 22 Swords):

In Wonderland: A Combination Of Fact & Fiction © Laura Coughlin 2023

And here is Chapter 14 of the 2nd of 2 stories (fiction) I'm currently writing. The 2 stories are interconnected.

Here is the newest chapter for A Story For Us To Remember When We Are Old (© Laura Coughlin 2023):

14. It Is What It Is August 2021 Despite my abhorrence toward evasion, I find avoiding unplanned encounters with Henry easier than tackling another conversation. I’ve made it clear to Henry that I don’t wan…

And here is Chapter 13 of the 2nd of 2 stories (fiction) I'm currently writing. The 2 stories are interconnected.

Here is the newest chapter for A Story For Us To Remember When We Are Old (© Laura Coughlin 2023):

What It Is Is A Problem August 2021 It happens when I am covered in sweat. On my first run after having Beth, thinking I may have the look of a squashed tomato, but proud of myself for lasting as long as I did. So, riding…

Chapter 12 of the 2nd of 2 stories (fiction) I'm currently writing. The 2 stories are interconnected.

Here is the newest chapter for A Story For Us To Remember When We Are Old (© Laura Coughlin 2023):

12. Mother’s Milk June 2021 The house is full of noise. A cacophony crescendoes in waves as I calmly shepherd my team from one virtual meeting to the next and attempt to interview candidates, channeling all of my wr…

Chapter 26 of the first of 2 stories (fiction) that I am currently writing (they are interconnected).

Here is the newest chapter for In Wonderland: A Combination of Fact And Fiction:

26. The Red Prince I pull my mind out of daydreams a few hours later after reaching out to Lucy and Lizzy to make plans with each of them and slogging through work emails before I take a break and decide to grab one …

Chapter 11: Maple.

The 2nd of 2 stories that I am currently writing (they connect to each other)

Here is the newest chapter for A Story For Us To Remember When We Are Old. You can read all of it at: https://astoryforustoremember.blog/

11. Maple November 2020 “Just going to take a few more images and pay a bit more attention. Sorry if I’m less chatty right now,” said the technician. That was when I knew. We were trading j…

Chapter 25 is a real Birdbrain. For the 1st of the 2 stories that I'm writing. Read it at:

Birdbrain The birds in my dream are large and grey. They peck at my arms and call me by a name I do not recognize. I run through a field and into a pasture where a woman with long dark hair is milking a cow.…

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Excellent gifts for the holidays. The books, not my Dad, who wrote them. That’s him, at a book fair, in the before times.

1. First Book: Randall’s Jury
2. Second Book: Killing and Being Killed

Murders. Intrigue. Family. Comedy. Chicago. Barrington. Door County. More murders. And there’s something about a fish (or not, you’ll have to read them to find out if I’m full of phooey). The crime solving stories that your uncle/friend/mom/you would like to read, while you sip on that hot cocoa.

Find them both here:

https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&contributor=Ted+Newman&page=1&pageSize=10

In Wonderland: A Combination Of Fact And Fiction

Chapter 24 is Dance Card. For the 1st of the 2 stories that I'm writing. Read it at https://inwonderland.blog/2023/11/08/24-dance-card/ - it's a fun one.

24. Dance Card The store is stocked with produce and butterscotch candies and smells of lavender and peppermints. Arnold, it turns out, has been dead since 1953, but he is the second owner. Before him, it was Hau…

I've updated Chapter 10 of the 2nd of the 2 stories that I'm writing. You can read it at
https://astoryforustoremember.blog/2023/09/27/10-a-small-door/

A Story For Us To Remember When We Are Old. © Laura Coughlin 2023.

You can follow along here at In Wonderland: A Combination Of Fact And Fiction, too, for updates as I write.

To read the 1st Story, go to https://inwonderland.blog to read more. The 2 stories are connected to each other.

In Wonderland: A Combination Of Fact & Fiction. © Laura Coughlin 2023.

10. A Small Door “Still alive. You?” The ellipsis that quickly follows my words distracts me from the discomfort of the pump. I watch as Henry writes. “[Climbs off bridge.] Everything is awesome! …

Chapter 10 (A Small Door) of A Story For Us To Remember When Are Old. Click on the link to read the chapter.

https://astoryforustoremember.blog/2023/09/27/10-a-small-door/

(This is the 2nd Story of 2 that I am currently writing. To read the 1st Story, go to https://inwonderland.blog to read more. The 2 stories are connected to each other.)

A Story For Us To Remember When We Are Old. © Laura Coughlin 2023.

10. A Small Door “Still alive. You?” The ellipsis that quickly follows my words distracts me from the discomfort of the pump. I watch as Henry writes. “[Climbs off bridge.] Everything is awesome! …

Chapter 9 - Latest Chapter of A Story For Us To Remember When We Are Old. Click on the link to read the full chapter.

http://astoryforustoremember.blog/2023/08/30/9/

April 2002

Henry's arms wrap around my waist, his fingers tapping against my hips, keeping up with the music. We dance slowly across the family room in small circles, hips swaying against each other. We lean into each other and smile, taking our time to get there. There's no need to rush. We are young, and we want to dance first. I tuck my head into his chest to smile and breathe him into my lungs. He smells of cedar and smoke from the fire we built in the backyard after we returned from dinner. The house is empty and ours for the night. Both of us are home for a break. My feet are bare as we dance across the family room. I let the pads of my feet slide across the floor, enjoying the coolness of the wide wooden planks. Henry starts to sing along to the record quietly, serenading me. The song will haunt me as I move through my life, making me smile, making me cry. I feel his breath on my ear, and his tongue draws me closer to him, circling my lobe before he nips. I look up at him and pout before standing on my toes to return the favor. We laugh with our eyes and steer ourselves toward the couch, falling into it together. I cannot stop kissing him.

http://astoryforustoremember.blog/2023/08/30/9/

9. Circles Across The Floor April 2002 Henry’s arms wrap around my waist, his fingers tapping against my hips, keeping up with the music. We move dance across the family room in small circles, hips swaying against each …

I pull my car onto a red dirt lot, packed down by clay and silt, it faces two of the straits of the sea. My muscles relaxed, one fiber at a time, as I crossed the eight miles of bridge. The smell of sea and wind had burrowed deep in my hair. I comb through the strands that tangled themselves together to build a nest....

23. On The Island I pull my car onto a red dirt lot, packed down by clay and silt, it faces two of the straits of the sea. My muscles relaxed, one fiber at a time, as I crossed the eight miles of bridge. The smell o…

I will be participating in this 31-Day Challenge as a fundraiser for The Children's Heart Foundation, which will last the entire month of August. Please feel free to participate and/or donate to a great cause, for all children with a congenital heart disease (CHD). 💙💪.

31-Day Endurance Challenge for The Children's Heart Foundation. Remember when I did over 3,000 squats in a month (in 2022)? Ta dahhhhh. Same group/cause.

31-Day Endurance Challenge Take the 31-Day Endurance Challenge and help raise life-saving funds for congenital heart defect research! Join us!

Beth plays with her fingers while I fold laundry on our bed. Tiny socks and onesies form a neat line on my blue sheets. Jane has glued herself to her sister's side and is singing a song, making it up along the way, kissing Beth's toes in between stanzas about monkeys on a camping trip. I hear Adam in the kitchen, his hands slapping meat, building the burger patties while he talks to his parents on another video call....

8. Clocks On The Walls Beth plays with her fingers while I fold laundry on our bed. Tiny socks and onesies form a neat line on my blue sheets. Jane has glued herself to her sister’s side and is singing a song, maki…

When I was a child, I watched the sky change and lost myself to daydreams. I put my clothes on inside out and backward, too lost in the worlds I was busy creating to focus on the task. My shoes were never on the correct feet. I was quiet and kind and lovely. My mother, a teacher at one of the local schools, worried that someone would call her when I showed up with the shirt's tag sticking out in front of my neck, wondering what was happening at home....

Swords When I was a child, I watched the sky change and lost myself to daydreams. I put my clothes on inside out and backward, too lost in the worlds I was busy creating to focus on the task. My shoes wer…

Please see Comments section for the correct link to read the rest👇👇👇

Henry owns a bookstore in my hometown. It is beautiful inside. Books and records and art await your senses. In my twenties, I would linger in the quieter aisles, brushing the spines of books with my fingers and glancing at pages while we tested each other's boundaries, waiting for Henry to close the store. Then we would tumble into each other's words, pushing and pulling for the truth but never saying all of it, starting and stopping until it was too late; he met someone, then I met someone, then I was single again, and he followed suit....

Books & Blood

“Hm,” I tell myself, a bit deflated as I look at Canada. The trees are beautiful. The dark greens that I love. My fingers should itch to touch them. But it’s just another interstate, as full of trucks as the rest. Farms and Evergreens and fast food. Limestone juts out of the ground. Last night has lingered in my mind. It interrupts my joy....

A Small Stone “Hm,” I tell myself, a bit deflated as I look at Canada. The trees are beautiful. The dark greens that I love. My fingers should itch to touch them. But it’s just another interstate, as full of tru…

More chapters to follow soon!

Where to go next. How honest to be. When I stare at my face in a mirror, it seems stiff. Frozen where it is usually at ease. It’s been six months of controlling the message. Keep it silent. Keep it secret. Until finally, I let every word spill from my lips. Adam is stone and soap and all things quiet and clean....

Cliff-Diving Where to go next. How honest to be. When I stare at my face in a mirror, it seems stiff. Frozen where it is usually at ease. It’s been six months of controlling the message. Keep it silent. Keep it…

Trigger Warning: Issues of Consent & Sexual Assault are detailed in this post (chapter). Listen, believe, and ask others what is wanted for support. Continue to learn. Report and advocate for better policies and laws to protect everyone.

Hawks At Night I am happily weighed down by bisque, lobster, and bread rolls dripping with butter, when a group of men walks in, armed with a few dates. Everything has wandered from the ocean to my table. The ser…

May 2021 Beth rests against my shoulder. I walk to the lake, swaying a gentle dance through the grass. Her blue eyes are almost closed. I see my grandfather in her eyes and my grandmother in her smile. Both girls have Adam's ears and my large round eyes, though mine are brown. Beth's hair is the color of sunshine now, and is growing in slowly....

5. Three Birds May 2021 Beth rests against my shoulder. I walk to the lake, swaying a gentle dance through the grass. Her blue eyes are almost closed. I see my grandfather in her eyes and my grandmother in her sm…

August 7, 1999. The heat of the day has caught up to us. Beads of sweat make their home between my shoulder blades. The thin blades of grass tickle my arms. The seven of us girls are a wave of smiles and voices rushing in and out, crashing into each other as we hurry to say everything. "When do you head to Iowa?" Anne asks Mary....

4. Apples In The Sunshine August 7, 1999. The heat of the day has caught up to us. Beads of sweat make their home between my shoulder blades. The thin blades of grass tickle my arms. The seven of us girls are a wave of smil…

Caroline. Adam. Jane. Beth. Atticus. A family. No, I tell myself. We are a family. The set is complete. Leave it be. Not now. Henry's hands stay on my mind. They torture me as I cut and pack apples and carrots and throw goldfish and a peanut butter sandwich into a box for Jane. The knife Adam stands next to me, mixing a bottle for Beth....

Clay Pots Caroline. Adam. Jane. Beth. Atticus. A family. No, I tell myself. We are a family. The set is complete. Leave it be. Not now. Henry’s hands stay on my mind. They torture me as I cut and pack …

The old inn in Bar Harbor sits on the shore like an imperial dame and watches the waves approach from the Mt. Desert Narrows. Her grey shingles are weathered but someone has maintained them. She has sat there for over a century, watching as BMWs replace carriages. Still a resort town for the privileged, but less of the blazers and sports coat crowd. A bit more of the upper middle income has broken through to mingle with the lower upper bracket. Indigo and pink lupines, well established blueberry bushes, and sweet ferns line the paths up to a large veranda, where Adirondacks and porch swings wait for guests to sip and watch. The smells of the ocean roll in on a warm breeze.

In Wonderland: A Combination Of Fact & Fiction © Laura Coughlin 2023

Catching up? Here’s the first chapter (post) of In Wonderland:

The Island It was the summer of 1988 and I was about to start third grade when I first opened the book and began my romance with a tiny island in Canada. I devoured the book with my eyes, my imagination runni…

“Would you like a seat outside?” asks the kid at the register, punctuating each word with a click of her pen. Sit & Eat Lobster is a counter-serve stand with picnic tables covered by umbrella stands and blue plastic Adirondack chairs seated around a campfire. It sits on the side of the road and is surrounded by a horseshoe of forest....

Lobster In A Forest “Would you like a seat outside?” asks the kid at the register, punctuating each word with a click of her pen. Sit & Eat Lobster is a counter-serve stand with picnic tables covered by umbrella s…

Currently writing 2 stories:

1. https://inwonderland.blog/ - this is the first story

2. https://astoryforustoremember.blog/ - this is the second story, so far the 2 are related. Let's see where my brain takes this.

You'll see posts for both, as I write them. Writing them in blog format for now as a way to hold the writer in me accountable,\ so that I can't run away and hide in a corner, mumbling to myself about context or bad jokes. Obviously a common piece of advice for writers is to just write. So: Just. Write.

Even if the internal editor thinks you've just written a crap sentence, or a crap chapter, or a crap book. Just. Write. Easier said then done, but it is still excellent advice. Credit given to a wise teacher of mine, Jon Lynn. And to everyone else. But to Jon because he said it to me first.

A Story For Us To Remember When We Are Old. © Laura Coughlin 2023 © Laura Coughlin 2023