Saturday Night Silliness -- Random Musings of a Writer Lady and Her Cat.

I continued to walk out the door. Unfortunately for me Betterman followed. “Are you a writer? Are you trying to build a following?” He asked matching my pace annoyingly well. “What gave you the idea to bring your stories directly to children?” “No. No and No.” I answered as I stopped walking. It was clear that Betterman had latched on to me. The challenge was deciding which technique I was going to use to inspire a quick detachment on his part. Rudeness had always worked fairly efficiently. No. He seemed to be a nice kid. Rudeness of my caliber might hurt his feelings. I mentally shook my head. For the first time in years I had spent the last few months encountering people that seemed to have feelings. This one was an adult to boot. Life can take some funny turns. “I know. I look really young. It’s true that I haven’t been at the paper for very long. I am just getting started. Could you do me a favor and give me a break?” He asked. And with those words he had me. Wha

“I looked up at the sky, Prince Valiant and I watched as a falling star crossed overhead and disappeared into the distance. We fell asleep nestled in the trees at the edge of the enchanted forest and woke with dawn’s first light.” I looked at my audience. The girls were sitting still, listening closely. The boys were fidgeting. I watched as one removed a wad of gum from his mouth and stuck it to the underside of a nearby shelf. I moved my gaze before his eyes turned to the back of the room and found mine. “What do you think happened next?” I asked. “Prince Valiant says a bunch of stupid stuff, gets down on one knee and asks her to be his princess or something.” One boy responded looking at the carpeted floor. “Yeah, that stupid girl stuff.” Another one added. I smiled at them. “You’re forgetting, Prince Valiant is not a man.” With that one sentence the fidgeting stopped and the room fell silent. “I told you yesterday, Prince Valiant is a unicorn.” “He’s not a p

“Oh my goodness. That is most exciting.” Diomedes exclaims. The dragon looks around the room at the others and smiles. Ray and Carp look up from their e-readers. “Where are you?” Carp asks. “In the woods. Everyone is how do you humans say it? Everyone is outfitted for confrontation?” “Everyone is packing?” Carp suggests. “Locked and loaded.” Tinkletoes answers absentmindedly. He presses the button on his controller to continue his video game. (Sorry, virtual training exercise.) “Oh my goodness.” Diomedes calls out. He thumps his tail in amusement, setting Aunt Purdy’s rocking chair in motion lightly tapping the wall. “It is most humorous how you humans do battle.” “Duuude. No spoilers.” Ray says. An explosion comes from the television signaling that Tinkletoes’ character has died. The self-proclaimed mercenary growls under his breath and starts a new game. “No way.” Ray says. Carp looks up from his reader. “Way.” “Seriously?” “Seriously.” Carp repeats. Tinkletoes goes up