• Skip to main content

Jim the Writer

a literary blog

  • About me
  • Publications
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • El Morro
  • 100 Words

Main Content

Welcome to Jim’s

www.jimthewriter.net
Click to enter

Ranson’s Beard

By Jim Anderson

Ranson's beard was older than his daughter, the corporate attorney who'd moved to Oregon to get as far from him as North America allowed. He wasn't shaving without due consideration. He'd grown it the summer of Lillian's pregnancy. He was teaching philosophy in Ohio, and working on his book. One day he stopped at a produce stand, and the be-whiskered farmer …

[Read More...] about Ranson’s Beard

If the gods be merciful

The good people of Kal were fixing to burn another witch. The event would close the Festival of the Tyrant’s Demise. “Third one this week,” Proffer said as we watched the wood-stack grow. “They must like the smell. The evil--” “Judge not, lest you be judged,” I said hastily. And in a lower voice: …

[Read More...] about If the gods be merciful

The Parisian Sky

In the Latin Quarter, we were given a dusky room with an alley view. I frowned. I grumbled. "The room is dismal," I told the proprietor.  "It looks nothing like your website." He was as old as the cobblestones.   …

[Read More...] about The Parisian Sky

Until you walk it

  Jerry limped to the top of the hill, then stopped. The two-lane blacktop wound down the hill and disappeared into the trees. Beyond the trees, out of sight, lay the river.   Jerry had driven this road many times, hundreds of times, but never walked it. You don't know a road until you walk …

[Read More...] about Until you walk it

Yes, Today

It was my day to drive. Nature provided a misty rain for our 50-mile commute. I didn’t focus on Neilsen until I had backed the car to the bottom of his driveway. I slammed the brake. “What the hell is that?” Neilsen turned toward me. He was wearing a hard-shell, full-face mask. Black, with big …

[Read More...] about Yes, Today

Fragment of a memoir

"The thing is," Papa said, "everybody gets that story wrong. They always think the baby died." "Well, sure," I said. "What else?" Papa shook his head. "The baby didn't die. The mother doesn't want the shoes." He finished his gin martini and motioned to the barkeep for another. The fan turned …

[Read More...] about Fragment of a memoir

Gerald the Underhanded

Prince Gerald had an epiphany. Half-way unto the breach, he feigned a leg cramp. Thus, brave brother Rainer surged ahead and climbed the rubble-pile first, closely followed by a hundred men-at-arms. Rainer tumbled down as fast, an arrow through the eye. The whispers began immediately. Later, the …

[Read More...] about Gerald the Underhanded

About me

As you have probably figured out, my name is Jim and I am a writer. For many years, I was a college writing teacher, too -- among many other life roles. I have another, more popular blog called Life After Carbs. It's about losing weight on a reduced carbohydrate diet. And it's about me -- my favorite …

[Read More ...] about About me

El Morro

The Desire to Leave a Mark ... El Morro (the headland) stands in western New Mexico, and is also known as Inscription Rock. At the base of El Morro is a pool of water that for centuries attracted parched travelers to the spot, many of whom carved dates, names, and messages (including petroglyphs) into the …

[Read More ...] about El Morro

Tags

100 words action aging beach death definition demon dialogue domestic Ernest Hemingway family fantasy father football historical fiction Janis Joplin king lake loss love love triangle Mark Twain marriage memoir micro-fiction military fiction music nanowrimo novel draft paranormal parenthood personal essay philosophy publication relationship rock-and-roll science fiction short story shotgun sports suspense theory war Woodstock writing process
© 2013–2026 James E. Anderson. All rights reserved.
A production of Anderfam Enterprises LLC.
  • Fiction
  • Non-Fiction