My Cardboard Balcony

Hmmm. What to be introspective about. I don't really know. Honestly, all the stuff I've talked about in this month's introspections and last month's introspections are still relevant right now. I'm still living at my apartment, working at my job, celebrating the Christmas season, writing, performing, and growing as a person. I think, at this point, I'm in a comfortable place. And not a static place, either. Christmas is a lovely time for me, a time to relax and cut myself some slack in terms of creative projects. This is the season for me to acknowledge what I've accomplished while learning from what I haven't. So for now? Maybe I'll go easy on some introspection until the new year. Hopefully. Have a great night and a great weekend, everyone.

"Caramel Kisses" is an unfinished novel I began to write back in 2009 and stopped working on in 2010. The two main characters - Adriana Maguire Reynard and Emma Burking - would ultimately be revised for my later completed novella, "The Liffey Is Half-Asleep," in 2011. Several elements of "Liffey" can be found in their original forms in "Caramel Kisses," such as the characters' names, the haiku scene, and Adriana's penchant for writing.  Because of its influence on my later writing, I figured that this story, though incomplete, was worth sharing. Caramel Kisses: Chapter Four by Belinda Roddie Her name was Emma. Just Emma, not Emily. Her father called her Em, but she wasn’t very fond of it. I expected her to say Watson was her last name. It wasn’t. It was Burking. Slightly more original, I thought. She wanted to know where she could find Ghirardelli Square. I smiled at this. Whether one was a tourist or not, the square had a consist

No one plays a game of ombre these days, and even if one tried, it will never be quite like our games. It has gotten to such a point that each of the three players have a specific name, designated toward their skills of trickery and cunning. We are, specifically, the Weasel, the Fox, and the Coyote. I am the Coyote. I have won the last five games of ombre in a row.