Daily Short Stories from The Penned Sleuth

He was a strange customer to say the least. The day was off to a great start. I had finished working on a long term client’s car, which recently has been having engine trouble. It wasn't hard to find the problem, but to fix it was a delicate matter. However, I did my job and relaxed after an arduous task. Working for the officers is never appreciated, not by my fellow man and not even by the officers. I was just happy to have him gone and hopefully my workmanship would keep him away for a long while. That's when the stranger walked into my garage.

Dark Water was by far the most terrible tourist spot in the city. We had festivals, carnivals, monuments and oversized furniture, but the lake was an eyesore. Of course, we were stuck with attractions that we gradually downplayed over the years until they stopped appearing on the brochure. This attraction was known as Lake Robinson, but locally it was known as Dark Water Lake. It was something the adults ignored and the children whispered about.

The motion was sickening, but after such a long time you get over it. The rowboat slowly drifted in a direction that we didn't know. It was depressingly slow, but we had little choice. We used to argue whether we were going North or South. It was a confusing and pointless argument. Losing the oars to a storm and forced to see the same flat blue ocean drives even the angriest people to silence.

Dialogue requires a different mindset. You need to place yourself in your character’s shoes, react the way they would and still play the writer and steer the conversation in the direction you want. Thus, dialogue can be pretty difficult to write if it doesn’t come naturally. Here are 16 tips to keep in mind when writing dialogue!

The Midas Code by Boyd Morrison is an action-adventure story, where Tyler Locke, an army engineer, must work together with a classics scholar, Stacy Benedict, to find the legendary treasure of King Midas. It is an adventure filled with ingenious thinking, plenty of fights and deadly villains. Here is my spoiler-free book review of The Midas Code!

The first chapter is all about introductions. You introduce your characters, your theme and more. Yet, you also introduce yourself as a writer. You show the reader how you will tell the story. The style in which you give details and the atmosphere of your story. Making a good impression becomes the main stress in your first chapter, as you don’t want to make a mistake in your story or your style. It sounds like an intimidating task, so let’s make it easy and enjoyable!

‘Slade House’ by David Mitchell is a dark fiction written as a companion to his book ‘The Bone Clocks’. I should say that when I was given this book to read, I had no idea that it was a companion book, but upon doing further research, I learned it is written in very much the same style and can be read as a standalone novel. Yet, I recommend before reading Slade House, you should read ‘The Bone Clocks’, to get more out of this book. Without further ado, here is my spoiler-free review of ‘Slade House’!

Characters will have their unique personalities, but certainly similar traits. The same sense of humour, the same sense of right and wrong, the same positive or negative outlook on life. With that said, there are some more defined traits we can give characters to make them more likeable, from a sarcastic sense of humour to a sincere sense of justice. Here are 5 likeable character traits and how to write them!

‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ is a science-fiction exploration of humanity and humanity in androids, written by Philip K. Dick, a popular and prolific that I’m sure many science-fiction writers and readers have heard of. That being said, I have never watched any Blade Runner films or looked into them, so by reading the book first I had an opportunity to gain an unbiased opinion of the characters and story. Here is my spoiler-free review of ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’

When doing anything there is always room for improvement. Artists will always look at their painting and want to add another brushstroke, a programmer will always look at their code and wonder if there is a more efficient way to complete a task. Writing is no exception, there is always some area that could benefit from extra thought. Here are 7 ways to improve your story!

I am certainly one of the many who has a deep fascination with space. From the wonders of our own solar system to the mind-boggling beyond, that makes me stare off into the vast distance as if I could see what lies at the end of the universe. Yet, this book is not so much about the wonders of space, but instead of the remarkable people who allowed us a closer look at it; the rocket scientists and engineers. Here is my review on Journey Beyond Selene.

Killing off a character isn’t easy. If you do it too bluntly, it won’t be memorable. If you make it unrealistic, you lose reader involvement. If you kill off too many characters, then death scenes lose their impact. Yet, when you pull it off, the death scene has a firm place in the reader's memory, it adds to your story and makes that character special. Here are some of my top tips for killing off a character!

The Atlantis Gene is an action-adventure novel written by A. G. Riddle. Intelligence agent David Vale and geneticist Kate Warner find a shared enemy, the Immari, a secret evil organisation which believes that wiping out 99% percent of the population is what is best for all of mankind. The stakes are high for these two, to say the least. Here is my spoiler-free book review on The Atlantis Gene.

"Now, let me go through this one more time for those in the back." Freddy was in a humorous mood today. Even the distant booms of falling bombs didn't shake that smile. Fearless didn't describe Freddy, but foolish did. He was a man with no fear because he wasn't sure what it meant. Yet, we were his foolish disciples.

From the confusingly brilliant to wonderfully mad, writers have been painting surreal scenes with words as much as artists do with paint. It’s in the nature of many writers to create dreamlike scenes to add to the madness of their story or make the reader feel that childlike curiosity. Here are my seven tips for writing surreal scenes and stories!

I massaged my arm, thinking about what he told me. These monsters that plagued me were figments of my imagination. Yet, the pain felt so real. To add to it, they didn't believe me, not even him. He walked out and I was alone with these pains. Both in my arm and in my heart. I thought these creatures had left me long ago, but now I know they never will. You can also read the story here: https://www.thepennedsleuth.com/short-stories/the-return

An introduction to a new series of weekly short stories

Normally, I try to avoid political thrillers, but I make an exception for stories on wartime exploits. Empire of Sand follows Thomas Edward Lawrence, a British intelligence officer, A.K.A Lawrence of Arabia, and Harold Quinn, a British agent. Lawrence and Quinn are tasked with stopping Wilhelm Wassmuss, the infamous German agent, from fuelling a conflict in Egypt that could lead to a revolt. Without spoilers, here’s my review on Empire of Sand by Robert Ryan.

Sometimes the story isn’t so simple, the villain so clear. Sometimes the antagonist is hidden from sight, but their influence is seen by many. Their motives, their origin, is unknown, but the destruction they cause isn’t. The kind of villain that strikes in the dark, or uses others to do their dirty work, or influences technology to enact their devious plans. This week, we cover the hidden antagonist and how to write them!

It’s been a while since I read anything other than my students and my own writing. When returning to the hobby, not many books came to mind. Luckily, the one I chose was exactly what I needed. A grim atmosphere made harsh and interesting with the inclusion of sinister scientific anomalies; the Strugatsky brothers did not disappoint. With that said, welcome to my disorganised and somewhat biased review on Roadside Picnic!