Dave has too many things to do with his life, and not nearly enough time to do them. Writing is a great passion of his, and so he cannot pass up these Storyball opportunities, but, damn ...

He writes a bunch on his blog, write a bunch about his writing, and spend much of his other free time being heroic and villainous. Oh, yeah, he also works for a living, much of which is spent writing many e-mails that aggregate to at least a novella a day (but far less interesting).

He does not always write of himself in the third person, but has been known to do so with select audiences.

November 2005

Written (by round)

1. Three Bullets -- As close to a horror story as I'm likely to craft. The Aarons have turned out to be good for background (based on the number of people who've used them), but not much used plot-wise. Interestingly, most folks have identified them with the Fates (probably because of the Maid/Mother/Crone shaping), whereas they, actually, aren't. (3,845 words)
2. The Story Of The Black Monocle -- This was just fun to do (fun enough that I added some notes at the bottom). Three stories in (another) one. I love storytelling like this, and wish I was this glib with Katherine. Given some of the later developments, Gampa's final comment is prescient. (2,529)
3. The Horror Hour -- My homage to Edward Gorey, and my revenge for not being able to throw out an infinite number of phantom entries: writing about a whole bunch of phantom non-entries, most of which would never be referred back to (though I have in some of my own later tales). Again, a very fun and self-indulgent non-tale. (2,474)
4. The Map The Legend And The Scale -- This one got some of the best reaction from people (maybe as a relief from the Lovecraftian bits that were beginning to predominate). A from-the-heart story. Not autobiographical, at least not in the micro level, but ... (4,056)
5. Blue Dolls In Wisconsin A Renzo Novel -- My homage to Neil Gaiman. I have no idea how this actually works, but my head didn't quite explode trying to put it together. Probably about twice as long as it needs to be. (4,351)
6. I Dont Want To Know -- Another love story, though possibly more sinister than it seems (when read in context with the rest of the Storyball). I keep desperately trying to keep Sarah on the relative up-and-up of normalcy, even as other folks want to do ... something(s) else with her. (2,591)
7. Silverware And Chablis -- Sort of the opposite of the MLS story, in tone and feel. This one is definitely not autobiographical, at least not (in this case) on the macro level. It's also, intentionally, sort of a stand-alone tale, not tied to any of the metaplots. It could definitely use with some trimming, but it's hard not to ramble. (2,537)

(Total word count: 22,383)

Phantomed (by round)

1. How Antonio Saved The Circus (by Lee Kenyon)
   The Last Bottle (by MTFierce)
2. And A Merrie Crewe Had He? (by Stan Pedzick)
   Rug Of Many Colors (by MTFierce)
3. Two Little Indian Boys (by Ann Aguirre)

April 2006

My collected notes.

Written (by round)

1. Cornerpost Ghost -- Stole the title from Doyce's examples, and set up a couple of characters that have cropped up since then, though most folks seem interested in telling about their own (as am I). Mostly an introduction. (2,535)
2. Paradise By The Dashboard Lights -- This started as a story about a priest driving a bus toward paradise, which turned into a tale of delusion, which turned into a tale of delusions. I have no idea what this means, and it's way too long, but it was fun to write. (4,500)
3. Dragons Lair -- The Muse turned me away from my plans (next round) and held me at gunpoint to make me write it. Which I did. (4,044)
4. Saturday Night Rush -- Because what this story needs is more (not-so-)mysterious characters! Mostly written on a plane over the Atlantic. (2,716)
5. The Truth Of It All -- Rambled about on my blog. Exhausting story to write. I think my muse is still hungover. (3,655)
6. Gin Blossoms -- I'm least satisfied with this story, which suddenly turned into a meandering Gaimanesque tale with no real direction, and even less so when I realized I didn't want to confront what was going on with Jenkins or try to dig up the name of the storyteller. So it's a fair amount of sound and fury, adding color to the proceedings perhaps, but not really advancing the tale. I do still like the idea of turning gin blossoms (the burst blood vessels on the nose from overdrinking) into actual flowers ... (1,420)
7. Final Work -- I had this mostly written by the time I read De's Neither Hell Nor High Water, and was suddenly concerned over the similar meta-story kind of feel to it. But, what the heck, it was still fun to do, and hopefully wraps things up nicely enough. (1,790)

(Total word count: 20,660)

Phantomed (by round)

1. Fly Me To The Moon? (by Lee Kenyon)
   Infernal Mills (by ktbuffy)
2. Freak Show (by De Knippling)
   Ice ... (by ktbuffy)
3. Spring Showers (by De Knippling)

NaNoWriMo 2006

Written (by round)

1. Queen's Knight -- So I have this image, which I develop into scene 1 of a 3-scene story -- and die a horrible, gurgling, writer's-blockage death when trying to actually write those second two scenes. So I just fleshed the scene out. Probably just as well, though I have no idea what it means. (1,169)
2. ChildhoodToys -- Originally it was supposed to be some sort of combat scene -- teddy bear et al. charging across the living room to get to the dreamcatcher, only to be driven off by a group of plastic dinosaurs and Hot Wings (the die-cast metal Hot Wheels planes). Instead, poker seemed a better approach. Not a story as much as a scene. Of course, Mr. Bear, Major Matt Mason, and the little presidential figures were all real souveniers of my childhood. I still have Mr. Bear. I wonder what ever happened to the rest? (1,039)
3. TheBankJob -- Late with this one, largely due to lack of inspiration. Two long digressions in writing this. Initially wrote it from the PoV of the robbers, than from the girl, eventually choosing a "cheesy history brochure" approach. Not happy with it, but got it done. (944)

(Total word count: TBD)

Phantomed (by round)

1. The Snows Of The Street (by ktbuffy)
   Chained Keys? (by TBD)
2. Redfaced And Locked Away (by TBD)
   A Familiarity Of Sight (by TBD)
3. Presumably?(by TBD)