Lance Schonberg

@writingdad.bsky.social

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Husband, father, writer, wandering ninja, menagerie inmate, undergraduate physics student. Lurking at lanceschonberg.com, sometimes even posting.

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Picture a 4-foot-tall stick of orange broccoli. Add stubby arms and legs with 4-fingered hands and 4-toed feet. Slap on an oversized but human-looking face. Make the pupils extra large and move the ears a little too far towards the back of the “head”. Got a picture in your mind? #30Days30Lines

She spun around, trying to take in the whole room, and just for a moment thought she saw a shape that might have been a face in the seventy-year-old wallpaper next to the window. It disappeared when she blinked, and it stayed gone after she rubbed her eyes to clear the sleep dust. #30Days30Lines

Same, Madeline.

And finally for today: Nothing was in rough shape, although the sheets on every bed had been disturbed and I had to wonder how many teen pregnancies had begun here, but things weren’t nearly as disturbed as they were downstairs. #30Days30Lines

For Saturday: “How many bullets do you have left?” “Three.” “Four, I win.” I raised an eyebrow without turning around. “What, they're going to stand in six tight packed lines so we can make a dozen headshots per bullet, leaving you with one?” #30Days30Lines

For Friday: He struggled not to sigh. There were times when he missed it, too, but they were fewer now. How had Doctor Dread found him, anyway? “My cackling days are over. Long over. I’m trying to be ordinary.” #30Days30Lines

I have managed a little editing, though, so let's catch up on #30Days30Lines, shall we?

Tough weekend, but feeling like I'm almost caught up. Just in time to go back to work tomorrow.

"Are you two fighting again? I swear, if you don’t behave, I’m going to pretend I’m your mom, and that will add an extra level of creepiness to whatever this is.” The hand holding the phone made a couple of quick circles to indicate the whole house. #30Days30Lines

“I kind of hope you’re not planning to stay, though. There’s no way I can sneak enough fish to feed you.” Johnny thought the eye closest to him might be showing a tiny sliver of pupil, but he didn’t see any movement to suggest Mama Dread acknowledged he’d made any noise. #30Days30Lines

I've pulled out a story dictated during a long commute a few years back and just found this: "He stood up and began to Russian Slovak. Probably wasn’t anything up with you it’s a way to grasp the way back, but that always liked healings tried business, and there was less Russian event."

Avril looked at Jessica, pouring tea, who nodded. She leaned forward. “We need to talk about your addiction to curses, Lydia.” #30Days30Lines

An anthology I'm in just went up for pre-order. To borrow from the copy: "Terrific Tomorrows features 26 tales from an international cast of acclaimed authors! This is a family friendly collection of science fiction, appropriate for both adults and younger readers." 1/2 www.amazon.com/dp/B0D915GBZZ

Amazon.com: Terrific Tomorrows (Word Balloon Anthologies) eBook : Maxey, James, Maxey, Cheryl: Kindle Storewww.amazon.com Amazon.com: Terrific Tomorrows (Word Balloon Anthologies) eBook : Maxey, James, Maxey, Cheryl: Kindle Store

I've tried to make this challenge a little bit harder for myself. More fun that way (YMMV). So, every #30Days30Lines post from me has to fit inside the character limit. And since I'm mostly editing rather than drafting this month, I'm trying to have every post come from a different story.

Interested in doing a challenge this summer but have mixed feelings about Camp NaNo? How about a chiller challenge instead? Join me, @JaxWolffWrites, for #30Days30Lines, a casual writing challenge, starting July 1st! Rules in the image. #writingcommunity

So yeah, relativity sucked, but not completely. Her childhood friends were about sixty years older than she was now, but she’d outlive everyone she’d ever hated by decades. A good trade-off. #30Days30Lines

It is yet another day containing a trip to the vet. Nearly all of the companion animals in our household are considered Seniors, including the three we've recently inherited, so we should expect concerns, but I could use a week without any.

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In France, the left coalition comes in first, Macron second, the far-right third. The best way to defeat fascism is not centrism, it’s a strong left.

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Lance Schonberg

In the moment after the giant, flaming rock fell out of the sky to destroy the road in front of her and the moment before the world turned white, Carly had enough time to realize that it had landed on top of the jerk who had just passed her. #30Days30Lines

Pretend this is from yesterday. #30Days30Lines Fourth of four. The place I came to rest. You have found the final resting place of the Explorer Juanita Carolina Vasquez. I have deliberately not filed a register of first survey on this world, nor given it a name.

A cloud looked the same on any planet. Well, any planet with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, anyway. The sky might be a slightly different shade due to different trace gases, but grey clouds were grey clouds. #30Days30Lines

And it seems a bit like cheating, but I'm going to borrow from it for #30Days30Lines. Gina snorted and shook her head. “No, you read old books that no one else has ever heard of and you do it to avoid socializing with the limited number of humans stationed here. That’s what makes you weird.”

Hey, my new story is still up. www.scifishorts.co/premium/brhi...

Brhirri Surf Rescuewww.scifishorts.co Lance Schonberg

More importantly, I have the link! "Brrhiri Suf Rescue" published about half an hour ago on Sci-Fi Shorts! (It's a flash piece a little under 900 words so should be a quick read.) www.scifishorts.co/premium/brhi...

Brhirri Surf Rescuewww.scifishorts.co Lance Schonberg

Many days, I live with an ear worm. It's usually different than the day before and I rarely know why particular ear worm infestation occurs. They can be defeated by stronger worms, but you don't want to pull out the big guns until you have to. Our house is a very, very, very, very fine house...

“Cheer up, Ivan. It’s not like it’s the only space probe that got lost in the early days, or even in the recent ones. We’re out here for a while. Maybe you’ll find another.” #30Days30Lines

Ever have one of those days where you're checking everything important off the list but still feel so far behind you'll never catch up? I mean there's still a crapton of stuff on the overall list, but today's list is good. Feels weird.

On the morning of my one hundred seventeenth birthday, I destroyed the world. No alien invasion, no nuclear war, no army of semi-sentient robots gone off their programming. Nothing so popular entertainment driven. Just me. Filed under: Openings That Amuse Me. #30Days30Lines

The AI-driven editor in MS Word is going to drive me away from the program. I'm probably only a few days from going to find an alternative.

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Lance Schonberg

Good morning! This is your not-so-friendly reminder that AI "art" and "writing" is theft. If you're using these tools, you're contributing to the death of human criativity & you're not welcome in our community