Rabbit Loses More Than His Tail, Part 3 (conclusion)

Now Rabbit not only has a long skinny tail replacing his old fluffy cottontail, but one of his long ears has been blunted. Butterfly has fared no better and is hoping for some peace and quiet to recuperate on her cloud.

Butterfly had finally managed to fall asleep, but almost as soon as she'd drifted off, she was ripped awake again. Something was hurtling toward her, and before she could register what it was, it had knocked her from her resting place. Her musings about the indignity of one such as she falling to her death were interrupted by a new set of terrified ponderances as she found herself suddenly clasped firmly in the beak of a sparrow. She fought as hard as she could, but that's not saying much.

To her continued surprise, Sparrow glided to a stop on the next sturdy-looking cloud he came across, spit her out, and then collapsed. Once she realized she was still alive, she thought about jumping for joy, but passed out instead. When she came to, Sparrow was still there, still lying on his side. Butterfly crawled a tentative pace forward and noticed that the cloud was reddish and dissolving around the unconscious bird.

For a moment, she thought about just trying to fly away, but her conscience wouldn't let her. After all, Sparrow had saved her from falling, even if he had been the one to cause the fall. Besides, she probably wouldn't make it very far with only one good wing.

"Hey," she called out, nudging Sparrow with her foot. When he didn't stir, she kicked him a little harder, earning a startled "Ow!" and a "What the...?" for good measure.

When he'd gotten his bearings, Sparrow explained that he'd been minding his own business, singing to himself in his tree, when Rabbit had told him about a shiny new birdbath that had been installed in a neighboring yard.

"The birdbath was there, all right, but so was the little Antichrist with an equally brand-new pellet gun. Little bastard got me right where it counts," Sparrow said, holding up his own tattered wing.

Rabbit, Butterfly thought. Always with the ever-loving Rabbit.

"We gotta do something about that guy," she said.

"I think we'll be lucky if we can get off this cloud," said Sparrow balefully. "We've got one good wing apiece and this thing is breaking up fast."

"Well, we've got one shot then," Butterfly stated with a determined nod. Before Sparrow could reply, she wrapped her good arms around him. The cloud was almost completely disintegrated as she screamed, "Fly! Now!"

Sparrow wanted to argue, but knew there was no time. He squeezed his eyes shut and beat his good wing for all he was worth. To his surprise, they did not fall to their death. They were falling, to be sure, but with Butterfly's wing working with his, the descent was slow and controlled. They were going to make it.

Sparrow opened his eyes just in time to see Rabbit poking his nose out of his hiding place.

"Look!" called Butterfly, who had spotted not only Rabbit, but Cat, who was crouching in the alley shadows, watching the oblivious Rabbit.

With a little more effort, the pair hang-glided right up behind Rabbit, letting Sparrow catch him by his remaining long ear. Rabbit screamed and squirmed and wriggled so hard that his ear broke right off in Sparrow's beak. Deciding he'd worry about how ridiculous he looked - with two blunt ears now AND that stupid long tail - he made a break for his hiding hole once more, but Cat had other ideas.

Butterfly and Sparrow watched as the speeding trickster fled, while they made gentle contact with the ground.

"At least we know Cat will never give up," Sparrow chuckled. "That guy has a serious one-track mind."

He was right, as you know. Cats have chased those long-tailed, blunt-eared rodents ever since, in a neverending symbiosis, whether they know why or not. What you might not know, however, is that without ever formally deciding to do so, Butterfly and Sparrow were also partners from then on. Neither ever flew on their own again, but when they got tired of walking, all they had to do was lean on each other and the skies were theirs.

Rabbit Loses More Than His Tail, Part 2

When we left Rabbit last, he had just sent the beautiful but poisonous Butterfly unwittingly into the lair of Alley Cat, satisfied with himself for defeating both his enemies at once.

Having dealt with his tormentors so quickly, Rabbit decided to focus on getting a new tail. He felt off-balance without one, but he couldn't find anything fluffy; all around him were just vast stretches of the tall grasses of the field.

"It's only temporary," he told himself, sticking a long, whiplike blade of the golden grass to his fur where his tail had been. He was too busy examining his handiwork to notice the winged, purple streak hurtling toward him.

"Asshole!" Butterfly screamed over her shoulder as she darted past Rabbit. Cat was hot on her heels, knocking Rabbit head over long-tailed behind in pursuit of his new prey. One of Cat's razor-sharp claws caught Rabbit's ear, slicing half of it right off and flinging it backward into the alley. Cat stumbled a little, giving Butterfly the chance to get ahead, taking refuge on a low cloud.

With Butterfly out of reach, Cat turned his attention once more to Rabbit, who had made a few hops toward the alley in hopes of retrieving his ear.

"Not again!" screamed Rabbit, and he skittered back into his hiding hole. Cat glared and growled down at him for a few moments, but was too hungry to stick around for long and soon went back to the alley to scrounge in the dumpsters.

While Rabbit shivered and Cat scrounged, Butterfly panted and whimpered on her cloud. One of her wings was shredded to ribbons. She'd lost an antenna, and a couple of her legs were hanging useless at unnatural angles. Still, she was alive, and all she wanted was sleep. Deep, peaceful sleep, floating along on a cloud was the perfect way to recuperate - quiet and alone.

To be concluded...

This sketch of Butterfly came first. Words and story followed.

Rabbit Loses More Than His Tail, Part 1

Between writing articles I'm getting paid for (yay!) and posts to start arguments at PopBunker.net (also yay), I haven't written much fiction. I found the idea for this in one old notebook recently, and found a few paragraphs of it in another, newer notebook. Part of my family is Native American, specifically from the Seminole and Seneca tribes. When I was younger, someone gave me a copy of Chief Jim Billie's CD of songs and stories. My favorites are the ones about Cufe-Laksv, the trickster rabbit.

One summer evening, Rabbit decided to take a shortcut home. The alley was shadowy and full of junk, but he was confident in his cleverness and hopped forth. Rabbit might have been clever, but what he failed to realize in his infinite wit and wisdom is that alley Cat, while not terribly bright, was a lot bigger and had very sharp teeth. Before Rabbit could even think, he was running for his life. He did manage to outrun the hungry Cat and dive down a hole, but not before Cat had snatched off Rabbit's fluffy tail. As he recovered from the shock, Rabbit vowed to get revenge.

The next morning, Rabbit emerged from his hiding place. With the sun shining, it was easy for him to spot Cat, who had gone back to sifting through the dumpsters in the alley in search of food. Rabbit was wondering what he could do to get back at Cat for stealing his tail, when Butterfly meandered by on a scrap of warm breeze.

"Hey, Butterfly!" Rabbit called to her. "I heard a rumor you were poisonous. Is that true?"

"Damn right, I'm poisonous!" she snapped back. "So don't get any funny ideas!"

"Who, me?" said Rabbit, all innocent surprise. It helped that Butterfly was kind of a bitch. He wouldn't feel so bad now. "I was just making conversation," he began again. "What I really wanted to say was that someone planted some honeysuckles over on the other side of that alley and I thought you might want to know."

Butterfly blinked. "Wow, thanks," she said and flew off in the direction Rabbit was pointing.

Staring after her, Rabbit congratulated himself on settling the score for two insults at once.

"That was almost too easy," he thought with a grin.

To be continued.

Another Tuesday

A few years ago, my friend Scott and I were in the habit of eating Mexican food and walking at the beach on Tuesdays. Now that the weather's getting cold and I just found myself wondering if they'd shrink-wrapped the palm trees at the beach yet, I remember a Tuesday when those went from being one of my least favorite things in existence, to one of my most favorite. I was complaining that they were so tacky I didn't understand why the city even bothered with them since they're not even native to the climate here.

"Yeah, well, neither are coffee and white people, and I don't see you complaining about either of those, so quit bitching," Scott replied.  Shut me up.

Perspective: Pass it on.

My One Piece of Advice

This goes out to all aspiring... anything really! I'm going to speak mostly to writers, because that's what I am and what I know, but I know actors, musicians, artists, craftsmen, and owners of all kinds of businesses who would agree with the one piece of advice I'm going to give you about how to succeed in your chosen field.

Are you ready?

Here it is: Use Twitter.

Hush your mouth if you just read that and started protesting because there's too much spam or too many idiots on there to make it worth your time. Are you hushed? I'll say it again.

Use Twitter.

It's that simple. You want me to show my math now, don't you? I suppose that's fair. I'll give you a glimpse of my network. I'll name them at the end, but these are writers I get to interact with, sometimes just commenting on daily life, but often talking shop as well. We all bring different things to the table, including our own areas of expertise, education, personalities, and yes, contacts. In the list I'll share with you, I'm only including those I've actually exchanged dialogue with. There are many more I follow because I like what they have to say and/or because they post helpful links and tips. I follow and communicate with more than just writers, but we'll stick to them for this post. If you'd like an introduction to some good folks in another industry, just ask. If you're already on Twitter, what are you reading this thing for? Skip to the end and consider it my ultimate #FollowFriday post.

I know it can be intimidating, this vast sea of names and brief bios. You may be wondering where to start, who to follow, and what to do with followers once you've got them. Luckily, it's very simple: join the conversation. You know what Twitter really is? It's a chatroom that isn't limited to any one topic. You get to tailor your own environment to be populated by people who share your interests. It becomes this great Venn-diagram of people with whom you can discuss any (and I mean any) topic under the sun.

Are there spammers and idiots out there? Of course they are, but there's an easy solution: don't follow them. Block and report the spammers, and if you don't like what someone is posting, you don't have to follow them. Is that a little bit of a hassle once in a while, sure, but let me put it this way: every single writing job, paid or unpaid, that I have gotten in the past year can be directly traced to a contact I made on Twitter. Every one, without exception, fiction and nonfiction. Think about that. I have added to my resume, gotten my name out there, gained the experience that prospective employers want, honed my craft, and because it doesn't actually go without saying, made some friends and had fun. I have done all of this without it costing me anything but time and effort, and let's face it, if you're not willing to spend that, you're not going to be successful at anything.

Okay, now your prize for suffering through my lecture! I promised you a peek into my little black book, and so here they are, some of (by no means all!) my favorite writer-people, in alphabetical order with just a few words about who they are:

• @AlexBledsoe: Published novelist, loves his family, can quote Phantom of the Paradise!
• @babesmcphee: Playwright and member of the Sacred Fools Theater Company. Her blog can be found here.
• @BeTheBoy: His blog often makes me want to die laughing until I remember it's non-fiction, and then sometimes I want to cry. His wife is @slackmistress, who is a professional writer with her own blog and list of sites where her work can be found (including @ValemontU). Their @DaisyJDog is also on Twitter, and is always good about reminding us of the simple things in life. Why stress out too much about having a bath, when there is sure to be cake later, from @SusinaBakery (you see how it spirals out?)?
• @coderster: Participates on PoetryAssignment, maintains her blog, and will be her area's NaNoWriMo Municipal Liason this year!
• @CorbSilverthorn: The irrepressable Editor of Silverthorn Press. As passionate about the craft as he is silly, which is to say, quite a bit.
• @David_N_Wilson: He does it all - writer, blogger, NaNoWriMo winner, and tireless fount of encouragement and useful advice.
• @drunken_hopfrog: Mastermind behind PopBunker.net, where no cultural phenomenon is safe.
• @ElwoodJBlues: A new voice on the pop culture blog scene. His personal blog has been entertaining us for a while now, but he's branching out, contributing to the @ComicStop's blog and more.
• @GeoffJohns0: Okay, I haven't exactly had dialogue with him, per se, but he once sent me a Direct Message, so I'm counting it because it makes me feel special to include Geoff Johns on this list. You'd do it too, and you know it.
• @hownottowrite: The best writing cheerleader on Twitter! Every day, he produces these oh-so-quotable messages that just keep you going! Also, his avatar is King Moonracer. You can't beat that.
• @joethepeacock: The most successful self-published writer I've ever known! Whatever he's doing over there, he's doing it right. He blogs, too!
  
• @JohnnySix: evil genius behind The Twitter Novel Project (@tweet_book), to which @blondie80 has also contributed supplemental material. Also, he controls the weather. I've seen him do it.
  
• @jsmithready: Writer of urban fantasy novels gracing the shelves of a bookstore near you! Her characters, @ShaneMcAllister and @CiaraGriffin tweet, as does her cat, @Misha_Guy. In her spare time, she enjoys flamingo ping-pong.
• @melissaoyler: Graphic designer! Blogger! Novelist! NaNoWriMo winner! Cheerleader! PoetryAssignment editor! I could go on!
  
• @michaelrholmes: Renaissance man with firm standing in most segments of the Venn-diagram currently asserts his right to stand in the writers' circle with his adaptation of Forbidden Zone. Also actor of stage and screen on the other side of the script!
  
• @neilhimself: I couldn't leave Neil Gaiman off this list, even though my interaction with him has been limited to one book signing and a brief exchange on Twitter about fountain pen ink. Mr. Gaiman sets a high bar for good writing citizenship, and I think we would all do well to follow his examples.
  
• @PointlessBanter: as you might have guessed, the editor of PointlessBanter.net. If you like funny, check it out. If you write funny, he might let you guest blog!
  
• @shadowsinstone: Her characters jump right out of their stories and make you believe vampires are real and among us, getting drunk, falling in love, and ready to hit on you or insult you depending on their moods. @crookedfang is my favorite, but don't tell him I said that.
  
• @stina8753: Frequent collaborator with @shadowsinstone while maintaining a separate body of work. She's completed one novel and is continuing to forge ahead with her bright writing future. Her characters tweet too, with @unpleasantries at the top of the list.
  
• @the0phrastus: Another man who wears many hats, or maybe one great, big, multi-colored hat with patches of words, paint, and magic.
  

Writing is largely a solitary occupation, especially for freelancers and those others who work from home. Thanks to Twitter, though, it doesn't have to be quiet, lonely work. If a co-worker is someone who works along with you in the same occupation, you get to have them - as many as you want, there to bounce ideas off of, commiserate with, and network with.