98 Degrees

It’s 98 degrees out there, and humid. I tell this to people who have never experienced this kind of heat and they say things like, “Well, that certainly sounds hot.” and “What’s that in Centigrade?” and “I have no idea what that feels like.” To address these points, allow me to take them in reverse.… Continue reading 98 Degrees

Best Chocolate Buttercream Icing EVER

(as defined by my seven year-old son, so you know it’s good!) This is a delicious, rich dark chocolate butter-cream frosting recipe, with hints of orange. Perfect for icing an 9×13 cake or 8″ or 9″ round layer cake. Rich and chocolatey. No eggs in the mixture, but firm enough to spread.  Substitute vanilla essence… Continue reading Best Chocolate Buttercream Icing EVER

How To Become A Best-Selling Novelist on Kindle

While the big publishing houses seem to be missing the point with Kindle, authors are not.

A whole host of authors – from traditionally published to newbies – are self-publishing their books on Kindle, climbing the best-seller charts and writing about how they’re doing it.

Hey, Yarn is Yarn, right?

When I was about 11 I took a notion to try tapestry, even though I knew nothing about it. They had taught us some rudimentary needle skills at primary school (the girls were whisked off once a week to do needlework while the boys mucked about with paints. I have always been grateful for that,… Continue reading Hey, Yarn is Yarn, right?

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Angel Eyes

I’m on a mission. I’m on a mission to save the soul of my friend Jill Brown. I’m just not sure how to do that. With her average height and average build and, yes I’ll say it, average face, you might overlook my friend Jill but for three things: She’s 22 years old. You have… Continue reading Angel Eyes

Learning To Fly

The girls at this school were full of new games that left Sonia clumsy and frustrated: skipping rhymes, hand-clapping, elastics, kick the can, hares and hounds.

“What’s kites,” she shouted into the wind, dreading the answer.

Paula grinned.

“It’s magic!” The words raced past Sonia on a gust of salty air and were gone.

The Piano Man

They found him, dinner suit dripping, by the river.

He was not able to tell them his name — or perhaps it was there, amongst the screams and panic.

Back at the station they brought in linguists and translators who narrowed it down to some Russian dialect…

Broken Toys – A Story

[audio:http://www.julieduffy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/BrokenToys.mp3|titles=Broken Toys – A Story by Julie Duffy] This is today’s StoryADay story. I enjoyed it so much I recorded it too. You can play it above, or right-click here to save the mp3 file. See John. See John laugh. See John laugh and smile. See John laugh and smile and touch his wife Jane… Continue reading Broken Toys – A Story