Introduction and Table of Contents

ad pedum litterae. latin. literally, 'to the foot of the letter'. transliterally, 'exactly as written'.

This is the place where I'm posting my literary work. I tend to be a very listless writer, often starting projects without even the faintest hope of completing them. I'm trying to change that, by working on several short stories which I hope to have published collectively. There are currently 10 short stories being noodled on at the moment for this work, a mild number when compared to the sheer volume of work that I've started and never finished which now just floats around on various media in my home.

I'm also eager to hear constructive criticism of my work. please allow some leniency for spelling errors and grammar mistakes. These are not edited, it is exactly as they are while I'm working on them, and thus, quite rough.

What follows is a list of my current works and their approximate completion levels. The percentages listed are based on my personal thoughts of where they will end up. It's a mix of completion of the story itself, the number of characters, and ratio of outline to final text. It's a very complicated system full of rules and guides... which basically means that it's very extremely arbitrary and based on my opinion. So, I might not change anything and yet decide one day that something is 40% when the day before it was 60%

Writing Project Contents - Something that I'm working on with Mike as a constant stream of short stories, check often for new work.

About A Girl - Novella - Rough Draft @ 35% - Last Update 03/07/07 - 24,749 Words - 132,130 Characters

A bizarre tale of woe dedicated to all those that have ever lived life and lost.

About A Girl is a story about a girl, but not quite. He's a guy like any other, who meets a girl unlike every other, and they live a life that cannot be described in a blurb like this. But, like so many other stories, things go wrong, and he embarks on a journey, similar to running away with your tail between your legs.

This is something I started on back in 2003, where it's remained. I've finally gotten around to working on it again, but I'm trying to get it cleaned up a little bit first. I've had a lot of thoughts on what to do with it, and i feel much more comfortable with it. picking through it tonight, i realized how much I've been missing this story.

03.07.07 - Heavy update of grammar and spelling, very little content changed.


Chelsea - Short Story - Rough draft complete. - First draft editing not started. - Last Update 03/07/07 - 16,130 Words - 86,033 Characters

We delve into our minds to escape, but what happens when our minds want out?

Chelsea is the girl next door. He's madly in love with her, and known her all of his life. This lands her in prison and him on the news, and his life spirals down from there. We meet up with him many years later to find that his world is more than just a little out of control.

This one started in the late part of 2005 and was considered a first rough draft by mid-2006. It needs work. A lot of work. I'm still hammering out a few ideas to get this thing to where it needs to be, so the words it contains will be safe from harm... for now.

03.07.07 - Extremely heavy editing of grammar and spelling, very little content changed.


Broken - Short story - Rough draft @ 70% - Last Update 03/11/07 - 14,631 Words - 78,958 Characters

She's just a girl, until one night she becomes a killer. Self defense or not, it's shattered her on some level, and now she's expected to just move on with her life.

This is a much more recent story idea. It started as an email to a friend who'd asked about my writing. I didn't want to inundate her with anything, so the first 2 pages you read here are actually what i sent her, just so she'd understand what my writing was like. Oddly, it stuck with me and I decided to work on it.

03.11.07 - Heavy update of spelling and grammar, very little content change.


Old and New - Short Story - Rough Draft @ 35% - Last Update 03/20/07 - 6,092 Words - 33,192 Characters

A mysterious old man, a troubled young girl. He wants to help her, so that she doesn't take the path he may once have chosen. Everything is fine, until she uncovers just what that path was, and he has to protect himself. Again.

This is also recent. Another friend was asking for story ideas for a film class she's taking. I obliged with about 10, but this one sorta stood out to me, and i decided to take a stab at it. It stood out to her too, so I'm really curious to see how they converge and diverge or if they even meet somewhere in the middle.

03.20.07 - Heavy update of content as well as spelling and grammar. Started forming the "B" of the story.

the billboard - short story - rough outline @ 10%

the billboard is a working title, merely referring to the main device of the plot so far. it's a short story about a man driving to work, until he hits a snag, and his day changes completely, which makes sense, given the billboard that held his attention so tightly, it reads: "something amazing is about to happen to you."

this was something a little different. somehow, i heard these words while doing something else, and they caught me. i decided to find a way to make them into a story. this is the start of just such a story, though, it's not the only way i plan to use them.

The Dream - Short Story - Rough Outline @ 100% - Last Update 04/29/07 - 2,599 Words - 14,034 Characters

This is more just an idea for the ending of another story I'm working on, using different characters and a different scenario. I want to see if I can pull off the effect I'm looking for. It's just a rough outline at this point, and it's only a few pages, but, I like it so far. It just needs a little polish is all.