Rustypuppy

I have 2 ebooks for sale…

Rustypuppy — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 21:52:27 GMT

I have 2 ebooks for sale at various online stores through draft2digital. They are collections of my microfiction stories: one with illustrations, one without.

My royalties for September are $0.52 USD. Not bad considering I don’t promote them and they’re several years old. But that 52 cents is loosing value.

At today’s BTC price, that’s about 827 sats. And those sats gain value.

This is why I’m so excited about Nostr as a way for artists of all kinds to be able to connect directly with those who appreciate the creative work. People who are willing to toss a few sats in appreciation.

As Gigi said, “People want to support the stuff they love, and they're willing to pay for it. Not all people, but ~4% of them. And that is enough.”

I’ve focused on art since joining Nostr, because a picture is worth a thousand words: someone decides almost instantly whether or not they like what they see, whether they zap in that moment or not.

Those thousand words (or in the case of my microfiction, 300 words) take time read, maybe even think about, in the midst of scrolling through all those other short notes and photos and visual art.

I think stories are a harder sell, regardless of the means of payment. But it’s something I want to explore next year with Nostr.

https://heidi2524.com/stories

#v4v #author #nostrwriter #ebook #royalties #art #grownostr

Paper samples from Mixam (on the…

Rustypuppy — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:51:12 GMT

Paper samples from Mixam (on the right). Looking for a lower cost print solution for one of my microfiction collections (on the left, printed as a photobook).

#author #writing #microfiction #research #writer #authorstr #printing #paper #selfpublishing #singlepagestories

SYNCHRONIZED: Not sure if I believe…

Rustypuppy — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 04:10:59 GMT

SYNCHRONIZED: Not sure if I believe in past lives. Zack does. He says I wouldn't always hold my hand out the car window, fingers spread like a wingtip, if I hadn't previously been a bird.

This road winds more than a desert snake. The cliff drops away to the ocean outside Zach's window, while I feel crushed by the shadow of the mountain. This is the price of love, or at least the temporary discomfort I'm willing to endure to get Zach to one of the few freediving spots he hasn’t yet explored. I lean my seat back to better catch the air current sweeping in through the sun roof and out the back windows.

At the beach, Zack kisses me before walking into the ocean. I stroll along the beach, then settle down with my feet in the swash. No breeze, but the motion of the water reminds me of soaring.

He's back within an hour, eyes sparkling, his camera full of photos he's eager to share with me and the world. The droplets of saltwater in his hair glitter. His words tumble over each other like a babbling brook. If I believed in past lives, Zach would have been a fish.

He wraps his arms around me, completely soaking my t-shirt. "Thanks for this," he murmurs into my hair. "I know it's not your thing."

I melt into his hug, thankful we're both humans for this iteration of our existence. "We can do my thing tomorrow. I found a place that will let me jump out of a perfectly good airplane."

#microfiction #story #fiction #writing #author #grownostr #singlepagestory

RESEMBLANCE - We knew Mr. Alster's…

Rustypuppy — Sun, 10 Sep 2023 18:13:16 GMT

RESEMBLANCE - We knew Mr. Alster's new cat would be a long-hair because he grew his beard beyond his Adam's apple. We knew Ms. Fitzsimmons' golden retriever would be going to the groomer because Ms. Fitzsimmons had just come back from the hair salon.

Pets end up looking like their people, and people look like their pets.

In May, when the new family moved into the house beside mine, my friends and I peered through the knotholes in the fence. We saw the father walk into the garage (short, bald, muscled arms with tattoos), and all agreed the dog bed Abby saw belonged to a pit bull or Rottweiler.

A girl younger than us skipped by, hands and mouth full of candy. Hank said she probably had a hamster.

The son, a tall teen dressed in black, stood on the porch railing and used the eaves to pull himself onto the roof. He sat cross-legged at the edge, watching the movers take furniture into the house. Hank and Abby wrote him off as an petless goth and moved further down the fence, hoping to spot the dog.

That night, as I closed my bedroom window, I saw a figure crouched on my neighbor's roof. The faint light from their second story window outlined a hunched, bulky body. The head turned toward me. I yanked my curtain closed and switched off the desk lamp. The afterimage of glowing red eyes kept me awake past midnight.

My excitement kept me up until dawn, because I couldn't wait to tell my friends the teen had a pet gargoyle.

#grownostr #story #microfiction #writing #author

SINGLE PAGE STORY SUNDAY* …

Rustypuppy — Sun, 03 Sep 2023 20:26:01 GMT

SINGLE PAGE STORY SUNDAY* …

REMEDY - After she dropped the kids off at soccer practice, the tamarind had an appointment with her horticulturist.

Browning leaves, a severe drop in fruit production, splotches on her bark - classic stress symptoms.

Easy enough for him to prescribe a new fertilizer, rest, and more water. She had the kids, the house, the dog, the gerbil, and the so very not semi-tropical New Jersey weather to deal with on a daily basis.

Sitting in her car, the tamarind dropped her head into her branches and wept sap-filled tears.

From somewhere down the street, the strings of a tanpura reached out and hugged her with their melody. Her bark lightened. A single flower bloomed upon her brow as the song filled one of the holes in her life. On her way to pick up the saplings, the tamarind bought a pair of headphones and a subscription to AlwaysMusicIndia.

At her next appointment, her horticulturist praised her recovery, clearly pleased with efficacy of his prescription.

* fanciful microfiction of less than 300 words

#story #microfiction #author #storystr #fiction #magicalrealism #grownostr #writer

SINGLE PAGE STORY* … Tuesday! instead of…

Rustypuppy — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 23:31:13 GMT

SINGLE PAGE STORY* … Tuesday! instead of Sunday because Mom and I had a Rummikub marathon on Sunday and I completely forgot to post. This is one of my favorites. :)

May need to tap the photo to see the read the whole thing.

* Fanciful #microfiction of 300 words or less.

#story #storystr #author #authorstr #singlepagestories #writing #fiction

SINGLE PAGE STORY SUNDAY! Fanciful #microfiction…

Rustypuppy — Sun, 06 Aug 2023 18:19:52 GMT

SINGLE PAGE STORY SUNDAY! Fanciful #microfiction of 300 words or less.

#story #storystr #author #authorstr #singlepagestories #writing #fiction