Thanks to Google Docs, the titles link to the documents I edit; if you happen to be reading one I'm working on, you'll see it change. Click on titles to access the stories and essays.
I've put #1 through #5 for suggested reading.
dougfortier@gmail.com
I've put #1 through #5 for suggested reading.
dougfortier@gmail.com
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LATEST ON SITE: "Voodoo Taboo"
Narrated by tattoo artist P.J., Saul asks him for a tattoo because Saul's dementia is accelerating and he wants the dignity of knowing his own name, but he's an orthodox Jew. For Ekphrasis III, 2014, "Art Describing Art" a collaboration of the Mendocino Coast CWC with The Artists Co-Op of Mendocino. The art, a ceramic plate, as inspiration for one page of prose or poetry.
#1 "Candace of the Kingdom of Kush, 332 B.C." #2 "Today?" - Man in his desire / Aristotle
Finalist - Short Fiction - 2014 Mendocino Coast Writers Conf. Also in the Noyo River Review "The story does the beautiful and careful dance of exploring an extremely high stakes situation, the loss of a spouse, with a quiet, calm voice. Doug Fortier chooses a specific slice of time and within the confines of that tiny space, he explores trust, promises, love and lies between two people." Natalie Serber, 2014 MCWC Short Fiction Instructor #3 "Welcome to the Purple Rose Zone" - It happened
"Dopplegänger" - Letter connecting & protecting "Trinity of Blood" - My first three memories "Overcoming Darkness" - Loss of a sense "Dangerous Games" - Action here & there
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A website I made: CompostingAbbie.comThe true story of a whale, a tragic accident, and a man who had a brilliant idea that turned a tragedy into an opportunity to grow food and flowers for children.
Website for Mendocino Community Library
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"Shoe Shine Magic" 3 pages--992 words
The spark of this story came from hearing about a man who called widowers in newspaper obituaries to see if he could shine their shoes for their wife's funeral.
"Presque Vu" just starting page four, w/notes
Kemp is a baby when her superpower is revealed. Presque vu is the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon; in her head, Kemp hears the person who can't think of the word say it in their own accent and language. Her problem; she can't stop from calling out the word.
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"Toward the Light" 1 page
A piece for the Ekphrasis II Project of the Mendocino Coast writers club. If you were given a painting of a lighthouse and a boat in the water, what would you write?" |
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"Cordyceps Meets T.gondii" 1,618 words 6 p.
Professor Randy Celebra has four days to prove a human brain parasite could influence a fungus to turn people into zombies. Failure would doom his upcoming book and deny him tenure. In pursuit of the proof, Celebra joins the husband of the missing Margaret Stacey, his target.
YouTube-Sir RichardAttenborough |
"Senior Sumo" 2,631 words Ronin Judo - Elmer Gale
Aaron, a superstar wrestler in college, works out twice a day and has always said, "If you're not ripening, you're rotting." On his 60th birthday, he's invited to join fellow wrestlers of another sort. He sees a chance to regain a sense of the glory days and prove he's still got it. His antagonist knows Aaron's strengths and weaknesses, is the owner of the sports club, does physical training and therapy, but a mystery to the general public, weighs three hundred pounds.
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"Reunion Charade"
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"Arnold 1790"
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"Summer of Love"
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"Inside the Jaguar"
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"Hosteen's Problem"
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#4 "Guilty by Association"
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"Fire and Water"
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"Bound by the Glory of his Past" 8 pages--4600 words
A man with no money and an impending death sentence due to bad genetics becomes the recipient of nano-size mechanical brain cell replacements for each of his doomed components; but that's only the beginning.
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"The Lesson"
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#5 "Lares at Crossroads" 2 pages--1375 words
Lares' body reacts violently to stormy weather's thunder, lightning, and rain. He is agoraphobic and goes only as far as the residence hotel's lobby where he impersonates other people because he doesn't want anyone to see him.
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"Bringing Home the Bones" 1 page--511 words
Alone on a ruined planet, Marker feeds fossilized bones of his ancestors into a beacon that broadcasts to the universe the life and death experiences of beings dead for a million years. But Marker has a problem. "Loose Gravel"
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"Stranger Conversation" 2 pages--800 words
An online chat room with eight people who've met this way for a long time continues until the tractor salesman, ThreaTT, learns the truth about his friends. "Soule and the Magician" 3 pages--1960 words
A thousand years ago, a slight-of-hand magician encounters a black cat, Anther, who intervenes on his behalf.
"You Had to be There" 2 pages--915 words
Two short writing assignments using 2nd person. I tell my 18 year-old self about the day on the Air Force base flight line when I had a moment in the twilight zone. "So That to Know Her" 3 pages--1220 words
An essay based on Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway where we see how Clarissa embodies the people she loves and those she despises, and of the places important to her now and in her past. The thesis is, “So that to know her, or any one, one must seek out the people who completed them; even the places.”
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"My Protection"
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Once a waiter at the New Almaden Food and Beverage Company, New Almaden, CA