E.R. COOK

Author. Artist. Dreamer.

  • 15 Minute Stories: The Box

    Today’s story started a little different. I wasn’t really finding any photos that were speaking to me. So, I decided to try something a little different and go with a writing prompt. The Prompt: “You receive a mysterious cardboard box. Written on the side in large letters are the words: Caution! May Bite.” THE BOX…

  • 15 Minute Stories: All that Glitters

    15 Minute Stories: All that Glitters

    The Prixiator surveyed his flock with a smug satisfaction. The pews were filled with the highest ranking families in the kingdom. The men were dressed in the finest silks, the whitest shirts, with gold watches and silver canes. The women were similarly decked out in whalebone corsets, silk, lace, gold, silver, and sparkling gems. All…

  • 15-Minute Story: Wolf Moon

    15-Minute Story: Wolf Moon

    He watched as the moons rose into the night sky. The first was full, the light shining brightly over the forest. Its light filtered down through the pine trees, bathing the ground in scattered shadows. The second moon was almost half-full, its light melding and blending with the first. The third was a slowly thickening…

  • What’s Up? Summer Edition

    What’s Up? Summer Edition

    Ever have one of those moments where life gets busy and you have to choose what to stop focusing on? The “I’ll call them next week” or “I’ll deal with that when things slow down” moments? Then you blink and you realize its been two months (or six) and you still haven’t done the thing?…

  • Learning my craft: 15 minute story writing

    Learning my craft: 15 minute story writing

    So they say that writing is a craft, and like any craft, it takes time to get good. You need to practice and learn new skills and techniques. Find out your strengths and weaknesses. There’s a lot of ways to do this for writing, according to the internet. But I recently remembered something I tried…

  • 15 Minute Story : The Ice Dragon

  • Playing with AI: a winter poem

    There’s been a lot of talk lately about AI being used for writing and creating art. Some are excited and intrigued by the new technology. Others are worried about copyrights and the death of creativity. I’m not really sure which side of the debate I fall on, mostly because I’ve not experienced using it. So,…

  • Life as a PTPW: When inspiration won’t strike

    Writer’s block is as old as time. In fact, it seems cliché to write about it. I don’t have any sure-fire cures, and there’s nothing I can add that you couldn’t find with a simple search. But what I can talk about is that for all we hear and talk about writer’s block, we don’t…

  • The First (?) Lady of Science Fiction

    When researching about early science fiction, I came across the name of one of one of the earliest writers to be attributed to the genre and it peaked my interest. Because this writer was a woman. Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. While I knew that she was far from the only female writer during that…

  • We all need a break sometimes. . .

    Hi all! Just wanted to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about my followers. Just needed to take a quick break this week. I’ve been having a lot of fun researching my next topic, Mary Cavendish, possibly the first (?) Lady of Science Fiction. But with all in-depth topics, I’m swimming in rabbit trail…