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Sammy receives an unusual birthday gift, a smart device with a face, a set life span, and an unrelenting imperative to help.

Genre: Science Fiction

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Excerpt:
The figurine suddenly collapsed, then sprung up, wheeled her arms around, stretched them out, then up, then bopped up and down by bending at the knees.

She gazed up at Sammy. \\u201cHello there!\\u201d she said. \\u201cAre you the one who needs help?\\u201d

Sammy said nothing. The figurine\\u2019s movements were smooth and graceful and quiet. She made no jerking motions, emitted no mechanical sounds of motors or gears. She blinked, and she breathed. She moved as if she were a living creature.

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What\\u2019s the Writing Prompt that inspired the story?
Ills, Pills, and Bills, Explore the subject of illness. Discover how one of your characters handles it. Or, select a moment from a personal experience of being sick or being a caregiver. Notice your perspective: is the incident humorous? poignant? clinical? dark? What means did you choose for writing: description? dialogue? narration of the event?

Source: Room to Write: Daily Invitations to a Writer\\u2019s Life. Bonni Goldberg. Copyright \\xa9 1996. TarcherPerigee.

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Faster Fictioneer
I held my first free writing workshop over Zoom to teach my method of writing short stories (an abbreviated version) on 11/8/2023. The workshop is based on my course, called \\u201cFaster Fictioneer: A Doable Method to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish in Five Weeks.\\u201d

You can watch a replay of the workshop here: FASTER FICTIONEER

(You can also buy the course there.)

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Follow my Fictioneering Mischief
The Storyfeather Gazette is a monthly round-up of my recent podcast episodes, short stories, trailers, news, recommendations, and more sent by email. Follow the link to look through old issues and to Sign Up: STORYFEATHER GAZETTE

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Storyfeather-themed merchandise
T-shirts, mugs, stickers, notebooks, baby onesies, and more featuring artwork from stories and art challenges
STORYFEATHER TEEPUBLIC STORE

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CREDITS
Story: \\u201cRoxie\'s Wake-up Call\\u201d Copyright \\xa9 2019 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:\\xa0 Nila L. Patel

Music:
\\u201cTrip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background\\u201d by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)

Music by ANDREA BARONI (Cyberleaf)*
\\u201cFugue for One Synthetic Heart (No Percussion)\\u201d
\\u201cForest Bathing\\u201d
\\u201cNight Time (No Percussion)\\u201d
\\u201cEvolving Cities\\u201d
\\u201cGround Control\\u201d
\\u201cYou Were Always in the Right Place (No Percussion)\\u201d

Music by ANDREW SITKOV (MuzStation Game Music)*
\\u201cCasual Theme #1\\u201d
\\u201cCasual Theme #3\\u201d
\\u201cMedieval Theme #5\\u201d
\\u201cMedieval Theme #2\\u201d

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*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.

Music by Andrea Baroni and Andrew Sitkov licensed from GameDev Market
Vocal effects created with Audacity

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Find more music by Digital_Emotions at\\xa0audiojungle.net
Find more music by Andrea Baroni and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com

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Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. Central image with a left and right border to make the format square. A humanoid figure standing with crossed arms, looking upward, and facing forward in front of a corkboard. The figure has right foot propped on the heel at the side, wears a satchel across the body, hanging from the right shoulder, and wears pants, a turtleneck, and a small-brimmed hat. Pinned to the corkboard to the figure\\u2019s left is a sticky note labeled \\u201cReturn Cathy\\u2019s Call (see email for #),\\u201d and to the right is a cluster of push pins.