Frazzled Tiger

Late, Late, Late - September 18, 2026

Dear Reader,

I'm sorry this message is so late, but I've been seriously under the weather this week. I even missed two days at the day job. That is never fun because to miss a day is damn near more work than just going as a useless, sick village idiot.

I'm actually penning this sitting at the day job where the Wi-Fi has crashed out. I had to get creative to avoid boredom, but unlike many of the youth, social media is not all that appealing to me. Instead of doomscrolling, here I sit attempting to correct a missing post.

I rarely ever wrote Ophelia Kee Speaks posts from the day job, and never on random Friday mornings, but I shall give this a try. Shall we see when it lands?

Dragon reading a book

Behind the Scenes

I spend a lot of days in real life attempting to be the good guy in the white hat, helping students who are often considered at risk from the poorest sector of the school district. But there are days when nothing seems to change the outcome. It's as if the universe has conspired against me getting through to them, and they stay the collision course directly into mayhem and ruin.

Real life often influences my storytelling. Aggravation from the day's affairs may manifest as a fight scene. The feeling of helplessness in the face of society's grinding machine shows up as torture scenes on the page. It would never suit the dream if I wrote the story in which the villain wins, but occasionally I want to do just that.

Life isn't perfect. Happily ever after doesn't actually exist. Even if you get lucky enough to live a fairy-tale life, the reaper eventually awaits us all. I sometimes need a place to put the stories that don't quite fit with the other tales in the dream. The random dark bits, the flash fictions, and the weird shorts that hang out on the edges or in between the cracks in the dream need a home.

That's exactly what the LARKS North Collection of stories is. After this week, don't be surprised if something darker with a more sinister style ending appears in that group. I can rarely pinpoint a specific event that inspired a particular scene, but looking back at my writing, it's obvious that too much stress in real life leads to darker paths the characters must walk.

5 ways to Help an Author poster

Thank you for stepping into the dream once more. Sorry so short, but rest assured it was because I was super busy expanding the dream. I'm neck-deep in formatting Blood Dark. I'd love to hear from you. Leave your comments, and I promise to respond as soon as I can. If you found this post worthy, feel free to share it. I hope you have a lovely weekend and will discover a grand story. Please remember when you read, be kind and leave your reviews. Until my next post, welcome to the dream...

Be Careful!

Happy Reading,

Bye-Bye,

Ophelia Kee

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