Story Cubes Challenge Entry: Into the Future

Two days to go before the first Story Cubes Challenge week ends and I’ve got my ficlet. Cubes: Hanging, yelling/shouting, pushing, thought bubble, padlock, turning, arrow/pointer, dancing, question mark Into The Future “Do I have to dance?” Dan frowned. “Because listening to music is fine. It’s just…” He tapped a calloused finger on the silhouette [...]

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Curious about part of Exeter?

I promise, I haven’t died. I’ve been juggling a few extra balls the past several weeks and one of the side effects has been a lack of blogging. I’ve got one particular aspect that should play itself out in the next week or 10 days, and then I’ll be back to regular blogging, though probably [...]

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Weighing the Value of Promotion vs. Writing

Dan Blank’s post last week about defining success has combined with some other things in my life right now to get me asking myself that very question. One of the things that’s been a challenge the past several weeks has been finding a way to balance writing with platform building and social media. Roz Morris [...]

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Meet the Characters: Chris Kimmett

Exeter State music instructor Chris Kimmett has loved playing since he was a child, and now spends most of his time either creating music or helping others improve their performances. “Music is a huge part of who I am,” Kimmett said. “An injury in college prevented me from making performing a career, but I’ve found [...]

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Around Town: The Exeter Ledger

The paper is still downtown, an old building that stretches back to the block behind it. The Stoneburner family started the paper back in the late 1800s, publishing twice a week. The Exeter Ledger was one of three papers in the town at the time, and soon ended up as the only one. The paper [...]

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Meet the Character: Riordan Boyle

You might not have met Riordan Boyle, but you’ve probably seen him telling stories, maybe even stopped to listen while shopping at O’Leary’s Market or on your way to a table at Corcoran’s Pub. Boyle’s a third-generation lawyer, and is well-known in town for taking on cases other atttorneys wouldn’t touch. He does pro bono [...]

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Six-Sentence Sunday: Thrown Out: Stories from Exeter

From Thrown Out, the title story in my short-story collection Thrown Out: Stories from Exeter. He swallowed and made himself take a step into the alley. The trash bins along the wall smelled of stale beer, and bile started to rise in his throat. He forced himself to take another step, reminding himself the wall [...]

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Around Town: Exeter Train Station

At mid-day, the Exeter train station is quiet, the small depot shut up. The low-roofed building peaks in the center at the station’s heart, before flattening to a slope just barely steep enough to allow snow to run off of it during the winter. The bricks are faded from time, the original clay red softened [...]

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Meet the Character: Evan Czarnecki

Most of the time, Evan Czarnecki’s not recognizable in his turnout gear for the fire department. The firefighter/EMT started with the department after he graduated from  Exeter High. “That was a fun discussion to have with my dad,” Czarnecki said. “Telling him I wasn’t going to college might be

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God’s Design, Fate or Karma? Keeping the Faith While Writing

One of the things I draw from both Eastern spiritual practices and my Catholic faith is the sense of being a small piece in a bigger puzzle, the sense of the infinite surrounding us. This morning, I got rather an unusual lesson in that as I was doing some research for a scene in my [...]

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Around Town: Becca Stone’s House

The Victorian Painted Lady house pops, even on a street full of them, thanks to a colorful paint job. Bold blue, accented with green and vivid yellow, is bright enough to attract attention, but not so much that it attracts snickers and stares. The landscaping, too, is colorful no matter what time of year you [...]

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Meet the Characters: Eileen Reilly

Eileen Reilly Eileen Reilly doesn’t look old enough to have nine grandchildren, but when she gathers the entire clan for Christmas, that’s how many little elves she has waiting for Santa’s presents. But she says she’s always wanted a big family. With seven children, ranging in age from 36-year-old Colleen to Mike, the baby of [...]

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Around Town: Exeter Town Common

Snow coats the leafless branches of the maples and oaks scattered throughout the open space near Exeter Town Center as the sun rises, a rosy glow reflecting across the unbroken expanse of white. Town plows rumble by periodically, their blades pushing gray chunks of snow onto the sidewalk that rings the Common. As the sun [...]

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Meet The Characters: Liz Reilly Czarnecki

Welcome to this week’s Meet the Characters, part of a series of profiles done by Exeter Ledger editor CJ Jenkins. Liz Czarnecki Liz Czarnecki is known throughout town as Mrs. C to the students and former students who have passed through her third-grade classroom at Park Street Elementary over the years. “Czarnecki’s a mouthful anyway, [...]

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Around Town: Downtown Exeter

Another in a series of pieces focusing on the places in Exeter:  Katie Reilly stepped out of Town Hall, notepad and camera in hand. If she could get this streetscape grant for Exeter, the town might be able to make some other improvements that didn’t make it into the budget this year. She turned and [...]

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