Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

  It's that time, a little early this month because of the holidays. I put off writing my story to the last minute, hoping for inspiration. You get to decide if I got it :) WEP/IWSG challenges are open to all. On the 1st of the challenge month, there will be a get-your-thinking-caps on post. The badge will include the dates of the challenge and the winner’s prize. Going forward, the InLinkz sign up will open on the third Wednesday and close 3 days later. Participants link up with the DLs. Team members collate a SHORTLIST and Nick Wilford judges WINNER, RUNNER UP and ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD. The BEST COMMENTER AWARD will continue, shared by different people, so keep on reading wonderful people! And look who won the Commenter Award this time! Xavier Xanthum may deserve a little explanation. I invented him years ago for an X post in the A to Z blogging challenge, and kind of fell in love with my absurd space explorer. He's a bit of a dweeb, a bit of a nerd, and a loner who is...

  Flashback Friday is a monthly meme that takes place on the last Friday of the month . The idea is to give a little more love to a post you’ve published on your blog before.  Maybe you just love it, maybe it’s appropriate for now, or maybe it just didn’t get the attention it deserved when you first published it. Thanks to Michael d’Agostino, who started it all, there is a solution – join Flashback Friday! And thanks to Jemima Pett , who has kept it going--visit her blog to add your name to the list ! Just join in whenever you like, repost one of your own blog posts , including any copyright notices on text or media, on the last Friday of the month.  ###### This month's Flashback post is a 650-word story I'd forgotten all about. I thought it was about time for some action from Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, and this in my opinion is on of the best of his tales. Xavier Xanthum's New Year Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, gazed morosely at the fuel-level indicator of the...

We got no new flash fiction challenge from Chuck this week, so I went back to the last one and picked another title from the list. I'd already decided to write another story for Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, so I just used the title to give me an idea where to take it. Larry makes reference to a couple of Xavier's previous attempts at a little R&R, so I threw in the links to those stories. The Princess’ Game “Larry, I’ve signed us up for a week’s R&R on G37-X.” “Indeed.” The AI materialized in front of Xavier Xanthum (in his standard form, a pair of glowing eyeballs). His tone sent a clear message to the human half of the partnership that ran the Wanderlust. “Do you have some objection?” “Not at all, Captain.” Xavier sighed. Larry only called him “captain” when he disapproved of something Xavier was about to do. This was probably about Xavier’s choice of a rustic retreat for his holiday. Larry liked vacation in high-tech centers where he could find...

This week's Wendig Challenge was simple: write a story around the idea that sometimes you have to break something to fix it. I suspect he was thinking about politics, but it made me think of good old Xavier Xanthum, since he's pretty good at messing up.  And hey--if you like flash fiction, consider joining us next week for the Fiction in 50 (words) feature. Write your 50 words, post your story, and link back to my #Fi50 post (goes live on Sunday). It Ain’t Fixed Until You Break It “Blethering belugans!” Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, cursed as he struggled to reach into the narrow adjustment slot for the left thruster, scraping the skin off three knuckles. Wanderlust was showing a decided tendency to veer off-course if he or Larry didn’t keep an eye on it, and Xavier wanted to save the cost of a repair. Of course, Larry had two eyes he could keep wherever he wanted, along with enough bandwidth to do everything else around the craft at the same time. At the moment, he was adj...

  X is for Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer   In a nutshell: Possibly the most luckless space explorer ever, Xavier specializes in getting into scrapes, and counts on Larry, his ship's computer, to get him out of them. Biggest Secret: Most of the time, he thinks of Larry as human. No quote, because you get a whole story! Xavier was invented several years ago to allow me to write a flash fiction for the A to Z Challenge, and he's hung around, with an ever-growing collection of tales of his adventures (see list under Short Stories , above). Today he takes another dive into a voyage of dubious desirability. I also have a late-breaking reminder that this is #Flashback Friday. I'll consider this a flashback, even though it's a new story, because using Xavier for X is a bit of recycling! Xavier Xanthum and the X-Galaxy Error Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, leaned back in his command chair and closed his eyes. He had just finished his greatest triumph to date over Larry, the AI...

For this month, while I'm very busy trying to juggle a NaNo project and the release of The Problem With Peggy (Book 3 of the Ninja Librarian series), my Friday posts may be either short, photographic, or re-runs. Just a warning :) Today, however, I got inspired and we have a full length (990 words) flash--another voyage with Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer. Xavier Xanthum and the Alien “Comet, we need some excitement.” Xavier Xanthum addressed the comment to the large black-and-white cat that lay, weightless, on his lap. “I do not think it is wise to wish for excitement.” The answer didn’t come from the cat; to the best of Xavier’s knowledge, the animal couldn’t speak. The only other voice in his one-man spacecraft was that of Larry, the AI. Xavier looked around for the floating eyeballs that Larry liked to use as his physical manifestation. “Why not? We’ve been in transit for a month, and I’m bored out of my mind. We need to do something to break up the trip!” He and Larry had bee...

This week Chuck Wendig challenged us to write a story in which insomnia plays some role . I picked on poor Xavier Xanthum again, and went just 3 words over the 1000-word limit. Sleep Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, was regretting having landed on his latest discovery. Granted, it was what he did. And the planet looked good; money in the bank if it checked out. Larry’s scans had shown no particular hazards or dangerous life-forms. Larry didn’t make many mistakes. Xavier was pretty sure, looking at the five-legged beast with very large teeth, that he’d made one this time. The creature looked dangerous, and Xavier didn’t want to stick around to find out if he was right. The trouble was, he was too far from the landing pod to retreat. Xavier couldn’t even begin to imagine how a five-legged creature could keep track of its feet, let alone run, but he was pretty sure the mind behind those teeth knew the answer. There was only one place to go, and Xavier went. The planet had a lot of plant li...

This week's Wendig Challenge is deceptively simple: start with a bang. Interpret liberally, but the story must start in the middle of the action. Sounds to me like Xavier Xanthum is on the loose again (go here to find previous stories about the intrepid space explorer). Because if there is one character I've invented who is apt to be in the middle of a big bang, it's Xavier Xanthum. In just over 1000 words, I present... To Be, or Not to Be “Emergency posts. Assume emergency posts at once.” The computerized voice, flat and unemotional, was the strongest warning the starship Wanderlust could produce. When there was time, Larry liked to put emotion into the voice. Xavier Xanthum, Space Explorer, grabbed one of the straps along the wall and hung on, wasting no time or energy asking Larry what was wrong. He was still trying to fasten the buckles when a light flared through the ship, and a shock wave tossed the vessel around. “Larry! Report!” Xavier had to wait for his eyes to r...