10 Comments

Love that his conflict is not being blind, but being moved like a pawn, which leads into learning chess. Brilliant choice!

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Thank you for the kind words, Brian. I’m happy you pointed this out because it was an important piece (no pun intended) of the story for me while writing it!

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Hi Justin, just a short comment. I've noticed with a few of your short fiction pieces that when you introduce the protagonist by name you make a point of including first and last name. Is that a conscious choice to help quickly establish their identity?

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Thanks for the comment, Mark. Yep, that’s exactly it. It is a conscious decision...sometimes I spend a few minutes figuring out the character’s name! (Most of the other story details don’t take that long, ha.)

Names are so important for me because they can tell so much about a person or a character. Sometimes when I envision the character they look a certain way, and in selecting their names I want to make sure they are depicted as closely as possible to how I’m seeing them in my mind.

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Absolutely love the ending, Justin! Love the positive force of this story...a wonderful respite from reading the news.

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Thank you, Jenise. That makes me happy to hear you say that!

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GO BENNY! I love the strength of this kid. He is NOT an underdog. Nice work, Justin.

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Thank you so much, Sharron! He is a very strong character indeed! 💪 😀

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Heartwarming, Justin 🤗

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Thank you, Kim! 😊 I’m glad you enjoyed it.

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