This morning I woke up and asked myself a question, “Sooooooooo, why would anyone write a piece about Giant Black Crickets?” Hmmmmm, why would I do such a thing?
Lately, I have found myself in a situation. I want to share a few of my personal experiences. It’s not that I believe my life is more intriguing than anyone else’s, but I do suspect most people haven’t had the misfortune of facing off with the same challenge. Many of these events are over-the-top . . . well . . . flipping out of this world. Others are simply funny, heartwarming, or in a few exceptional cases, may even show cause for panic. Sort of a ‘Red Flag’ of warning, if you will.
My dilemma is this: What stories can I tell without (A) Scaring off readers. (B) Upsetting my family. You see, my wife frowns upon events of darkness and terror, and I hold my wife’s feelings close to my heart. Furthermore, I don’t want to piss her off.
Unless noted in some unmistakable fashion within my writing, everything I post as a ‘Journal’ is one hundred percent true. Because of this fact, I must show vigilance when setting writing thresholds and parameters. Yep, if I post anything overly dark and spooky, I’m going to hear about it.
On a Weird Shit Scale of 1 through 10, I consider Giant Black Crickets a 2, possibly a 2.5 at best. I must work to keep Ghosts, Goblins, Undead, and Demonic Encounters to the bare minimum. The Novel I’ve recently completed includes an abundance of all of these things, including one Giant Black Cricket. The creature is promptly stepped on with a size 13 boot and squished flat!
Joseph Shanklin
May 30, 2021
ShankJoeJoe 