A blog entry not about Fred Harvey! Well, not entirely. I made Harvey House flannel cakes for breakfast this morning, but that's neither here nor there -- although they were very nice. I used buttermilk instead of water, so they were yeasty and tangy, as if I had used sourdough starter. But I digress. 

The real topic is Southwest Writer's Association newsletter's monthly writing challenges and how responding to them is a way of expanding my skills and abilities. It will also give me a fresher view. The February writing contest is, not surprisingly, a 100-word flash fiction or 3 stanza poem on the topic of love. So, I submitted the following : 

Greater Love Hath No Man 

He lifted the lid of the cake safe. There was one slice of Zulu king cake left. He breathed in the warm aroma of chocolate and vanilla and coconut. He savored the memory of the soft, sweet pastry, the smooth and tangy vanilla cream cheese filling, and the dark fudgy icing. He recalled the nutty taste of the shaved coconut and the sudden explosion of flavor when biting into a chocolate chip hidden in the cream filling. He sighed and replaced the lid as his wife entered the kitchen. 

“You have the king cake for breakfast,” he said.

I do hope I haven't violated any policies, but there's nothing in the newsletter about not posting it online and it's not as if I have a following in the millions.