Austin Blessing-Nelson (Blessing)
Bio
Stories (59)
Filter by community
Snow Isn't the Same as an Adult
I huff as I, out of breath and exhausted, strain to push the shovel full of heavy snow off the driveway. We got nine inches of snow today... and I have to be able to get out of my driveway in the morning to go to work. That means I get to spend my Sunday evening clearing this driveway. As I force myself to push through the exhaustion and keep shoveling, I reminisced about how awesome snow was when I was a kid.
By Austin Blessing-Nelson (Blessing)2 years ago in Fiction
My Goal for Vocal in 2024
As 2023 drew to a close and 2024 began, I did what many others did and partook in the annual tradition of setting some resolutions for myself for the new year. (Hopefully I stick to them all!) One of these resolutions relates directly to Vocal, and I set a specific goal to help me achieve it. My goal for Vocal in 2024 is relatively straightforward, yet it is also challenging: write more. This relates to one of my resolutions for this year, which is to try and write more, including on Vocal. I want to do this because I really enjoy writing and it gives me a good creative outlet. I also might want to turn it into a second career some time in the (likely) distant future.
By Austin Blessing-Nelson (Blessing)2 years ago in Journal
The Story Behind One of the First Stories I Wrote on Vocal
While it is not technically the first story I ever wrote, one of the first several stories I published on Vocal was a story titled “WOOOOOOO!!!” It is the story of a fisherman who goes out one night to fish at his favorite spot on the lake. However, he doesn’t catch any fish, but instead encounters something terrifying and unknown that ultimately makes him scared of the lake.
By Austin Blessing-Nelson (Blessing)2 years ago in Writers
A Critique of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The story is very interesting and compelling and is full of twists and turns. The world is well built and the mythology is described in detail. The book was influential and revolutionized the fantasy genre. The movies were likewise widely viewed as cinematic masterpieces, even if they are very long.
By Austin Blessing-Nelson (Blessing)2 years ago in Critique
Why do people buy books they don’t read?. Top Story - May 2024.
We have all likely been guilty of buying or keeping books we know we will probably never read, and maybe never intended to read. I know I have certainly been guilty of this! And you certainly are not alone, it seems much of society prefers buying and having books over actually reading them. Indeed, one survey found that an average of half of the over one hundred books in an average home go unread.
By Austin Blessing-Nelson (Blessing)2 years ago in BookClub
The History of the Nigerian Prince Scam
In today's world, there are a ton of scams, especially online. It seems like everywhere you look there’s another one popping up, ranging from IRS scams, to fake product sales, to tech support scams, and many, many more. However, when we think of scams, surely the classic Nigerian prince scam - also called a 419 scam because of the section of the Nigerian criminal code that deals with fraud - comes to mind. After all, it's an old scam that is so widely known that it has become a common trope. But what are the origins of this classic scam? Well, in order to look at the origins of this scam, we must first understand what it is.
By Austin Blessing-Nelson (Blessing)3 years ago in FYI
