Barb Dukeman
Bio
I have three books published on Amazon if you want to read more. I have shorter pieces (less than 600 words at https://barbdukeman.substack.com/. Subscribe today if you like what you read here or just say Hi.
Achievements (13)
Stories (198)
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A Process of Writing
Choosing to sit at the end of the table, I have always felt like the outsider. My sense of humor is, well, weird. I can come across as off-putting to many, something outside their norm. And that’s the key. It’s their norm, not mine. I don’t fit in their preconceived notion of normal. A square peg in a round hole. However, I’m more of a trapezoid, really.
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Motivation
2025 Writing Project. Runner-Up in New Year, New Projects Challenge.
I’m an author of three self-published books, and I have more ideas and concepts for others. But having books for sale on Amazon is a bit different from fulfilling a life-long dream to publish a novel. Amazon publishes anything people submit, and some of those are sketchy at best. I’ve seen books that were in serious need of editing or at least proofreading. Collections of short stories and poems can be culled from all that I’ve written in the last 46 years with ease; the challenges that Vocal offers are ways to hone my writing skills and prove I can still tell a story. I taught reading and writing for 32 years, and now I get a chance to exercise my right to write.
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Motivation
Occupy Havana
In 2017, my husband and I visited Cuba during the small window of time when the Obama administration allowed travel to this island nation. We were on a cultural/educational visit which allowed us to use a pre-approved tourist group to see the sights in Havana. Pre-approved by the government, of course, headed by Raul Castro at the time, brother of Fidel. Still very much a socialist nation with a communist constitution, very few people without family there have been able to visit freely since the early 1960s due to its relationship with USSR/Russia.
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Photography
Shorts. Content Warning.
They came up out of the ocean, two young lovers walking hand-in-hand onto the shore. The darkness of twilight enveloped them, keeping them screened from prying eyes. Just the lapping of little waves on the shore kept them company. This section of the beach had very few homes and resorts; just a few distant lights twinkled, and two rentals were visible from the beyond the sand dunes, sea oats gently waving.
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Photography
Faces of the Future. Runner-Up in Future Fragments Challenge.
The silver screens flashed at midnight as they sat in the dimmed room. “Happy New Year!” The girls of Iota Delta Iota Omicron Tau that didn’t go back home raised their glasses of sparkling cider as they celebrated the arrival of 2050. Banti77, 4Donna4, and Kar3n stayed in a room at their sacred sorority house on the campus of The University of Mid Southwest Coastal Florida. As part of this well-bonded sisterhood, they shared holidays and many conversations about the past and the future.
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Futurism
The Darkest Playlist
[I apologize ahead of time for commercial ads present in the links] It comes to no surprise that my Spotify Wrapped for 2024 contains many songs from my “Let’s Get Scared, Barb” playlist. To me, Halloween is a year-round treat like pumpkin spice lattes or hot apple cider. I have dozens of playlists, each with its own goal: workout, chill, Christmas, Latin, yard work, hurricane season – you name it, I most likely have a playlist for it. One of my playlists is entitled “YOU DISRESPECTED ME?” and meant to be played after a frustrating day of substituting a class of impudent students. Every few months or so, I revisit my playlists, add or subtract from, or rearrange the songs depending on my mood at the time. If not, I tend to memorize the order and expect the same songs. The songs in my Halloween playlist, otherwise known as spooky $hit, show up across different playlists as well. 2024 was another year in darkness, sparked by occurrences of grief in the past decade, and because of that, I prefer to write about death, terror, ghosts, ghouls, or witches. This fear of the unknown is a common theme in my writing.
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Beat
A Published Author is Born. Runner-Up in Echoes of the Year’s Lessons Challenge.
Any gratifying accomplishment starts with a tiny seed planted and inspired by something or someone you admired in your youth. It may start as far back as elementary or secondary school. At times the seed may lie dormant in the recesses of your mind, hidden by the everyday activities and stressors that seemed to occupy the landscape of a typical life. We remember the potentiality of this seed vividly; it often guides us closer to fruition in small bits and steps.
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Motivation
No Place Like Home (Full Version)
Raindrops broke the surface tension in the pool, piercing the water in tight circles and dissolving into nothingness. So began our Christmas Day this year – a dreary sunless sky composed of silence. No sounds of laughter, holiday greetings, or excited dogs. Just a disquiet peace. I made coffee and started to make breakfast hoping the smells of biscuits and bacon would rouse the rest of the sleeping family.
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Families
No Place Like Home
Just the three of us. We had celebrated Christmas Eve together the day before, my husband, my younger son, my older son and daughter-in-law, and their 3-month-old son. They lugged the car seat, diaper bag, and bottles inside, along with a few other odds and ends. We had set aside other essentials for them to take back with them, and I Aunt Bethany’d some of their Christmas presents by wrapping up everyday things we were giving them like shop towels and Advil. I overdid the baking and 14 tins of assorted cookies were filled. Jars and bowls had candy and chocolate-covered pretzels. Their stockings overflowed. I made arroz con picadillo for an early dinner and eggnog pie
By Barb Dukemanabout a year ago in Families
