Iris Carden

The Week in Review 44/2025 The Week in Review Sunday, 26 October, 2025, to Saturday, 1 November, 2025. What I’ve written Sunday: Calling for Submissions It’s that time of year again. Indie authors are invited to submit to be part of my “All I want for Christmas” post. Monday: Recycled Post: Exhumations The Funeral Director explains why she only ever does elicit body disposals via cremation. Tuesday: Death and Pumpkins Once more, the Funeral Director has an eventful Halloween. Wednesday: We Made Plans A poem about living with chronic illness. Thursday: Pearl…

The Week in Review
What I’ve written this week.
Reminder to indie authors to sign up for “All I Want for Christmas”.
#writing

The Count and the Bloofer Lady The Count and the Bloofer Lady by Iris Carden You have bought us Halloween costumes. Why would you do that? Surely Halloween is just for children. You have old-time costumes. A suit with a cloak, top hat, and a fancy walking stick for me. The head of the walking stick looks silver, but you assure me it is merely silver-coloured brass. You are in a pink frilled dress, with a million petticoats, and a matching pink bonnet, a pink drawstring purse to carry. You are all frills and ribbons and lace.

The Count and the Bloofer Lady
In my “Beyond the Grave” series, Leo/Rick and Susan attend a Halloween festival, looking for a sweet treat.
#shortstory #fiction

Pearl Pearl by Iris CardenShe was looking for a pearl,perfect, precious, tiny moon.Instead she found a barnacle,clinging too tightly, way too soon.She was looking for some gold, something to hold on to forever.instead she found some iron,an anchor for her new short tether.She was looking for a diamond,shining brightly, just for her.Instead she found a lump of coal,toxic, polluting, when it burned. She was looking for some silver,something precious to hold dear.Instead she found uranium,radioactive: dangerous when near.

Pearl
We don’t always get what we’re looking for in life.
#poem

We Made Plans We Made Plans by Iris CardenWe made plans, and they fell through. The fault for that’s on me, not you. I did too much, yet again. Chronic illness, fatigue and pain, don’t respond well to disdain, so now at rest, I must remain. When I do things, I frequently fail to factor in recovery. I must apologise to you, my friend.I’ll rest now, so we can try again.

We Made Plans
A poem about everyday life with chronic illness.
#poem

Death and Pumpkins Death and Pumpkins by Iris Carden It was another Halloween, another time your friendly local funeral director put a plastic pumpkin outside the door of the residence side of the building, smiled, and handed lollies out to children and answered teenagers’ questions about death. After the incident the previous year, I desperately hoped there no teenagers would try to do more than ask questions. Of course, if I got what I’d hoped for, this wouldn’t be much of a story. I had two legit bodies in cold storage, with funerals planned planned over the next couple of days.

Death and Pumpkins
Once more, the Funeral Director has an eventful Halloween.
#shortstory #fiction

Recycled Post: Exhumations I’m still not back up to full steam, so here’s another recycled story. In November 2022, the Funeral Director explained why her unofficial body disposals were only cremated, not buried.

Recycled Post: Exhumations
The Funeral Directory explains why she only does elicit body disposals via cremation.
#shortstory #fiction

Calling For Submissions Calling Indie Authors  You might remember my “All I Want For Christmas is Indie Books!” post from last year. Since that was relatively successful, it again this year. For those who missed it, it’s a post about indie books as Christmas gift ideas. As with last year, I will post it on 1 December to give people some time to purchase. It will be called: “All I Want For Christmas Is Indie Books!” Because of the theme, Christmas gifts, books submitted should only be ones available in physical form (paperback or hardcover.)

Calling for Submissions
Indie and small press authors who want to share their books in my “All I want for Christmas” post this year, are invited to send the details of their books now.
#indieauthors

The Week in Review 43/2025 The Week in Review from Sunday, 19 October, 2025, 5o Saturday, 25 October, 2025. What I’ve written this week Sunday: Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Come and see the animals at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Monday: Recycled Post: Colony Chapter Thirteen Revisiting my silly science fiction story, “Colony.” Tuesday: Recycled Post: Cult From November 2022, the strange tale of Julie, who inherited a nice house, along with some strange neighbours. Wednesday: Recycled Post: Reality The strange tale of Hilda, who is having a very bad day. Thursday: Recycled Post: Writer, Not Serial Killer…

The Week in Review
What I’ve written this week.
#writing

Not Real Not Real by Iris CardenI live in a world that’s not real,though reality sometimes intrudes,so I write my strange stories,with occasional poetic interludes.You might think I’m weird to chooseto spend all my time in fantasy,but have you checked what’s on offer,in life’s reality aisle, lately?If I tell you of a top-hatted penguin, suave, and dapper, at the South Pole,it’s a much more pleasant story thanthat his favourite ice shelf’s melting whole.And maybe, sometimes, in my stories, the bad guys might sometimes win;

Not Real
Living in a fantasy world is much better than reality.
#poem

Recycled Post: Writer, Not Serial Killer We’re still on recycled posts. Please bear with me. Normal functioning will resume, whenever I work out what normal is. In the meantime, this poem from November 2022, is one of my favourite humorous poems, “Writer, Not Serial Killer.” It’s based on the frequently shared joke that writers don’t bear a grudge, we just kill you in fiction.

Writer, Not Serial Killer
Writers don’t get weighed down with grudges and regrets. We get even with a fictional version of the person who hurt us.
#poem

Recycled Post: Reality It’s another recycled post today, while I recover. Today, we’re going back to November 2022, and revisiting the strange tale of Hilda, who is having a very bad day.

Recycled Post: Reality
The strange tale of Hilda, who is having a very bad day.
#shortstory #fiction

Recycled Post: Cult Recycled Post: Cult From November 2022, this is the strange tale of Julie, who inherited a house, along with some strange neighbours. #shortstory #fiction

Recycled Post: Cult
From November 2022, we have the strange tale of Julie, who inherited a nice house, and some strange neighbours.
#shortstory #fiction

Recycled Post: Colony Chapter 13 It’s another recycled post today, and probably will be most of this week. I had a family member visit, I did stuff, too much stuff, and now my chronic illnesses are holding my body hostage, until I’ve had sufficient recovery time. So, back to November 2022, and my silly science fiction story Colony, here’s chapter 13.

Recycled Post: Colony Chapter 13
Revisiting my very silly science fiction story.
#fiction

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary Let’s go for a walk through Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, in the lovely, leafy, suburb of Fig Tree Pocket, in Brisbane. I’m going to be honest up front here and say I didn’t see the whole park. Someone coming with me had suggested taking the wheel chair because I’ve been struggling a bit lately, and the zoo could be too much. I, of course, insisted I would be fine to walk, I’d just be slow. Long-term readers will guess exactly what happened. I was not fine to walk. I have been over-doing things, and my chronic illnesses have rendered judgement.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Take a walk with me and look at some of the animals in the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, at Fig Tree Pocket, in Brisbane.
#photography

Just walk away, leave it for ten years, then rewrite the whole thing, and do those last couple of chapters then. (I’m not saying it’s great advice, it’s just something I’ve done when that last little bit was a challenge.)

The Week in Review 42/2025 The Week in Review Sunday, 12 October, 2025, to Saturday, 18 October, 2025. What I’ve written this week Sunday: Recycled Post: Afternoon Walk A Reblog of a rather angry poem about an incident that happened to me while I was walking the dog, one afternoon, a couple of years ago. Monday: Recycled Post: Witch From the “Strange Tales” series, the story of a girl who felt powerless when facing school bullies. Tuesday: Grandma Learns the Game Grandma’s learning a game, to help a kid learn sportsmanship. Wednesday: Recycled Post: Quaaludes…

The Week in Review
What I’ve written this week.
#writing.

Recycled Post: Rose As I continue taking time away from writing, to spend with my family, we’re going back to November 2022, for a poem about my favourite flower.

Recycled Post: Rose
A poem about my favourite flower.
#poem

Recycled Post: Back to the Beginning While you’re reading old stories, I’m spending some time with family this week. Expect new stories by mid-next week. Today, we’re revisiting the last story of the “Mars Stories” series.

Recycled Post: Back to the Beginning
The final story in the “Mars Stories” series.
#shortstory #fiction

Recycled Post: Quaaludes I’ve got family stuff happening this week. It’s good stuff, a much loved family member I haven’t seen in a long time is visiting from overseas. So, I’m saving energy for family time. You can expect to have recycled posts for the whole week. Sorry about that. I will eventually write new stuff, but the thing with chronic illness is that energy has to be budgeted incredibly carefully.

Recycled Post: Quaaludes
The Funeral Director has an awkward conversation with some young adults at a funeral.
#shortstory #fiction

Grandma Learns the Game Grandma Learns The Game by Iris CardenYou boasted that you beat Grandmain the console racing game,when she didn’t know the controls,so she went down in flames.Of course you finished whole minutes ahead when you played,when you were racing fine, and she was going the wrong way.All your gloating and boasting,made her feel it wasn’t any fun.

Grandma Learns the Game

Grandma Learns The Game by Iris CardenYou boasted that you beat Grandmain the console racing game,when she didn’t know the controls,so she went down in flames.Of course you finished whole minutes ahead when you played,when you were racing fine, and she was going the wrong…

Recycled Post: Witch Here’s a story from the “Strange Tales” series. It’s the story of a girl who always felt powerless, and her bullies.

Recycled Post: Witch
From the “Strange Tales” series, the story of a girl who felt powerless when faced with the school bullies.
#shortstory #fiction

Recycled Post: Afternoon Walk Another recycled post today. This is an angry poem, about an incident that happened while I was walking the dog one afternoon. Sometimes, helpless-looking, disabled, older women fight back.

Recycled Post:Afternoon Walk
A Reblog of a rather angry poem from a couple of years ago, about an incident that happened while I was walking the dog.
Sometimes, disabled, older, women are not as helpless as we seem.
#poem

The Week in Review 41/2025 The Week in Review Sunday, 5 October, 2025, to Saturday, 11 October, 2025. What I’ve written Sunday: Recycled Post: Time Doesn’t Heal A poem about grief. Monday: Roads Through Time A poem about hearing from an old high school friend. Tuesday: Ghostly Gathering At the ghostly gathering,they tell human tales:horrors wrought by the living,told in moans, and boos, and wails.

The Week in Review
What I’ve written this week.
#writing

Recycled Post: Walrus I know I’ve done a lot of reblogs lately. I am trying to be more organised, but I’m still extremely fatigued. This story takes us back to October 2022, when the Funeral Director had a client who predicted her own death.

Recycled Post: Walrus
Recycling an old story from the Funeral Director, where a client predicted her own death.
#shortstory #fiction

Recycled Post: Hypnotherapy We’re going back to October 2022, and from the “Strange Tales” series, we have the tale of Elizabeth, who went to a hypnotherapist for help.

Recycled Post: Hypnotherapy
The strange tale of Elizabeth who went to a hypnotherapist for help.
#shortstory #fiction

Night Life Night Life by Iris CardenThe owl hooted out in the moonlit night.The bat screeched back from the zenith of its flight.The possum scampered along the power line,The koala grunted, but it felt fine.The wombat lumbered and dug its burrow,The quoll sought out small prey to follow.While humans slept, tucked up tight,the neighbourhood erupted with life.

Night Life
While humans sleep, the neighbourhood erupts with life.
#poem

Ghostly Gathering Ghostly Gathering by Iris CardenAt the ghostly gathering,they tell human tales:horrors wrought by the living,told in moans, and boos, and wails.They tell of what they would do,if they still had their flesh,how they’d save the planet:the ghosts all know what’s best.But the people who can change things,are the ones who are alive,

Ghostly Gathering
At the ghostly gathering,
they tell human tales:
horrors wrought by the living,
told in moans, and boos, and wails...
#poem

Roads Through Time Roads Through Time by Iris CardenWe’re three times as old as we werethat last time that we met.We didn’t expect it would be so long,but our life’s paths were set.You went to your future, I to mine,and so we parted ways.Friends of youth, there was a time,we shared most of our days.

Roads Through Time
A poem about hearing from an old high school friend.
#poem

Recycled Post: Time Doesn’t Heal Yes, I’m still struggling a bit, and don’t have something new written for today. Instead, I’m taking you back to October 2022, and a poem about grief.

Recycled Post: Time Doesn’t Heal
I’m still struggling with my health and energy, so it’s another reblogged post today. This time, it’s a poem about grief.
#poem

The Week in Review 40/2025 The Week in Review Sunday, 28 September, 2025 to Saturday, 4 October, 2025. What I’ve Written Sunday: Fairy Kingdom Part Seven The final part of the current “Witch and Wisp” story. Monday: On the Run Continuing the story of the latest escape from the barracks, in “The Human Times.” Tuesday: Recycled Post: Food Production This story is from the “Mars Stories” series, originally posted in October 2022.

The Week in Review
What I’ve written this week.
Coming up next week.
Indie author notice board.
#writing