cereal: Kind of a disembodied feeling to write something, set it somewhere you've never been as a lark and then need research when you don't even know if anyone will read it but you.

Looking for a synonym for "punking out" that isn't homophobic, but not as bucolic as "chickening out" I could just go with "being a coward", I guess, but I'm kind of hoping someone here has something cooler for me.

Hmmmm.

Wimp out. Duck out. Wave off. Turn tail. Tuck tail and run. Flee. Scamper. Scuttle off. Collapse. Flinch. Cringe. Avoid and evade.

OK, some decent options...not sure which I, or my character, might spark to, but I have some time to think about it.(I think it's hard to do submissions in August.)

I've been catching up on One Story's craft lecture series(so far a decent value) and today's installment was writing about objects, so I picked one that's kind of defining. [link]

Great news, erika! Congratulations!

And motivation for me to catch up on my EQ backlog that has been languishing all year...

Love reading that news, erikaj!

Congratulations, erikaj!