This is the Solitaire Story I wrote back on February 20th. In this one, a lucky guy who doesn't know he's lucky teams up with a disreputable friend to win a bunch of money at an off-track betting place. Over the course of a rainy and chaotic morning, their plan unfolds (and unravels.) Can they work together well-enough to make some real money, or is the scheme doomed from the start? Find out in this episode! Some limited profanity in this one!

This is the Solitaire Story I wrote back on February 20th. In this one, a lucky guy who doesn't know he's lucky teams up with a disreputable friend to win a bunch of money at an off-track betting place. Over the course of a rainy and chaotic morning, their plan unfolds (and unravels.) Can they work together well-enough to make some real money, or is the scheme doomed from the start? Find out in this episode! Some limited profanity in this one!

Fiddler's Fortune (Story #44)

After about a year of tinkering, I have invented a new method of quickly writing pieces of short fiction. I plan to spend 2026 testing and refining this method by using it to craft a brand-new short story… every single day of the year!This experimental storytelling method requires only a standard pack of playing cards (plus a notebook, or whatever) and a commitment to follow the suggested narrative road wherever it leads. I've always loved writing, but have struggled with finishing anything, largely because I'm an inveterate tinkerer with perfectionist tendencies, a penchant for over-complicated plot-lines and world-building, and a fear of failure (and probably success, too). I have decided to short-circuit these liabilities and confront these fears and leave my fate to the whims of cartomancy, which I understand is the practice of divining one's fate via playing cards. I did not research this practice much, nor will I do much research of any kind on behalf any of the stories emerging from this project; this inherent messiness, in the service of consistency and experimental fidelity, is my promise to you.The mission statement of this whole project is that short fiction is easy (or at least fun) to write if you don't particularly care about it being perfect, and are willing to allow certain quasi-structural guardrails to both challenge and guide your story as you go. I think short fiction writing is an important skill (or pursuit) to nurture for everyone who loves reading, writing, or storytelling. I hope this podcast will serve as a proof of concept of sorts: that there is an infinite number of possible stories out there waiting to be discovered, and we only need to give ourselves permission to discover them.I can't guarantee that any of these stories will be much good, but I'm going to write and share them anyway. With any luck you'll find one you like!For extra content (and to support Solitaire Stories, if you're so inclined), please check out my Patreon at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.patreon.com/c/AndyHoover">https://www.patreon.com/c/AndyHoover</a>.

Fiction

Comedy Fiction

After about a year of tinkering, I have invented a new method of quickly writing pieces of short fiction. I plan to spend 2026 testing and refining this method by using it to craft a brand-new short story… every single day of the year! This experimental storytelling method requires only a standard pack of playing cards (plus a notebook, or whatever) and a commitment to follow the suggested narrative road wherever it leads. I've always loved writing, but have struggled with finishing anything, largely because I'm an inveterate tinkerer with perfectionist tendencies, a penchant for over-complicated plot-lines and world-building, and a fear of failure (and probably success, too). I have decided to short-circuit these liabilities and confront these fears and leave my fate to the whims of cartomancy, which I understand is the practice of divining one's fate via playing cards. I did not research this practice much, nor will I do much research of any kind on behalf any of the stories emerging from this project; this inherent messiness, in the service of consistency and experimental fidelity, is my promise to you. The mission statement of this whole project is that short fiction is easy (or at least fun) to write if you don't particularly care about it being perfect, and are willing to allow certain quasi-structural guardrails to both challenge and guide your story as you go. I think short fiction writing is an important skill (or pursuit) to nurture for everyone who loves reading, writing, or storytelling. I hope this podcast will serve as a proof of concept of sorts: that there is an infinite number of possible stories out there waiting to be discovered, and we only need to give ourselves permission to discover them. I can't guarantee that any of these stories will be much good, but I'm going to write and share them anyway. With any luck you'll find one you like! For extra content (and to support Solitaire Stories, if you're so inclined), please check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/AndyHoover.

After about a year of tinkering, I have invented a new method of quickly writing pieces of short fiction. I plan to spend 2026 testing and refining this method by using it to craft a brand-new short story… every single day of the year!This experimental storytelling method requires only a standard pack of playing cards (plus a notebook, or whatever) and a commitment to follow the suggested narrative road wherever it leads. I've always loved writing, but have struggled with finishing anything, largely because I'm an inveterate tinkerer with perfectionist tendencies, a penchant for over-complicated plot-lines and world-building, and a fear of failure (and probably success, too). I have decided to short-circuit these liabilities and confront these fears and leave my fate to the whims of cartomancy, which I understand is the practice of divining one's fate via playing cards. I did not research this practice much, nor will I do much research of any kind on behalf any of the stories emerging from this project; this inherent messiness, in the service of consistency and experimental fidelity, is my promise to you.The mission statement of this whole project is that short fiction is easy (or at least fun) to write if you don't particularly care about it being perfect, and are willing to allow certain quasi-structural guardrails to both challenge and guide your story as you go. I think short fiction writing is an important skill (or pursuit) to nurture for everyone who loves reading, writing, or storytelling. I hope this podcast will serve as a proof of concept of sorts: that there is an infinite number of possible stories out there waiting to be discovered, and we only need to give ourselves permission to discover them.I can't guarantee that any of these stories will be much good, but I'm going to write and share them anyway. With any luck you'll find one you like!For extra content (and to support Solitaire Stories, if you're so inclined), please check out my Patreon at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/c/AndyHoover" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.patreon.com/c/AndyHoover</a>.

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Fiddler's Fortune (Story #44)

Fiddler's Fortune (Story #44)