Musings & Tales

Rumors of timber wolves in the western North Carolina mountains persist. I confess I might have a little something to do with that. Let's say a running joke with my Siberian Huskies may have gotten slightly out of hand.📖 Read Wolves In Our Mountains on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Pumpkin spice has taken over everything — soap, shampoo, trash bags, even Spam. I go aisle by aisle through the invasion, from Starbucks to the canned meat section, wondering if anything is still sacred.📖 Read Pumpkin Spice: Nothing is Sacred on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

On this 25th anniversary of 9/11, I skip the horror everyone else is retelling this week. Instead, I'm focusing my attention on the beacons of light — boaters racing toward Manhattan, a Newfoundland town throwing open its doors, and the strangers who simply showed up for each other when it mattered most.In today's show, I mention Boat Lift produced by Eyepop Productions and narrated by Tom Hanks. 📖 Read Beacons in the Dark on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

September never gets its due. I trace how the month ended up with the wrong name — including a Roman emperor who tried to rename it after himself — before wandering through a quiet, unhurried Asheville morning that shows exactly why I love it.📖 Read September's Quiet Promise on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Binge-watching, by my definition, is a relative term — and this week's proof includes a pub argument in Australia, a decades-late appreciation for William H. Macy, and a deadline I might not beat.📖 Read Shameless Slow Binge on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

One last battle. One overconfident commander. One summer about to end with a bang. Brent leads his depleted squad into a final assault on the enemy camp, certain of victory — right up until he isn't.📖 Read Brothers in Arms on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

A wasp turned my hand into a swollen cantaloupe — and somehow, that's not even the worst part of this week's story. Steroid shots, one-handed typing, and a banana I dared myself to peel.📖 Read Cantaloupe Hand on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

The tornado was real. The photo of it wasn't. I pride myself on never falling for anything — but this one caught me. Being duped has me wondering if any of us can trust what we're shown anymore.📖 Read Fake Photo. Real Disaster. on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock. Note that the title image is NOT the faked photo that is the topic of this Musing.

Before The Hitman had a single sentence, it had a rectangle. This week's Musing traces how a rough pencil sketch of a dive bar — drawn without knowing why — became the opening chapter of a novella, and what that says about how stories actually start.📖 Read Hitman Doodles on my websiteClick here to download your FREE excerpt of The Hitman novella mentioned in this episode Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

After our recent move, I discovered my government-assigned address means nothing to the post office, the DMV, or anyone else until each office decides, on its own schedule, to accept it. A Schrödinger's address, if you will, real or not depending on your perspective.Join me for a wry look at technology's broken promises, and what it takes to prove you live where you live.📖 Read Schrödinger's Address on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

We all have them: the boxes that survive every move but never get unpacked. Tangled cords, foreign coins, a bag of business cards for people we've long since lost touch with. This week, a look inside the last ten boxes—and why we can't throw any of it away.📖 Read The Last Ten Boxes on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

A night light for safety seemed like such a bright idea. Unfortunately, I failed to account for a few things lurking in the shadows—starting with the shadows themselves. Here's how my genius home upgrade lasted exactly one night.📖 Read Bright Idea. Too Bright. on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

The Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July, 1776. Except they didn't. That famous giant signature didn't happen until August. So why do we celebrate the Fourth?Join novelist D. K. Wall for a short, mostly-true musing untangling the gloriously messy story of how America picked the day to celebrate its birthday.Twelve minutes. Bring a sparkler.📖 Read 250 Years Ago... More or Less on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Everything about modern customer service is designed to help us—except the part where we actually get help. This week, I descended into the purgatory of automated phone systems and evil chatbots in my quest to reach a real person. The technology might have been built to serve us. Or, more likely, to save companies money. Either way, we can only endure the indignities to find the holy grail, the one thing machines can't replace.📖 Read Press One for Purgatory on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Everything in this 1983 movie is obsolete—except the part that matters. This week I rewatched WarGames and took a nostalgic, slightly cranky tour through the dead technology inside it: arcade quarters, acoustic modems, floppy disks, payphones, and pull-tabs. It's the gadgets that time forgot, the prices we used to pay for a long-distance call, and the one thing in the movie that still hasn't aged a day.📖 Read Shall We Play a Game? on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Best friends, inseparable, until one day they weren't. Two boys in my neighborhood have gone their separate ways, and I don't know why. Or what will happen next. So I imagine endings for a story whose truth I'll never know. How would you write their next chapter?📖 Read A Fading Friendship on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Time moves differently in a warm, still room. Liam counts the minutes to escape, certain it will last forever. The clock has other ideas.A short tale about the daydream we never quite outgrow—the one where freedom is always just a few minutes away. You might recognize the feeling.📖 Read Tick Tock on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

I lost a point in college for writing "to boldly go." Turns out the grammar guides say otherwise, and I've been splitting infinitives ever since.Join me as I take a friendly swing at one of the most persistent grammar myths in the English language. Where did it come from? Why won't it die? And what do Chicago, Dreyer, and a certain starship captain have to say about it? Pull up a chair. This won't hurt a bit.📖 Read To Boldly Split That Infinitive on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Who puts carpet in a Jeep Wrangler? This week, a mostly-true investigation into Siberian Huskies, dog hair magnets, and the great cargo-liner conspiracy.📖 Read Who Puts Carpet in a Jeep? on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

I promised my Ever Patient Partner in Life I'd do something. I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget. You can probably guess what happened next. The curse of to-do lists strikes again. Will I ever get organized?📖 Read Note to Self on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

My doctor believes a man of my age should deal with exploding oatmeal and gelatinous blobs. My mostly true experience with psyllium husk.📖 Read Of Exploding Oatmeal and Gelatinous Blobs on my website📚 Curious about the reference to Mad Maverick McDougal and his band, Exploding Oatmeal? Check out my novel, Sour Notes.Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Our anonymous hero rescued a lost dog. Then he asked for my help. The rest—chaos, tree rats, and fumbled phone calls—is mostly true.📖 Read The Anonymous Hero on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Pollen crushes me every year. The watery eyes. The clogged sinuses. In my suffering, a story sprung to mind. What if aliens invaded during allergy season?📖 Read Essentially Harmless: The Pollen Files on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

One brazen bear. Three Siberian Huskies. A hiking trail blockade. A shriek echoing through the mountains. Just another day in Asheville.📖 Read Brazen Bear Breakfast Blockade on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Why was I racing around the yard before dawn, clad only in my pajamas, shrieking like a barefoot lunatic? I blame a certain Siberian Husky.📖 Read Barefoot Lunatic: My Predawn Spectacle on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!Photo of Landon © D. K. WallMusic licensed through Adobe Stock

The New York Times recently profiled a person who claimed to publish 200 novels in a year with the assistance of AI. That article inspired this week's tale: a Faustian bargain between soulless creation and the simple belief that writers write. 📖 Read Writers Write on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Why do some books imprint a hum in our souls? Project Hail Mary echoed a classic that sparked the same wonder as watching the moon landing.📖 Read That Old Familiar Hum: From Rama to Hail Mary on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!Title Image: A photograph from the James Webb Telescope of the Nebula PMR 1, aka the “Exposed Cranium” nebula. Public domain photo. Credit to: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI). For more information, visit https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/webb-studies-cranium-nebula/Music licensed through Adobe Stock.

One day I'm sweating in shorts, the next I'm bundled against a snowstorm. How does one dress to survive the extreme weather whiplash of March?📖 Read Weather Whiplash on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

One long walk. Two humans. Three dogs. Three weather apps. Zero umbrellas. Zero thoughts about the building clouds. One soggy betrayal.📖 Read A Soggy Betrayal on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Ever suspect a sinister intent behind the origin of Daylight Saving Time? Let me share the demonic story about our stolen hour.📖 Read The Stolen Hour on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

After receiving a dreaded jury duty summons, my initial annoyance transformed into creative glee, but the justice system held one final, ironic twist.📖 Read Jury Duty on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Ever tried to exercise with a dog in the room? How about three dogs? One exercise mat. Zero dignity. Caninesthenics. 📖 Read Caninesthenics on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

What is the secret to everlasting love?For Hubert, the answer is simple. It isn't expensive roses or fancy restaurants, but a picnic basket packed with fried chicken, a glass of sun tea, and a simple bouquet of wildflowers for his beloved wife, Ava.Forever Valentine is a story about listening, the beauty of quiet gestures, and a Valentine's Day picnic that holds the weight of eternity. It’s a tale that proves some bonds can never be broken.📖 Read Forever Valentine on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Exaggerated accumulations. Claims of driving skills. Legends of regional toughness. Winter reveals Snow Mythology under every drift.Over the past two consecutive weekends, Asheville has been hit by winter storms. Much of the eastern half of the U.S. has felt the pain. Social media has been on fire with claims that seem more mythical than real, at least in my experience.This story was originally a musing I wrote back in 2017, but it's as true today as it was then. I dusted it off and recorded it for the podcast.📖 Read Snow Mythology on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

The forecast calls for snow. The internet calls for panic. The grocery crowd calls for bread and milk.When a winter storm threatens, Gabe loses a fateful game of rock-paper-scissors and must venture into the suburban nightmare known as the pre-storm grocery run. His mission: bread, milk, and toilet paper. His obstacles: empty shelves, a shopping cart with the steering of a drunken goose, and an increasingly angry woman in fleece pajama pants."Bread and Milk" is a short comedic story about the chaos we create when the clouds roll in—and the absurd lengths we'll go to for our families. Perfect for anyone who's ever stood in a barren dairy aisle, questioning their life choices.📖 Read Bread and Milk on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

A backpacking trip through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in New Mexico. A false sense of security. An unexpected breakfast with bears.📖 Read Breakfast with Bears on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Are you an enthusiastic hugger? Or a reluctant hugger? Can one marry into the family of another?During a recent evening in a favorite restaurant, I witnessed such a collision. A young couple came for dinner with her clan of enthusiastic touchers. The body language of the young man, though, communicated his reluctance for contact. Mix in my imagination, and we have the recipe for today's humorous tale.📖 Read The Reluctant Hugger on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

In a house full of Siberian Huskies, no sound is worse than quiet. And when it's the biggest talker of them all, the silence of Sally is deafening.📖 Read The Silence of Sally on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Only three miles. Such a short distance. For Kevin, it is the razor-thin line between the best time of his life... and the worst.A haunting, twisted tale about the decisions we make in the dark.📖 Read Three Miles on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Ever been part of a "perfect" holiday tradition that went completely, hilariously sideways? 🤔I'm sharing a memory from my childhood as an altar boy, on the most important night of the year: the Christmas Eve midnight service. It involves two nervous acolytes, a brilliant new invention (wax-free candles!), and a secret practice run that combined to create… well, a massive failure to light. 🔥😂It's a story about good intentions and the chaos that sometimes follows. I can still feel my arms burning from holding that heavy cross while it all unfolded!📖 Read A Failure to Light on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Tom Bradley's hands were skilled at crafting beautiful furniture, but after Hurricane Helene slammed into the Asheville region, they were calloused from clearing debris. With his workshop washed away and Christmas just a day off, he brings home a mangled, one-sided tree—another reminder of all they'd lost. Or was it a reminder of all they had?📖 Read A Tree for Christmas on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Our lives are governed by choices, but what if you only had to make one? Meet Roscoe, a Siberian Husky whose life is a blissful, decision-free paradise... with one hilarious exception. While his meals, exercise, and bedtime are dictated by a higher authority, one daily ritual becomes a dramatic performance of indecision. He performs the "Roscoe Shuffle"—an intricate, comical dance of sniffing, circling, and leg-lift deliberation that turns a simple bodily function into a high-stakes negotiation with the universe. From forensic "Geological Surveys" to the "Canine Compass Theory," we explore the profound weight of a single choice through the eyes of a very particular dog.If you've ever been overwhelmed by options or just love a good dog story, this one's for you.📖 Read Roscoe Shuffle on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

For her big Hollywood break, my sister, a professional ballerina, was plucked from a rehearsal and thrust onto a chaotic movie set. The role was simple: die. But the director's increasingly bizarre notes—from "faster" to "slower" to the baffling "curvier"—turned her debut into a masterclass in absurdity.📖 Read A Curvy Death on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Staring down a canceled flight and a ruined holiday weekend, Jordan Delay is drowning in frustration. But the sound of a hushed, emotional phone call from a young soldier in the terminal changes everything. He's faced with a choice: retreat into his own problems, or change the course of his journey entirely. "Long Way Home" is a short story about perspective, empathy, and how the kindness of strangers can redefine the meaning of being home.📖 Read Long Way Home on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Confronted with a hefty trespassing bovine, my lack of cattle wrangling skills and conflicting expert advice led to a hilarious bum steer.📖 Read Bum Steer on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Seven cities. Seven schools. Time for number eight.Caleb’s survival strategy for the first day as the new kid is simple: stay invisible. But within minutes of stepping into the chaotic hallways, a series of small disasters—a collision, a wrong turn, a stolen seat—threatens to make him a target.When everything goes wrong, can one small act of kindness change everything?📖 Read New Kid on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

"A flamingo punched me in the nose." How can a tale start any better? Take a feisty flamingo flamboyance and diaper-dangling days, then mix in one very determined goat. What's a few off-the-rail animal encounters among friends?📖 Read Great Goat Grab on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Today's tale is Mystical Talking Jack-O'-Lantern, a recounting of a magical event that happened every Halloween in my childhood neighborhood—a talking jack-o'-lantern came to life.This story was originally published in 2017, but it has become a perennial favorite, captivating readers every year. To celebrate Halloween this year, I decided to bring this beloved tale to audio.📖 Read Mystical Talking Jack-O'Lantern on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

"Code Blue" next door. In the sudden silence of the ER, I braced for tragedy, but the first voice to emerge from Room 28 changed everything.📖 Read To The Stranger in Room 28 on my websiteHello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.

Join my world of forgotten acquaintances, awkward encounters, and the time a convenience store clerk outplayed me in a memory game. No matter how much I try, I Can't Remember Your Name.📖 Read I Can't Remember Your Name on my website.Hello, I'm D. K. Wall, author of novels and short stories. Welcome to Musings and Tales. Whether it's a story I'm spinning or a thought I'm sharing from my home here in Asheville, it's all 100% true... except for the parts I make up.📚Visit my website to discover more about my novels and short stories. ★ Support this podcast ★ Your contributions support the cost of this commercial-free podcast. Thank you!🎧 Subscribe to Musings and Tales on your favorite podcast appI hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.Happy Reading!All images and music are licensed through Adobe Stock.