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 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!

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Happy Reading!

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 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 app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!

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 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 app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!

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 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 app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!

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 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 app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!

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 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 app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!

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 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 app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!

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 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 app

I hope you enjoyed today's episode. Thank you so much for being a listener.

Happy Reading!