Smell the Inside of Your Nose

What I Learned, Writing and Podcasting 30 Brand-new Stories in 30 Days

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What I Learned, Writing and Podcasting 30 Brand-new Stories in 30 Days

Flash August Fiction Favorites and Most Downloaded

Herschel Sterling

Sep 01, 2024

Transcript

I’m not going to do an amalgam story for the end of the month. It’s not Flash Fiction, and I just don’t feel like it. Here are my favorites from the month, and then the most downloaded inside forty-eight hours. My avg. downloads increased by more than twice over the last month. 20 is a lot for my content. 10 is above avg.

In the audio, I explore a little bit about why I think some of my favorites are not on the most downloaded list. Some of you businessy types who are into marketing could probably get into this.

In essence, it’s like this. Most of my favorites are those that have more social commentary undertones. The most downloaded are those that have more of surprise elements and emotional appeal.

What I learned about myself, is that if I were a manipulative person, I would use the element of surprise and emotional appeal to push my personal political views and get more downloads while pushing my opinion. What that means is I do not belong in the political parties.

Thanks for reading and listening! I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help.

Here Are My Favorites.

Faves with above average downloads in 48 hrs are noted

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Sleepy Superposition

Herschel Sterling

Aug 2

DAY TWO of Flash August Fiction. Wow. Last night, The topic of Quantum Cognition: Entangled Hearts and Dreams was a show and a half on Troubled Minds Newsletter’s show the on video channels and discord, because it went on in my sleep after I conked out. I had so many dreams. Apparently this topic lends itself to that. I had decided last night that I was going to do today’s stor…

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Home From the Stars

Herschel Sterling

Aug 19

DAY 18 of FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Some kind of story about meditating is going to happen today. Let’s see. My life is better when I pray and meditate. I don’t know why I have a difficult time keeping up with it.

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More than 10 downloads ^ ^

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Baloney Mongers

Herschel Sterling

Aug 3

DAY 3 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. I had no idea where this one was going. I really didn’t. I just knew the general idea and who knows what the heck was going to happen. Usually there is at least a little bit more of an idea than this. Something tells me it’s going to be absurd.

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OVALS: Where is Madsen?

Herschel Sterling

Aug 5

DAY FOUR of FLASH AUGUST FICTION. We have an antagonist! This is the NINTH OVALS EPISODE! Today I’m going to create the conflict in the OVALS series. This will be a Character v. Society, or even Character v. Nature conflict(s). Regardless, we have an antagonist! Now it’s a real story. Now it’s a real series. You’re welcome. I’m Commercial Herschel. You …

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Instant Replay is a Lesson in Time: OVALS

Herschel Sterling

Aug 8

Instant Replay is a Lesson in Time: OVALS

DAY 7 of FLASH AUGUST FICTION. More, OVALS, already. I know. I know. It’s OK because it’s about baseball. They really like to mess with us from low earth orbit sometimes. Just blending in, looking like stars. Such jerks. Here is some background on OVALS, if you’re not familiar:

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lIqUiD cRAcK!

Herschel Sterling

Aug 9

DAY 8 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. This is one of those days when I don't have the slightest idea. Let's see what happens when I think of 'Iced Coffee'. OK. That's the thing. Here is my week-in-review blog post from the last 7 days of stories written on the spot

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Purge the Gargoyles

Herschel Sterling

Aug 14

DAY 13 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Not a lot to say about this one. A skill I have is building. I was a bricklayer and a stone mason, and I know fire tech. What that means is that I can build fireplaces, masonry heaters, flue systems, and chimneys. I think a lot about how the buildings around us affect us. I hate gargoyles. I love angels. I’m Commercial He…

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More than 10 downloads ^ ^

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Horace's Desk Chair

Herschel Sterling

Aug 10

DAY NINE of FLASH AUGUST FICTION. I keep thinking about the FFF episode I did called The Resident. That one was weird. It had a surprising ending that also made sense. The word that stays prominent in my mind is furniture. So, that's the thing. Let's see what happens with

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44 Downloads ^ ^

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Dr. Freebius Lipsmaciladapus: The Absence of Pathology in the 4th Dimension

Herschel Sterling

Aug 18

Dr. Freebius Lipsmaciladapus: The Absence of Pathology in the 4th Dimension

DAY 17 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. I woke up giggling this morning. That's pretty much all I have to say about this one, except here is some background info on the 4th dimension.

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More than 10 downloads ^ ^

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The Stoics

Herschel Sterling

Aug 31

THE FINALE OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Hungry Henry and Rotund Ronald have become pals. Did you ever listen to The Cheeseguard from Flash Fiction February? These two had an impromptu meeting, and they remained cohorts. Today they are avoiding capture by a cat. This is one of several animal stories from this month. Stoicism is a mixed bag. It’s part streng…

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Message From Eagle

Herschel Sterling

Aug 20

It is DAY 19 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. We are hearing a lot of fiction these days. Oh boy. It’s definitely that time. It’s so bad this time around that it’s beyond typical and outrageous, it’s alarming and worrisome. I was thinking about doing something spoofy. Instead, maybe I can try to take your mind off of those disturbing things. I’m Commercial Hers…

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More than 10 Downloads

If Not On the Above List

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Home Movie Camera

Herschel Sterling

Aug 29

DAY 28 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Going to re-organize when this is over. I had a thread in a post with Mike Hampton that he wrote about the movie LongLegs. That is a scary movie with cool camera aesthetics. Stories about cameras are always interesting. Here is one I did during

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Reflex Writing

Herschel Sterling

Aug 26

DAY 25 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Want to get a better handle on what I am doing this month? Here is a description and some ideas about Flash Fiction. Here is Flash Fiction February. Today I contemplated about baseball, and jogged my memory quite a bit about hitting. I could get my bat on some real cheese. I got looks and everything in the system. There …

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Man With a Mower

Herschel Sterling

Aug 24

DAY 23 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. The simplest things can be stories. Just like a simple life, or something like that. If you are out there doing the grueling task of covering the crazy politics and the news of the day. You are my target audience. I hope I can bring you a little break from this nonsense. If you are a truth telling Journalist, let me know,…

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Follow the Bouncing Ball

Herschel Sterling

Aug 22

TODAY IS DAY 21 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Tomorrow will be the third week of reviews. I have thought a lot about survival today. What happens when they shut down the power, the internet and whatever else they do when they can’t stop freedom. It was serendipity, in a way, to get this email from

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Obvious Solutions

Herschel Sterling

Aug 15

DAY 15 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Morning writing is as already better than evening. That was a fun experiment but this is more fun, it’s better, it’s way better. So here’s what happened today. I had this idea first thing this morning for some food that would sell well on a food truck. Then one thing led to another and this was an end result for a story. …

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Deep State Trash

Herschel Sterling

Aug 7

DAY 6 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Today I have something on my mind like Mitchell’s Mission. In my line of work, I have had to deal with a lot of a-holes like Mitchell, and the kind of people I’m going to write about today. I guess it’s probably good therapy to write about it. There really is some trash out there who will do anything for money and to ingr…

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22 Downloads ^ ^

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A Chronicle of The Last Gas Station

Herschel Sterling

Aug 11

DAY 10 of FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Essentially, a third of the way. I have some weird ideas today. It's not a single-word prompt, a dream, or some recurring notion. Some years ago, I wrote a book. I thought it was a novel. It was not. It was actually a serial. What I didn't understand is that novels have to be written in a single voice. It was not. I wrote…

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43 Downloads ^ ^

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The Lizard and the Frog

Herschel Sterling

Aug 25

DAY 24 OF FLASH AUGUST FICTION. Wow, it’s pretty much the home stretch, now. Just 6 more days, including today. Today I was thinking about how nice it is to hear the frogs and crickets outside at night. I remember that as a kid, and then I remembered that once people started using newer chemicals on their lawns, the crickets disappeared. Then the frogs …

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62 Downloads ^ ^

The Lizard and the Frog is on the bubble as far as favorites go. It’s a warm, but not very exciting story. People seem to like it. I think it’s the sentiment. More on this in the audio.

Thank you to all the independent, non-corporate media people out there. I hope I can give you some light entertainment once in a while. Thank you so much for listening, or reading. This is the Smell the Inside of Your Nose. Do it Right Now podcast. I hope you might get a free or paid subscription, or buy me a coffee, or donate some bitcoin. I wish you the best. I’m Herschel Sterling, and I’m here to help.

Here is the link to my Newsletter, where you can find all the links to the last week’s stories and the prior weekly links to all 30 stories:

Review: Week 4 of Flash August Fiction

Herschel Sterling

Sep 1

This was the final week of Flash August Fiction. I was going to do my last story as an amalgam of all the other stories. I did that in February. I don’t want to. I’m not feeling it, and I don’t have to if I don’t want to. Instead in my podcast, not this newsletter, I’m going to review the entire month and give links to my favorite stories, and then the…

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Smell the Inside of Your Nose

Evoking questions for your Smartbrain to ponder. 20... 30 minutes tops. Ease into the morning. I'm Commercial Herschel; Traveler, tradesman, Guardian of my SKULL. Podcasting in all realms. Watch video versions at Bitchute, Howtube, and Rumble.

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