Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Firefly

I thought I'd jump in on another flash fiction Tuesday Tales over at Stevie McCoy's blog. I know I should be working on something NANOey, but I FINISHED MY FIRST DRAFT and found myself in-between projects. :) I'm trying to decide if I should begin my first round of edits (most probable) or start one of my new things (I really want to write my next novel idea, but I think I need to put it off another month or so)... I think I'm going to get another draft in quickly while things are still fresh (and hopefully correct all the major issues that I know of right now) then take a short break and try to write a picture book. Then I'll do a third draft and send things out to Alpha Readers/Beta Readers. I'm interested in seeing how this whole revising thing goes for me... *crosses fingers*

Enough about all that...I'll have a proper post on it shortly (or sometime anyway). Right now I'll let you read my 100 word Tuesday Tales entry with the secret word: Firefly and the following picture as the prompts:




ENJOY!




How am I not bleeding? My hands grope futilely for any sign of the transformation – a cut, a bruise, a scar. I’m whole and more. I peer into the darkness. The vile lies forlorn in the dirt, the last drops staining the ground. I quickly scoop the mud into the vile and cover the spot. A light flashes in the darkness. It’s blinding. I cover my eyes and move toward it. Another flash. I reach out and catch the firefly, marveling at the intensity of the light, or, more accurately, the acuteness of my sight. What have I become?

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Grizzly Scene

Hahaha! I couldn't help but enter the 55 word challenge over at Jezri's Nightmares when I saw this picture:



I know I've not actually finished the last scene in my novel...but I really wanted to write this one! I needed a smile! Hopefully you enjoy it! :)



It was a grizzly scene. Cotton stuffing skipped in the breeze. A plastic eye rested nearby. The “fur” shell was sliced from shoulder to hip. It was shameful that he’d been tossed in the street. Ted E. had fought valiantly, but a squirt gun was poor defense from the ravages of a toddler with scissors.



Hehehehehe! Okay, back to NaNoWriMo... :)

Friday, November 16, 2012

Running

Okay, random mid-NaNoWriMo post... I was running this morning. I talk to myself. I decided I would show you a little bit about what that conversation looked like this morning as I did Week 7, Day 2 of Couch to 5K...


--After my 5 minute warm-up—

ME: She said to start running now…pick up those feet.

BODY: Ugh. Fine.

--1 minute later—

BODY: Can we be done now? I can’t breathe. And I’m running slower than I walk. Couldn’t I get more exercise by going faster?

ME: No. Keep going.

--1 minute later--

BODY: How about now? I still can’t breathe. Perhaps today is just not going to work out…

ME: Shut up. No more complaining. Just go.

BODY: *grumble, grumble* Can’t do it.

ME: Move.

BODY: Can’t do it. Don’t wanna.

ME: Shush.

--5 minutes later—

BODY: So…we’re gonna keep doing this thing?

ME: Yup.

BODY: *grumble* Fine. I guess I’ll try to be more efficient…

ME: That’s much better. Breathing really helps.

BODY: Are we done yet?

ME: Nope.

BODY: What about now?

ME: Nope.

--Let Us Love by NEEDTOBREATHE comes on—

ME: Ooooh, let’s pick up the pace now that we’re breathing and all…

BODY: What? I start breathing and now you want to go faster?

ME: It’s NEEDTOBREATHE! You always want to dance to this song!

BODY: Yeah, but…

ME: No buts, let’ go.

BODY: *totally doesn’t realize we’re going faster because it’s jamming*

--1 minute later—

BODY: This is fun, but now we’ve reached the hill again. I’m going to need to slow down.

ME: Nope. Keep going. The song’s still on, remember?

BODY: *gets distracted and jams again…up the hill!*

--Near the top of the hill the song ends—

BODY: Are we done now? Can I stop? *slows a bit*

ME: No. Keep moving!

BODY: But the song is over. I’m tired.

ME: *skips this song* Here, this one’s fast.

BODY: I like this song…it’s fine.

ME: Good. We’re downhill now.

BODY: Good thing. That’s the only reason I’m still moving…

--1 minute later, lady announces we have one minute left—

ME: Let’s sprint the last minute, go!

BODY: What? I don’t think…

ME: *skips song* Here! Happy Day! RUN!

BODY: I love this song! *increases to a full out run* I can do anything for a minute…

--1 minute later—

ME: Keep going. Let’s make it to the end of the block.

BODY: What?!?!? She said I was done!

ME: I know, but we can make it just two more short blocks! It’s only another minute or so!

BODY: But…

ME: No stopping now… Happy Day, remember?

BODY: *jams to Happy Day while finding it increasingly difficult to breathe* Can we be done yet?

ME: We’re not to the corner.

BODY: We’re to this corner. It’s far enough.

ME: Nope, that corner.

BODY: Please? Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe…

ME: Just 20 more steps…

BODY: Can’t breathe.

ME: 10 more…

BODY: Can’t breathe.

ME: 5 more…

BODY: Can’t breathe

ME: Okay, 10 more…

BODY: What? You said-

ME: Yeah, well, I’m a really bad estimator.

BODY: UGH!

ME: Okay, probably 5 more for real…

BODY: *reaches the corner and instead of collapsing Tim Hughes is saying “What a glorious, glorious day! I’ll never be the same!” and it can’t help but smile.*

--One minute later—

I’m singing Light Up the Sky with the Afters remembering how God was with me as he brought the dawn this morning while I was running. It’s amazing how fast my breath comes back to sing…

 

1 Corinthians 9:27a  “No, I beat my body and make it my slave…”

Lesson learned: Perhaps I should just listen to Let Us Love by NEEDTOBREATHE and Happy Day by Tim Hughes over and over again???

What do you think? Am I crazy, or does everyone else do this??? :)

Friday, November 2, 2012

NaNoWriMo FEATURED AUTHOR!!!! :)

For those of you who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Yes, I'm participating again this year. Yes, I'm crazy. :) Now that that's out of the way, I wanted to point you to a blog where I am a FEATURED AUTHOR! It's over at JuNoWriMo (which I also participated in this year). I really love the community of authors I've met through things like this! NaNo and JuNo as well as all the Flash Fiction blogs I follow have helped me to 'meet' many talented and encouraging writers! I am so blessed!

Anyway, the FEATURED AUTHOR page is just a little about what I'm working on for NaNo. If you're interested in reading it, please follow the link! Thanks for checking in with me! (disclaimer - no, not all the things you read there are actually true...basically meaning that I wrote it in the beginning of October and DIDN'T actually finish the first novel... :( ...I know, many of you are very sad, but hopefully that will change soon because I decided to spend the first week or two of NaNo to finish it before starting on the new one) Don't think worse of me. I tried. This month...it's been...yeah. But here's to a new month and NaNoWriMo!!!! :) Write on! :)

Still Searching

This week I made some time to jump in on Stevie McCoy's Tuesday Tales flash fiction contest. My life has been crazy busy lately and with NaNoWriMo this month, I probably won't be doing a lot of flash. But I'll be back in December... I'm glad I got in on this one because what's really fun is that I won an Honrable Mention! Yay! The secret word and picture are below! Enjoy!


Incendiary -adj

1.used or adapted for setting property on fire: incendiary bombs.
2.of or pertaining to the criminal setting on fire of property.
3.tending to arouse strife, sedition, etc.; inflammatory: incendiary speeches.
4. tending to inflame the senses







I walk with hands outstretched and the beads of condensation (so many possibilities) appear on my hands then flow into tiny rivulets that eventually pool at my feet. I wade through a sea of missed opportunities and wasted dreams. The edge is a scary place to be. Behind is blue sky and sunshine (at least I feel that way), but I’m moving beyond the comfortable. I’m chasing my dream, right? Then why is it like walking through a cloud? I need something incendiary to feel real again. I can barely see me anymore. Am I going the right way? Help.