Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Santa Sighting

My entry for Tuesday Tales over at Glitterword, Stevie McCoy's blog. This one wanted to be much longer, but I cut it back to fit the 100 word limit. I may write the longer version of this. It has potential. :) Enjoy!

Here's the picture prompt and the word we needed to use was sleigh. :)
deviantart




I heard bells as I gazed over the cityscape. Way up here? I crawled to the edge. Some pretend Santa in a sleigh? Then I saw Rudolph’s nose glowing… NO WAY! That was a dragon! And FLAMES! And…Santa?...had a big red…something. They were fighting something. They veered this way. Some black demon bull-like creature was charging Santa! The red sack waved in the air and enveloped the bull. Santa reached inside and pulled out a wooden toy. He glanced at me and winked, then tossed the toy at the ground. I could only assume it was aimed for a chimney.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Fire Escape

Hello All! This is my first entry in the Business Card Flash Fiction contest over at Business Card Fiction. It's a new contest (two prompts per month) where we are given a photo prompt and are asked to create a story fit to the size of a business card.

Here's the prompt:



Here's my entry:

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.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Recusant

Hey All!

I've been on vacation. I didn't even have internet access for several days. I've hardly opened my computer in a week. I missed writing, but I had a lot of fun visiting old friends and family. Anyway, I'm back. Well...I will probably be MIA for November again (NaNoWriMo and all), so I knew I should get at least one post up before then.

Here goes: Tuesday Tales over at Glitterword, Stevie McCoy's blog, spoke to me. Alas, Menage Monday just didn't give me much to work with this week (which is sad because it's the last week) and I'm judging Motivation Monday, so this may be it this week. Anyway, the word for this Tuesday Tales and the picture:

recusant

\REK-yuh-zuhnt\, noun:
1. A person who refuses to submit, comply, etc
 

 
I'm not usually into zombies or zombie tales (we won't mention my zombie dream that turned into a 55 word challenge - because that was the only other one...), but the word paired with the picture gave me a fun idea. I hope you enjoy it! So, without further rambling...
 
 
 
I may have fallen to the epidemic, but I’m a recusant – I won’t become what they have become. At first I stayed in shadows and ate sushi, but the urges are stronger now. Restaurants are dangerous. I’ve decided to hole up here and order my meat delivered. I hope the carrier leaves it on the porch. I don’t want to risk him. I should take the food and leave. Already my fingers twitch. My neck is most certainly not twitching. I am in control. I will relax, in this chair, not twitching until…
The doorbell rings. I smell it. Meat.

 

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Art Gallery

Here is my entry for Tuesday Tales over at Stevie McCoy's blog. This is a 100 word flash fiction contest. The prompt this week was the word Palter:

[PAWL-ter]-verb

To talk or act insincerely or deceitfully

1. To talk or act insincerely or deceitfully; lie or use trickery.

2. To bargain with; haggle.

3. To act carelessly; trifle

And the picture:

black-and-white-fashion-girl-photography-tattoos-Favimcom-456482_zps372798ce

Shocker of shockers: I won an Honorable Mention for this one too! Wow! It's been a great week for me! :) Enjoy!



I wiggled my foot to try to get it to stop aching from these stupid heels. My converse would have been much more practical – or better yet, no shoes at all. Why had I agreed to come? Sure, the paintings were beautiful, but I was tired of paltering to this crowd who would see symbolism in every nuance of every brushstroke. Sometimes a tree is just a tree. A beautiful tree, but a tree nonetheless. I watched from the corner as an older gentleman was trying to palter for a lower price. Cheapskate. Matthew beckoned me over. Right. For him.

Tell Me Again

This was my entry into Menage Monday over at Cara Michael's blog. This is the one with three prompts. The three prompts: The idea of 'breaking news', the phrase "tell [ ] again", and the picture



I won an Honorable Mention for this piece! Yay! I'm on a roll! :)




“Oh. My. God. Laura!” Lizzy came bounding into the apartment without even a knock and threw herself onto the sofa. “You will NEVER guess who I just saw!”

“Probably not.” Laura continued to fold her clothes neatly and arrange them in piles on the coffee table.

Lizzy sat up and leaned forward, “No, seriously! This is, like, a Stop The Presses kind of thing!” She smacked her gum and smiled.

Laura put the shirt down and folded her hands, “Alright. What’s this breaking news?”

Lizzy started bouncing, “Ok, I was walking Champ down by the broken overpass, you know, the one with the HUGE diamond graffiti – Oh, I want a diamond that big someday.”

“They don’t make diamonds that big.”

“Such a tragedy! Johnny once mentioned giving me a diamond – not the scumbag Johnny, the nice one.”

“Please don’t tell me *again* about Johnny and the diamond! The walk? Remember?”

“Oh, right! Anyway, this guy came up to me asking for some change. Try to guess who it was!”

“Richard? Tommy? Jimmy? Bobby?...” With each guess Lizzy shook her head no and bit her lip. “Then who?”

“Your dad.”

Laura’s jaw dropped. She jumped up and ran out the door.

When We Started This Journey...

My entry for this week's Motivation Monday over at Wakefield Mahon's blog was actually a winner this week! WOW! I wasn't expecting that! Yay! This is the one where the first sentence is the prompt. Enjoy!



“When we started this journey, we never thought we’d find-”

Marcus interrupted, “Oh, shut up, Martha! You couldn’t have thought anything after we found that shiny door thing! Who has any way to guess what could have been in there?”

Martha did her very best impression of their Momma. She lifted her chin and pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows – trying to look supercilious (a word that would have been her favorite had she only known of its existence) and fully ready to chastise him. “Daddy has read the Narnia books to me. I know what to expect when you go through portals like that…Or, at least, I thought I did.” Her face fell at the realization that the wood she had been expecting was, in fact, not there.

“Whatever. You didn’t know we’d find-”

“No, but I knew it would be special because-”

“Oh, please, I knew it would be special too! I’m not stupid! Besides, I found it.”

“By running off after Momma specifically said-”

“She did not! She said go play. I was exploring the new backyard!”

“That was not in our backyard, and you know it! Momma probably doesn’t even know that cave exists-”

“What she doesn’t know, won’t kill her.”

“No?” Martha gestured wildly around them, “You don’t think she’d be a bit concerned? Especially when we don’t come home for supper?”

“Well…” Marcus looked around again and bit his lip, “I still don’t think she’d die from it…”

“Well I do! I think she’d fall down dead of a heart attack right now if she knew where we were.”

“Exactly, but since she doesn’t know, it won’t kill her! See, I was right!” He stuck his tongue out at her.

“No, I’m right, because if we never get back, she’ll die from not knowing!” She stuck her tongue out as well, it was hard to remain mature and *supercilious* when the ‘I’m right’ wars began.

“Ahem.” The sound had a lot more gurgle to it than a normal throat clearing. Both Martha and Marcus froze and stared at each other for a moment with wide eyes before turning toward the sound, silent in a way they had never been. “It is clear now. Wipe their memory. Put them at the entrance to the caves. They’ll be found. Then fix that damn cloaking device. Go.”

I Should've Listened...

Here is my entry into the "Behind the Curtain" flash fiction contest run by Anna Meade. The rules were to pick a picture from her pintrest board and write a 'darker' piece inspired by it. The word limit was 400 words. Here's the picture I chose:





They said not to go to the basement. They said to never open the blue doors. They said it wasn’t safe. I can attest to that.

I was young and foolish. I had talent, at least that’s what everyone told me. I believed them. I wanted to believe them. It was fun being special.

I suppose I believed only good things could happen to me.

You see, I tiptoed down the back steps one night. I was nine. It was right after the last show, and I felt invincible.

I passed the two storage rooms and entered the Performer’s Chapel, that’s what they called it anyway. Apparently this was where anyone close to a breakdown came to calm down – praying or meditating or whatever. That’s why I thought the stories were wrong! Of course bad things would happen to those who came up out of here, they didn’t go into this room if they were in good condition.

There was a spiral stairway down to the lower basement from here, but you had to know where to look – it was below a trap door in the floor. There was a strange symbol burned into the wood of the handle. How it managed to be swirly and sharp at the same time, I’ll never know, but it has marked me forever.

The descent into darkness gave me chills for a moment, but I flipped on the light when I made it down. It was a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. The room was all brick. There was only the one chair in the corner and the blue doors in the far wall.

I almost stopped then. I should have. Something about the room made my palms itch. But I didn’t. I walked to the doors and ran my fingers over them for a moment. The wood was rough. I got a splinter in my right pinkie finger. I pulled it out and tossed it on the floor at my feet. I took a deep breath, swallowed, and pushed the door open an inch or two.

That was all. Just an inch or two.

I didn’t see anything but light. Then she came into me. My wound made it possible, I think. That’s where the mark is anyway.

Oh. She’s waking up. I have to hurry. If she catches me still here…

390 words
@lissajean7


Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Stairway to Heaven

The 55 word challenge over at Jezri's Nightmares is a tricky one for me to enter...the whole 55 word thing...you know... Anyway, I managed to make it work today! :) However, I first got so caught up in the picture I thought it was one of the 100 word flash contests...sigh. That was disappointing. I was so excited about my 100 words! And I had to cut almost HALF of them? Was it possible? Could it be possible? Well, I did it. I actually like BOTH of them. I'll let you decide which you like better! First, I'll post the one I submitted (55 words) then the original (100 words). Did I capture the essence in half the wordage? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Oh, and the picture prompt! Photo by DaStafiZ




Here's my entry:

I looked up. There were so many stairs. It seemed my life was like the medieval basement of some dilapidated castle. Life was so impossible. I placed my hand against the rough brick and considered staying. Darkness hid the true state of everything. I lay down, listless. No. I stood. One step at a time.

This is what I started with:


I looked up. There were so many stairs. I wasn’t always in the deepest, darkest dungeon of life. I probably lived most of my life in a second floor condo, but now I was definitely in the medieval basement of some dilapidated castle. It was so impossible. I placed my hand against the rough brick and considered staying. Darkness hid the true state of everything. Perhaps I could get friends to join me here? Keep me warm? I lay down, listless. This wasn’t who I wanted to be. I stood, placed my foot on the step. One at a time.

I thought it was just a cold.

I was able to join in on the fun at Motivation Monday hosted by a sick Wakefield Mahon. In case you forgot, it's a 500 word limit flash fiction contest with the first sentence as the prompt. David Ludwig was the judge this week and had a lot of great stuff to say about everyone's piece here. If you failed to follow that nice little link I put in, I'll just tell you: I won an Honorable Mention! Yay! So, now that your expectations are blown all out of proportion... Enjoy! :)



I thought it was just a cold. I’d never had one before, but other people got them all the time, so I figured the severity of it was just the cold exacting revenge for my healthy immune system.

I looked around the quarantine room with trepidation. Would I die here? Had I infected everyone I’d come into contact with for two weeks? They wouldn’t even tell me what I had. Apparently it was classified, although how they could classify a sickness from the sick person was beyond me.

It was 2:58. My nurse would be in to take my vitals any time now. It was nice to have a face to look at, these bare walls and sterilized floors became tiresome after one minute – it had been 3,037. Knowing that probably made me a math geek, but I couldn’t help that. I had been counting the seconds, all 182,220 of them – well 182,284 of them until the moment the new nurse walked in.

I guess I forgot to keep counting the moment she opened the door. She was wearing what looked to be a space suit, which she wore every time, but she moved differently. By the time her faceplate swung in my direction, I already knew she was a different nurse. It was the hunched posture that gave it away. My old nurse stood tall and straight with confidence – she had been tight-lipped and no-nonsense and very professional. This nurse was terrified.

The hunched shoulders and timid movements said enough, but when she turned to me her eyes were round and dilated with fear and her hands shook. If I had any doubts before, they were gone.

“What happened to my other nurse?” I figured the direct approach was preferable.

She jumped at the sound of my voice and finally met my eyes. She stared for a long moment before saying, simply, “She’s gone.” She fiddled with the needles and vials and such, but her hands were shaking so hard she was having trouble.

I reached out and grabbed her hands. I didn’t think it would cause her to fling herself away from me and hit the wall! “What? What is it? I’m not attacking you! I just wanted to help you calm down.”

She tried to calm her breathing, but it wasn’t working. “She’s dead.” It took me longer than it should have to realize she meant my nurse. “48 hours. I don’t want to die.”

I tried to think of something comforting to say, but failed miserably. People weren’t my specialty. “I’m still alive. How? Why?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out. The entire city is under quarantine now. There’s no way we’ve contained it.” The ENTIRE city of Chicago? “You’re our last hope.”

“Then start taking some blood, woman!” I would like to believe I could bring life as well as death from this body.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The Fountain of Youth

Hehehe! I don't plan on doing more than one or two flash per week, but this week is apparently an exception. I loved one of the pictures for the 55 word challenge over at Jezri's Nightmares, so I gave it a go. I hope you like it! :)  Here's the pic:






“Hurry! It’s close. We don’t have much time left!”

“What does it look like?”

“No one knows. Each incarnation is different, usually associated with life or water.”

“So it could be anything? Like these trees?”

“Yes and no. Let’s just say it has a flare for the dramatic. Hauntingly beautiful-type-stuff, but tricky.”

“Like this?”

“Yes!”

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Nudge

Project: REBIRTH

Wild grass and weeds had grown up; reclaiming what was once evidence of thousands of years of technological advances. I checked the image against the vision I had earlier this week and this was definitely where I was supposed to be. My gaze swept back and forth across the ruins, but it didn’t look like anything was left. What was I supposed to find here?

I came to the edge of what was left of the structures. How many people had died in the initial wave? It was something no one bothered to find out because it eventually claimed all of them. Within weeks the human population was gone. We didn’t realize it would affect the entire earth. If we only knew…

I felt a nudge to move deeper into the ruins, so I did. I certainly knew the stories of those who disobeyed a revelation. I wasn’t going to be one of them. I wish they made a little more sense though. Exploring a human ruin? Why?

At seemingly random moments I would get a nudge to move to the right or left, and I always followed those as they led me further into the ruins. I finally stopped in front of a large, cement building that looked somewhat like a falling weighted fishing net; domed with columns spread in a circle at an angle. The first floor had been walled completely in glass, which was all gone now. I climbed up the steps and picked my way through the open frames.

Down. I was supposed to go down. I looked around and found the elevator. I could see the glowing eyes all around. If I had been anything else, the wolves would have pounced. This was their den. I ripped open the doors to the shaft. I looked down and sighed, I could be climbing forever.

I was most of the way down when I felt the nudge to stop. I came out into a large room that was still humming. Even after all this time? How was that possible? I phased my forearm with the rock at my feet and could feel the geothermal power the room was harnessing. But what was it doing with that power?

To the right. I moved to a wall of small doors. They were each labeled – Project: REBIRTH, Specimen: 14F – with different numbers and letters. As I surveyed the doors, wondering what I was supposed to do, a red light started blinking on specimen: 7M. I moved toward the door when the airlock depressurized followed by a gurgling noise. The door was really a drawer. I peered over the edge. A baby. A human baby.

Then the wailing began. I cringed. Make it stop! I felt a nudge. “I can’t! I’ll hurt it!” I cried aloud and the wailing stopped. I reached my talons in and rested a toe against its body. The baby curled around it and started sucking on my scales. Another nudge.

More red lights.

I needed help.



500 words exactly! (phew, cutting it close this week!)

My entry for Motivation Monday was slow in coming to me as well. The first sentence is the prompt and it just didn't spark much of anything at first. However, since I knew my friend Rebekah @postupak was the judge, I wanted to give her a dragon. (psst, she likes dragons). It didn't really come together until I thought about the dragons in my current WIP and what would happen if the humans eventually failed in their fight against the Shadows. Well, this isn't really in my world (I suppose it could be in the furture of my world...) because my humans don't have this technology, but the dragon is definitely one of my dragons (although not one in particular...). There...have I confused anyone yet??? Haha! I just realized that I didn't write the beginning giving away that it was a dragon, so now I've gone and spoiled the surprise... Oh well. OR...I can post this AFTER the story. Hmmm. I shall do that and see what you all think! :)  I hope you enjoyed it!

Nosy Neighbor

Hey all! Menage Monday ended up super fun this week. It's usually fun, but I think it's more awesome because I didn't think I had ANYTHING for this weeks prompt. I read it first thing in the morning - I was a little disappointed nothing jumped out at me - and just let it simmer all day. I didn't start writing until 5pm. I really thought nothing was going to come out. THE PROMPTS: The phrase: "get this [ ] started" The Scenario: Your nosy neighbor across the street is always watching. What are you doing, or what have you done that has this person so stirred up? and The Picture:



And here's what came of it (all 200 words - right up to the limit!):



“Conlin! I need to get this roast started. Can you peel these potatoes, please?” I placed the groceries on the counter and peered into the living room to see if he’d moved.

I heard a big sigh, “If I said no, would you let me finish my show?”

I smiled, knowing he couldn’t see me, “Nope. Pause it. I promise the potatoes are the only job I need you to do…well, and take the soda to the shed once Ms. Fernick goes back inside.

That got him up. He peeked out the window, “What? Still?” He started peeling into the sink as he gazed.

“Unfortunately. She caught that *one* glimpse two months ago, and hasn’t stopped looking to see if she’s crazy.”

“Well, I can answer that. She is.” He wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing. “Can you believe she’s gotten binoculars?!?!” His thrusts were too angry. He sliced his thumb. “Crap!” I jumped for the paper towels, frantic to catch the blood before it dripped.

“Are you *trying* to end up like your father?” I was exasperated. “You need to be careful. If just one drop…”

“I know, I know! I’m sorry!”

“Don’t be sorry, be careful.”

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Update

Hi friends! I decided to do a review of the goals I posted for the year, just to see how I'm doing with them...and beg for accountability!

First up: My Writing Goals! I have both positive and negative things to report on how this is going. First, I'm loving my novel. I'm having fun writing it - even after all these months. I said that I was hoping to finish by May. While I got really close to the word count I was expecting during the first five months of the year, the book turned out to me MUCH longer than I was anticipating. I've had to do some major plot adjustments (hear, CUTTING several large chunks out of what I had planned - yes, I planned SOME) and I'm now over 120K words. However, (the good news) I am finally reaching the 'endgame' portion of the novel. I'm hoping it will go faster because this is the only portion of the book I have thought through at all. That said, I want to finish the first draft (hear, write THE END) by the end of October. My monitoring has gotten worse and better, or worse then better. I stopped keeping up with the Wrimodemon app and keeping track in Word was cumbersome. Anyway, while I dropped those accountability options, I signed up for WriteTrack, which I REALLY love! It keeps all your information, it lets you post goals, and it tells you how much you need to write each day. And it's free! Yay! That said, I'm still on track to finishing the novel this year (I want it done by November so I can take that month off and work on a new one for NaNo!).

Next: My Family Goals! This has been up and down as well. We've done really well with family night, the kids love it and look forward to our time. We've done parks together, swimming, board games (cooperative ones for small children), pizza and a movie, etc. We've had a lot of fun and we've done it almost every Saturday this year! Yay! Date night has been more hit and miss, but we usually get a couple in a month, so that's good, but needs to be better. Discipline has been really hard for me. I'm struggling. I'm thinking of doing something different because this system doesn't work for me. I've thought of going to a 'green, yellow, red' thing like they do in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade at Anna's school. It's visual and simple. I need simple. If anyone has any ideas that work for them PLEASE let me know! And I haven't done the mommy-child half hour time with my kids. I still want to, but it has yet to be implemented. :(

Finally: My Personal Goals! These have been more down that up, I'm afraid. :(  First, the positive: I have exercised regularly at the YMCA for most of the year. And I've gotten my make-up put on most of the time too. The gratitude thing has been up and down - the month of June went really well. However, I need to put this back up on my priority list. My specified prayer time and my stretching time was never implemented (I did find the papers for my stretches two days ago though!). And that's just sad. Oh, and I talked with my friend about knitting once. :)

Bonus: I started a garden this year! It wasn't in my goals for the year, but I loved it and although it wasn't extraordinarily successful, I had a lot of fun and am excited to continue it again. (I planted a fall garden...we'll see! :)

MOVING ON! Okay, so that's where I've gotten so far and where I wanted to be...But where do I want to be now? (We don't have to wait for January 1st to do this, right?)

My writing goal stays the same: Finish my current Work In Progress (WIP as we writers like to say) by the end of the year. I've added one: Complete one to two flash fiction pieces per week and post to my blog. These keep me excited and get my creative juices flowing - and help me to know that I CAN finish something!

Exercise: Continue workouts at the Y and add in some home workouts to supplement on other days. I'm thinking about a Couch to 5K thing. I'm nervous about that though (I've always hated running!). It would be early in the morning... DO THE STRETCHES! Can I yell at myself? I just did, so I guess the question is moot. :) Yeah. I'm going to put that in. :)

Family: Continue family night and date night (with more regularity) and try the new discipline thing. We'll see. I do still want to implement the mommy play time, so I will try to get that going. I'm going to ADD organizing the kid's toys and purging some of them before Christmas! It's a mess and I'm tired of my house being one! :)

Gratitude and Prayer: I want to make these a priority. I think I will have to write in my gratitude journal at least before bed every night and try the dedicated, specific prayer time during stretches in the morning. I know I've said that before, but... :)

Well, I guess that's it! I've got four months (less, but that's okay) to finish this year off right! It's going to be great! How about you?

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Golem

Menage Monday was a special Labor Day version - which means we got extra time and extra words - how awesome was that? Yay, Cara Michaels! I personally loved the 500 word limit and the extra time! It helped a lot! The prompts this week were that the story had to include a spell, the phrase "a blue moon" and this picture:



Fun, huh? Here's my 498 word entry (that didn't win anything, but I still love it!):



“Are you sure you got the spell right?” Hayden whispered as he crouched behind a hedge, adjusting his backpack.

“Once in a blue moon I get somethin’ wrong and you can’t ever let me forget it, can you?” Micah hissed back as he opened his pouch and pulled out a water balloon.

“Don’t tempt fate, Mic, it was just a blue moon two days ago.” Micah glared at him. Hayden eyed the small, green, bulging balloon with suspicion, “And you’re sure it’ll work even diluted in water?”

“It’s not diluted, it’s suspended, there’s a difference. And yes, it will still work. Just make sure your aim is better than last time.” Micah handed it to Hayden and reached in for another.

“What if they don’t break?”

“You’re a ray of sunshine tonight, aren’t you? They’re water balloons. They’re made to break. Just hit the stupid dog, okay?”

“You do know that I’ve seen them just bounce off people before, right?” Hayden held his up to the streetlight trying to see the spell inside the thin membrane.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake! Do you want to chicken out now? The only way into the headquarters is past those golems. The only way past those golems is to freeze them. I’ve made the spell, but we can’t put our feet on the grass without wakin’ them up. If you have a better idea you should’ve mentioned it before… Or is this somethin’ else? You scared of what we’ll find in there?” Micah jerked his chin toward the seemingly normal business complex nestled quietly in the suburban sprawl. “Think we should back out?”

“No. No, I’m just trying to think things through, is all. What if I miss?”

“Then the dog wakes up and comes after you. You plannin’ on missin’?”

“No. Just checking.” Hayden bit his lip then asked, “Do you have any more in there…just in case?”

Micah chuckled and placed the pouch on the ground in between them, there were more. “Perhaps we should both have one in each hand to start with?”

They each grabbed another and stood facing the metal dogs. Hayden took a deep breath, “On the count of three: One, two, three!” They both tossed their balloons at the same time at the same dog.

“You were supposed to hit the other one!” Micah yelled as both balloons hit the floppy eared dog square on. One broke, the other ricocheted off to the left straight at the other dog who shook his head and growled. The pointy eared dog crouched to attack, but the balloon landed right in front of it and rolled to a stop at its front paw. The dog leaned down to sniff at it when it miraculously exploded, spreading the spell in a wave across its body. “Oh. Well, that works too.”

“That was some piece of luck!” Hayden smiled from ear to ear.

“Yeah,” Micah heaved a sigh of relief, “Let’s just hope that luck sticks. We’re gonna need it.”

The cat and the crow

I came across a Visual Dare over at Angela Goff's website Anonymous Legacy. I have no idea if there are hard and fast rules or not, but since there's no judging, I'm going to ignore the 100 word suggestion and post my 229 word story. I tried to keep it short, but I'm not really worried about the length. It was fun. Here's the pretty picture (ahem, I mean Visual Dare):






“You mean to tell me you can’t fly?!?!” I was incredulous.

“I didn’t know it wouldn’t come naturally once I changed form!” Marietta exclaimed. “Just let me ride on you.”

“No way! Here.” I took a swipe at her hoping to scare the instinct into her, but my claws caught on the wall behind her and she gave an indignant caw and did some sort of ungainly flapping hop away from me. No flying. Bummer.

“Are you quite finished trying to kill me?” She waddled back.

“Why don’t you just pick a different animal?”

“I can’t change now. I have to wait for this one to wear off first. Just crouch and I’ll hop on.”

That was easier said than done, “This is not going to be as fun as you promised!”

After much buffeting, she declared, “Your spine is much too skinny, lower your head for me.”

“You have got to be kidding me!”

“Just do it!”

I growled in response, which was actually a pretty awesome feeling as a cat. That vibration just echoes through your whole body. Very satisfying.

I sat up, trying to balance the absurdly heavy dead weight on top of my head. “This is not going to work. I can barely hold you up!”

“Oh stop complaining! Let’s go! To your right.”

I sighed. This was going to be a long 24 hours.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Ghost story

My flash fiction pal, Jessa Russo, is having a bloghop and flash fiction contest celebrating the publication of her novel, Ever. I have joined in on the fun! My job was to write a flash fiction ghost story in 1000 words or less (paranormal romance preferred...). You know me! My first draft was WAY long! :) But I managed to get it down to 998 words! Yay me! Also, I couldn't just make it predictable, I had to do something unexpected with it - I hope it worked! I had a lot of fun with this story. I hope you enjoy it.

Now, since this is part of a bloghop/contest I need all the votes I can get to win...there are some amazingly talented writers participating! To vote you must leave a comment (it can't be from Anonymous, so you have to leave a name) with the single word "VOTE" in it. Pretty simple, right? So, if you like the story (and want me to win TONS of cool stuff) vote for me in the comments! I really appreciate it! :) Oh, and if you follow the link above, you can read all the other awesome stories too!




"...if you dream a thing more than once, it's sure to come true..." ~Aurora


The Imaginary Kiss (That Changed Everything)



Marcus poked his head into the room, “You about ready, Leah? Breakfast is ready!”

“Yeah, I’m coming.” I grabbed my backpack and followed Marcus down the hall.

“Phillip with you?” Marcus glanced around as we started on the steps. He was the nicest about my imaginary friend.

“He always is.” I smiled at Marcus, then back at Phillip who was right behind us.

“Should we set a plate for him too?” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

“You know Phillip never eats, but if you want me to pretend – just this once – so that you can have two platefuls, then I’m game.”

He sighed dramatically, “It would probably freak Mom out. Why can’t you have a normal imaginary friend, you know, one who pretends to eat and talks to you and does whatever you want? I could at least get food out of it.” He sighed dramatically as we entered the kitchen. “So, is Phillip excited about school today?” He asked just to see Mom spit out her coffee. We usually didn’t mention him in front of Mom. She thought I was too old for an imaginary friend – It was cute during my toddler Sleeping Beauty phase, but now she had me see a shrink for it.

“Yeah, he seems so.” I glanced at Phillip, who shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes. I laughed, “Okay, maybe not. I’m excited though! The first day of High School is like a blank slate, right?”

“It can be whatever you make of it, little sis. C’mon, we’re going to miss the bus.”

We ran for the bus as it was pulling to a stop at the corner. There was only one completely empty seat. Marcus turned around and winked at me as he passed it, leaving room for me and Phillip in the same seat. As the bus filled, I never noticed that no one tried to sit with me until someone did.

He was tall and skinny with curly black hair, a lopsided smile, and eyelashes I would kill for that framed eyes that were an indeterminate grey. I quickly glanced up and down the bus - there were no more seats left. I swallowed and scooted as close to the window as I possibly could to make room for one more.

“Hi. I’m Jasper.” His voice was melodic and raspy at the same time.

I realized my mouth was hanging open only when Phillip glared at me and tapped his hand on his chin. I snapped my mouth shut, “Leah. Hi.” I tried to smile, but it may have come out otherwise.

I looked down and noticed that Phillip and I were touching. In the past twelve years I couldn’t remember it happening before. I liked to avoid reminders that he wasn’t really there. This time, however, I thought I could almost feel him.

“We moved in last week. What grade are you?” I looked back up at his question. It was odd looking through Phillip, my eyes kept focusing on Jasper then Phillip and back again.

“Freshman.” I whispered. Phillip crossed his arms and glared. “What!?” I noticed Jasper pinch his eyebrows together. I cleared my throat, “…um…are you?” I tried to smile again.

Jasper blinked several times before answering, “Freshman. Are you okay?”

“Um, yeah. I’m good. I’m fine.” I was shaking my head up and down too fast.

“I don’t bite, you know.” He looked down at…I don’t know. My hands? My hips? Just down. At me. I felt goosebumps on my arms. He waved his hand in my general direction, which just happened to be inside of Phillip – that looked strange. “You don’t have to squish yourself up against the window like that.”

Oh. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. Phillip was trying to talk. It was distracting because I couldn’t read his lips when he was talking so quickly. I tried to look at Jasper to respond to him, but I kept looking at Phillip who was waving his hands in front of my face.

Jasper turned to look over his shoulder and back, “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.” I said quickly and bit my lip. That got a reaction. Phillip froze.

I could read his lips now, “Nothing?” He put his hands against his chest, “I’m nothing?”

“I didn’t mean that.” My heartbeat quickened.

“What did you mean then?” Jasper still thought I was talking to him. Phillip started yelling at me and for the first time in my life I was kind of glad I couldn’t hear him. He sped up and I couldn’t follow it anymore, but it had to be bad because he stood up.

“Don’t go.” He’d never tried to leave before, but it seemed like he might be threatening it.

He threw his hands up and moved into the aisle. “Phillip, wait!” I scooted past Jasper – who had one of the best shocked faces I had ever seen, it would’ve been funny at another time – and held my hand out to Phillip.

He reached out and placed his palm against mine. I felt a shock of electricity pass through me. That had never happened before. What was going on?

Phillip then moved so close to me that my entire body tingled. I closed my eyes to appreciate the new sensation and my lips exploded with warmth that ran down my entire body and turned me into a puddle of bubbly sparkles. I think I just got my first kiss…Do imaginary kisses count?

The bus stopped. My eyes flew open. Everyone was looking. Marcus walked slowly down the aisle, “Leah?”

No one had gotten up. They were still looking. My hand went to my mouth, my toes remembering the warmth from that kiss. Tears started to fall. I hung my head. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. High school was officially ruined.

“No. I am. I never believed you.” I looked back up at Marcus, confused, “I saw him, Leah. Phillip. Just now, I saw him too.”

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Well, that was unexpected.

This is my entry for Motivation Monday over at Wakefield Mahon's blog. This is the contest that gives you the beginning line. I had a lot of fun with this one. I decided to try humor (which I don't think I'm very good at) and an accent again. The prompt just made me feel slapstick a bit... Enjoy!



“Well, that was unexpected.”

“That’s all you have to say for yourself?”

“What else can I say? Who would’a thunk that tossin’ my banana peel on t’that there pile would’a caused that avalanche of sorts?”

“Anyone with half a brain, that’s who!”

“Aw, Come on! I got more’n half! Just a’cause I don’t talk so smooth, doesn’t mean I’m dumb or nuthin’.”

“What about the rest of it?”

“Well, how’s I t’know Billy’d be comin’ outta the kitchen right then? I ain’t a magician!”

“You mean a fortune teller?”

“Whatever. Either way I can’t see through that there door, so how can you blame me for’is fall?”

“It was your mess he stepped in!”

“Yeah, but he didn’t have t’go and toss all that coffee in t’the air, now did’ee? Dropped that coffee right in t’Susan’s lap, he did. I never heard such a shriek – was ev’n louder’n the crash of the crockery.”

“But it didn’t stop there.”

“It certainly wasn’t my fault that Susan chucked her fork across the room! How you gonna blame that on me too!”

“You started it.”

“But it was pure, dumb luck that it hit that lightbulb that shattered on poor Burt and shorted the ‘lectricity out!”

“Luck?!?!”

“Well, t’opposite of luck then, but how could anyone predict Burt catchin’ the edge o’his plate when he went to shield hisself and sending the thing flippin’ across t’table and clockin’ Doris in the head?”

“No one.”

“’Zactly! That’s a one in a’hundred shot that he catch’er right on the temple and knock’er out cold. He couldn’t’a tried t’do that! Not that he was tryin’ a’course.”

“Of course.”

“Well, what was Doris doin’ tuckin’ that table cloth in t’er pants like that? When she fell backwards it pulled the whole thing off! It would’a ended dere if Martin hadn’t’a tried to help.”

“At least he was trying!”

“Yeah, well, we see where that got’im! All tied up in that tablecloth and stumblin’ hisself halfway across t’room! Not so helpful, that.”

“That’s an understatement!”

“I know! Maybe he got some sense knocked in t’him when the front door opened right on t’his head!”

“I just hope he’s not unconscious too!”

“Well, then the suit managed to slip on a piece a’that there crockery when he backed up to get a’look a’what he done and in the process a’fallin’ on his butt he done chucked his briefcase across the bar and on t’the stove! Nobody even know’d he’ad a cigarette in’is hand until the grease fire started.”

“Thank God Pops was there!”

“Sure ‘nough, Pops was thinkin’ on’is feet when he pulled that fire ‘stinguisher down! That could’a been bad.”

“Could’ve been? Did you not hear everything you just said? How could it have been worse?”

“Oh, Maddie, you don’ wanna go sayin’ things like that!”

“Why ever not?”

“I think the suit’ad somethin’ in’is bag… It’s movin’…”


By the way, I'm gonna get excited and tell you all that I won an Honorable Mention with this one! Yay! I'd suggest you go here and read the winner - I really enjoyed it!

Did You Ever Wonder...?

I've been a bit behind on posting my flash lately. I haven't been writing as much of it because I find it's taking more time from my novel writing than I would like. I'm only doing a couple a week now. This was my entry for Menage Monday over at Cara Michael's blog. The prompts were "do/does/did [ ] ever wonder" and a birth - either literal or figurative. The picture was of this beautiful graveyard:

cemetery

I started several different stories. I wasn't really sure where to go with them. They all ended up way longer than the 200 word limit. Once I realized the idea wasn't going to shorten, I would leave it and try another. It's kind of like brainstorming. I just thought you'd like to see some of the places my mind went with this. I'm going to post all three story ideas. The first is the one I submitted because I was able to make the idea short enough. The second will be my first idea. And the third my second, just to make it difficult. :)



“Momma, I’m scared.” Isadora fell to her knees on the crunchy leaves, then laid down on her side with her hand stretched across the ground in front of her. “I don’t know how to do this alone.”

She listened for a moment to the wind blowing the willow leaves. They hung low enough one brushed her shoulder. She liked to think it was her mother’s comforting hand once again.

“Did you ever wonder what life would be like without me? It never occurred to me to imagine life without you. I guess I took you for granted. Not only the cooking and cleaning and such, but also the little things: a smile on a hard day, that crinkle in your eye when I was being silly, your strong hands that could do anything, the way you would turn up the music and dance with abandon to celebrate anything, a shoulder to cry on.”

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. “‘Don’t let life get you down’ you always said, but it’s hard, Momma.” She sighed, “I’m gonna get up and take it ‘one step at a time,’ and I promise to remember everything you taught me. I’m gonna make you proud.”


Next:




Do you ever wonder if she knows how things turned out?” The crunch of the leaves underfoot and the shade from the willows made this an extremely pleasant walk.

Lillian glanced at me sideways for a moment before answering, “Not really. Sorry. I know you think about her all the time, but either she was right and she’s in heaven or I’m right and she’s nothing, or you’re right and she’s on her way back around. I figure, what’s done is done.”

“Why do you even come with me?”

“Because you need it. I don’t pretend to understand it, but I’ll come with you every week for the rest of your life if you want me to. At some point, you’ll look around and see the peace in this graveyard and realize that her body is at least at rest and you don’t need that tie to the past and you’ll be able to move forward.”

“But remembering our past helps us to move forward.”

“You’re not remembering, you’re living there still. Mom will always be a part of you, but you need to start living your life now.


Yeah, I just stopped this idea... I kind of liked it, but it just needed too much backstory for me to move forward with it. Comparing different ideas on death would have been interesting, but I didn't want to do it too quickly and offend everyone by not giving a good picture of their postitions. Anyway, next:



“Why are we coming here now?”

“Because I want to do it before he’s born.”

“You don’t have to come to the graveyard to do it.”

“Yes, I do. Do you ever wonder if he was sorry?”

“He shot himself didn’t he?”

“Yeah, but was it because he felt some sort of remorse, or because he didn’t want to go to jail?”

“Your guess is as good as mine…probably better. Besides, you don’t want me to answer that question you just want to wonder about it.”

“It’s so peaceful here. Do you think he’s at peace?”

“No. I don’t think he gets to be at peace. But if it makes you feel better, then yes, he asked God’s forgiveness before he blew his brains out.”

“You’re not helping…Ohhh!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I think…Ow…that maybe I should sit.”

“Where? We’re in a graveyard!”

“Here’s fine.”

“That’s someone’s tombstone.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“We should go to the hospital. Or at least your doctor.”

“I’m fine. I’m not due for a few more weeks.”

“Kids are born early every day. That looked like a contraction.”

“Labors are long ordeals. I’ve got time to finish this first. Help me.”

I liked this one a lot, but I just couldn't figure out how to shorten it. I wish the word count was longer, but, alas, it's not. I really wanted to add description and movement, but I knew I didn't have the words to waste, so I skipped it all. I think it would add a lot to it if I was able to put it in. Ah well, sometimes things aren't the way we want them! Anyway, I moved on to the first one I posted and sent that one in. Hope you enjoyed my brainstorming process! :)

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Zombies!!!

Hehehehe! I've got a lot of flash fiction friends now, and most of them are much darker genre fiction than I am (horror, paranormal romance, post-apocalyptic and urban fantasy). Anyway, it must be rubbing off on my because I woke up this morning at 5am from a zombie nightmare! I've never once dreamed of zombies before. I've never even plotted a story for zombies before. They weren't all that interesting (although I really want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but haven't yet). However, the zombies (which, I suppose, aren't really zombies because they're not dead - haven't yet decided if it's a plague of some sort or a parasitic alien) in my dream were terrifying. I couldn't go back to sleep.

But I wouldn't be much of a writer if I didn't take advantage of my horror, so I tweeted about it this morning and my good friend @postupak reminded me of the #55wordchallenge over at Jezri's Nighmares. Here's the picture I chose:



And here's my 55 word rendition of my nightmare...




I look at the picture of my daughter still safe on the surface. I’d never see her grow up. Will she ever know what happened here?

Please, no.

They’re scratching at the door. They somehow escaped quarantine. I won’t let them eat me alive, and I’m sure as hell not becoming one.

Push the button.



I was crying after I wrote this. I'm not sure 55 words does the horror of the dream justice, but I hope it at least got the essence... :)

Just for reference: It takes place on a space station and the button is the self-destruct (this is obviously the end of the dream...and not exactly how it happened in the dream, but 55 words wouldn't picture my dream exactly...plus I had to use the picture - which wasn't in the dream either)