Thursday, August 23, 2012

He's Here!

He's finally here! My son was born last week. It ended up a much more stressful event than what I anticipated. While I'm not going to go into detail right now, let me just say that the whole delivery was more complicated than anticipated for starters. Then, due to how small he was when he was born dispite only being 5 days shy of his due date, my son ended up in the level 2 nursery - not quite NICU but more intense than the regular nursery. To sum up a long story there (which I may blog more about later), he's doing quite well now. The little guy's biggest issues was just that - he had a low birth weight. He and I are home and doing well. Since then things have been an adventure. From multiple middle of the night changes of clothes due to wet diapers leaking, 4 AM wake up calls where he decided it was a great idea to stay up at that point, to a minor skin infection right near my c-section incision, things haven't been dull. I hope once he, my husband and I settle into a routine I will get back to blogging fairly regularly. I figured between feedings and diaper changes I'd quick post something to let ya'll know I am still around!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Don't Panic Picture Prompt #6 Link Up and An Extra


Here's the link up for the Don't Panic Picture Prompt.  I had every intention of having my piece done for it today as well.  However, plans have a way of changing on me.  Instead I'm being sent in to have my baby today.  So - I'll check out any links when I'm back on line...whenever that is!



The Dark Hedges ~ Ireland

via Pinterest.com




Sunday, August 12, 2012

Bars

Wow.  For some reason I've been terribly disorganized this weekend.  I had this pretty well set for the Trifextra writing challenge and didn't get it posted in time.  But, I thought I'd share it anyways.  Here was the challenge:

On to Trifextra, where this weekend we're borrowing from the musical world.  Noted blues musician, Lead Belly, was quoted in Three Uses of the Knife by David Mamet as saying:
You take a knife, you use it to cut the bread, so you'll have strength to work; you use it to shave, so you'll look nice for your lover; on discovering her with another, you use it to cut out her lying heart.
He uses one object, a knife, to flesh out a character and to tell a story in a basic three-part dramatic structure.  We want the same from you.  Give us 33 words (exactly) that tell us three different uses for one object.  But don't just tell us that a can opener can be used to 1) open cans, 2) open beer bottles and 3) break a window in case of a fire.  Tell us a story, like Lead Belly did, if you can.  It won't be easy, but you guys are far beyond needing easy prompts.

Here was my take on that prompt:


“Please.  Just one beer,” he begged at the door.
“Nope.  Not allowed,” the bouncer replied.
He rode away, wobbling to and fro.
Front tire turned.
A sudden stop.
Up and over he went.

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The Don't Panic Picture Prompt is up!  Link up will start on Tuesday August 14th!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Things Left Undone

I read a post by Angela from Write on Edge.  The post was in response to the prompt on the idea of a phoenix (please go check it out - it's a great post).  But that post got me thinking.

See, my first is due basically any day.  To be exact, I have 8 days before I'm due.  And as I look around my house, I'm starting to see all of the things I haven't done yet that I wanted to.  Some of them are things I was hoping to get to before the baby gets her.  Most of them don't matter when they get done.  A few, like making sure my hospital bag is packed and the car seat is installed, need to be done before baby arrives.

But that got me thinking even more.  What will I be teaching my child about this very thing?  How do I teach him to prioritize things?  What does take precedence?  Yes - there are things like occasionally cleaning my house, paying the bills weekly, going grocery shopping, etc that can't be avoided or put off.  But there has to be a balance between things like that and things like exploring outside, writing, or just plain goofing off, doesn't there?

In the end, I think I've decided that there are times it's okay to have a few things left undone.  That is, just as long as you can look back with no regrets at what it is you left undone.  I think that may be the best lesson I could teach my child.

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The new Don't Panic Picture Prompt is up!  Check it out and remember to come back and link up with your piece inspired by this gorgeous picture!

Don't Panic Picture Prompt #6

Yep.  Missed it again.  Here's the new prompt for the week:


The Dark Hedges ~ Ireland

via Pinterest.com


Let's keep the word count at a shorter 250 words this week.  I'm going to move the link up to Tuesday in an attempt to get more people to link up.  

Friday, August 10, 2012

Phoenix

Write on Edge gave us a prompt around the word phoenix.  We could use either the mythical creature definition or the definition involving the constellation.  We had 450 words in which to write our prompt.

Now, I have to be honest.  My first impulse was to write a scene from a longer piece I've been working on and posting bits of as this prompt fit so perfectly into the storyline.  But that would give the ending away and I didn't want to do that.  Instead, here's something else that randomly showed up in my mind.  Please enjoy and don't forget - you have until the end of the night tonight to link up with the Don't Panic Picture Prompt for the week!



From the Flames I will be Reborn
From the Ashes I will Rise
In Flame I will Rule
In Ash I will Rebuild


The old storyteller’s words ran through his mind again even as the vicious kiss of the whip bit into his back.  It was so hard not to be bitter.  He tried but often failed.  She’d promised not to leave him.  She’d promised to right what had gone so horribly wrong in the land.  Then she was gone, her promises broken.  The storyteller insisted the words were a prophecy, that she would return.  He’d been hearing them since that day so many years ago.

“When?” he mumbled through cracked and bloody lips, “If it’s true, when are you coming back?”

The whip fell again.  There was no point in screaming out his pain or begging for mercy.  It didn’t matter to them.  They just continued to beat him regardless of his reaction.  That was the Overlord’s command and they followed it.

The twentieth stroke fell, curling around his back in a fiery embrace.  Just as they had every week, the soldiers curled up the whip and hung it on a peg over his head.  His chains prevented him from reaching it.  But the Overlord left it there as a reminder of his choice.

A choice to remain loyal to a woman who’s been dead for years.  A woman who, he kept telling himself didn’t deserve that kind of commitment.  She’d broken hers.  Why was he still faithful to his?

In that same ritualistic pattern, his heart reminded him of the answer once again.  He kept that faith in her because he loved her.  It was that simple.  No matter how long it had been, his heart still believed in the storyteller’s words.

A break in the years old macabre dance came that night.  He heard shouts and booted feet running outside the cell that had become his world.  Straining to make out words above the noise of the confusion, he could hear something about a fire.  Or was it many fires?

He didn’t have to wait long to find out.  The heat from the flame penetrated the cold hard stone walls to warm his frigid cell.  Soon it rolled in unseen waves down the corridors, heating rock enough to blister.  Still he sat, chained, in his prison.

Then came the flame, licking and lapping at wood and rock alike.  It shimmered in a mesmerizing dance down the hall, closer and closer.  Out of the fire wavered an image of a woman.  He scrubbed his eyes with heat blistered hands.  Had she really come back?  Was that heat mirage really her?

It couldn’t be.  But it was.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Don't Panic Picture Prompt #5 Link Up

Time to link up!  Here was your picture:



Isle of Skye, Scotland.

via Pinterest.com

You had up to 350 words.  I revisited James, Kris and Emma's world in Getting In Deeper.  Show me what you got!


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Getting In Deeper

This week I chose to combine the Don't Panic Picture Prompt with Trifecta's Writing Challenge.  The two ended up working out well when I went back to visit James, Kris and Emma's world.  If you haven't been following their story, you can find it in the tab at the top of the page labelled One Night In Dusseldorf.  This came in at exactly 333 words.  Feel free to let me know what you think!



I awoke to find myself in a bedroom I didn’t recognize.  My heart racing, I sat up trying to remember what happened.  When the trip to London resurfaced I regretted it.

“How the hell did I get to London?” I hadn’t realized I’d spoken out loud until James’ voice came out of a shadowed corner of the room.

“We brought you here for your protection.  Do you remember?”

“James!  What the hell are you doing hiding there?”

“Kris and I wanted to be sure you were well.  What do you remember?”

“Yeah.  Kind of.  I know we didn’t take a flight here.  How did Kris do whatever it was he did?”

James didn’t answer at first.  I was about to get up and beat the answer out of him when he spoke again.

“Emma, the world I am about to tell you of must be kept secret.  If it were common knowledge, many lives would be in danger.  Do you understand?”

“Sure,” the confusion and disbelief must have shown in my face because quicker than I could blink, James was leaning over me pinning me to the bed with an intensity I hadn’t seen from him since meeting him.

“I am in utmost earnest with this request.”

“Okay,” I blinked, “No one will find out from me.  I give you my word.”

“And I will hold you to it,” James backed off to sit in the chair next to the bed and gestured toward a huge photo on the wall.

The photo was of some mountains taken near sunset.  The golden light washed over the ancient hills in amazing contrast to the verdant shades covering them.

“Our story starts there.  The Isle of Skye.  Our people were driven from the Isle centuries ago.”

“What people?  What does this have to do with how we got to London from Germany?” I was totally lost.

“Because we are what you Americans call werewolves.”

I didn’t know what to say to his matter-of-fact statement, “Excuse me?”

Monday, August 6, 2012

Now I'm Doing It Too...

I recently read a post on Write On Edge about finding a multitude of other things to do pretty much in an effort to avoid actually writing anything.  Everything was rationalized so nice and neat.  I thought to myself that I could relate to that, but I've been doing better at not doing so as of late.

WRONG!!

I have been realizing over the last week or so that I have been finding excuse after excuse to avoid picking up a project.  I'm about half to three quarters done.  I know the ending.  I just need to get the story from where it is now to that ending.  And I haven't.

I've been writing other prompts, adding labels to old posts, changing around the look of my blog a little, playing on Facebook, Trifecta, Write On Edge and other sites, and playing computer games instead.

The saddest part is that I don't know that I really realized I was doing it until the last few days.  So, in an effort to motivate myself to get a COMPLETE draft of this story done, I am setting a new goal.  I want to have that full length draft done by the end of my maternity leave.  Unless things are way slower than expected, I should be out soon and that gives me 6 weeks.  I don't care if the draft is so horrible I'd rather hide it than look at it again.  I know I need to finish this draft.

I will try to occasionally update ya'll on how that's going so I know someone else out there is aware and watching to see if I make it.  If I forget, please feel free to ask!  My new About Me page has my contact information on it (see that procrastination is coming in good for something!).

Sunday, August 5, 2012

A Modern Fable

Trifecta gave us a challenge this weekend to write a fable in exactly 33 words.  I almost didn't do this prompt until I got the following idea.  Enjoy!



“Give me lots of money,” wished the bank.
Genie nodded.  It happened.
“Give me property.”
Genie nodded.  It happened.
“Make me happy forever.”
Genie nodded.  The bank lost everything.

Money doesn’t buy happiness.



Also - check out the Don't Panic Picture Prompt for the week.  Link-up happens here on Wednesday.

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Don't Panic Picture Prompt #5

Oops...I'm a little slow getting this one up.  Oh well.  Here's the new Don't Panic Picture Prompt:


Isle of Skye, Scotland.

via Pinterest.com


Let's put the word count at 350 again this week.  Come back Wednesday to link up!

Friday, August 3, 2012

To London

Okay - so maybe I fudged this prompt from Write On Edge a little.  The prompt was Olympic inspired.  I had 300 words to write about anything - as long as the setting was Beijing, London or Rio de Janeiro.  I had to go back to James, Emma and Kris for this one.  And, while the piece does not start in London, it ends there.  That counts, right?  Either way, here's my response.


Kris led me to another clearing, this time with a small stream cutting across one edge of it.  Kris loped to the stream and knelt.  He cupped one long fingered hand to scoop up some of the crystal clear water.

Over the next minute the others filtered into the clearing.  It puzzled me how they knew Kris was waiting there.  As they gathered, Kris stayed near the water with his eyes closed.

I started to speak but James touched my arm and shook his head.  His warning look was unmistakable.  Frustrated, I walked away before I said something that would get me in trouble.

Kris must have come up behind me when my back was to him because when I turned I almost ran into his well muscled chest.

“We need to go.  Now.”

“What?” I could tell by the look on his face he was serious.

“Stephan’s on our trail.  We’re going to London.”

London?  From here?  In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s no airports or train stations around,” my sarcasm didn’t over well as Kris gritted his teeth and growled slightly.

“Someone will get your belongings from your hotel room.  Close your eyes.”

“Ah.  No.  Not until you tell me what you’re planning to do.”

“I already told you.  We’re going to London.”

“How?”

“Close your eyes.  You won’t get sick that way.”

I looked around Kris to James but he was no help.  I couldn’t read the expression on his face.  Kris wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to his solid body.  A blinding light flashed.  In an instant I was dizzy, nauseous and my head pounded.

“What just happened?” I struggled not to be sick.

“We’re in London.”

Kris pointed over my shoulder.  I turned and saw Big Ben before the world spun into darkness.



If you've missed their story, you can find it by following the tab labeled One Night in Dusseldorf at the top of the page.  Also, don't forget to link up with the Don't Panic Picture Prompt.  It ends tonight!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

An Ode to Normal

I'm trying my hand at the Trifecta prompt for the first time today.  Here's how it works for any who are unfamiliar with this writing blog's prompts.

  • Your response must be between 33 and 333 words.
  • You must use the 3rd definition of the given word in your post.
  • The word itself needs to be included in your response.
  • You may not use a variation of the word; it needs to be exactly as stated above. 
  • Only one entry per writer.
Here was this week's word:
NORMAL (noun)  
1: a : a normal line  
    b : the portion of a normal line to a plane curve between the curve and the x- axis 
2: one that is normal 
Let me know what you think!

An Ode to Normal

Normal.
Standard.
Norm.

Where are you
O icon of
Commonality?

What is it
You truly represent,
Paragon of the Expected?

Many a day
I have longed for you,
Many a night
Have I lain awake,

Wondering

Why do you
Elude
Me so?

Only to learn of
The fiction
You really are.

Normal.
Standard.
Norm.
I will pursue you

No longer.


Don't forget to check out this week's Don't Panic Picture Prompt.  You have until tomorrow to link up!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Don't Panic Picture Prompt #4 Link-Up

I apologize the link up took a while to get up today.  Work didn't cooperate as well as normal.

Here was your picture for the week:


This was from a storm outside my house about 3 years ago.


I had one of those lightning strike moments where a new idea popped into my head, fully formed.  Check out Storm Rider.

What did you come up with?


Storm Rider


Okay - maybe I'm procrastinating on some other projects a little by starting this one.  But what do you do when a fully formed idea pops into your head??  I'm thinking this will end up being another serial on my blog.  Don't quote me on that, though.  I may change my  mind.  Either way, here's my take on the Don't Panic Picture prompt for this week.


The air stilled as the line advanced.  Flashes danced across the clouds like mischievous sprites of legend.  The world seemed to hold its breath.  I watched, knowing just a short distance away, the fury of the storm had been unleashed.

The anticipation was almost enough to kill me.  I knew this storm would give me one hell of a high and I didn't want to wait.  It was hard to stop myself from jumping in the car to go meet it.

I’m not some crazy, drugged out thrill seeker or adrenaline junky.  I swear.  I’m a Weather Rider.  Well, a Storm Rider to be exact.  Meteorological events give me a psychic charge.  My job as a Storm Rider is to help direct the energy of storms like the one I stood watching that night.  The easiest way to explain how I do that is I have a psychic power that lets me connect with storms.  One side effect of that charge is one intense high. It’s far better than any drugs.

And far more dangerous.  See, Weather Riders can become corrupted by their powers.  Hurricane Katrina is one example.  Most people believe it was a freak super storm of the century.  The truth is it should have been a normal hurricane except a corrupted Storm Rider enhanced it for a better high, thinking he could control it.  He couldn’t.  Among the dead were three other Storm Riders who burned themselves out trying to undo the damage he’d done.  Believe it or not, they went a long ways in doing so before they died.

So, why was this storm so different?  In truth, it wasn’t.  I remember watching this storm, craving the high, because it was just before all hell broke loose in my life.  Part of me still wonders if I should have caught on that night.

It started like normal.  The thunderstorm was a typical Midwestern storm.  Nothing I needed to worry about.  I got to ride the high for free on that one.  The stranger that rolled in hard on the heels of the storm was another matter.