Writing slump leading to sharing a bit of my writing

 

NaNoWriMo___Poster_V_by_Pianochick66

Hello…Yet again I have neglected my writing. If I want to have half a chance of winning NaNoWriMo, I will have to avoid the shiny pretties and start actually writing. I’ve got the ass in chair part down pat! Now I will need to ignore all the distractions somehow. I’ll work on that tomorrow.

After getting up at 5 AM to feed the man before he goes to work. YES! He finally starts his job tomorrow. Happy in some ways, not so much in others. At least I might get a few more minutes of writing in, since he does tend to not notice I have my headphones on signaling I am either writing with my music OR listening to video/webinar type stuff.

I’m going to share some NaNo themed videos I found tomorrow. Maybe pretty early, so I have NO EXCUSE not to write in the novel. Or pretty late, after the family and I have dinner. But hopefully not this late…so  I can try to sneak in a little writing time after dinner.

So…I sort of alluded to sharing some more of my writing. I’d love some feed back, but please keep in mind this is a VERY rough draft. There may be instances of the word elephant that do not make any sense. It’s a place holder for a detail I haven’t decided on. You can weigh in if you have an idea to fill in that detail..the comments are your place to tell me what you think of my rough draft.

This is a scene with a fight in it. I will admit the fight needs some detail. All of my rough draft is detail deprived. The female is my MC, who is also partnered with Roan for investigations. They both work for a local detective agency. Roan has just helped Jacie by loading his truck up with furniture she needs to get to her house.

Sun and Moon (working title) sneak peek

Roan and I get everything on his truck and in the mustang. As we head to my place, I think about how long we’ve had each other’s back.

I started at the agency when I got sick of dealing with the sexism on the local state police force. It’s not push over strong, but it’s ten times as hard to get ahead if you don’t have three legs.

I answered the ad, knowing I was over qualified. Larry called me two days later, and the rest was history. One phone interview and I was hired, sight unseen.

When I showed up at my job the first day, imagine my horror at being place with yet another sexist pig as my partner. As the new face on the block, I had to suck it up and try to do the best in a bad situation.

On our first case, I saved Roan’s life. Literally.

We had been looking into a suspicious death that had been ruled as an accident by the medical examiner’s office. The wife thought it was too quick and too clean of a ruling. So she hired us.

With Larry’s contacts inside the local force, we can usually get the case files on just about any closed case. Even on some of the open ones, when the official detectives are stumped.

This one did look cut and dried, but Roan and I pushed forward anyway. We checked the car itself, and found nothing suspicious. We were even able to get a second opinion from the states ME when I pulled a couple of favors in. Nothing was adding up, but neither was it pointing to possible murder.

The break-lines had no fluid but there were no holes, cuts or tears in the lines. The man had been alive when his car careened off into the local lake. There was water in his lungs to prove it.

As a last ditch effort, we asked if the original ME had any blood or tissue samples that could be tested for drugs. We got very lucky. He did have some samples that I sent off to the state lab for a full tox screen. And it came back with pay dirt.

The husband had a non-lethal but sleep inducing level of elephant in his system. He was asleep when the car went into the water. With the amount of elephant he had in him, there is no way he could have walked to his own car, much less driven the five miles to where his car left the road.

This forced the local PD to re-open the case, but we kept at our investigation as well. When tracing possible sources of the elephant, we found two likely suspects. We questioned them both in their homes. We were hoping that one would come out with something incriminating. Neither did, so we kept digging.

We finally decided to head to our respective homes after midnight about a week after the interviews with our suspects. As we left the building, I could smell cheep cologne that I knew I had smelled before. I couldn’t exactly place it, but it had me on high alert as Roan and I went to our cars.

As Roan approached the door to his car, I saw a shadow about two feet a away. When it moved, I raised my weapon and cautioned the person to stop. Of course, the idiot didn’t stop at all and I had to shoot.

Lucky for the suspect, I’m a dead shot. I hit his left leg high on the thigh, which brought him down. Roan got him in cuffs and we got LBRPD on scene to arrest him for real. The arresting officers found a syringe filled with elephant. Enough to knock Roan out.

After that, Roan has pretty much treated me as one of the guys. And that works for me. He has my back and I have his, both on and off the job. What more could one want from their partner?

So what do you think? Use the poll to leave anonymous feedback. Or use the comments to give me specific feed back. You can even hit my contact page and send it to me in an email. What you think matters to me! Please let me know if it needs something more than detail (like that’s a little thing *rolls eyes at self*). Thanks so much for reading.

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Even Writers Need A Day Off

 

Kitteh Sez Break

The title says it all. I’ve taken today off. I’m simply exhausted, and enjoying doing as little as possible. I may write a bit later tonight, but I don’t feel like pushing myself so it will be more like editing to add more detail in places.

I did add my entry for the contest on Watt Pad that seems to have died to my own personal works. Hopefully, the hostess will pick up on Monday. I was hoping for something this weekend, but–as the title said already–even writers need to take a day off. You can read it here or open it in the mobile app by clicking here. I’m also going to post it at the end of this, but it would mean a bunch to me if those of you already on Watt pad would check it out there and comment or vote.

I’ll be participating in a Holiday Blog Tour on my other blog. It pretty much just does Book Tours and Reviews. This tour is huge and being sponsored by a pretty well-known blog in the erotica genre. I am looking forward to this because I will have a couple of new books to read and review. I need tons of practice on writing a good review, so this should be super fun. I’ll link to my posts in for that Tour on here when they go live. 🙂

Anyhow..here’s the very short story I wrote. Hope you enjoy it!

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The Haunted

There was a ghost that haunted me every waking moment. The ghost floated around my room, sometimes talking endlessly. Sometimes she wouldn’t say a word. I know her well, but why she’s there I just don’t know.

It started about a week ago. My girlfriend, Sarah, and I were heading to the homecoming party of our best friend, Dale. Dale always throws the best parties. Top notch DJs. Top shelf booze. All the name brand soda one could ever want.

He’s the bomb with money to back it. He grew up rich, but he’s not stuck up. Sarah and I are just regular people, but he’s closer to us than any of the rich frat-boys his father wants him to run around with.

Dale and I both come from Tella Ridge, TN. Mountain country but close enough to Nashville that his father, a famous music producer, could spend his week in town and be home for Friday night dinner.

My family worked the labor jobs—warehouses, retail—whatever we could find. I tutored Dale in Algebra through Calculus. We became friends, once we got past the jock and geek stereotypes.

I met Sarah the first day in college. We all go to a local community college. Dale could have gone anywhere, especially with his math grades. He stayed here to be close to home, since his mom had gotten sick.

Sarah was in my Monday morning Literature class. I hate Lit, but Sarah made it worth dragging my behind out of bed after partying hard all weekend.

It took me about the whole semester to finally ask her out. She is tall with long straight blonde hair and a body that should be on the cover of some swimsuit magazine. I’m just a geeky dude, tall with curly black hair and blue eyes.

She surprised me when she accepted my invitation for coffee. We had an amazing time on that first date, and have been almost inseparable ever since.

So, we are on our way to Dales place for the party. She’s upset with me and we are arguing. It’s raining in sheets.

The more we argue the faster I drive. The road Dale lives on is curvy as a snake’s trail. I missed the road on the curve where the ravine is the deepest.

Sarah screamed for soooo long. We must have fallen all the way down that 150 foot drop. I heard the emergency personnel saying we were lucky the car didn’t explode. Guess the rain was good for something.

Next thing I knew we were at the hospital. I couldn’t get in to see Sarah, but I wasn’t in a bed either. It was strange, but I thought nothing of it. I didn’t even have a scratch. Can you imagine that?

After being ignored for an hour, I sat down on a chair to wait. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I found myself in my room.

Well, it sort of looked like my room. It had some odd posters in it and was missing my gaming system. And my TV was smaller. Strange, but I figured it was some kind of prank that got started before the crash.

I lay down on my bed, and dozed for several hours. When I woke, there was Sarah. But she looked funny. Almost see through. Much like everyone else did at the hospital, now that I think about it.

I tried asking her how she was. I tried everything to get her to talk to me. Every time I did, she just looked scared to pieces.

This went on for days. I’d beg and plead for her to talk to me. For her to forgive me. For her to love me again.

Still nothing. Not even a “go to hell”. We’d been fighting but it wasn’t like it was over something we could fix somehow.

Next thing I know, what seemed like a week later, Sarah looked right at me.

“I can almost feel you here, my love. Go on now, find a new direction. This is your place anymore, “she said with tears streaming down her face. “I miss you so much, but you can’t stay. It’s scary in-between I bet, so go home. Go find your grandparents or whoever is waiting to meet you. I’ll be okay. I’m sorry we fought, and I will love you for as long as I live.”

I was shocked. It sounded like she was telling me that I’d died in that wreck. But  I hadn’t. I’d lived. Remember, I didn’t have a scratch on me.

“You looked so peaceful, like you were sleeping.”Sarah continues. “There was hardly a scratch on you, but you weren’t breathing. I couldn’t find your heart beat. I tried so hard to save you. I begged God. I begged the Devil. I begged anyone who would listen. I had to bring you back. I had to tell you how sorry I am.”

She did what? Is that why my chest felt bruised for a few days? Had to tell me she was sorry?

“I was mad because Dale’s little slut-puppy told me she’d caught you making eyes at her,” Sarah whispered. “She said you were all over her at the last party. The one I missed because I was working. And I was foolish enough to believe her. “ Sarah was sobbing as if her world was coming to an end.

“Dale told me the truth in while sitting with me at the hospital one day. He told me the bitch lied, trying to get Dale jealous and angry. She hated the time Dale spent with us. She was hoping he’d stop talking to us if I would just go to you about what she’d said.”

“My love;” Sarah continues, “you left me that night forever. I never got to say I was sorry. I am glad you didn’t suffer, but I miss you so very much. I feel you here with me all the time, though. If you’re here darling, please listen to me. You must go to the other side. I’ll find you there when it’s my time to go. If I live a hundred more years, when my time comes, I’ll come looking for you.”

Oh. My. God. I’m the ghost. It wasn’t my fear of losing her or my guilt over the fight haunting me. I was haunting her!!

I tried to pull some energy to speak to her. Or somehow communicate for her.

After dozens of tries, I finally picked up a pen on her desk. Sarah looked as if she would faint. I wrote a few lyrics from our favorite song, so she knew it was me and she would understand what I want to say.

I won’t waste away my love onto something new. If there’s only one way out, I’ll come back for you.”

With that I started looking for someone I knew who had passed on. I’m still looking, so maybe it’s not the only way out. Maybe there is something I am supposed to find. Or to wait for. Or to do.

 

I don’t know but I am looking. I go back to see Sarah every so often. I think she knows when I am there. She always starts humming our favorite song.

First try at Fiction

FictiontruthLieIt has been a long time since I attempted to write anything but a blog post! I got a wild hair and decided to get the fiction telling machine primed by writing a short story. It is very short, and still rough around the edges, but I published it to get some feedback. Hoping everyone is gentle but honest! It’s called The Splash That Ruined My Career.

I lost my job today. I was upset at first, but now I can see they just saved me a lot of aggravation trying to work a thirty-day notice. I still love the lady I sat with, but it was just getting to be too much dealing with all the inconsistencies. I do know I never want to work for an individual again. Too much bull crap and too little protection for me as a worker.

It’s gonna be hard til I get another job and then the first paycheck, but I have already put in 3 applications today. I have several on the list for tomorrow. If I put enough applications out, then I should get something pretty quick. Or at  least that’s what I am telling myself.

Well, that’s pretty much the end of my adventures so far this week LOL You can read my short story on Watt Pad. When You do, please leave me some feedback. Be honest but gentle.. my writer’s ego is on the line here LOL

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Brainstorming again #NaNoWriMo

WriMoTypeWriterSo I disappeared for two days…well technically three as I am writing this after midnight on Tuesday. I told you I’d be blogging here on weekdays.

Today has been wacky (I’m still on Monday) . Then one of the people I share an abode with ended up in the Emergency Room then being admitted for at least the night. (So I have an early morning probably in about 5 hours…6 if I am super lucky). He (from here on out called TMack) should be fine if it is only pneumonia. I will see soon.

I suppose you could be wondering why I am not blogging on the weekends. Well, I work from 7 AM on Saturday morning until 7 AM on Monday morning. Yup…48 hours straight. I do get to sleep twice in that time. I am a private caregiver for an older lady. She’s lucky enough to be mostly able to care for herself which makes my job easier than it should be. I love my job, but let’s get back to the main topic!

I actually got a good deal done on planning for my blog considering I was at work.

I got about 20 new name possibilities. I figure I better plan a bunch of names since it will take more than two characters to drive a good novel.

I also colored my map in, so I can tell better at a glance who lives where and so forth. I need city names though…I’m kind of stuck there. Any suggestions? (Use the comments below or the form on my contact page)

I found a possible main plot and one maybe side plot. I kind of like them but they need tweaking or something.

I also outlined some of the systems in the world my story will be set in. I did the measurement of time mostly. I also have the system for measuring length planned out but the unit needs to be named.

I pinpointed my point of view as well. I think I am going to take a sort of god like being telling the story from their abilities to see and know and hear everything.

I think part of the back story of the world will include the master race all the others are descended from. The different races will have come about by something resembling evolution. Just because I am a bit of a science junkie, there will be a bit of science in there. Might be twisted a bit–or a good deal–but it will likely be recognizable

Yup.. I did all of that in a few hours on Saturday.

Today (Monday) I only got a few names that I need to transfer from my phone to my planning notebook. That’s part of my goals for tomorrow.

Over to you

How is your planning going? What parts did you do first? Characters? Plot? World building? Share your progress in planning so far–leave a comment and let’s talk about our shared adventure!

I must have lost my mind

Introduction

NaNoWriMo 2013I have often thought about writing a book. I’ve even written some short reports. I’ve never even dabbled with fiction!

So I go and decide to join NaNoWriMo. What the What?!?!? If you don’t know, NaNoWriMo is a challenge every November where people get together-both virtually and in real life- to write at least 50 thousands words in 30 days. You are supposed to start from scratch, it is supposed to be fiction. You can research and plan all you want. As long as you don’t write out your story. Outlines, synopsis…all good. Finishing last years WriMo Book… not so good.

Actually, that’s not true. You can decide to rebel. You can break all the rules. You decide if you should confirm your word count to “win” WriMo.

Lots of people can win WriMo. You win by completing your goal of at least 50 thousand words written during the month of November.

The great thing so far is all the resources. Forums for support. Forums with plot and character stuff you can adopt. Even a free eBook or two.

So, why am I doing another blog? (I have one main blog that has turned into a book promotion site, and tons of other domains that need work!)

I want to be accountable. Even if it’s just to myself. But I’m hoping YOU will drop by regularly to see where I am and how it is going.

Every weekday (and maybe some weekends) I will post an update on what I’ve done that day. From now until November 1, it will be my planning stuff. Maybe some tips I’ve seen around the web all brought together to be a resource for us all. Maybe a rant about how I am the worst procrastinator ever (True Story!).

What I’ve done today

I downloaded some of the writing planning stuff WriMo suggests. I learned Scrivener, and a time line software.

First draft of Jennifer Jinright's map for her NaNoWriMo Story

First draft of my world map. Needs color!

I read some tips posts. I acted on one by making a map of my world. It still needs some names but it’s mostly finished.

I’ve read forums. I adopted a few things. Asked for a mentor. Joined a Facebook and Google + support group.

I generated a few character names. I’ve decided the number of races. Yes, there are humans. Though they may have a different name.

I’ve put off doing anything about getting ready for work. But that doesn’t matter much. It’s not like there is a lot to do!

I think I am taking my computer to work with me, so when I have down time, I can plan and work on my story idea. When I get one.

Yup. I have NO CLUE what my plot will be. Ha!!

 

 

How About You?

Are you joining in the madness next month? Had You heard about NaNoWriMo before reading this? Let me know in the comments at the end!

Also, if your a WriMo too, you can friend me up here if you’d like. I friend back 😉

 

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