A new short story

 I'm working on a new short story, and I'm so excited about it. It's been a few weeks since I've really set down to write something new. It feels like I mainly am just doing edits nowadays, so I feel really good to be writing again.

The story is titled "The Reluctant Bride," and I plan to use it as my June story on Raven and the Writing Desk. If you haven't checked out this blog, please do. Lisa Rusczyk, Aubrie Dionne, and I created it, and we have free short stories as well as other writing related posts. Anyway, June's theme is weddings/honeymoons, so I had to come up with a new story for it. The only old story I had that would have worked is "Soul Survivor," but it is still in submissions with Abandoned Towers. Thus, my new idea for a story blossomed overnight.

"The Reluctant Bride" is a futuristic short story that takes place in 2210. Years after World War III and thirty years after a plague destroyed billions of people, the citizens of Earth are trying to recover. In order to replenish the planet, several colonies have implimented the Marriage Program. Every May, twenty-five year olds come to Ellis Island to fill out massive paperwork and have complete physicals. Those that pass the examinations will return on a date in June for their wedding to their perfect mate.

Aytia is a counselor in Ellis Island for the Marriage Program, and her time is rapidly approaching. She knows that the program has a high success rate, but she's scared it won't work out. How can she marry someone she doesn't know? What if she doesn't like him? She knows the horror stories. Will this reluctant bride go through with her wedding or face the consequences of re-education?

I've never written a story like this before, but I wanted to do something different. That's the great thing about being an author on Raven and the Writing Desk. I use the blog to experiment with stories I might never would have tried before. True, my first two stories in April were old stories I had written, but May's story was different from anything I had ever written, too. If you haven't read it, you should. *grins* This story will be completely different, as well, but I'm enjoying it. It's fun to further branch out from my background of mystery/horror/fantasy.

Well, I'm off to write some more.