Reflections - A to Z Blogging Challenge and Crusaders

Thank you, Elizabeth Mueller, for the blog award!

Yes, if you were anywhere around the blogs in April, you might have come across the wonderful craziness of the A-Z Blogging Challenge.

I completed my posts early and had them set to go on their respective days. I read as much as I could of other people's blogs and commented when I could. I must admit I failed when it came to getting around to everyone's blogs. Granted 1300 blogs is a lot, but I still feel bad. April came with its own types of craziness. I'll do better next year. *crosses fingers*

I enjoyed the posts I read. It's amazing how we can come up with such different ideas for each letter...and even the same ideas for some. I already have plans for what I might do next year (I'm leaning toward 26 days of flash fiction) and possibly 26 days of book reviews/promotion on my book reviews blog.

I think I should start writing those posts up now. *laughs*

I want to thank everyone who participated and planned this wonderful challenge.

It also turns out that April 30th was the end of the Second Writers Platform Building Crusade. It was great fun. I did better about getting to everyone, but I didn't get a chance to comment as much as I wanted. (I really need to get better internet at home.) It was so much fun, and I loved participating in our challenges. Then again, I'm rather fond of flash fiction, which is what I wrote for each one.

Rach will be hosting another crusade in August-October. I don't think I'll be participating in that one. It's not that I don't want to, but I won't have the time. I need to polish up Virtuoso then, send out query letters to agents, attend the James River Writers Conference, and plan my NaNoWriMo novel for November 2011. I do encourage everyone to join the crusade at least once. It's a lot of fun.

At the end of January, I had 50 followers. Yep, I just celebrated it with a contest. Then I became a Crusader and joined the A-Z Challenge. As of this moment, I have 274 followers. That's an increase of 224 blog followers in three months.

I'm still in shock over it and very grateful.

Thank you.

Z is for Zeus

I couldn’t go through A to Z Blogging Challenge without mentioning someone from my Classics background. Of course, if you’re going to mention someone, you might as well start off with the King of the Gods, Zeus.

Zeus was the king of the gods, the god of sky and weather, law, order and fate. He was depicted as a kingly man, mature with sturdy figure and dark beard.

His attributes: lightning bolt, royal scepter, and eagle.

He was the father to many other gods and mortals alike.

My favorite daughter of his is Athena.

His favorite son was Herakles (Hercules).

He is probably best remembered for his extramarital affairs.

His Roman name was Jupiter or Jove.


I'd like to thank everyone who created and participated in the A-Z Challenge. I look forward to next year's challenge. I've met some great new friends and have many more to get to know better in the coming months. 

I'd also like to thank Rachael Harrie for hosting the Second Writers Platform Building Crusade which ends today as well. She's hosting another one come August, so be on the look out for it. 

Flash Fiction Fridays: "Y is for Yssa"

Yssa is the main character in the first novel I wrote. Today I’d like to share a bit of a scene cut from the first draft.

Y is for Yssa

Yssa removed her leather sandals and lay down on a large rock as her fingers trailed in the warm water. The child felt so carefree by the springs, not worrying what her mama would think if she got her nice purple dress dirty or wet. A splash sounded in the spring and soaked her from head to toe. She sat up and looked around.

"Is that you, Apenth?" she asked, but then she heard a burble of a giggle. Fear caused her heart to slam into her chest. She leaned over and stared into the water. "Who’s there?"

A face appeared in the water that was not her own, and Yssa gasped and scrambled backwards when the creature rose half-way out of the water. The water nymph giggled again as she looked at the girl.

"You look like a drowned rat, Yssa."

"I do not." Indignation rose within her, and she stood with her hands on her narrow hips. "You should be more careful."

Curiosity widened the five-year-old’s eyes. “Did Apenth send you?"

"Apenth, Apenth, is that god all you’re concerned about?" The nymph giggled again. The creature’s blue eyes sparkled like the ocean. Green-blue hair flowed around her as if she were suspended under water. The nymph's flesh-like scales over her body glistened in the sun's rays. She was not human, not fish, not quite anything Yssa had ever seen.

"He did indeed send me." The lovely nymph splashed into the water again before reappearing and laughing.

Yssa pushed dark strands of damp hair from her violet eyes when the nymph sprayed her again. "Where do you typically live?" she asked, plopping down on the damp rock.

"I've always lived here, but I haven't shown myself before." She tilted her head to the side and studied the small girl. “Apenth's quite fond of you. He talks about you all the time." In a fluid, graceful movement, the nymph leapt out of the water and sat on the rock beside of Yssa. "He says it’s time for you to leave Mournia. You’re to live in Guntas now."


*If you like writing flash fiction or want to try your hand at it, don't forget about my Flash Fiction Blogfest on May 6th. For more information, click here.*

Personal Thursdays: X is for X-Files

Every Sunday night at 9:00 PM for many years, I tuned in to watch the next episode of The X-Files. If I could only watch one television show for the rest of my life, it would be The X-Files. Nothing was better than the relationship between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully as they investigated the strange, weird, and downright creepy.

I have all nine seasons on DVD. I own the two movies. I have several X-Files books. My ring tone is even the X-files theme music.

I even really enjoyed The Lone Gunmen spin-off. I’m still sad when they died.

The reasons I love The X-Files: the mystery, the paranormal, the Smoking Man, the government conspiracies, the Lone Gunmen, Mulder and Scully’s relationship, my crush on Mulder, etc.

The list could go on and on.

Did you watch The X-Files? Favorite episodes?

W is for Writing and Wednesday's Writing Update

*It's the last few days to the A-Z challenge. I apologize for not being as active as I hoped. Real life has that way about it. I still hope to visit blogs within the coming months.*

I’ll be the first to tell you I wasn’t always a writer. In fact, I was convinced through English classes that my writing sucked and I should even consider giving up the entire language and moving to a foreign country.

Then I found roleplaying and it slowly led to writing fan fiction. I tried my hand at a couple original short stories and the starts of a few novels (only wrote a chapter or two). I wrote nothing new for several years beyond the roleplaying. In January 2009, I sat down and decided to write a novel I had in my head for three years. I suppose the rest is history…or rather just the beginning.

On SheWrites last year, they asked writers to write why they wrote in six words. Six words, that’s it. I didn’t join in, but I thought about it and why I write. This is what I came up with: I write to breathe, to live.

It’s not easy being a writer, but if it was easy, then it probably wouldn’t mean as much. I’d grow bored of it like I did singing. Writing is always a challenge. Some days are good. Others, well, I’m still feeling that English class burn.

Through it all, though, I write to breathe, to live.

On to Wednesday's Writing Update

I took Sunday off from writing for Easter. It was a mistake, although I needed a brief break.

I finished through chapter ten in Virtuoso. I hope to get back to rewrites after this week.

I plan to submit "Mage Game" to Sword and Sorceress XXVI later this week. I have it written and critiqued. I just need to do another edit or two and submit it. The deadline is May 13.

I finished my critique assignment for PWP, and I have eighty pages left to edit for them. I have to have it finished by Saturday in order to count it on my April invoice. I'm also a new freelance editor for Hazard Editing. I'll mainly do proofreading and more mainstream edits, if that's what the author wants.

The mistake of taking Easter off comes here. I'm involved in a secret group project. I can't say much more than that, but I have to have 10,000 words written for my character by May 1^st. I can write that much, but it'll involve some quick thinking on my part to get it done. So far, I have over 3,000 words completed.

I better get back to writing.

And as a pleasurable side note: Deirdra at A Storybook World has awarded me with the Creative Blog Award. She's so wonderful and artistic. She has interviews and all sorts of things and is very supportive. Please take a moment to check out her blog, if you haven't already. Thank you, Deirdra!

Knowledge Tuesdays: V is for Verbs

Unless you’re French author Michel Thaler who published a 233 page novel 'Le Train de Nulle Part' without a single verb, you’ll need verbs in your writing.

Verbs are the action. It’s what we do to our characters that is important. We’re told to use active verbs instead of passive ones. Find stronger verbs instead of a weaker verb and adverb combo.

Besides your regular active verbs, verbs even have type and characteristics. Here are some: (bold = auxiliary verb; italic = lexical verb)

1. aspect (progressive): He is waiting for us.

2. aspect (perfect): Jill had fainted over spotting the blood.

3. passive voice: The ball was bounced into the house.

4. clause type (interrogative): How do I get to the library?

5. clause type (negative): Isn’t he going to move?

Then, there are tenses to verbs:

1. Imperative: Stop!

2. Subjunctive: If wishes were horses, I would have a field full of ponies.

3. “-ing” form, Gerund and Present Participle: The bird was flying when it pooped on the car.

4. “-ed” form: We had left together.

They even have mood.

1. Indicative mood: She will have a hangover tomorrow morning.

2. Imperative mood: Keep your eyes on the prize.

3. Subjunctive mood: I hope that you learn something you didn’t know about verbs in this knowledge Tuesdays.

I agree we should use active verbs, but I think sometimes as writers we limit ourselves if we take out all of the auxiliary verbs (to be, to have) particularly when it comes to the aspect of the verb (progressive and perfect). Even passive voice has a place. After all, if you’re focusing on the victim, it’s always better to say “Bob was murdered” than “Unknown subject murdered Bob” at least until you identified the killer. It is best to recognize the verbs, what they do, and see how we can write it better. 

Another V word stands for the Versatile Blogger award. Melissa Bradley offered me this award a week or so ago. Thank you, Melissa!

U is for Ugly (A Poem)

Next week, we’ll return to Promo Monday, but today I thought I would share a poem I wrote. My disclaimer is that I am not a poet, but occasionally my Muse throws words at me with a poetic bent. She continues until I agree to write them down. So, here are my Muse’s words written down by me.

“U is for Ugly”

Ugly,

I am ugly.

Too fat,

Stretch marks,

A map to each morsel.

Hate

This marred, useless vessel.

Reflection in each looking-glass,

My perverted Narcissism.

Mirror shatters!

Shards leave scars

And seven squared years of bad luck.

Rip the rolls,

Too hard to fix

Pain.

This is not who I am.

Shed the skin,

My inside awakening

Who I am,

Inside my soul is

Beautiful.

T is for Twitter

Picture Found Here

Twitter is a great way to connect with people from celebrities to family and friends to colleagues and everyone in between.

I joined Twitter on March 16, 2009. I didn’t know much about it at the time, was overwhelmed by the rapidness of the tweets, and only had about 25+ followers. I tweeted some, but then I stopped for a long time.

In October 2010, I attended the James River Writers Conference. This is where I learned how valuable Twitter can be. I started using hashtags. I started re-tweeting. I added my fellow blogger friends and many other people suggested to me. I enjoyed reading people’s tweets. Then my followers jumped up quickly. I now have over 400 followers, and I’m amazed by it.

I really enjoy Twitter, and the best advice I can give new Twitters is to use hashtags. I tend to use some such as #amwriting, #nanowrimo, #amediting, #amcrusading, etc. It has really helped. And, don’t worry if you can’t read every tweet. No one expects you to.

You can find me @bookworm0753.

I look forward to your tweets.

Flash Fiction Fridays/Last Crusader Challenge: "S is for Showing Shadows"

Rachael Harrie at Rach Writes is hosting her final Crusader Challenge today. It's all about showing instead of telling. The rules are:

Show Not Tell Crusader Challenge: In 300 words or less, write a passage (it can be an excerpt from your WIP, flash fiction, a poem, or any other writing) that shows (rather than tells) the following:

• you're scared and hungry
• it's dusk
• you think someone is following you
• and just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: shimmer, saccadic (jerky movement, often associated with eyes), substance, and salt. 

And to answer this challenge, here my flash fiction piece.

"S is for Showing Shadows"

Every muscle tensed in my crouched stance. Spoiled milk tainted the air, coating my tongue like a wool sweater. Brick rubbed against my back. A cramp clenched in my calf and I hissed.

Did he hear me?

No, he couldn't have.

Creeeeak.

Bang!

The noise broke my frozen state with a saccadic movement. My mouth lost moisture while my heartbeat quickened.

The man shuffled and tossed the garbage bag into the dumpster.

The scent of grease and salt struck me as if it had substance. I tumbled backward. Saliva flooded my mouth and my stomach rumbled in protest. I recognized the smell.

French fries.

A heavenly delight.

I staggered up while the door clicked shut. Shadows lengthened, reaching darkened fingers toward me, but I sprinted to the dumpster and leaned over the bin. My fingers dug into the slick bag, attempting to poke a hole in its flexible surface. A finger broke through and I yanked it open.

I snatched handfuls of half-eaten food and shoved them into my mouth. My eyes darted toward the door, the alley's entrance, the shadows, but my hands didn't stop until tears prickled my eyes. I coughed and collapsed.

My chest shuddered in staggering breaths. I clutched at my throat, tearing into the tender flesh. I wanted to scream, but couldn't.

I was choking.

No, not quite.

Squeeeeak!

Boom!

Footsteps slapped upon concrete. My heart throbbed under its frantic pace. Dirt poked under my bloody fingernails while I clawed to flee into the shadows. The man's low chuckling sliced through me and Death's clammy hand seized me.

My chest rose once.

Twice.

"I told you not to come back."

A streetlight burst to life. Its shimmer didn't caress the dark as the shadows descended.

*If you like writing flash fiction or want to try your hand at it, don't forget about my Flash Fiction Blogfest on May 6th. For more information, click here.*