"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." ~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith
Monday, August 16, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
All of the Critics Agreed
All of the critics loved it because it didn't have what they hated. None of those pesky adverbs, split infinitives, extraneous punctuation marks, misused phrases, bad spelling, or any other bad habits writers are prone to perpetrate.
It was a perfect blank page.
It was a perfect blank page.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Another Day, Another Dollar
Dim light started to creep into the warehouse. It had snuck down the alleyway when no one was looking, and now it gave the inside of the metal building a soft gray glow, lighting the dust in the air. The day was hot already, sticky and still. Inside the building was little escape from the heat. Forms were strewn about the place, half hidden in the mess. One form slept leaning against a crate, head on her chest and arm resting lightly across the automatic in her lap. A shock of pale yellow hair covered her forehead. A booted foot came out of the darkness and nudged her thigh persistently.
"Wake up, Frankie."
One startling blue eye opened and glared up into the darkness. "What do you want, Merc?"
The form knelt next to her, black eyes narrowed in the dark face. Long black, curly hair was pulled back, accenting the angularity of his features. He wore black leather, as usual. "There's something going on today down at the Company. I want to check it out. I want you to go with me."
She sighed and leaned back. "I was out all night. Get somebody else."
"The is nobody else for me. You know that, Frankie," his smile made him look like a cobra.
"I'm not going out to the Company during the day. Get over it."
He cupped her chin in his palm. "Come on, Frankie."
She knocked his hand away with the stock of her gun. "Don't touch me."
"Come with me. I’ll make it worth your while.”
Frankie regarded him with a skeptical look. “How are you going to do that?”
His eyes shifted to look at the other forms in the dim light. “Let’s talk outside.”
"Wake up, Frankie."
One startling blue eye opened and glared up into the darkness. "What do you want, Merc?"
The form knelt next to her, black eyes narrowed in the dark face. Long black, curly hair was pulled back, accenting the angularity of his features. He wore black leather, as usual. "There's something going on today down at the Company. I want to check it out. I want you to go with me."
She sighed and leaned back. "I was out all night. Get somebody else."
"The is nobody else for me. You know that, Frankie," his smile made him look like a cobra.
"I'm not going out to the Company during the day. Get over it."
He cupped her chin in his palm. "Come on, Frankie."
She knocked his hand away with the stock of her gun. "Don't touch me."
"Come with me. I’ll make it worth your while.”
Frankie regarded him with a skeptical look. “How are you going to do that?”
His eyes shifted to look at the other forms in the dim light. “Let’s talk outside.”
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Crystal Vision
The sun rose slowly and majestically over the mountains with the regal bearing of an aging Opera House diva. Warm bands of russet and orange stretched out over the peaks, wrapping the back country in early morning finery. Crystal tipped up her straight-backed wooden chair and hooked her slippered feet on the bottom porch slat. She drank in the sunrise with a slight smile on her face and both hands wrapped around a large mug of tea.
It had taken five years, but this finally felt like home. The tall, scrubby pine trees. The curious wildlife. The brutal winters and languid summers. She finally had a home and was finally starting to heal. Something had begun to bloom in her heart that she was suspicious might be hope but it was too soon to tell. More summer mornings spent absorbing the nature that surrounded her, perhaps another long winter spent in quiet reflection. Then she would know.
Her mind flitted through stray thoughts and settled on one she didn’t like. The police officer that had called last week. She so rarely got phone calls anymore from anyone other than the general store that she hadn't thought anything of picking it up rather than screening it through her answering machine. And it had been an officer. She had known that he would be trouble from the first word he had spoken.
It had taken five years, but this finally felt like home. The tall, scrubby pine trees. The curious wildlife. The brutal winters and languid summers. She finally had a home and was finally starting to heal. Something had begun to bloom in her heart that she was suspicious might be hope but it was too soon to tell. More summer mornings spent absorbing the nature that surrounded her, perhaps another long winter spent in quiet reflection. Then she would know.
Her mind flitted through stray thoughts and settled on one she didn’t like. The police officer that had called last week. She so rarely got phone calls anymore from anyone other than the general store that she hadn't thought anything of picking it up rather than screening it through her answering machine. And it had been an officer. She had known that he would be trouble from the first word he had spoken.
Friday, August 06, 2010
Do You Ever...?
“Are you one of the fortunate kind, alone but not lonely?”
Jessie tapped her thumb on her knee in time to the music as she drove through the night. The window was open and a hot prairie breeze blew her hair into tangles, but her mind was already on the town ahead. The hunt and the feasting. She had let the hunger grow too strong again.
She knew that others of her kind grew to hate the dark or found the solitary existence too desolate. They sought relief in depraved societies of their own creation. She had seen bright, garish lights in an underground city filled with cows who willingly gave away what should rightly be hunted on dark streets or in fragrant, damp forests.
She wasn’t ashamed of what she was. She didn’t resist it. But her two strongest desires were ultimately at odds. The need for solitude. The need to feed. What drove her away from the cities always, inexorably, brought her back. People. An enchanting, intoxicating smorgasbord of people.
Soon she would be in Broken Bow. And she would feed.
"Do You Ever...?" was a Lyric Challenge ficlet originally published at 01:22AM on Sunday, October 28, 2007. Thanks to the ficlet memorial I was able to find it again. Memorial story link. The lyric is from “Alone But Not Lonely” by Mary Ann Redmond (Album: Here I Am). I picked the song randomly but think it worked well. Had only listened 40 seconds in when I picked the lyric and wrote up the Ficlet, so was surprised when I went back to listen to the rest of the song and caught the line “Which one are you tonight? Do you change with the morning light?” How perfect for a little vampire story.
Jessie tapped her thumb on her knee in time to the music as she drove through the night. The window was open and a hot prairie breeze blew her hair into tangles, but her mind was already on the town ahead. The hunt and the feasting. She had let the hunger grow too strong again.
She knew that others of her kind grew to hate the dark or found the solitary existence too desolate. They sought relief in depraved societies of their own creation. She had seen bright, garish lights in an underground city filled with cows who willingly gave away what should rightly be hunted on dark streets or in fragrant, damp forests.
She wasn’t ashamed of what she was. She didn’t resist it. But her two strongest desires were ultimately at odds. The need for solitude. The need to feed. What drove her away from the cities always, inexorably, brought her back. People. An enchanting, intoxicating smorgasbord of people.
Soon she would be in Broken Bow. And she would feed.
"Do You Ever...?" was a Lyric Challenge ficlet originally published at 01:22AM on Sunday, October 28, 2007. Thanks to the ficlet memorial I was able to find it again. Memorial story link. The lyric is from “Alone But Not Lonely” by Mary Ann Redmond (Album: Here I Am). I picked the song randomly but think it worked well. Had only listened 40 seconds in when I picked the lyric and wrote up the Ficlet, so was surprised when I went back to listen to the rest of the song and caught the line “Which one are you tonight? Do you change with the morning light?” How perfect for a little vampire story.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Sue Was Comic Booked!
Did you hear? I was interviewed by ComicBooked.com! Check out A (Not So) Silent Interview with Sue London wherein it is revealed what Superhero I'm married to.
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