@FriNightWrites, #writeclub, and How a Pretty Redhead in Kentucky Changed My Life

If you’ve ever read anything on this blog, you know that I fancy myself a writer. Whether I am any good or not is a matter of debate (I have had people call the same short story both “stupid” and “brilliant” with the the “stupid” comment coming from one of my closest friends), but through it I have become friends with some amazing people, who have more talent than I will ever have.

One of these people is a sweet Kentucky redhead, Megan Whitmer. She’s definitely one of those people that are far more talented than I am. Her book, Between, which will absolutely be on my shelf on release date, will absolutely BLOW YOUR MIND. I literally shed tears in public when she announced her book deal.

Anyway, this is how she changed my life. She is at least partly responsible for my new found belief in my writing. This is because she is the brain child of a weekly Twitter event known as #writeclub.

Write Club? What’s that?

Megan does a marvelous job of explaining things in a post on her blog here., but basically it is a group of writing sprints that last 30 minutes at a time with 15 minute breaks in between. She tweets the start and stop times from the @FriNiteWrites account on twitter, using the #writeclub hashtag. At the end of 30 minutes, several people will tweet the number of words they managed in the sprint, which because I’m a numbers dork, I track. It is so amazing to see so many people from around the world loving and encouraging each other. It has grown seemingly exponentially, with now at least 6 different people helping to run sprints when real life gets in the way. Its even branched out internationally, with it going on in the UK literally right now as i write this. I’m honored to be a small part of it.

How Did This Change Your Life?

A couple of ways. I don’t feel like such an awkwardly antisocial nerd when I choose to stay home and write on a Friday night instead of going out. There’s an average of 50 or so people doing the exact same thing I’m doing.

When I’m having a bad day, there is always SOMEONE having similar writing struggles where we can encourage each other. See, these sprints aren’t competitive in nature. They’re meant to encourage and build each other up, and inspire us to do more.

That’s why I love write club. It’s why I don’t even WANT to go out on Fridays anymore. Literally, right now I’m counting down the minutes until we start it up tonight.

Join us, why don’t ya? We start at 8et and will likely go to around 2am. We’d all love to have you.

Short Story — “Memory Lane”

So, the lovely and talented Darci Cole is having a contest on her blog in honor of getting 100 followers.  Basically, she posted this photo and challenged her readers to write a 300-500 word piece of flash fiction inspired by it. The word/number 100 must appear in the piece. There were prizes, that included critiques of your manuscript.  I don’t have anything that is REMOTELY critique ready so I chose not to enter the contest, but, really that photo is amazing and this story came to my head immediately.  

Pretty rarely for me, I actually think this story is pretty good.  Here we go.  Seriously, give me a comment or two and let me know what you think, k?

 

MEMORY LANE

 

by Beau Barnett

 

I looked over at my wife in the passenger seat, and smiled.  She smiled back, a quick, upward twitch of her lips, reaching over and clasping my hand.  She mouthed the words, “I love you.”  It was a foggy, misty evening.  We were traveling through a heavily wooded area, the scraggly trees forming a canopy over the road, blocking the moon.  We were on the way back home from a trip to her parents.  “I love you, too, Jules.” So much.

 

In response, she brought her mouth up to my ears and whispered sweetly, “Baby, drive faster.  What we need is some speed.”

 

I laughed. “It’s much too foggy out.”

 

She let go of my hand and ran her hand up the inside of my thigh, leaving it there.  “Please, baby.  Go faster.  I need to be in your arms,” she breathed. I could feel her words against my ear more than I could actually hear them.

 

I stomped on the accelerator, watching the speedometer climb past 70…80…90…100 miles per hour.  At 120, she purred, excitedly.  At 140, she raised her eyes skyward and laughed, the wind taking the sound and magnifying it somehow.  I drove as fast as I dared, tires squealing around the corners, threatening to lose grip at any moment.  The faster I drove, the more she loved it, beaming all the more whenever the car downshifted and the engine roared.  The way her long, curly, dark hair was blowing in the wind, I swear, she looked like an angel.

 

“Oh, baby,” she said, breathing heavily, almost panting, “I’m going to rock your world when we get home.”  I drove even faster, my face a stoic look of absolute concentration on the road ahead. 

 

A cough from the backseat brought me back to the present.  I looked in the rearview mirror, seeing two brown eyes staring back at me. I smiled.  “You ok, Lydia?” I asked.

 

“I miss Mom,” she said, “I’d swear she’s here with us tonight.”

 

“I miss her too, Pumpkin.” I looked over at the empty passenger seat, a single tear rolling down my cheek. Hard to believe it had been 5 years tonight.

 

“Hey Daddy?”

 

“Yeah, Pumpkin?”

 

“Can you go faster?”

 

She was so much like Jules.  “Of course,” I replied, and hit the gas.

 

 

 

—

 

Happy reading!

Time To Sexify: Stories To Strip By Begins!

Reblogged from deadlyeverafter:

TODAY'S BREW: Chocolate cherry. Just sexy enough.

by Julie

Ah, February! The time for those of us still in love with the idea of Valentine's Day to let out our inner sex-crazed fiend. Or inner romantic. The Undead Duo endorses both for our month-long feature Stories To Strip By that will leave you swooning, panting and screaming for more. The schedule is as follows for you to look forward to.

Read more… 64 more words

This is going to be a fun, fun month. I'm really looking forward to reading everyone's words and encourage all of you to check it out every day of the schedule. Especially February 10th, obviously. Thank you, sweet Jules, for asking me to take part, and all the words of encouragement you and so many others gave me when I needed them. Here's to a good month! *cheers* *scared to death*

Bloghop! *hops like a kangaroo with boxing gloves*

So, apparently the lovely and awesome Carey Torgersen tagged me in a bloghop sort of thing, and I am now required by the Geneva Convention to answer 10 questions about my WIP. Oh. Boy.

What is the working title of your book?

It doesn’t have one. I suck at titling, first off. In the event it gets published the company will change it anyway. I’ll come up with one if I ever finish a first draft. (Yes, that means if you hear me talking about insert title here I have completed it).

Where did the idea come from for your book?

This idea originally hit me around halfway through NaNoWriMo 2011, I tinkered with it and shelved it away to deal with it later. I continued to tinker with it over the last few months or so and put the first word on paper a couple of months ago. It’s slow going.

What genre does your book fall under?

Contemporary YA. There are no sparkly vampires or paranormal overtones. There’s also not a heavy use of superfluous adverbs, so I know the book has 0 chance of selling. Ever.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Zac Efron, clearly, because OMG THE LADIES LOVE HIM AND OMG SQUEEEEEEE for the dude, though he’s arguably too old for the role. (Ladies, you DO still love Zac Efron, AMIRITE?)

I have no idea which Hollywood starlet would play either the love interest or the antagonist. Pick two no-older-than-early-to-mid-20s-hotties and you have winners. One of them must be tall. Dakota Fanning because she’s marvelous for the love interest maybe? Does that make me look like a sicko for implying she’s a hottie? She IS almost 19, and as an aside that is proof I’m getting old.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

Get ready for heavy em-dash and semicolon usage in an effort to make this sentence close to grammatically correct:

Two high school “friends” are going to prom together when an accident puts him in a coma; is her love for him enough to bring him back, will it even matter if his parents decide to DNR him, and could he really love her, too?

Arguably a little cliche, I know.

Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?

Though I see absolutely nothing wrong with all those that have elected to go the self-publishing route, for me I want the stress of deadlines and the knowledge that an agent read it and liked it so much he or she thought they could sell it and a publishing company read it and liked it so much they thought it would sell. Also, I just want to say I have an agent. I totally hope it’s the Scott Boras of literary agents, too.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

So far, a couple of months. It may be an infinite amount of time, as it is not complete. I occasionally play around with short story ideas, and tinker with the beginnings of another possible book idea, so it is rather slow going.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

I honestly have no idea. All the recently released YA has paranormal overtones, it seems like. Yes, you can consider this an unashamed admission that I read YA.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?

In all honesty, all the writerly types on Twitter that are struggling to write (or have finished!) their own works inspire me. Whenever one of them allows me the privilege of reading something they’ve written, I will often complain that I wonder why I write when there are obviously so much better writers out there; in the end this inspires me to be better. Their constant words of encouragement, and beautifully eloquent works are necessary, and I love them very much for it.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Did I mention the LACK OF SPARKLY VAMPIRES? Also, despite that lack, this started as Twilight fanfic. Isn’t that a requirement to get a book published now? (It did not really start as Twilight fanfic.)

Now you know a little bit of what I’ve been working on.

I’m supposed to tag 5 others to do this, but I’m way too lazy to look up links, make sure they have not already done this, and copy/paste them into this using the WordPress iPhone app and Safari. If you read this, haven’t been tagged, and want to participate, CONSIDER YOURSELF TAGGED.

Happy 2013

Good morning, and welcome to 2013! I hope your 2013 is filled with love and happiness, and that all of your hopes and dreams are fulfilled.

With it being the official day every one makes all these resolutions that they quickly fail (on average by around January 24th I once read), I’m going to list my own resolutions here. I expect my family of 3 readers to keep me accountable.

Ok, without further ado:

1. I will run 1000 miles this year. That’s roughly 20 miles a week. I’ve never done that in one week, but I’m getting there. I am concerned my knees and ankles won’t hold up for this, as they are terrible.

2. I will not be content with just occasionally attending church. I don’t even remember the last time I went, even. Been at least 9 weeks.

3. I will read the entire Old Testament. Something I have always shied away from because prophecy is both hard and sometimes scary. This won’t be done in order; starting in Isaiah right now.

4. I will take a legit vacation this year. Most likely to the west coast. Still want to do Greece but I don’t see that happening.

5. I will blog at least once a week.

6. I will do a better job of keeping in touch with friends back home.

7. I will genuinely let a situation that often brings me down go.

8. I’ll write 5 days a week, and even post some of the fruits.

9. I’ll enter at least one writing contest.

10. School? Maybe? Fall? (I totally failed at this last time I resolved it).

11. I will gain 20 pounds of muscle. I think this is doable. Since joining a gym, I have put on some.

12. I will not be late to work. (Hahahahahahhahaahhaahhahhahahaahahhahahahahahahh)

Ok, I think this is all. Love you guys. HELP KEEP ME ACCOUNTABLE.

march madness

I’m writing this very quickly the last few minutes of my lunch break so please forgive any typos. Here are some things to think about if you are filling out a bracket.

1) Fab Melo is out for Syracuse. Adjust your brackets accordingly.

2) 1-seeds are 108-0 against 16 seeds. You’re stupid if you try to pick the unlikeliest of upsets (however, it HAS to happen sometime, and if you’re like me you want to be the crazy fool that picks it). I can also make a case for why Mississippi Valley State is the best shot since Western Carolina in 1990 to pull it off. I actually did pick WC to upset Purdue that year. They launched a 3 for the lead with 3.4 seconds left (missed), had three tip in attempts to tie it before the horn sounded (missed them all).

3) 2 seeds are 104-4 against 15s. They happen, on average, every 7 years. Been a while. Getting due. Duke almost lost a few years ago to Belmont. They play Lehigh this year. Also, Kansas is notorious for early tournament exits..

4) 14s win on some occasion. They’ve made the sweet 16 twice. I have correctly picked the last 9 14s to pull an upset. I have one on my bracket this year.

5) 13s pull upsets in something like 4 of 6 years.

6) You are required by law to pick a 12 over a 5. They happen virtually every year. So much so that if a team I love is given a 5-seed I assume they’re toast.

7) There is actually an 11-seed favored by Vegas this year.

8) When an 11 wins, they often go on runs. Like Final Four runs.

9) The “tournament darling” that all the media is talking about never actually wins.
See: Belmont last year.

10) This year the tournament starts ON THE IDES OF MARCH. Beware early madness.

More to come. Must go back to work.

scary

Is there anything scarier in the world than letting someone in to your soul? Especially if it is someone you admire and who’s opinion you value? What if that person takes a peek into your soul and doesn’t like what he or she sees? Anything more soul-crushing than that?

The tortured life of a writer….