Photo Credit: Perth Now
The ocean water
oh so blue and clear…but
when she peers down into
the salty sea
the last thing she’d see
are those black, doll eyes
Story Sunday: Shark! (Poem)
Tag Archives: story
Your Life in Six Words Contest Winner
Over a month ago, I ran a contest at WritersCafe.org called, Your Life In Six Words. Here is the winning item by Akshatha Kamath:
A real satire,
but humorously serious!
What about you? If you could describe your life in six words, what would they be?
One-Liner Story Sunday: Shadowy Mountains
Photo Credit: Compass Points Media
It isn’t the mountains that need to be feared; but the shadows that accompany the daunting peaks as they tend to claim all who enter within.
*Inspired in part by article, Does Vermont Have Its Own Version of the Bermuda Triangle?
Wordless Friday (Reading will take you on journeys so always be ready)
Click on image for its’ original source (Pinterest)
Writing: The Power Behind Words
Click on the image to access this group’s official page
This month’s question: What is one valuable lesson you’ve learned since you started writing?
This was a difficult question. I couldn’t think of any one thing specifically but just the knowing that writing in of itself has been incredibly valuable for me. Without it, I don’t think I’d be as “put-together” emotionally and mentally as I am.
Even though I’ve been writing for a number of years now, and have several of my short works published, I’m not famous or rich.
In fact, most people have no clue who I am.
I suppose that’s okay.
What matters to me is that the words I write impact people in some way.
So, yeah, I write for myself first but I also write to give voice (or try to) to those who cannot speak.
For me, writing is therapeutic.
Which means words matter.
And I want it to matter to the reader as well.
In the end, I can think of a particular lesson that writing has taught me.
Compassion for others.
And empathy.
Writing offers a way to let others know that they are not alone in feeling the way they’re feeling.
And for that one reader, the writer’s words can make all the difference in the world.
One-Liner Story Saturday: BBQ
The patties sizzled in the flames as the crowd eagerly waits; he wonders if they’ll notice his missing wife.
Story Sunday: The Bench
He stood
before the bench where he last saw her
Shadows from nearby trees nearly engulfing it
as the sun lowered in the smoke-glazed sky
She had on her gray pantsuit with a silky blouse
its’ color matched her sea-blue eyes
He set the ash-covered helmet on the wood
and as if pressed down with a heavy weight, he dropped
to one knee and bowed his head, tears trickling down his grime-stained face
Fires he could fight, but not the monstrosity he witnessed on that fateful day
One by one, his brothers fell as with the towers
Did she too?
Perhaps she’ll suddenly appear like an angel he knew her to be-
or, was she lost somewhere in the rubbles of mangled steel and crushed cement?
Time’s no man’s friend
For he was a fool to think he had plenty
and now she’s gone
*I created a video for this story. It can be accessed here: The Bench
Favorite Friday: Ray Bradbury (on leaving behind a legacy)
“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there.
It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.” – Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
You Tube Tuesday: The Bench
(*YouTube Tuesday idea originally came from the Martians Attack blog)
A secret dream of mine is wanting to see one of my works produced into a feature film. I just love the thought of seeing my story come to life with visuals and music. Well, I decided not to wait any longer and began creating my own “films” by using the movie-making software, Kizoa. Yeah, it’s not quite the same as having actors acting out parts of the stories I’ve written, but it’s close enough and not to mention, fun!
Here’s the most recent one I created for a microfiction I wrote, The Bench.
If you’d like to participate in YouTube Tuesday, post something from YouTube that you enjoyed and tell us a bit about it. Don’t forget to include the link to this post in yours so I can check it out. Also, if you’re on Twitter, Tweet about it using the hashtag #YouTubeTuesday.
Story Sunday: Fire and Ash
As she stood in the entryway
staring at the black mass in the fiery sky
she wondered
what good did technology do for them
now on the brink of extinction?
Gusts of heated air whipped around her body
as the only thoughts of comfort
were of all the written journals
she’d buried in the deep caverns nearby
in the hope that those pieces of her would survive
while the rest be reduced to nothing
but hot ashes
You Tube Tuesday: Stephen King
(*YouTube Tuesday idea originally came from the Martians Attack blog)
I came across this video recently and loved how he presented some of the tips as well as how he came up with the story idea for Cujo.
Have you read any of his books? Which one is your favorite?
If you’d like to participate in YouTube Tuesday, post something from YouTube that you enjoyed and tell us a bit about it. Don’t forget to include the link to this post in yours so I can check it out. Also, if you’re on Twitter, Tweet about it using the hashtag #YouTubeTuesday.
Writing: Getting Too Attached? (Poll)
One-Liner Story Saturday: This Thing Called Life
A young woman who lost her parents, one to infidelity and the other to a war in some foreign land, must choose between a childhood dream and her familial responsibility…real life sucks.
Wordless Friday (Untitled)
Photo Credit: tjdrysdale.com
What Happens When A Writer Stops Writing?
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This month’s question: Did you ever say “I quit”? If so, what happened to make you come back to writing?
I wrote an essay on this last year, and today I took and created a video from it.
One-Liner Story Sunday: Evil Dentist
Whimsical images flash through my mind as I wait for sleep to overtake me only to be interrupted by the deafening crunches of the bones in my mouth.
You Tube Tuesday: The Hunt
(*YouTube Tuesday idea originally came from the Martians Attack blog)
I enjoy writing various genres and forms. Time and time again I keep going back to horror. Not sure if it’s because I have a knack for it or because I actually enjoy making people cringe. I saw a picture of two girls playing in the woods and thought of this particular one-line story which I then used to create this video.
Enjoy!
If you’d like to participate in YouTube Tuesday, post something from YouTube that you enjoyed and tell us a bit about it. Don’t forget to include the link to this post in yours so I can check it out. Also, if you’re on Twitter, Tweet about it using the hashtag #YouTubeTuesday.
One-Liner Story Sunday: The Cross
The cross on a grave site signaled peace at long last for one man; but, for the woman it meant that her nightmare has just begun.
You Tube Tuesday: Brotherhood
It’s another Tuesday and that means it’s YouTube Tuesday 🙂 This is an idea originating from the Martians Attack blog which I absolutely love.
This week I decided to include a short video I created called “Brotherhood.”
Throughout my life, I’ve always known soldiers whether they’re currently serving or are veterans. This would include both of my grandfathers who fought in World War II, my father who spent nearly two years in Vietnam, and my husband who’s still haunted by his time in the first Gulf War and beyond. I grew up not far from the Plattsburgh Air Force Base, and now live a short distance from the Grand Forks Air Force Base.
I admire anyone who serve. Believe me, it’s NOT an easy thing to live a life as a soldier. But what intrigue me the most is the bond between soldiers. It is unlike anything in the world. I have heard countless stories from the men in my life about their comrades whom they entrusted with their own lives through various experiences (and some were quite harrowing). I used these as an inspiration as I wrote an one-line story, and then turned it into a video.
If you’d like to participate in YouTube Tuesday, post something from YouTube that you enjoyed and tell us a bit about it. Don’t forget to include the link to this post in yours so I can check it out. Also, if you’re on Twitter, post a Tweet about your post using the hashtag #YouTubeTuesday.
Writing: Daily Word Count (Poll)
Stephen King in his famous writing book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, has this to say about his daily word count:
“I like to get ten pages a day, which amounts to 2,000 words. That’s 180,000 words over a three-month span, a goodish length for a book — something in which the reader can get happily lost, if the tale is done well and stays fresh.”
Wow…that’s a lot of writing!
What about you?
