Cruising Altitude 2.0

Coffee Shop Origin

2012-02-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

Writer Gold: Have you seen this?

Writer Blue: Seen what?

Writer Gold: DL’s blog this morning.

Writer Red: I was just about to pull it up. *reading* Oh, another post featuring those idioticcoffee house chicks. That’s getting old,and besides, who really talks like that?

Writer Black: And would it kill him to give themreal names. I get confused so easily.

Writer Red: *coughing*

Writer Gold: He has them discussing theORIGINS blogfest.

Writer Black: Ohhhhh. When is that again? I keep forgetting to jotit down on my calendar.

Writer Gold: The Monday before Valentine’sDay. There's 150 bloggers signed up forit.

Writer Blue: I don’t see how he does it.

Writer Red: Does what?

Writer Blue: All of it. He’s co-hosting that blogfest with Matt, Alexand Katie, then there’s the A to Z Challenge he’s also co-hosting. AND, on top of all that he does WRiTE CLUB. Whendoes he find ever the time to write?

Writer Black: Ilove WRiTE CLUB.

Writer Red: Maybe that’s why he’s not publishedyet.

Writer Blue: I saw where he posted on Facebookthat he just sent out another batch of query letters. I have my fingers crossed for him.

Writer Gold: Have ya’ll signed up for ORIGINS?

Writer Black, Writer Blue, Writer Red: *in unison* Yes!

Writer Black: Doyou remember the first time we all met here?

Writer Gold: OW!! Why did you hit me?

Writer Red: Slug bug. One just drove by. I have to keep in practice or else my sontears me up.

Writer Blue: I haven’t been coming here thatlong. How did all of you first start gettingtogether?

Writer Red: Gold, you’ve been writing here thelongest, right? Almost a year and a half?

Writer Gold: *nods head* I’ve always loved their scones here, and I needed a wayto break up my writing routine. Now, Ijust love how we can bounce ideas off one another.

Writer Red: Then I joined her last year when myyoungest started Kindergarten. Beenmeeting here weekly ever since.

Writer Blue: When did you start coming, Black?

Writer Black: Oh,I haven’t.

Writer Blue: Ummmmm…you’re here every time I’vebeen here.

Writer Black: Icome if I’m in the area. It’s notsomething I plan though

Writer Gold: Since you first started comingyou’ve missed maybe one meeting.

Writer Black: Butit’s nothing I schedule. I like to keepthings fluid. No commitments.

Writer Red: *leaningover to whisper to Blue* Those ideas we share don’t always bounce. Sometimes it’s more like a thunk.

Writer Gold: What are you going to write aboutBlue?

Writer Blue: Oh, probably my grandpa. He and grandma had this massive library intheir home, full of both the classics and recent releases. They were both voracious readers and I thinkI inherited my love of books from them. When I was little I used to love to go over to there and just spendhours exploring the shelves. Every sixmonths I’d help grand ma meticulously dust off every book and I’d even holdgrand pa’s tools when he needed to build more shelf-space. My grand pa would always take the time toanswer my questions, no matter how stupid, and tell me stories about theauthors to help me personalize their work. When I wrote my first short story, I think I was maybe twelve, I let mygrand pa read it first. The way his eyeslit up and he made such a fuss…telling everybody he knew that I would be in hislibrary someday…I knew then that’s what I wanted to do. Someday write a book that grand pa could putin his library.

Writer Gold: That is a wonderful origin story. And you will someday.

Writer Blue: *weaksmile* Grand ma passed away last year and grand pa was gone eight monthslater.

Writer Black: I’mso sorry honey.

Writer Gold: Isn’t that about the same timeyou joined us.

Writer Blue: *nodding*Grand pa made sure I’d still be able to make it into his library; he left me allof their books in his will. Now all Ihave to do is my part. That’s why Iasked to join your group. I’ve tinkeredaround with my writing for a long time, and now I’m taking it more serious.

Writer Red: Then I say we look at your chaptersfirst.

Poser

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

TheInsecure Writer’s Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J.Cavanaugh. Members of the group, likeme, post on the first Wednesday of every month with the purpose being to shareand encourage. In Alex’s words, Writerscan express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak.Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s asafe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

I’mnot going to mince words today. A greatdeal of the insecurity I used to feel, and imagine a great many of you as well,originated with the very real fear that someday I’d be exposed. That Toto would yank back the curtain andreveal the ordinary door to door salesman whose fancy tricks and quick tongue hadlifted him up in the eyes of others. Iwould wake up to discover that the worth I had allowed myself to attach to mywriting, my stories, my passion…was ill-placed, or at a minimum, overvalued.

CouldI be a poser? That’s the question that fueledmy doubt, the insecurity. Was I someonewho leeched off of other writer’s popularity? I had written short-stories, books, and this blog, but did any of itmean I was writer? Was I like the teenagerwho wears heavy metal T-shirts and other cool clothes just to fit in, or evenworse, a Kardashian, hanging with the cool people but having no actualtalent.

STOP!Before you head down to the comment box to leave that note of encouragement,that’s not what this post is about. I’mnot trolling for compliments or pat on the backs. My intent is to point out where a lot of ourinsecurity comes from, and tell you it’s not true!

Poser’sintentionally deceive people into believing something they’re really not. That’s not me, or you, because we know we arewriters! But how do we know it, when weare told our self-evaluations can’t be trusted? Because we’ve listened to others confirm what we hoped was true. People we trust, people with experience,people who are perfect strangers, they’ve all said it. I’ve said it to many ofyou. I believe that none of you would behere right now, blogging, if somebody around you hadn’t confirmed yoursuspicions already. The problem is thatover time we allow ourselves to doubt, even block out, that input. We need fresh validation and when it doesn’tcome right away the insecurity seeps back in. It is a disease with no cure, and all we can do is manage the symptoms.(Howwas that, Lydia?) In a way, that's what the Originsblogfest is trying to accomplish. Returningus to a day when our writing first started to draw attention and unsolicited praisemade us start to wonder where it might lead. Remember, compliments don't come with a shelf-life.

Howfar up the publishing food-chain we’ll rise, or seek, is yet to be determined,but regardless we are writers, not posers. We are the real deal! TRUTH!

A to Z Challenge - 2012

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

It’s finally time to throw your name in the metaphorical A to Z hatfor 2012. The special linky tool issituated at the bottom of this post (or you can find it at one of the otherco-host blogs listed) for those of you who are primed and ready to signup. For the rest, those who are stillsitting on the fence trying to decide if you want to do this or not, here’s mypitch for adding your name to the list. I am not an everyday blogger! Ido not post on any sort of schedule (except for WRiTE CLUB). I mostly blog when I feel like it. So why am I doing A to Z, because I'm committedto changing things up in 2012. I’mmaking it uncomfortable in my comfort zone. It is also another way I can link arms with the awesome writers whoinhabit this blogosphere and demonstrate my commitment to the craft. Will it be hard? Sure! But with preparation, grit and determination, I will come out on May 1^stsuccessful. You can too!

Just in case there’s someone reading this who doesn’t know what I’m talkingabout, here’s a recap. By registeringbelow you’ll be signing up to blog every day (except most Sundays) during themonth of April. Most years there are 26days in April after you subtract the Sundays, but this year there are only 25,so we will be blogging on the first Sunday. Blogging about what? A topicthemed around the letter of the alphabet that corresponds to that day. Day 1 would be something with the letter A,then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so onuntil you finish on April 30^th with the theme based on the letterZ. It doesn't even have to be a word--itcan be a proper noun, the letter used as a symbol, or the letter itself. The theme of the day is the letter scheduledfor that day. Your posts should be short and sweet (like this one) because there will be a LOT of bloggers making their way from site to site.

Here is a list of my awesome co-hosts. I consider myself honored to stand alongside them in organizing this challenge!

Co-Hosts:

TossingIt Out (ArleeBird)

Amlokiblogs (DamyantiBiswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life isGood (TinaDowney)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

TheWarrior Muse (ShannonLawrence)

The QQQE (MatthewMacNish)

Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller)

PearsonReport (JennyPearson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Coming Down the Mountain (Karen Jones Gowen)

Please enter code carefully so that it is accurate. If you enter your link incorrectly please notify us so we can correct it. You can find our emails in the CONTACT US tab on the A to Z Blog. If you do not plan to participate in the Challenge during April or your purpose is to lure visitors to an advertising site, please do not enter a link as it will be removed--save us the time and trouble.

Registration starts TODAY! Howabout it? Are you up for achallenge? Who wants to come out andplay?

WRiTE CLUB Wrap Up – Preliminary Rounds

2012-01-29T12:00:00.000-06:00

I guess you gave me your answer after mentioning thepossibility of ending WRiTE CLUB onMonday and told you it’s in your hands. Sixtythree comments! WOWZA! There were some duplicates and some votesfrom suspicious profiles, but after I weeded those out it was still animpressive showing. Thank you everyonefor contributing your opinions.

How about we tally those votes and fill that final spot inthe twelve WRiTER playoff? The official score ended up:

EMMILOU HAYRISS - 30votes I.M. XTNQSHR - 17 votes

EMMILOUS HAYRISS is now our twelfthsemi-finalist! The roster for the finalrounds is set, and here are your contestants.

Round 1 Winner - AnneShirley

Round 2 Winner -Jamie Stuart

Round 3 Winner -Timothy Nine

Round 4 Winner -Casey Brooks

Round 5 Winner -Panama Red

Round 6 Winner -Lucky Left Hook.

Round 7 Winner -Terri Lee

Round 8 Winner -Spectral

Round 9 Winner - LilyMason

Round 10 Winner - ArtGallery

Round 11 Winner –Lady Grimm

Round 12 Winner –Emmilou Hayriss

Here’s what will happen next. These twelve semi-finalists will be given thechoice of letting their original submission stand as is, or augment it byexpanding it to 500 words, or submitting a new 500 word writing samplealtogether. Then the twelve of them willbe paired up (by random drawing) and a different bout will be held every day theweek during February 6-11. OnSunday February 12^th the six winners will be announced and againpaired off again (using the same 500 word writing sample) for bouts to be heldevery other day on starting on February 14^th. Three winners will be chosen from thosematches, along with one wildcard selection who’ll be the WRiTER who scored the most points but didn’t win his/her bout. The winner with the most points will be face-offagainst the wildcard selection, and the other two contestants will duel itout. Those two matches will take placeon February 20^th and 23^rd. The final clash between the last two standingwill be on February 27^th for all the marbles.

Now it’s time to talk marbles. When I started this endeavor I hadn’t really plannedon giving an actual prize, other than the recognition of being the winner. But after a while I started to change mymind, and then I fell into something that would serve as a perfect reward. The WRiTECLUB Champion will be awarded (apart from the nifty badge below) a signedcopy of Shelli Johannes-Wells debut novel, UNTRACEBALE, alongwith a query critique and/or one hour consultation with her about marketing oranything else. She is a marketing whiz and picking her brain for an hour iscertainly a prize to cherish.

So, things will get rolling again on February 6^th. Asalways, anyone can vote…but only once per bout. Leave your vote for the WRiTERthat swayed you the most in the comments of each post, along with any sort ofcritique you would like to offer. Pleasespread the word and remind your friends to make a selection as well. Remember, even though participation in thelast round was phenomenal, the amount we continue to see over the next coupleweeks will help decide if WRiTE CLUB continueson.

Don’t forget the WRiTECLUB motto, it’s not about the last man/woman standing, it’s about whoknocks the audience out!

Hair-Trigger

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

Iwant to thank everyone who contributed their input to help improve my queryletter by visiting the QQQE last week. Obviously I have a ways to go, but now I’m one step closer to beingready. I must have revised that queryletter a bazillion times and as I contemplate incorporating what I learned fromMatt, my mind continues to agonize. Aboutwhat, you ask? One simple thing…the hair-trigger.

Agentsreceive so many submissions they have to utilize whatever individualized methodthey can to whittle down their pile (including using interns). Inan idealized world, they’d completely read each and every query letterthat comes across their desk and never fall behind. However, here in this world there’s a gunplanted on the temple of each letter, a rejection letter loaded in its chamber,and a trigger becomes touchier as the pile grows higher. Regardless of how close to perfection myletter approaches, I will still worry about that trigger and how sensitive itcan be. The majority of literary agentsout there have one and I understand completely, it’s a matter of survival forthem. But for those of us on the otherside of that barrel, we live with the knowledge that one miss-step, one falsemove, could result in a snuffed out dream.

Put the genreand word count in the first paragraph instead of the last. BLAM!

Misspell asingle word, or let slip a grammatical error. BLAM!

Mix tenses. BLAM!

Your word countis 105 000 and their self-imposed limit is 95K. BLAM!

Addressing theletter to Mr. Bobbie Robinson, but Bobbie is a girl. BLAM! BLAM! (You needed to be shot twice forthat one).

You used acliché. BLAM!

You failed torecognize that one element of the plot still remains vague. BLAM!

You used thewrong font and/or character size. BLAM!

They read yourquery on Monday, and Monday’s are always bad. BLAM!

Yes,I’m exaggerating to make a point, but really, by how much? It doesn’t really matter what their reasonsare, the sensitivity of the trigger can be correlated not only to the height oftheir stack, but the depths of their mood. That’s why we work so hard to compose the perfect letter, and even thenit can still fall short.

Thereis so much riding on this letter that I see now why it’s recommended by so manyof those “in the know” that aspiring novelist should attend as many writers’conferences as possible and get to know the agents representing that genre. Interact on their blogs, follow their Twitterand/or Facebook feeds, anything to link your letter to an actual person and makepulling that trigger that much more difficult.

PS. Did you know that IanFleming, the author known for creating the iconic James Bond 007, also wrotethe children’s book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

Rebel Pledge and WRiTE CLUB – Round 12

2012-01-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

I need to take care of a little business before we get to WRiTE CLUB. A while ago I signed up to be a part of SheriLarsen's RebelWriters Pledge, which means today I need to list one of my writer goals for2012. It may sound simplistic, but mygoal for this year is to determine which path I need to take to see my novelpublished. Will my query letter provesuccessful and land me agent so I can follow the traditional route? Will I pursue a publisher and see where thatleads me. Or will I simply e-publish? I WILL know the answer to that question byDecember 31st...that's my pledge.

And now let's move on to the last chance for advancement tothe WRiTE-Off rounds. Today we christenour eleventh winner and ready the ring for one final preliminary battle. It’s unfortunate that because of the numberof submissions we received, there are WRiTER’sthat will never get to take a turn in the ring. I could save them to use for the next iteration of WRiTE CLUB, but frankly its future is tenuous. I consider WRiTE CLUB only a modest success and doubt that it will continuebeyond crowning a champion. To be fair,I’m going to wait and see what the response is like during these next coupleweeks before I make a final determination. So it’s in your hands. If youwould really like to see WRiTE CLUBcontinue, then spread the word and get your friends to come out and vote.

Here’s a little reminder of what we have in store for thenext several weeks. Our twelve semi-finalists will be given the choice ofletting their original submission stand as is, or augment it by expanding it to500 words, or submit a new 500 word writing sample altogether. Then the twelve of them will be paired up (byrandom drawing) and a different bout will be held every day the week during February6-11. On Sunday February 12^ththe six winners will be announced and again paired off (using the same 500 wordwriting sample) for bouts to be held every other day on starting on February 14^th. Three winners will be chosen from thosematches, along with one wildcard selection who’ll be the WRiTER who scored the most points but didn’t win his/her bout. The winner with the most points will beface-off against the wildcard selection, and the other two contestants willduel it out. Those two matches will takeplace on February 20^th and 23^rd. The final clash between the last two standingwill be on February 27^th for all the marbles.

Before we get to any of that let’s first announce the winnerof round 11 and get the next round kicked off. The official score ended up:

ALNAIR - 8votes LADY GRIMM - 17 votes

LADY GRIMM is now our eleventh semi-finalist! As always, you can check my WRiTE CLUB pagefor a breakdown of all the winners along with links to all of the writingsamples.

We did receive a new submission last week, but I’m using myauthority as WRiTE CLUB manager tosuspend Rule #8 (If this is your first week at WRiTE CLUB, you HAVE to WRiTE),because of what I mentioned earlier. Thereare WRiTER’s that have been waitinga long time for their chance in the spotlight and it’s a little unfair that anewby would steal that opportunity at the last minute. So, both of this week’s contestants will comefrom the open pool. Without furtherado....

Here are this week's randomly selected WRiTER's.

Standing in the far corner, weighing in at 251 words (we’lllet that extra word slip), please welcome to the ring……..

EMMILOUHAYRISS

LateMay, and it was already a million degrees outside. And wet. A veil of humiditypasted the few escaped strands of my stringy blonde hair to my sweaty neck, andI tried not to stir up dust as I walked.

It wasmy last day working with Dr. Green, the only large-animal vet in Dabb Creek,but it wasn’t much different from my first. Only that day it’d been storming,and Doc said to meet him in Mrs. Blalock’s barn.

Jacksonand D’Lo had to tag along, of course. They didn’t think I’d go through with it.I think even Dr. Green was skeptical, which is why he said I’d have to palpatethe widow’s best milking cow before he’d agree to make me his assistant.

Palpate.I knew what that meant. Fancy word for sticking your hand up a cow’s backsideto see if she’s pregnant. They didn’t think I could do it because I was solittle. Years of stretching and drinking milk had only got me up to five-foottall, but I climbed up on that stool, set my jaw, and plunged right in.

“Makeyour hand like a wedge, Prentiss…” Dr. Green stood close by holding up Elsie’stail. His man-sized plastic glove went all the way over my shoulder to my neck,and it was slathered in lubricant. It kept me clean, but I was getting the fullexperience of hot, smelly cow butt.

“Nowslowly reach all the way to your elbow,” he said

And in the other corner, weighing in at 249 words, let meintroduce to you ……..

I.M.XTNQSHR

Some daysit’s enough that he breathes. The exchange of air grates on my psyche like thehigh-pitched squeal of a six-year-old at the sight of a spider. And his endlesstelevision shows, the intolerable stupidity followed by commercials sellingdrugs with side effects more damning than the symptoms they claim to cure. Itall culminates into a farce.

Hands onhips I look at the obstinate water softener spewing its juices over my walls.Yesterday, I replaced the damn thing, the day before, the water heater.Disgusted, I walk into the garage where the car lays in shambles begging me tocrawl beneath its underbelly hoping for an altered result.

None of itcomforts. Inside I stare into the family room. The black leather chair faces adark computer desk. I miss him. His stupid haircut. I could use his help as thehouse crumbles around my feet. He’s off serving his country, proudly wearingshades of green I associate with baby puke. Risking his life, our happiness, asif I didn’t matter.

If here,nothing would change, but his dulcet voice complaining about the ineptitude ofthe cashier, a speeding car, the fashion styling’s of kids. Solace in the factthat I can take care of myself I return to the pipes and with the twitch of afinger, bring to life the flames from a torch wishing in the back of myovertired mind I were Sigourney Weaver about to barbeque a bunch of freakingaliens.

As always, anyone can vote so leave yours for the WRiTER that swayed you the most in thecomments below, along with any sort of critique you would like to offer. Please remind your friends to make a selectionas well. The voting will remain openuntil noon Sunday. Remember, the amount of participation we see over the nextcouple weeks will help decide if WRiTECLUB continues on.

Here in WRiTE CLUB,it’s not about the last man/woman standing, it’s about who knocks the audienceout!

Where words are the true knockout!

Hardened

2012-01-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

Anybody remember Jan-Michael Vincent? He's an actor known mostly for a string of minor movie roles, but he was mainly famous for his part as Stringfellow Hawke in the 1983 television series Airwolf. He had fallen off the radar since the series was cancelled, that is until a couple weeks ago when I was watching some run-of-the-mill TV movie and there he was again. His reappearance took me by surprise, but it wasn’t because of how much older he looked, or how gruff he sounded, but rather how “stiff” his acting was. Granted, he never was Laurence Oliver, but back in the day he was rather expressive and communicated his emotions quite effectively. Looking at him now in this low budget film, I couldn’t get over how he reminded me of a handicapped vocalist who could only sing one note. Surprise, elation, fear, joy, anger…all looked the same on the man’s leathery face. The words coming out of his mouth were the only clue to the emotional state he was attempting to portray. It was as if he was dealing with the side-effects of having caught a glance of the snake-headed Medusa. It was hard to watch.

I had seen this before with other actors, but now it got me wonderingabout the people in my life, friends and family both, who were getting up therein age. For some of them the highs andlows seemed to have eroded away much like Jan-Michael Vincent, washing out allof the bright colors with it, leaving behind a bland monochrome version of theirformer selves. It seems like arteriesaren’t the only thing that harden when we grow old. Does our emotional range, the peaks andvalleys of who we are, wear down over time…or is it just our ability (orenergy) to convey them? Can it be thereare feelings being held hostage behind those wrinkles and liver spots? Sure, I see flashes of their old selves fromtime to time, but those are the exceptions and not the rule.

Then as I always do, I turned this reflection inward. Could this be happening to me? I’m not a spring chicken anymore, somaybe. How old is Jan-MichaelVincent? He’s 67 now, so he’s got a fewyears on me. But I’m sure the hardening processdoesn’t take place overnight; rather it’s probably something that happens so graduallythat we’re not even aware what’s taking place. Maybe there’s some kind of vitamin I could take to slow it down, likethe other supplements I take for preventative purposes. Ginkgo Biloba supposedly helps with memoryretention and Acetyl-L-Carnitine improves the firing of brain nerve messengers,why not a pill that prevents emotional fossilization? I know what my wife would say, take a tripto Disney World every year; it’ll keep you young forever! But she would also say I have nothing toworry about because I’ve always been the stoic type, emotionally economicalwhen it comes to being expressive.

That may be so, but what about my writing? Me being a writer is comparable toJan-Michael Vincent being an actor, the prose is my acting…a way to express myselfin a way I feel most comfortable. Is itdestined to stiffen right along with my outer demeanor? I’m hoping not. My optimism lets me believe that it willcontinue to be the portal that allows me to escape my insecurities and leteverybody see the true me.

For those of you in pursuit of that “hard body”, maybe aspart of a 2012 resolution, remember that there are other muscles that needattention as Father Time descends upon us. There are 43 of them in the face and maybe some smile-ups instead of push-upswould be time well spent! :=)

PS. My latest queryletter is getting the treatment by Mattat the QQQE (The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment)today. I would really appreciate it ifyou stopped by and offered your opinions as well.

The ORIGINS Blogfest

2012-01-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

Is anybody a fan of comic books? I used to be obsessed whenI was a kid. My collection had grown to massive proportions, until I wasfoolish enough to give it all away to a friend as an act of rebellion justbefore my military family moved yet again. I had collected all the classics,Iron Man, Thor, Avengers, X-Men, Silver Surfer, Captain America, and on andon. And in every series there was oneissue that was always my favorite…the origin. That’s the issue where you learn how the superhero came to be, gainedhis abilities, or what it was that set him on the path to right all wrongs anddefend the innocent. I know I’m not asuperhero, a hero, heck…I won’t even question a cashier when they give meincorrect change back, but I do have my own origin story when it comes to mywriting. I consider it my official chronicle of how I became a writer and even bloggedabout it before. I almost considered using that post as my entry for the DejaVu Blogfest.

I’ve read a couple other bloggers ORIGIN stories as well,and they are always fascinating! Ifyou’re like me, then you love to find out more about your peers and discoveringhow it all began is as good as it gets. So, you know what that means…right? Yep! Blogfest!

I’m proud to announce that on February 13^th, oneof my cohorts from the Déjà vu Blogfest…Katie Mills (Creepy Query Girl)…alongwith Alex J. Cavanaugh and Matthew MacNish (Quintessentially Questionable QueryExperiment), will be co-hosting with me the ORIGINSblogfest. Here’s a synopsisof what will happen on that date for you to use in spreading the word: OnMonday, February 13^th, you should post your own origin story. Tell us all where your writing dreamsbegan. It could be anything from how youstarted making up stories as a child, or writing for the school newspaper, or evenwhat prompted you to start a blog. Howabout stories about the first time somebody took an interest in your writing, orthe teacher/mentor that helped nudge you along and mold your passion, or maybe thesingular moment when you first started calling yourself a writer. It all started somewhere and we want you to tellus your own, unique, beginnings.

First, you need sign-up to participate via the handy dandy Linkytool below (or at any of the host blogs above), circle the date on yourcalendar so you don’t forget, then shout out to all of your blogging friendsand encourage them to sign up as well. Ohyeah, don’t forget to take the nifty badge we created to advertise our project andplaster it everywhere.

I can't wait to hear about all of your writing ORIGIN's! Howabout you?

WRiTE CLUB – Round 11

2012-01-16T05:00:00.000-06:00

Another round is in the books and we now have a tenth WRiTER moving into the next phase ofthis little experiment. The bout wasespecially tight and I thought for a minute I was going to have to break out mytie-breaker vote, but fortunately one of the contestants pulled ahead at theend and here I am to take the winner by the wrist and raise their pen high overhead.

Here's the official score from round ten:

ART GALLERY - 16votes STELLA GRAY - 11 votes

A job well done to both WRiTER's,but ART GALLERY becomes our tenth semi-finalist! As always, you can check my WRiTE CLUB pagefor a breakdown of all ten winners along with links to all of the writingsamples. Stella is also free to submita different 250 word writing sample in case she is selected to WRiTE in the final preliminary round.

Although my wife will be sending an email to each of the tensemi-finalist this week, I wanted to go ahead and remind you here of yourchoices heading into the next phase. 1) Youcan let your original 250 word sample stand as is, 2) you can augment thatoriginal submission by expanding it to 500 words, or 3) submit a totallydifferent 500 word sample. If we do nothear back from you before your time to WRiTE,your original submission will do battle.

Moving on, we had one new submission last week, so that WRiTER will go up against an opponent randomlychosen from the open pool. So here we go....

Here are this week's randomly selected WRiTER's.

Standing in the far corner, weighing in at 246 words, pleasewelcome to the ring……..

AlNAIR

TheWhite Queen sits on her throne, pale and cold, with eyes like storm clouds,white hair bound into tiny braids. Her robe is the color of the dawn,shimmering and bright. She wears rings on all her fingers: glittering diamonds,rubies that glow like fire, and opals as luminous as the moon.

Fromher bower she can see across the Great Chasm, clear across to the other sideand the black tower that mocks her from afar.

It is aprecarious thing, all spires and darkness, glistening in the moonlight likeblack glass. In the tallest spire the Black King paces in his hall, a place ofmarble floors and smooth walls and candles flickering. Wood and incense burn inthe braziers, scenting the air with musk and smoke.

Hemoves like a cat, all stealth and caution. His eyes are like the night, darkand shadowed, his hair black as pitch, and his dress of days gone by. His tunicfalls to his knees in velvet folds. His leggings are of quilted fleece and hisboots are trimmed in ermine. He wears rings on his fingers; silver and whitegold, and a band about his head etched in archaic runes.

He cansee her in his mind's eye, imagine her white hair and pale eyes. She sees himin her dreams, a shadow, beckoning. They think of little else but each other.For they are bound and crossed, lovers and enemies, promised and betrayed.

And in the other corner, weighing in at 235 words, let meintroduce to you ……..

LADY GRIMM

The kingbowed before the shadowy figure. He straightened and peered into the cave'sdark corner. But the slight form drew back even further into her stone chair.His impression was of long hair and fluid hands.

"I knowwhy you have come." Her voice was not young. It resonated with absolutecertainty. "You want to grow your kingdom. You seek advice on how best toproceed."

The kingshifted his weight. This entire outing was unpleasant to him, but essential.His subjects had the greatest respect for their prophetess. They knew her muchbetter than him, a new king, still unproven. If he could return to his subjectsproclaiming that he was invading neighboring territories based on the Sibyl'sadvice, he'd garner much more support. He fought back his impatience at herimpertinence. The Sibyl of Cumae bowed to no man, not even the new Roman king.

"Yes,your sight is unrivaled, Priestess. I would like your advice on how to grow mykingdom successfully." The king doubted this tiny woman would be able togive him much useful advice, after all, how could she really know the mattersof men? But he forced himself to wait for her answer.

"Isuggest you wed your daughter to the most eligible bachelor," she croaked.

The kingfaltered. The Sibyl's words surprised him. But as he thought about it, he sawthat the idea had merit.

For you newcomers...anyone can vote, just leave yourselection for which writing sample tickles your fancy the most in the commentsbelow, along with any sort of critique you would like to offer. Please remind your friends to make a selectionas well. The voting will remain openuntil noon Sunday. Remember, just like AlNAIR did last week...you too can throwyour pen name into the hat anytime during these last six weeks by submittingyour own 250 word sample. Check out therules by clicking on the badge below…then come out swinging!

Remember, here in WRiTE CLUB, it’s not about the last man/woman standing, it’s aboutwho knocks the audience out!

Where words are the true knockout!

Less is More

2012-01-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven’t been around lately reading and commenting on your blogs, butI had to make a trip down south to check on my Dad, then I went into hidingafter my LSU Tigers embarrassed themselves against Alabama. I’m back now, and though I briefly consideredleaving you with just a smiley face today to illustrate a point, I do have somethingto discuss. Actually, it’s two convergent points.

The first revolves around the phrase I used for my title. It was first seen in a poem called “The FaultlessPainter” by Andrea Del Sarto in 1855, but it has also been associated with theGerman architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for his works that became influentialin twentieth century architectural style, stated with extreme clarity andsimplicity. The phrase became synonymouswith the term Minimalism, which describes movements in various forms of art anddesign, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to exposethe essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essentialforms, features or concepts. (Thank you Wikipedia).

From a writing perspective, less ismore has been used to address a multitude of issues. There’s showing (dramatizing) rather thantelling (summarizing), or concerns about trusting your reader, and my personalfavorite…leave out the parts that people will skip. I am a fan of the philosophy/practice, but itis the basis for some of my own unease as well. There is a tipping point that those of us who follow this guidelineflirt with constantly…when does less becometoo thin?

Here’s an example I pulled from Kathryn Lance’s Writing tips:

He angrily slammed his fist on thebar. "Get out of here, you son of a bitch!" he snarled rabidly, hisface contorted in rage.

The same point can be made in a way that is easier to read and lessobtrusive by getting rid of some of the indicators of anger:

He slammed his fist on the bar."Get out of here, you son of a bitch!"

But you can take the trimming too far and lose the impact along with some ofthe emotional content.

"Get out of here, you son of abitch!"

I consider my novel a lean read, lacking much flowery descriptions and mindnumbing detail, but it is not totally void of it. Why? Because I believe some of the flavor of a book sprouts from thosedetails and leaving them out makes it too thin.

That leads me to my other point, which is kind of in the same vein…but adifferent arm, and it involves subtlety. By definition, to be subtle means: thin, tenuous, or rarefied, fine or delicate in meaning or intent; difficult toperceive or understand, delicate or faint and mysterious, requiring mental acuteness, penetration,or discernment. In other words,providing LESS information creates MORE subtlety.

As most of you already know, I write mystery/suspense novels and beingsubtle is where I live and breathe. Ifeel that to be successful at it a writer must have a light touch and sense ofnuance that allows him/her to hide relevant information in plain sight. Much like hiding colored eggs before anEaster day hunt, you don’t want to make it too easy or you’ll ruin the fun, butdigging a hole and burying them goes too far. But does it? What if you’repreparing the hunt for a bunch of MIT students? Then you paint the eggs in metal flaked paint, bury them deep, and handout a bunch of metal detectors. It iscrucial to consider your target audience!

That’s where the trust your reader’sattitude gets tricky. To be blunt, forsome readers (especially in the mystery genre) less = ???. I know what I like to read in terms of thelevel of detail and subtlety, and I also like to be challenged both intellectuallyand emotionally, so I write that way. But do I represent the bulk of the marketplace for this type ofnovel. I’d like to think so, but thetruth is I don’t know. This is where Ifeel a good agent or publisher could help.

Another way subtlety comes into play is with subtext, which Stina Lindenblatt so perfectlydiscusses in her HaveFun with Subtext (and Make Others Sweat) blog post. It addresses the undertone of a scene and attimes is even referred as under dialoguebecause it involves conflict or motives underneath the written conversation. In my mind subtext adds depth andgravity. But again, as with anythingthat is subtle in nature, its inclusion can be easily overlooked.

I’ll leave you with one final thought. Which do you feel is more reason for concern in your writing…unrecognizedsubtleties that lead to a readers confusion…or blasé writing that lacksstimulation and subtext? Which way wouldyou lean?

WRiTE CLUB – Round 10

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

We’re getting down to the nub with just three more chancesto make the semi-final rounds and I guess it’s time to start talking about whatthe next phase holds. Once we haveidentified our twelve semi-finalists, they will have the choice of using theirprevious submission or asked to submit a new writing sample. In either case the word count will beexpanded to a 500 words! The twelve ofthem will be paired up (by random drawing) and a different bout will be heldevery day the week during February 6-11. On Sunday February 12^th the six winners will be announced andagain paired off (using the same 500 word writing sample) for bouts to be heldevery other day on starting on February 14^th. Three winners will be chosen from thosematches, along with one wildcard selection who’ll be the WRiTER who scored themost points but didn’t win his/her bout. The winner with the most points will be face-off against the wildcardselection, and the other two contestants will duel it out. Those two matches will take place on February20^th and 23^rd. Thefinal clash between the last two standing will be on February 27^thfor all the marbles.

Wait a minute…there’s marbles? Well…I’m keeping mum about that for rightnow. But before we get to any of that wefirst need to wrap up round 9 and get the next round kicked off. The officialscore from round nine ended up:

LILY MASON – 22votes MANON LaMUSE - 8 votes

LILY MASON becomes our ninth semi-finalist! As always, you can check my WRiTE CLUB pagefor a breakdown of all the winners along with links to all of the writingsamples.

No new submissions last week, so both of this week’s contestantswill come from the open pool. Here wego, without further ado....

Here are this week's randomly selected WRiTER's.

Standing in the far corner, weighing in at 250 words, pleasewelcome to the ring……..

ARTGALLERY

I'vebeen stealing glances at him for the last two weeks. Always reclined back in his chair with hiselbow resting on the table, his cigarette perched between his finger and histhumb. Most of us are just so stiff and formal in here, especially me with myhands crossed demurely over my velvet coat and my hair pinned up properly undermy hat as I sit on the terrace with my baby sister. His aspect is much moreappealing. I wish I could lounge like that in a rumpled white T-shirt androwing pants, smoking a cigarette and relaxing with friends.

We'reboth part of the permanent collection here but have frequently been on loan toother museums, so we've rarely hung for long in the same gallery. I learnedfrom the docent who leads tours through the Impressionist wing that he's aRenoir, like me, so I always figured he was just the same old, same old. Butnow that I look—really look—I see that we are quite distinct.

It mayhave been his suave nonchalance that drew me in, but it's his entrancing,cerulean eyes that keep me looking back. I know he's comprised of the samesweeping blurs of brushstrokes as I am, but from the distance between ouropposite walls, he's a defined, striking figure, and hiss ang-froid eyes are asbeautiful as anything I've ever seen.

Ithought I'd been discreet in my glances, but one day he caught me. And winked.

And in the other corner, weighing in at 248 words, let meintroduce to you ……..

STELLA GRAY

Out in thedistance, the trees are parted overhead, creating a vast view of what has to bethe start of the Ashland desert plains—nothing but waves of golden sand as faras my eyes can see. To the east, the sand meets the long narrow edge of LakeEverlasting, where it drops off into the black water.

Then Irealize what Addra’s really pointing at and stumble forward, falling to myknees. Two tarantula-looking spiders the size of brontosauruses dipping theirfront legs into the edge of the lake “Are they coming this way? We gotta hide…”

Addragiggles. “Don’t worry, they’re desert rogues. Gentle creatures.”

“Gentle?”

“Verygentle, and perfectly harmless.” Addra smiles at them. “The desert is theirhome, usually under the command of Plainspeople who harness them fortransportation across the sand. But these two look untamed, free.”

I can tellfrom Addra’s voice she admires their freedom.

“So theseguys aren’t aggressive, like spinners …” I try to convince myself. Their sizealone is freaky enough.

“Not atall,” she says, starting down the slope in the opposite direction. “Come,Vortex Valley is right down here.”

We arriveat the edge of our hill and slide down the sandy side to a deep valleysurrounded by large rocky cliffs. Once past the trees from the lake’s edge, thetowering blue-gray mountains come into view from behind us. The valley looksnothing more than desert sand, empty of any life or vegetation.

Anyone can vote, so leave yours for the winner of round 10 inthe comments below, along with any sort of critique you would like to offer. Please remind your friends to make a selectionas well. The voting will remain openuntil noon Sunday. Remember, you can throw your pen name into the hat anytimeduring these last six weeks by submitting your own 250 word sample. Check out the rules by clicking on the badgebelow…then come out swinging!

Remember, here in WRiTE CLUB, it’s not about the last man/woman standing, it’s aboutwho knocks the audience out!

Where words are the true knockout!

Blogging from A to Z Challenge - 2012

2012-01-06T05:00:00.000-06:00

I’ll never be accused of not going all-in whenever I commit to something,and that’s perfectly illustrated by my participation in this year’s A to Zchallenge. The brain child of Arlee Birdof Tossing it Out, it beganwith his post from Saturday March 27, 2010 when he set forth a challenge to allbloggers for the month of April. Couldthey post every day except Sundays during that month? And to make things even more interesting, couldthey do it thematically from A to Z? Nearly 100 bloggers took the challenge that year, and it exploded to anamazing 1,300 last year. I chose not toparticipate in either those previous years, but as part of my 2012 resolutionto make things uncomfortable in my comfort zone, not only am I jumping into thefold, I’m one of the co-host. *GULP* I tell people that one of the reasons Istarted this blog was to keep writing as much as possible, so I’ve decided toput my words where my mouth is. :)

Here are all of my fellow co-hosts.

Co-Hosts:

TossingIt Out (ArleeBird)

Amlokiblogs (DamyantiBiswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life isGood (TinaDowney)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

TheWarrior Muse (ShannonLawrence)

The QQQE (MatthewMacNish)

Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller)

PearsonReport (JennyPearson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

For the few who don’t know how it works, it’s really very simple. Most ofthe time if you subtract Sundays from April, you then have 26 days--one day foreach letter of the alphabet. When April1st lands on a Sunday (like it does this year) you begin on that day which willbe the only Sunday you would post during the challenge.

Using this premise, you would start beginning April 1^st with atopic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topicwith the letter B as the theme, and so on until you finish on April 30^thwith the theme based on the letter Z. Itdoesn't even have to be a word--it can be a proper noun, the letter used as asymbol, or the letter itself. The themeof the day is the letter scheduled for that day.

But perhaps even better than the fun, will be the usefulness of theexercise. Several times I've read wherebloggers said they couldn't think of anything to blog about. Writers often engage in exercises which involveprompts, or suggestions for topics. There are books, blogs, and websites devoted to providing prompts to beused as topic ideas. Using the lettersof the alphabet you can just think up words for each letter and pick one towrite about. If you're still stumpedscan a dictionary or encyclopedia. Comeon!--the prompts are everywhere. And theposts are generally short and sweet, so you don’t worry about having to come upwith a mammoth thousand word post every day.

As a co-host it’s my job to help spread the word, encourage participation, offeridea’s in case someone is stuck on a letter, and basically keep the potstirred. In preparation I’ve alreadywritten and stored away some letter themed post and by the time April rollsaround I should have most of the month covered.

Registration doesn’t start until January 30^th, but we are allspreading the word beginning today. Howabout it? Are you up for achallenge? Who wants to come out andplay?

WRiTE CLUB – Round 9

2012-01-03T12:01:00.000-06:00

Sorry for being late again. The New Year decided to greet me with a nasty head cold and the drugsI’m taking to combat it make my head feel hollow, so I’ll be keeping thisweek’s installment short and sweet.

Our last winner for 2011was decided in one of the tightestmatches yet, but SPECTRAL came out on top. The official score ended up being:

SPECTRAL - 13votes DIRCH McGURKIN - 8 votes

SPECTRAL becomes our eighth semi-finalist! He/She will join the other seven winners inthe semi-finals which is quickly approaching. As always, you can check my WRiTE CLUB pagefor a breakdown of all the winners along with links to all of the writingsamples.

Since I’m behind this week and I’m a bit under the weather,this post will also serve as my January contribution to the InsecureWriters Support Group. One of thebest ways I’ve found to alleviate some of my insecurities is to let people readmy work and listen to the resulting feedback. I created WRiTE CLUB as amechanism to generate these types of opinions in a totally anonymousenvironment to help protect fragile ego’s. Do you want to chip away at your insecurity, submit a 250 word sample(see instructions below) and see how you do. It’s that simple.

We had a few more new submissions last week, so one contestantwill come from the newby pool and their opponent from the open group. Here we go, without further ado....

Here are this week's randomly selected WRiTER's.

Standing in the far corner, weighing in at 248 words, pleasewelcome to the ring……..

LILYMASON

Mr. Griffinheld out a lumpy gold paperweight the size of his palm. "This is all Ihave that'll hold a spell for an extended period of time.”

Iplucked it from his palm and held it up to the light. A frog prince with ajewel-encrusted crown and two glittering emerald eyes returned my gaze. Ismiled at it, my stomach fluttering asthe urge to kiss it overwhelmed me. Feeling silly, I gave him a quick peck onthe lips.

Mr.Griffin gave me an amused look while Angie giggled.

"Inthe original fairytale, the princess threw the frog against a wall in disgust.Only then did it turn into the handsome prince and they lived happily everafter." Mr. Griffin said.

Angiescoffed. "She physically abused prince charming while he was a frog and hestill married her? Jeez, what a loser."

Thefrog’s glittering eyes watched me and I narrowed my eyes at him. "So, Ishould throw this at the wall."

Angielunged forward. "You’re already dating a frog, let me try."

Iducked and let the frog fly. He struck the wall and left a dent the size of myfist. It thunked to the floor and wobbled to a stop at my feet like aboomerang.

Ilooked sheepishly at Mr. Griffin, my apology barely bubbling out before thebell to the back door chimed. Angie answered it and her eyes widened in surprise.

My ex,Jesse, stepped through the door.

And in the other corner, weighing in at 250 words, let meintroduce to you ……..

MANON LaMUSE

She’dparked in the glare of a lamp post as close to the main doors as possible, butthe expanse of blacktop between her car and the building’s florescent sanctuarywas the treadmill belt of childhood nightmares. She clutched the small goldcross on a chain around her neck as she trekked through the gloom. A twigsnapped in the shadows to the right, bursting a balloon of fear in her chest.Screw this. She bolted for the doors.

Once safelyinside, she collapsed against the doorframe. But her proximity triggered thesensor, and the doors swished open again. She stumbled deeper into the lobby,kneading her forehead with a shaky hand.

She’dthought surviving the rape would be the hardest part. But she’d been wrong. Atthe time, pinned under the weight of a masked man with crazed eyes, his handclamped across her forehead, the back of her skull grinding into the gravel,she’d known her life was in his clutch. The knife blade that bit down into thetaut skin under her chin with each brutal thrust confirmed and magnified hervulnerability. She’d laid there, pried open, pleading to God with silentscreams. Don’t let him kill me. Please don’t let him kill me!

Now weekslater, she questioned God’s mercy. Life went on outside her duplex windows,while she sat behind a locked door. The postman stuffed the mailbox with bills,while her pottery shop stayed closed, dust covering the clay-caked wheel. Therent was overdue.

Leave your vote for the winner of round 9 in the commentsbelow, along with any sort of critique you would like to offer. Please remind your friends to make a selectionas well. The voting will remain open untilnoon Sunday. Remember, you can throw your pen name into the hat anytime duringthese last six weeks by submitting your own 250 word sample. Check out the rules by clicking on the badgebelow…then come out swinging!

Remember, here in WRiTECLUB, it’s not about the last man/woman standing, it’s about who knocks theaudience out!

Where words are the true knockout!

Are You Insane?

2011-12-29T05:00:00.000-06:00

The end of the year is fast approaching and it’s time to consider thewoulda…coulda…shoulda’s from 2011. I’vedecided to launch a pre-emptive strike on the whole New Year’s Resolutionthing. From a writing perspective, 2011pretty much sucked! Yes, I revised FALLEN KNIGHT againand started shopping it to agents, but I only distributed a dozen or so letterswith nary a nibble before I halted the process due to dissatisfaction with myquery letter. I wrote just one originalshort story during the whole year, roughly outlined the premise for the thirdbook in the Knights series, toyedaround with a couple other book ideas, and I’ll top that under-whelming listoff with the fact that I quit writing entirely for about five months. From a broad view of where I need to be, verylittle positive happened last year.

My non-writing related goals tanked as well. Let’s just say that neither my intellectual growth nor body image wentin the direction I was shooting for!

So what should I do to prepare for 2012? I’ll tell you what I do…the strategies I formulated last year to help meachieve my goals in 2011…they’re going out the window. It was Albert Einstein who said that thedefinition of Insanity was doing thesame thing over and over and expecting different results. Well, I must be a little bit nuts becauseI’ve basically been doing the same thing for two years and wondering why I’mstill writing post like this. You knowwhat’s even more frustrating? I’m notbutting my head against the wall because nobody feels my manuscript is goodenough, nope, I’ve not even made it that far. I definitely need a new tact and a bolder approach. It’s about to get mighty uncomfortable in mycomfort zone. I’m not sure what I’mgoing to do yet, but it won’t be the same ole, same ole.

So if you’re about to sit down to compose your list of 2012 resolutions, here’sa little advice. If you jot down afamiliar goal, one that’s made the list several years running, ask yourselfthis simple question…are you Insane? If the answer is no, then it’s not the listof resolutions that needs updating…it’s your plan of attack!
Happy New Year everybody! See you onthe other side. :)

WRiTE CLUB – Round 8

2011-12-26T11:01:00.000-06:00

Sorry for being tardy, but as Bob Cratchit explained soeloquently, "It shall not be repeated. I was making rather merry yesterday,sir."

How about we start off with a late Christmas present for oneof our WRiTER's from last week'sround seven? It was a very tight bout,actually neck and neck for awhile, but in the end TERRI LEE defeated GARGOYLEBEAUTY. The official score ended upbeing:

GARGOYLE BEAUTY - 12votes TERRI LEE - 20 votes

TERRI becomes our seventh semi-finalist! He/She will join the other six winners in thesemi-finals which will begin in February. As always, you can check my WRiTE CLUB pagefor a breakdown of all the winners along with links to all of the writingsamples.

Before we move on to the next round I like to recount a conversation(email string) with one of my fellow blogging buddies for you. In it my fellow blogger expressed how theyenjoyed WRiTE CLUB very much, butthey just couldn't bring themselves to hurt somebody's feelings (by voting forone over the other). I replied bytelling them that even though WRiTE CLUBwas completely anonymous, I understood where they were coming from. But then I went on to ask if that reasoning demonstrateda "glass half empty" point of view. What about the exhilarating feeling of the WRiTER who earns a vote, doesn't that count just as equally, and ifso, wouldn't it be better to look at it from a "glass half full"slant? There are those that wouldcounter by asking why we should be drinking at all. My answer is that most of our readers ultimategoal is publication, and that doesn't happen in a vacuum. There are winners (multi-book contracts) andlosers (rejection letters), and WRiTECLUB is just little taste ofthat.

Anyway, we had a couple new submissions last week, so one contestantwill come from the newby pool and their opponent from the open group. Here we go, without further ado....

Here are this week's randomly selected WRiTER's.

Standing in the far corner, weighing in at 226 words, pleasewelcome to the ring……..

SPECTRAL

Thatnight, Shay tossed in her bed, unable to sleep. She stared out her window atthe scythe-like moon suspended in an ocean of blackness. Faint glimmerings ofstars pinpricked the sky here and there, but they weren’t enough to lighten herroom much. Wind battered the side of the house, causing the timbers to creak,and then it subsided. It was suddenly quiet. Too quiet.

Evenher breathing and the rustling of the sheets as she sat up sounded loud. Thedarkness around her was menacing, as though it was trying to crush her backdown onto the mattress, swallowing up even the faint outlines of her closet andshelves as a cloud consumed the moon. Shay shook herself angrily. She’d neverbeen afraid of the dark before. What was the matter with her?

Then anoise interrupted the silence—a faint shuffling, as though made by tiny feet onthe grassy carpet below her window. Maybe there was a deer or a rabbit outside.

Shayclosed her eyes, settling back down, forcing herself to breathe slowly in andout, in and out. There. She was fine. Her window creaked and she opened hereyes wide to stare at it frantically. She sighed in annoyance at her ownjitteriness. There was nothing there. Of course there wasn’t—her room was twostories above the ground.

And in the other corner, weighing in at 250 words (*WARNING- Explicit Language*), let me introduce to you ……..

DIRCHMcGURKIN

Scottgrabbed the remote, flipping through the channels until he settled on StarTrek.

“I ran intoBetsy Miller,” Joachim said as Spock and Bones continued their endless emotionversus logic argument.

“Yeah?”Scott yawned. “She’s got those schoolgirl pigtails right? And the tattoo on herneck? She’s hot. You should ask her out.”

Joachimrubbed his jaw. “Why don’t you?”

“Can’t man.Dated her sister.”

“Wait,Penelope Miller? When the hell was that?”

“I don’tknow, like 10 years ago.”

“In MiddleSchool? Dude, that doesn’t even count.”

“Say whatyou want.” Scott shrugged. “I’m not dating her.”

The toasterpopped and Joachim headed to the kitchen.

“I’m justsaying man,” Scott continued. “You need to get laid. It would get you overJen.”

“I am overJen.”

“So yousay, but I know you.”

Joachimgrabbed a plate and returned to the living room.

“Whathappened anyways?” Scott asked. “You never told me.”

“Nothing.”Joachim tossed Scott two pastries. “We grew apart.”

Scott tooka bite. He rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. “That’s bullshit. Thatdoesn’t happen.”

“It happensall the time.”

“Yeah, ithappens to normal people. But you two – you were hot and heavy. You loved her,man. You wanted to buy her a ring.”

“No Ididn’t.” Joachim grabbed the remote and turned the volume up.

“Whatever.You don’t have to fuckin’ lie to my face. If you don’t want to tell me thendon’t tell me.”

“Fuck you,you’re drunk.”

So, how about it? Bynow you know the drill, leave your vote for the winner of round 8 in thecomments below, along with any sort of critique you would like to offer. Please remind your friends to make a selectionas well. The voting will remain openuntil noon Sunday. Remember, you can throw your pen name into the hat anytimeduring these last six weeks by submitting your own 250 word sample. Check out the rules by clicking on the badgebelow…then come out swinging!

Remember, here in WRiTECLUB, it’s not about the last man/woman standing, it’s about who knocks theaudience out!

Where words are the true knockout!