Welcome to my world and beyond...

A collection of snippets of the books I write and, occasionally, my life and the things that inspire my writing...

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors: August 25, 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors August 25, 2013

A dream--right, this is a dream.




                                                                  Weekend Writing Warriors

Welcome Warriors, and Snipsuns and anyone else who wanders in. Weekend writing Warriors is a weekly bloghop. Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 sentences of their work, published or unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday and 9:00 AM Sunday EST Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good.
 
Set up:  Marissa has spent the last year homeless and delusional. In this week's post, I've backed up to very early in the story. We're in a dream, or maybe it's reality? She's been abducted, but still hasn't figured that out. There's an injured man she's caring for as best she can, and predators are on the loose, attacking when it's time for a meal.


*note   You might encounter creative punctuation :-)




Sitting motionless in air that was thick with fear and not much else, she concentrated on calming herself, but as is often the case when pushed beyond reason, the harder she tried, the more she felt a surge of panic just under the surface. Keep it together. Her golden-eyed companion slumped, helpless, half against the wall and half against her, vacillating between mumbling and moaning.  



A thought gnawed at the back of her mind. Predators--that was it; they'd return, and she'd have to fight to survive ...again. Then it all came back as seamlessly as if she'd never left her dream. A dream--right, this is a dream. She just had to wake up.



One little special announcement before I wrap it up. Wewriwa.com is offering, at no charge, 4 promo slots on our sidebar for regular participants. How does a writer become a regular participant? Sign up and post at least 8 out of 10 Sundays in a row.  The spots will be changed once a month, Details here: Weekend Writing Warriors free book promo 

That's it. What jumps out at you, good or bad ? I'd love to hear it and am truly grateful for every bit of criticism, opinion, and shared wisdom.  Thank you so much for visiting!  It might take me several days to return visits, but I will. Have a great week, all!



Saturday, August 17, 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors: August 18, 2013

How cheap is the rent, really?




                                                                  Weekend Writing Warriors

Welcome Warriors, and Snipsuns and anyone else who wanders in. Weekend writing Warriors is a weekly bloghop. Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 sentences of their work, published or unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday and 9:00 AM Sunday EST Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good.
 
Set up:  Marissa has spent the last year homeless and delusional. In this week's post, she's moving into a small house owned by a church.  The pastor (Pastor Zaylor)  and Rayanne, her volunteer counselor, are helping her take this step from the homeless shelter to her new "home".


Rayanne and the Pastor are leaving now, and she's exploring her new digs. 

 
*note   You might encounter creative punctuation :-)



Not unlike a puppy that has no idea what to do with itself, Marissa trailed after them when they walked out the door. Another round of hugs where the sidewalk met parking lot, and they were gone. Watching them leave, a weird feeling hit her. This was really her home, and the rules to stay here were pretty simple: clean the church on Mondays, and help with the soup line. Well, call it the community soup gathering, or anything you want, but the truth of it was that it was a soup line and a soup line was charity.

She had those two chores, and she had to keep her nose clean and never stop trying.  The rent seemed cheap enough, but Marissa knew all too well that there would be nothing easy or cheap about never giving up.  She'd known defeat from the tippy-top of her head to the soles of her feet, and a big chunk of it had lodged in her heart--waiting there to remind her that sometimes giving up was a survival strategy too.



That's it. What jumps out at you, good or bad ? I'd love to hear it and am truly grateful for every bit of criticism, opinion, and shared wisdom.  Thank you so much for visiting!  It might take me several days to return visits, but I will. Have a great week, all!

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Wordless Wednesday August 14, 2013

Shhhh...  Let's get wordless...

To visit other Wordless Wednesday participants, click here  Have a great Wednesday, all!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors: The Bible

Weekend Writing Warriors: August 11, 2013




                                                                  Weekend Writing Warriors

Welcome Warriors, and Snipsuns and anyone else who wanders in. Weekend writing Warriors is a weekly bloghop. Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 sentences of their work, published or unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday and 9:00 AM Sunday EST Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good.
 
Set up:  Marissa has spent the last year homeless and delusional. In this week's post, she's moving into a small house owned by a church.  The pastor (Pastor Zaylor)  and Rayanne, her volunteer counselor, are helping her take this step from the homeless shelter to her new "home".  Marissa has just opened  a gift box of towels, washcloths, a new toothbrush, hairbrush,  and  assorted toiletries, given to her by Rayanne..

*note   You might encounter creative punctuation :-)





Pastor Zaylor cleared his throat then said, “I have a gift for you, too, but I didn’t wrap it.” Placing a thick, black book in her hands, his expression became solemn.  “I think we should give you some time alone now to settle in.”

She traced her fingers from the gleaming guilt edge, across large, ornate, gold letters, to where the words, Holy Bible stretched vertically down the spine. Stroking the attached silk ribbon bookmark, she pondered what to say.  What were the right words to thank him for a book he believed with all his heart, but read like fiction to her?

He grabbed her into a hug, and said, “There are a lot of answers in that book, young lady; take time to read it.”




That's it. What jumps out at you, good or bad ? I'd love to hear it and am truly grateful for every bit of criticism, opinion, and shared wisdom.  Thank you so much for visiting!  Sundays are extra busy for me right now, so it might take me several days to return visits, but I will. Have a great week, all!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Wordless Wednesday August 7, 2013

Shhhhh.  Let's get wordless... :-)


To visit other Wordless Wednesday participants, click HERE

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Weekend Writing Warriors: August 4, 2013




                                                                  Weekend Writing Warriors

Welcome Warriors, and Snipsuns and anyone else who wanders in. Happy August. Yep. August!
Weekend writing Warriors is a weekly bloghop. Each week, participants sign up HERE at wewriwa.com, then post 8 sentences of
their work, published ot unpublished, to go live between noon, Saturday and 9:00 AM Sunday EST Then we visit each other and read, comment, critique, encourage--all those things that do a solitary writer's heart good.
Set up:  Marissa has spent the last year homeless and delusional. In this week's post, she's moving into a small house owned by a church.  The pastor (Pastor Zaylor)  and Rayanne, her volunteer counselor, are helping her take this step from the homeless shelter to her new "home", They've just arrived.

*note   You might encounter creative punctuation :-)


 




Thunder boomed and wind drove the first heavy raindrops of a late spring storm against the house, rattling the old single pane windows.   Rayanne’s face beamed when she set a box on the table, exposing tissue paper tufts in a kaleidoscope of colors. “Whew! We just beat the rain!” Then, as if hearing Marissa’s unasked question, she added, “This is for you.”



Marissa blushed, and her gray eyes brimmed, threatening to spill over for the umpteenth time today.  Hiding her shame behind tears of gratitude wasn’t going to work forever, but the gratitude was as real as the generosity and kindness of these strangers that inspired it.


A specific question this week to the grammar gurus (I adore you) :-)  "...strangers "that" inspired..."  Is that correct--it refers back to "the generosity". Didn't feel right when I typed it. :-)

That's it. What jumps out at you, good or bad ? I'd love to hear it and am truly grateful for every bit of criticism, opinion, and shared wisdom.  Thank you so much for visiting!  Sundays are extra busy for me right now, so it might take me several days to return visits, but I will. Have a great week, all!