Second Campaigner Challenge: 5 Prompts, 5 Sentences

Despite the fact that I want to literally jump up and down with crazy excited happiness over the fact that my series is lauching TODAY (insert multitudes of !!), I managed to force myself to sit still for long enough to type an entry for this awesomely challenging challenge.
(PS - if you visit my LAUNCH POST you can WIN STUFF!) <--- please, please visit my launch post!

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Okay, so I used one or two elements from each of the five prompts to create a five-sentence flash fiction piece of under 200 words. (The words in bold indicate what element I've used from each prompt)

With every painful throb of my heart, more blood spills from the gash in my thigh. It runs down my leg; a bright red stain pooling on the concrete beneath me. Graham crawls out from the shelter of the bridge, seemingly oblivious to the spray of rain that drenches him within seconds. He paws through the rubble, his fingers searching desperately. Through a haze of pain I see him point his arm toward the sky, pull the trigger of the flare gun, and watch the dazzling sparks soar across the sky.


I wasn't entirely sure if a flare gun would work when used in the rain (since I've never actually used one myself!), so I Googled it, and someone seemed to think that yes, it would work. Anyway, if not, let's pretend it's a special flare gun that can be used in the rain!

I'm number 12 on the list :-)

 

First Campaigner Challenge: Shadows Crept Across...

You know who's in the picture, right? ;-)

Beginning: "Shadows crept across the wall" ✔
Ending: "everything faded" ✔
Include the word "orange" ✔
Same genre I normally write: paranormal romance ✔
Exactly 200 words ✔

Shadows crept across the wall. Beastly little things, always thinking they could scare me. “Shoo!” I said. I received nothing but a minuscule snicker in response. Fine. I’d show them. Keeping my injured foot raised, I leaned over and pulled a torch from my handbag. With a snap, I flicked the switch and brandished the torch like a lightsaber. The shadow-beings squealed in terror and scurried back to their antique jar on the mantelpiece.

“Sorry about the Shades,” said Michael, striding back into the lounge. “They’re just curious. You’re the only girl who consistently refuses to be afraid of them.” He knelt beside my chair and wrapped an orange cloth full of ice cubes around my throbbing ankle. “You know, I think that’s the first time a girl has jumped off my veranda when I’ve tried to kiss her.”

“I slipped, okay,” I said, punching his arm. “You took me by surprise.”

He laughed and leaned against the arm of the chair. “What if I warn you this time?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

“I think that would work,” I whispered.

His lips touched mine. I closed my eyes, and the shadows, the pain, the room—everything—faded.

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I'm number 18 on the list :-)

I figured most people would go for the creepy/suspenseful-type story, so I tried to be different (and perhaps that's what others will try too, and then none of us will have creepiness/suspensefulness! <--- not a word, I know. Don't hate me.)
And I haven't written past tense in so long I feel like I've forgotten how to do it! Had to fix up several tense mix-ups. Hope I got them all!

Fourth Writers' Platform-Building Campaign!

Bring on the FOURTH campaign! It doesn't feel like all that long ago that we were writing our challenge entries for the first campaign... (known as a "crusade" back then...)

Anyway, just a quick post to remind you all that you can sign up from today until Wed 15 Feb for Rach Harrie's newest Writers' Platform-Building Campaign! Woohoooo! If you've taken part before, then you know how super fun it is and how many new writers you get to know. If you haven't taken part before, well what are you waiting for?!

Click the link above to go to Rach's blog where she explains aaaaall the details :-) Thanks, Rach!


A tip for newbie bloggers: It can get a little overwhelming trying to follow so many new blogs. Have you tried using Google Reader? At the top of the page you can click "Feed Settings" and then "New Folder..." For example, I've created one folder called Campaign Group - YA and another called Campaign Group - Paranormal Romance. Then every time I subscribe to a new blog I click on "Feed Settings" and select the folder I want to put that blog in.

Bring it on, 2012!

This is the year I see my name in print! Ahem, digital print, at least. Which, as anyone owning a Kindle/[insert your e-reader name here] knows, is an awesome kind of print :-)

Creepy Hollow begins in March this year.

I'm also looking forward to Rachael Harrie's Fourth Writers' Platform-Building Campaign, which runs from February 6th to April 31st.

And, of course, the great Blogging from A to Z Challenge, which runs during the month of April.

And many other things to look forward to this year, I'm sure. For now, I leave you with a quote by Minnie Louise Haskins:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way." So I went faithfully, finding the hand of God, and trod boldly into the dark night, and he led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

First Campaigner Challenge - Confrontation

The Challenge:

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “The door swung open” These four words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), use the same beginning words and end with the words: "the door swung shut." (also included in the word count)

For those who want an even greater challenge, make your story 200 words EXACTLY!

The door swung open – and then swung back and hit me in the face.

“It’s none of your damn business!” screeched Holly from the other side of the door.

I moaned something unintelligible and clutched my throbbing nose. Flip, that was painful. I aimed my leg at the door and kicked as hard as I could. It slammed open against the chalkboard with a bang like a gunshot.

“What the —”

“You broke my nose!” I yelled.

“And I’d be happy to break it again!” She grabbed the nearest object – Mrs Carmel’s stapler – and flung it at my head. “How dare you embarrass me like that in front of everyone?”

I dodged the stapler. “How dare you go after my ex-boyfriend? Isn’t that against some kind of universal sister code?”

“He went after me! And if you were sticking to any universal sister code you’d quit being such a bitch and ask me what he did to me to make me so upset.”

I paused, breathing hard. “He did something to you?”

Holly shook her head. “No way. You don’t get to care now. It’s too late.” She strode past me and out into the corridor. The door swung shut.

(200 words)

PS. If you like my story, click here and I'm number 350 on the list :-)

Welcome, Campaigners!

Dearest fellow Campaigners (you are important enough to warrant a capital C)




Welcome to my blog :-)

I'm sorry I haven't been very good at following back or replying to comments in the past few days... This is mainly because a colony of nasty little bugs took up residence in my sinuses on Wednesday night and have been torturing me ever since. (Torture devices include choking me in the middle of the night and periodically blocking off my air supply. It's been great.)

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit and to follow and I'm hoping to get back to you all by the end of the weekend :-)

(No, the bugs are not holding a gun to the inside of my nose and forcing me to say this.)

Third Writers' Platform-Building Campaign

It has begun! The Third Writers' Platform-Building Campaign (which I keep wanting to call Crusade by accident, since that was the old name...). If there are any of you who haven't taken part before you should seriously consider it. In the words of the founder, Rach Harrie...

"Basically, the Campaign is a way to link those of us in the writing community together with the aim of helping to build our online platforms. The Campaigners are all bloggers in a similar position, who genuinely want to pay it forward, make connections and friends within the writing community, and help build each others' online platforms while at the same time building theirs."



Click on the badge to find out all about it!
You've got until August 31st to sign up.