Forrests

This week for Flash Fiction we decided that the word was Forrests. Well, they decided to write abut Forests, I wrote about Forrests. We had all week to write it, which allowed me time to research, but otherwise we only were allowed 15 minutes to write.

“Oh god, not this again.” Mars Sr. said with a heavy voice, “Why does he always do this?”

Whitaker agreed with a knowing nod. He knew that there would be no stopping it now, and it irked him to no end. He couldn’t help himself and shot a disguised grimace over to Mars Sr.. Whitaker had hoped that Mars Sr. hadn’t noticed, but when the candy mogul took a telling last inhale on his Popeye cigarette before snuffing it out, Whitaker got ready for the inevitable.

“So,” Mars Sr. said after a long exuberant puff, “You are going to blame me for this aren’t you?”

Whitaker snapped back at full force, “And why wouldn’t I? You were the one who introduced him to it in the first place! This is all your fault! We all blame you!”

Mars Sr. looked around the room and met the eyes of everyone. Mims looked on stern, O’Connor couldn’t return the stare but it was there, Breyfogle took a long sip of his kool-aid through an evil glare, but then Mars Sr. saw the face of Mars Jr.. Even his own son was selling him out on this.

Mars Sr. slumped his shoulders in defeat. They were right, this was his fault.

“My momma always said life is like a box of-”

Gump was interrupted by every member of the Forrests Only Clubhouse with a hearty round of “Shut up already!”

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If you only had 15 minutes to write about Forests (or Forrests) what would you write about?

Fan Art For Those That Have None – Part 2

I am going to keep drawing Fan Art, for people that have no fan art! I will just update the same post for a week or so, then zing! New post. So check back on the old posts for more Author Love!

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Here is Hestia ‘Rose Grubb’ from The Revenge of Rose Grubb by Rachael Eyre

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FBI agent Miriam Goldblum of the Golden Fleece Society finds a mysterious artifact. From In the Hands of the Unknown, by AE Hellstrom.

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Cnan, as she walks through the fire to become part of her tribe. Also, she has a dramatic scarf, not sure if she had one before, but walking through fire demands drama, and nothing is as dramatic as a scarf. This is from Broken Sky by CB Matson. (Yes a fellow CB! Amazing!)

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LX the alien who shares Anders’ Hairstyle #, meets Mellie for the first time.From the Legacy Series by GG Atcheson.  Spoiler Alert (From the book blurb) I am pretty sure Mellie is a vampire.

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I have decided that book video promos are excellent resources for this. Here is Amanda  out clubbing on vacation while she is being eyed up by… that sexy guy there with the abs who is on the cover, from True’s Love by TL Clark.

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Here is Nathan from the Incubus Saga by Amanda Meuwissen as he… uh… as he… Sorry. What is going on? There is just so much to like with this one that I completely lost my train of thought. Oh right. Here he is with the Incubus and I think he…

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I forget cause Abs!!!

Shock

This week for Flash Fiction Writing Slam the word was shock and we had 15 minutes to write something interesting!

Rumble! Jennifer felt the ground rolling under her feet as the earth shook. Before the seasick land subsided Aftershock jumped up again from the broken pavement and landed into the crowd of people. The waves of earth from his earthquake making boots threw countless citizens up into the air, Jennifer nearly fell over when she landed, but she was quick and steady. Unnaturally quick and stead for her normally awkward self.

Today had been a strange day. First there had been that mysterious job offer from the eccentric billionaire to become his personal dog walker. Then there had been the explosion at the asylum for the criminally insane. Finally there had been that kitten that had escaped from Super City’s pet shop that Aftershock had robbed the place by throwing a radioactive alien gem at. That kitten had flown on literal golden wings into Jennifer’s face this afternoon while walking Mr. Vayne’s prized wiener dog Champ.

Nothing had been right since that kitten bit her. But, it was alright. Aftershock hadn’t knocked her over. He had knocked over the rest of the citizens, but not her. Her kitten bite was glowing. Had she gotten super kitten powers? She jumped into the air and slashed with her new kitten claws, knocking Aftershock over in one blow.

She was a superhero now. A cat superhero. She would be… The Night Bat! Because she really liked bats.

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If you only had 15 minutes to write about Shock, what would you have done?

Fan Art for those that have none.

I recently posted in a writer’s group about receiving fan art and I was devastated to learn that some people have NO fan art!

So I have started to make them Fan Art, based on what I am pretty sure is a scene in their book given their book covers and blurbs. Enjoy!

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Renee Ward from Kind of Like Life by Christina McMullen discovering that magic exists!

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Ashima Nayar from The Toymaker by Melissa A. Jensen as she battles a giant mysterious monster in the mines with only her wits, rag-doll, and a piece of glass.

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Mysterious Man at Asteroid Phone Booth from Watching the Watcher by Micah R. Sisk.

Rachel and Roswell steal the Alien’s ship from Rachel, Roswell & The Alien by Dwayne Fry.

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The Crimson Mistress from Rehab For Superheroes, by Ann Livi Andrews

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A light lady from the cover of Nascent Decay (The Goddess of Decay Book 1) by Charles Hash

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Lovonian and the Orc Chieftan take a much needed break from battle in Little Black Stormcloud (Breath of the Titans, #1)  by Riley Westbrook.

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Niomi wearing her new fur cloak from Wildlander’s Hope by Jenycka Wolfe.

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Either Mishi and Taka, the both sound like badasses, from Blade’s Edge by Virginia McClain.

Book Formatting Fun!

I have never formatted an entire novel before, but I am a graphic designer so I figured it out a lot faster than I will epubs (which is the next challenge). Now that the choices are made, the fonts picked, and the appropriate plugin purchased for Text Boxes it is just a matter of checking over the book to make sure that nothing is amiss.

Thus far there was only one real problem with the location of the random table that is in this book, because I love random tables that don’t belong in regulation fiction. Fortunately, only a single line was needed to be added to even things out and coincidentally Calea’s very first speaking line was just moments before the stubborn table. If you don’t know Calea let me tell you – No one can add yonks of needless long winded dialog to fill space like her! The real problem was getting only ONE line from her! She submitted four entire pages of dialog options, in spreadsheet format, the smallest quote was 467 characters long! Dear Maker! I told her I only needed six words.

Now that everything is just novel formatting, the book layout is going along quickly. I made it to Chapter 14 last night while only being completely distracted by Steven Universe! That is about 1/3 of the book formatted. Then it is right to proof, 10 days of shipping, proof reviewing, changes if needed, figure out epubs, and publish!

Only 6 steps left until this goes live. How terrifyingly exciting!