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Tag: Between Light and Dark

Weekend Writing Warriors 6/29/14 #WeWriMa

For June, I’m pulling from my horror/paranormal universe stories. This week, it’s from a still untitled story about Sara from “Tim and Sara” and Alec from “The Kindness of Strangers.” It takes place before either of those stories.

Paranoid schizophrenic Sara falls under the spell of not-quite-human Alec. In this scene (which takes place right before “Tim and Sara” starts), Sara is trying to process what happened with Alec.

He lied.

 

I nod at this. Of course he lied. I’ve been here, in this room, listening to the voice berate me, reassure me, for months now. Not once has he visited, has he called, has he shown any sign I’m still alive.

 

The voice becomes a shadow, sitting next to me on the padded floor. I used to scream but it just made the voice angry. I don’t like the voice when it’s angry.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 6/22/14 #WeWriMa

This month I’m sharing stories from my paranormal/horror universe. Today I’m continuing with the one from the last couple weeks, with Sara from “Tim and Sara” and Alec from “The Kindness of Strangers.” Schizophrenic Sara has met not-quite-human Alec and fallen in love with him. In this scene, she’s taking him home to meet her twin brother.

Sara sat on the couch next to Alec, staring up at him like a dog at its master. I’d never seen her like this, and I didn’t like it.

 

“So, Alec, what do you do for a living?”

 

“He travels,” said Sara.

 

“I asked him.”

 

“I travel.”

 

His voice was low, seductive, mocking me. I could see immediately how this would appeal to someone like my sister, and my dislike for him grew into hate.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 6/15/14 #wewrima

For June, I’m pulling from my horror/paranormal universe stories. This week, it’s from a still untitled story about Sara from “Tim and Sara” and Alec from “The Kindness of Strangers.” It takes place before either of those stories.

In this scene, Sara is talking to her twin brother Levi, who kind of takes care of her, about her new job.

“Work is going great,” Sara gushed.

 

“Great for you, or great for a normal person?”

 

Sara ignored me and continued, “The best thing is that I met a guy and we’re going to have a baby.”

 

My fork clattered onto my plate; I was used to the crazy stuff she said, but this was out there, even for her. “A baby?”

 

“That’s the only logical thing when you love someone, and I am nothing if not logical.”

 

I snorted.

 

“It’s not my fault you don’t understand logic, Levi.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 6/8/14 #WeWriMa

For June, I’m going to pull from my horror/paranormal universe stories. Eventually there’ll be 17 or 19 or so of them (I prefer prime numbers) that’ll be grouped into a short story collection, Between Light and Dark. Right now I’m at about 5 finished and 10 started. Sara from last week will be in several of the stories, as will Alec who’s in this week’s excerpt from “A Quick Stop.”

Not-quite-human Alec loves driving around the country, causing trouble. Tonight he’s picked up Brianna at a bar in Indiana and is about to drive her home.

Brianna shivered in the cool night air, and Alec wrapped his arm around her, his nails biting into her flesh.  She whimpered at the pain, and he licked his lips.

“This way, my dear,” he said as he led her over to a black Corvette, ignoring her slight gasp as she saw what he drove; he was used to that.

Like a gentleman, he opened the door for her, then slammed it shut as soon as she was in.  He got in, put the keys in the ignition, and turned to face her.

Brianna fingered the cuts on her arm and asked, “Your eyes…weren’t they black?”

 

Alec nodded but offered no explanation.

 

“I don’t think this is safe; I should go.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 6/1/14 #WeWriMa

newtimandsaracoverNew month, new Weekend Writing Warriors theme! For June, I’m going to pull from my horror/paranormal universe stories, starting with an excerpt from “Tim and Sara,” a short story I published a couple years ago.

The victim of debilitating flashbacks, Tim is content to spend the rest of his life at Kirkbride, a state mental hospital. But his friend and fellow resident Sara is concerned that she has to save her soul before it’s too late, and so she devises a plan to break them out of the hospital. Can Tim help his friend while holding onto what’s left of his sanity?

In this scene, Tim has gotten them kicked off the bus at a station in the middle of nowhere. They’re waiting to catch another bus the next day.

I wake in the middle of the night to a station lobby that’s empty, lights off but the parking lot streetlights provide more than enough illumination in here. Sara lies next to me, curled in a ball, hair in her face. I reach over, brush it off and behind her ear. Her face is relaxed as she sleeps, peaceful.

 

I stretch, return to sleep but I’m awakened by a loud noise. I open my eyes, afraid to move. Sara is in the corner, pleading with someone who may not even be there, stomping her feet, crying. I know I should help her but I’m afraid of her voices, afraid of what they might make her do if they find out I’m listening.

Get a copy of the story to find out what the voices make her do!

Then post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 5/25/14 #WeWriMa

stavkirkeContinuing on with the Viking theme, here’s an excerpt from a short story I’m working on, “There Are No Vikings in Montana.” Jill has been seeing some weird stuff recently – a chupacabra and a walking tree, among other things – and now she thinks she’s seeing a Viking too. She’s finally confronted him, and he’s informed her the tree is actually a dryad.

“A dryad,” I repeated, my tone dripping with disbelief.

 

“Yes, it is a tree spirit.”

 

“I know what a dryad is.”

 

Again, his look that implied I was an idiot.

 

I hurried to explain, “Dryads aren’t real. Or Vikings either, for that matter.”

 

Before I could move away, he reached over and pinched my arm, then asked, “Could I do that if I were not real?”

 

“Fine, maybe you’re real, but I’m still not buying the whole dryad thing.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 5/18/14 #WeWriMa

churchContinuing on with the Viking theme, here’s an excerpt from a short story I’m working on, “There Are No Vikings in Montana.” Jill has been seeing some weird stuff recently, and now she thinks she’s seeing a Viking too. She’s finally confronted him.

“Who are you, and why are you following me?” I demanded.

 

He didn’t respond; the look he shot me implied this was a stupid question, that I should know the answer.

 

“Ever since the fireworks, when the world shuddered, for lack of a better word, I’ve been seeing stuff that shouldn’t be possible. I nearly ran over a chupacabra, a tree straightened up and waved at me, and now I’m being followed by a guy in a leather kilt and a horned helmet. No one else is seeing this, but I’m not making it up, I swear!”

 

“It was a dryad.”

 

“What?”

 

“The tree; it was a dryad.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 5/11/14

Continuing on with the Viking theme, here’s an excerpt from a short story I’m working o n, “There Are No Vikings in Montana.” Jill has been seeing some weird stuff recently – a chupacabra and a walking tree, among other things – and now she thinks she’s seeing a Viking too.

I turned to look back and sure enough, that guy was still there, watching me intently.

 

“Did you see him?” I asked Amy.

 

“See who?”

 

“That guy, the one with the sword and kilt.”

 

Amy looked over her shoulder. “There’s no one there.”

 

I looked back again. She was right; he was gone.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 2/23/14 #WeWriWa

Continuing with the love theme for February, and picking up where we left off last week, today’s excerpt is from “The Kindness of Strangers,” a short story I wrote for The Indiana Horror Anthology 2011.

In this story, Laura left her friend’s party after seeing her ex with another girl. It started raining as she was walking down the road, and a stranger offered her a ride and a chance to vent.  He then gave her a powder that would ensure no one bothered her ex again. Now she’s back at the party, looking for her ex.

She grabbed an abandoned cup of beer as she walked and dumped the packet’s contents into it. The beer fizzed, turned black, then amber again.

 
Laura walked into a bedroom and shut the door behind her. “Hi, Sam.”

 

Sam sat up and said, “Laura, how many times have I told you, we’re through!”

 

“You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”

 

“I’m not yours, and I’ve told you to stay the hell away from me!”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

Weekend Writing Warriors 2/16/14 #WeWriWa

Continuing with the love theme for February, and picking up where we left off last week, today’s excerpt is from “The Kindness of Strangers,” a short story I wrote for The Indiana Horror Anthology 2011.

In this story, Laura left her friend’s party after seeing her ex with another girl. It started raining as she was walking down the road, and Alec offered her a ride, and a chance to vent.  Last week he gave her a powder that would ensure no one bothered her ex again.

Alec gripped her wrist and said, “Give him the powder.”
Laura nodded.
Alec let go of her. She massaged her burning skin, and when she looked up, Alec and the car were gone; just Laura, standing on the edge of the road.
She turned, walked with deliberate steps back to the farmhouse. Inside the crowd had disappeared, only her friend Megan left sprawled on the couch.
“Laura, where have you been all night?” Megan asked as she sprung up from the couch.
Laura paused and said in a flat voice, “I’m going to get Sam back.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

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