[Write the Story] Unsolved Mystery
This one comes to you via watching way too much House of Cards – which is such a fascinating show for being weird, twisty, amazing, depressing, and depressingly amazing.
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Prompt: Unsolved Mystery
Words: murder, green, agreement, traditional, carpenter, snake, sugar, kidney, congress, jam
Story:
“What have you gotten me into, Sugar?” Dirk muttered under his breath, rubbing the sore spot above his kidney.
Sometimes the PI business was dangerous, but this was more than even he bargained for. Dirk Carter wouldn’t have it any other way. Sure it wasn’t like traditional TV and movie portrayals, but his other option was being a carpenter. He was allergic to sawdust.
“Come on, you snake, show your face.”
He wasn’t sure who he addressed, after all he was outside Congress watching and waiting. The leads led here, though no one believed a murder even actually occurred. In fact, it was the one thing every law enforcement agency were in agreement on. Nothing indicated a crime.
“And they’re all wrong!” Dirk slammed his fist into his steering wheel—avoiding setting off the horn and airbag and revealing his stakeout. “And there he is.”
Dirk followed his quarry at a discreet distance—after all, no matter how invested he was he wasn’t green. He’d done this before. Countless times. His quarry zigged and zagged as if anticipating a tail. Dirk kept up until a traffic jam interrupted his forward progress and thoughts.
He pulled over and parked, going on foot. He caught a glimpse of his quarry ducking down an alley. He moved quickly. That was his mistake.
“You think you know something others don’t?” a voice said in his ear. “No one will investigate her…or you.”
Everything went black.
Word Count: 241
Written: 3/31 – 4/2/17 (House of Cards influenced)
[Writing Post] Perceptions and Development
This is an odd week. Not sure why. Just is. This time next week, I’ll be winding up a Day Job Conference in San Antonio – hopefully celebrating a successful co-presentation. This past weekend I attended DFWCon which is a writers’ CONFERENCE (not a convention – there’s quite the difference).
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I’m one of those “ambivert” people — I like being at social gatherings (and yes, conferences are social gatherings) but the GOING to the gathering is something I dread. This was one of those times. But hey, I paid a lot of money to do some writerly professional development, by golly I was going to suck it up and go.
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Really glad I did. I actually went to panels and took notes. I talked to amazing authors. I chose not to pitch to editors or agents — there’s nothing I feel is anywhere near the point I would feel comfortable trying to sell just yet — but now…goals. I also have some panel ideas to pitch to the programming folks for panels.
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It also did the thing that I wanted it to do. Let me catch up with writer friends who have books coming out in July. It also did a bit of a butt-kick to get back to writing work…Really, really want to do that. Really, really am going to do that.
Also came up with a plan for a couple of other things. Which also means getting ones butt in 12 kinds of gear. The Spring has been busy – the Summer is ramping up to be the same.
The books I mention here are coming out in July. They’re written by really awesome women who write really awesome books. Please consider pre-ordering. The Kara Connolly is a time traveling, Olympic archer who accidentally creates Robin Hood — can’t wait to read this one!
[Pen/Pencil Review] Shachihata Artline BLOX Pen in Green
This week’s pen is one of the Christmas pens from JetPens. It’s the Shachihata Artline BLOX line. This is, I guess, technically (from the name) a pen more designed for artists, but this particular line is geared to those who love LEGOs or MegaBlocks (which means Kids of All Ages). I bought these are “stocking stuffers” for both Jimmy and myself at Christmas – one fiber tip pen and one pencil apiece. Today we’ll talk about the pen. Next week, the pencil.
This pen is the Blox 0.4mm fiber tip. I bought the green one for me and the red one for Jimmy. Both for Christmas and because we have complimentary favorite colors. This pen is LONG – especially with the cap posted (which is does do). With the cap posted, it’s over 7″ long. It’s about 5.5″ capped or uncapped. The cap can either post to the end of the pen or you can snap it to one of the sides.
It’s triangular with interlocking knobs (like a LEGO but not) on two of the three sides. There’s tapering to the point so that there’s some nod to ergonomics. It’s not as weird and uncomfortable as it first appears, but it’s definitely NOT streamlined. It’s more comfortable than it should be and relatively light but balanced so you don’t get fatigued from it being a giant pen. It’s supposedly a “drawing pen” but I don’t know how much someone would really draw with this? It’s more along the “novelty” lines because, hello, non-branded LEGOs you can write with.
The 0.4mm point doesn’t detract from the ink. The green is rich and dark. The lines are smooth. There’s only a little “scratch” from it being a fiber tip. Not sure how long it’ll last before the tip frays or breaks but it seems solid. It’s a decent pen that doubles as a toy. The clip is non-existent, so snap them together or something, there’s no securing it to anything else It’s also a decent price point – less than $3 each It’s an okay pen.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 – The line doesn’t skip, has minimal blobs, and doesn’t smear easily. The cap posts well.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – It’s neither completely uncomfortable, but it’s not comfortable either. The grip is smooth plastic, but you have to adjust your hand to keep the interlocking bits from digging. It’s can be quite long with the cap posted but it’s both light and pretty well balanced.
3. Material – 1 – This is an inexpensive plastic with toy bits.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – Physically the pen is well-made and designed to do what it’s supposed to – write smoothly and comfortably. HOWEVER, it’s also a novelty. The triangle design and interlocking bits may not suit a lot of people. If you don’t like really long pens, don’t post the cap. If you don’t post the cap, attaching it to one of the sides is a bulky option.
5. Price Point – 1 – It’s pretty cheap. It’s $2.10 on JetPens. For a decent quality fiber point with toy accents, it’s an okay price point.
That’s 4 of 5 bronze pencils.
[Write the Story] A Couple on a Cruise
You’ll see that several of these stories will be heavily influenced by what I’m reading, writing, watching, or listening to (commutes are now dedicated to podcasts). This one derived from catching up on Blindspot apparently. 😎
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Prompt: A Couple of a Cruise
Words: nosy, sponsor, passenger, willing, smile, brew, yellow, neighbor, hundred, stairwell
Story:
We ducked into the stairwell just as our neighbor bounced out of her room. It was petty, I know, but she’s nosy and bouncy and always smiling. It made both of us crazy. And you know what? Passenger cruise liners? Not a big as one might think, especially when you’re trying to avoid a certain someone.
“I heard the elevator ding,” Scott said, tickling my ear with his breath. “It’s probably safe.”
“Are you willing to risk it?” I asked.
“We should count to a hundred to make sure, right, Remi?”
I smiled. “Probably safest.”
There are many ways to mark that kind of time without getting bored. It was a pleasant respite. When we once more emerged from the stairwell the corridor was empty. We slipped into our cabin and locked the door behind us. It was a large cabin, way nicer than we should have but our trip was “sponsored”.
“We need to clean the bathroom before the maids show up,” Scott said, pulling off his shirt and digging into the bag on the luggage rack. “It should be yellow, not…”
“The gloves are in the top zipper. And we can make it more…orange. Like the sunset. Then to the luau? These jobs always make me hungry.”
“Whatever you want, Remi.”
Word Count: 213
Written: 3/22/17
[Writing Post] Spectrum and DFWCon
I’m having a “so much to do but no pressing deadlines so….” week with almost nothing to show for it. That has to change. There’s something to be said for “allergy season” and brain muddling, but that’s just an excuse, especially with how active the next four to six weeks are going to be. I have one writers’ conference and two Day Job conferences coming up so TRAVEL! Yay.
Spectrum Fantastic Art Live was awesome, but not what I thought I was going to do at it. There was no sitting in the lobby or bar and writing (because it wasn’t that kind of facility). There was a lot of walking and stairs and stuff – which is good, but doesn’t inspire carrying stuff around. I did meet and talk to a lot of cool artists – from legends to rising stars. Helped out John Picacio some, because Texans stick together – also figured out that we’ve known each other since 2004 when we met at the WorldCon Art Show in Boston. Time flies.
Might have (maybe) volunteered myself to a potential ginormous writing project (how’s that for specific) if an article that I need to be working on RIGHT NOW, DARN IT. I need that project like another hole in my head, but it would be pretty darn cool to do. A piece of David LaRocca’s speaks to me of story ideas – just not necessarily elder god vein the way he intends it, or maybe there is some tendrils there. We’ll see. Enjoyed spending a bit of time with Sara Felix, as well as Jimmy Holloman, Sherrie Dean, and Allison Stein before running into Jimmy Murray.
The Spectrum Awards show was cool, because it was a show. Dancers, a comedienne MC, and the like. It was very nifty. And of course, there’s always a bit of “what is this equivalent to”? in my brain. So… even though the Chesleys are given out at WorldCon or NASFIC, they’re voted on by association members – so, like a Nebula Award. The Spectrum Awards are a juried thing… so like World Fantasy Awards. The Hugos are the Hugos, bless them.
And though I thought I would come back all shiny and bright and ready to write – I came back to Lean Six Sigma training that was all foreign concepts to me – STATISTICS. And the complicated stuff. Only the fact I’m a Redheaded Missourian is keeping me in the program. I was not the only one who was confused and frustrated. The instructor seemed to think this stuff was the easiest thing in the world, and we should get it first go. Um, no, that’s not the case. And if you struggled once, ANY question you had after that had to be painstakingly OVER-EXPLAINED. So not conducive to well, ANYTHING else.
But… this weekend I’m going to DFWCon. A writer’s conference. Most people are going to pitch to agents or editors. I’m going to hang out with writers, get my brain back, and maybe learn stuff. I have work I can pitch if necessary, but none of the agents seem to take what I write. So that pressure is gone. Huzzah. We’ll see how this goes.
[Pen/Pencil Review] Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pens
Today’s pen review is a jump ahead. I have so many things from Christmas and Birthday that I haven’t reviewed yet – then I picked up more stuff when I was at Spectrum when we hit not only The Pen Place but also Artist & Craftsman Supply. There was also a quick trip to the new (to me) location of Asel Art Supply in Arlington, TX. Today I’m looking at Pilot’s Varsity disposable fountain pens – one from Asel Art Supply and one from Artist & Craftsman Supply.
I’ve used the Varsity pens off and on for years, but I do like going back to them. Though they come in seven colors, this time we’re looking at the primary blue and red. These are called “everyday fountain pen” and it’s that true. These are no-frills plastic barrel, stainless steel medium nib pens. The nibs make a decently fine line that makes writing with them easy. They’re also completely sealed so leaking is less of an issue than it could be.
These pens have liquid fountain pen ink encased in a plastic barrel with clear sections to see the ink levels. In the truest sense of disposable, they’re not refillable. Being a liquid ink, there is drying time involved to the ink and some smearing, if you’re not careful. The no frills design of the pen is still fairly well balanced and comfortable. They’re about 5.5″ long, and the cap posts fairly well for molded plastic.
They run up to about $3-$4 a piece, but you can get them cheaper. They’re available in singles or the 7-color variety pack for anywhere from $11 – $15 dollars. They’re available online and in art supply stores – maybe even big box office supply stores. So they’re accessible as well as easy to write with.
The numbers:
1. How does it work? – 1 – It is what it is – a disposable fountain pen suitable for everyday carry. But the nib is narrow enough for every day writing, yet wide enough for some “fancy” work, and the ink flows smoothly.
2. Grip and feel – 0.5 – The grip is plain with no attempts at ergonomics. There’s a ledge between nib and barrel that can dig into your finger in long-term use.
3. Material – 1 – It’s plastic and stainless steel. It’s what it proclaims to be. A disposable fountain pen.
4. Overall Design – 0.5 – There could be some nods to comfort, but it’s not bad for what it is. The clip seems a bit weak, but it’s plastic, like the rest of it.
5. Price Point – 1 – The Varsity is available everywhere, and runs at affordable pricing, it’s a great way to try out fountain pens before investing in a much more expensive piece.
I give it 4 out of 5 Bronze Pencils
[Write the Story] Wrapping Up a Business Trip
When it comes to these stories, some are better than others. This (in my opinion) is one of the others. It was a St. Patrick’s Day attempt.
Prompt: Wrapping Up a Business Trip
Words: bar, laptop, insect, Germany, baseball, nervous, embark, protest, swing, sentence
Story
I was a bit nervous being in a bar in Germany on St. Patrick’s Day. I mean Germans take their beer even more seriously than the Irish. Besides it’s too dark to notice if they deigned to color it green. I took a swig and it didn’t matter. Besides, I’m not really Irish.
I opened my laptop to stream a baseball game before heading to the airport and home. I couldn’t wait to embark on that journey.
“Brother, can you spare a sentence?”
I blinked, coming back to the environment in which I sat and not the virtual world of sports. Surely my basic German had failed me. “Excuse me?”
Then I realized who was speaking. The guy was short, like really short, but like a Christmas elf. “Can you insect me a moment?”
“Do you speak another language? My German is…small.”
“Ack, yes!” the little dude switched to a thickly accented English. “I need a favor. You’re heading back close to my homeland. I would like you to swing me home.”
Something rang in my head. “I don’t know…” I protested weakly.
“Ack, there will be a pot of gold in it for you.”
Then I knew I was in trouble. Nothing good ever happened with those words.
Word Count: 209
Written: 3/17/17 and 3/19/17 (weak)
[Writer Post] It’s Been An Interesting Week (non-Chinese Proverb Version)
For a short work week with a vacation (that kinda wasn’t), it was a busy week last week that made me remember some reasons why I do what I do. I won’t even begin to touch on Spectrum Fantastic Art Live! this week. Because a promise I made a few weeks ago appeared. I told my friend, Crystal, I’d help a 5th Grader she knew with a school “passion project”. Apparently the kids were assigned to interview someone who does what they think they want to do when they grow up, this 5th Grader, we’ll call her K, wants to be a writer. So she came up with SIX good questions that her dad emailed me. After trying to do good answers – they solid, open-ended questions – I asked her if I could post the interview on the blog. She agreed (and I hope she gets a good grade). She did tell me in her thank you note that her dad typoed question #5 – it was supposed to be “did” not “do” – but answer is the same…
1. Who was your role model as a writer and why?
This is a harder question than you might know. I didn’t have just one role model as a writer, there were many who influenced me over the years. But, here we go… one of my biggest role models as a writer actually wrote and created television. His name was Gene Roddenberry and he created Star Trek way back in the day. I learned a lot about story structure and pacing from episodes of Star Trek. The show also had novels called media tie in books that kept the universe alive in book form.
As for books, some of my first memorable reading was Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern and Katherine Kurtz’s Deryni books. They led me into fantasy – as well as the Elfquest graphic novels by Richard and Wendy Pini. But some of the things I really loved from a young age were mystery series that were older than I was – Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. These were books written by SEVERAL women over the decades under one name – but it introduced me more to ensembles and how to keep characters consistent.
2. Did anyone tell you couldn’t be a writer? What did they say and what did you do?
No one told me flat out that I couldn’t be a writer, but they weren’t overly supportive about it – but let me clarify that none of those people were my parents. My mom and dad have always supported me and my writing. In fact, my mom’s a writer now that she’s retired. It was other family members and friends. They all had that “Oh, that’s nice…what’s your backup plan.” Or after I started published, they said, “Oh, you’re actually like GOOD at this.” Like they’d just been humoring me.
I even had a woman in college say (when I told her I wanted to write professionally), “Oh I hope you marry well.” Implying I would need someone to financially support me. That was uncool.
3. What first got you interested in writing?
I am an only child, and for a while we didn’t have a lot of neighbors. So I read a lot. Made up stories and scenarios for dolls and toys to act out because I didn’t have a lot of other people to play with. And one day I was a reading a book and thought to myself, “I can do this. I want to do this.”
4. Do you have any tips for a new writer?
The essential tip is to keep at it. Don’t stop. Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t. The other is a reminder that you don’t have to be perfect. In fact, most of what you write will be garbage, and that’s okay. In fact, if you don’t write the garbage? You never get to the good stuff, because the good stuff is what happens when you start revising and editing. Gemstones start out as dirty, ragged rocks that don’t shine until they’re cut and polished – writing is the same way. Also? Don’t think you have write epic tomes right away. Start small – short fiction or small amount of words every day just to get the muscle memory and habit going. Just go.
5. Do you ever think writing was not for you and what changed your mind?
Only about every six months. I’ll go through a dry spell where it’s just painful get a handful of words written in a day or I’ll haven’t had anything sell for a while and I think, “Yep, this is it. I’m done. They’ve all figured out that I have no talent or no story to tell. It’s over.”
Then you know what happens? A story sells, or a person at a convention – or another writer or artist – asks what I’m working on or when the next piece of a project is coming out. Or even a lovely student asks me to talk about what it’s like to be a writer. Then it all comes back.
6. What are some of the pros about being a writer?
Wow, another good question. Pros to being a writer:
The creative jolt of hanging out with other writers. We get each other – and it’s so important to not feel alone with the struggles.
Seeing a person holding your book and reading it when they don’t know you’re there – they do know you’re there and don’t care.
Tangible ones – selling books to complete strangers at conventions. You kind of know your friends and family will support you, but having people you never met buy a book is awesome. Both because it’s money, but also because you have the opportunity to change a person’s perspective for just a little while.
Seeing your name on a cover – book or magazine – is the biggest rush because it proves that you can do this thing you’ve loved for so long – and other people also see the value in it.
The money for selling a story or a book is nice – but it’s never going to be a lot unless you’re in the top 1%. But this is not something anyone does to get rich – no matter what TV and Movies say.
Her dad read the interview and has been trying to get K to read Dragonriders of Pern for years, maybe now she will. And only a couple of days after I wrote this up, I met Wendy and Richard Pini at Spectrum, which is another part of the “interesting” week. Maybe I added them because I was thinking about Spectrum, but I did read the first graphic novels in either 8th or 9th grade when I was firming up what genre I wanted to write (I decided to be a writer when I was 10 – so about the same age as K.) Full circles, man. Full circles.
Serious, K? If you don’t get a good grade, it’s me not you. 😎
[Pen/Pencil Review] On the Road
No pen blog today. Heading home from a wonderful weekend with artists. Will try to post something tomorrow.
[Write the Story] The Last Moment of Childhood
This week’s strory…live from Spectrum Art Live!
Words: Halloween, refrigerator, pier, strength, voices, surprise, contribute, bird, iron, requirements
Story:
The last moment of childhood was right there, staring me down as I held open the refrigerator door. The voices in my head whispered that I’d been so good with my iron will. But now…but now that evil little bird voice told me to go ahead.
“Dig in. Try it,” it said. “It’s quality control. It’s practically requirement.”
I had to resist. I HAD TO. This…I knew it had been a mistake to attempt it, but I was supposed to contribute! It’s part of the deal to get invited to the Halloween Party. This was the party. But no one got in without bringing something…special. Something unique.
So with great resolve I removed my offering from the fridge and wrapped it for travel. Then donning the cloak to my costume to ward off the hill of the damp evening, I headed out into the night air.
I dodged families and roving bands of children on their endless quest for candy. They had no idea what else went on in the darkness. Before I knew it, I was at the pier. To my surprise, I paused uncertain if I wanted to take the last step across the threshold. I strengthened my resolve and moved into the crowd.
“She’s here! She’s here! Did she bring it?” The voices and whispers surrounded me.
I whipped the wrapping from the container. The elixir bubbled and glowed. The last moments would prolong ours. For at least another year.
Word Count: 244
Written: 2/28/17