Fiction Friday: [Full of Facts]

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For the first time since the birth of this blog, there will not be any fiction in this week’s Fiction Friday. Not wanting to leave you empty handed, I now present to you…Fact-Filled Friday:

Fact 1: I participated in CampNaNoWriMo this month and…I won! Yay! I left the preset goal of 50,000 words and at 2:30am on July 30th, I’d reached 50,293. Then, I got this:

Fact 2: Despite committing to write a ridiculous amount of words in a ridiculous amount of time, I left New York City to attend a gorgeous wedding (congrats Lauren & Franklin!) in a gorgeous town (Healdsburg, CA). This is definitely not NYC:

Fact 3: I’ve heard back from all of the Beta Readers except for one. The nervousness I had sending my baby—I mean my book—out into the world has been replaced with an overwhelming sense of pride. Not only was the feedback more positive than I’d prepared myself for—because, of course, I’d armored up—but the readers proved to be smart and insightful with their critiques. I’m really excited about jumping back into the book and doing some tweaking. If you guys are reading this: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Fact 4: Today is the first day of the Writer’s Digest Conference here in NYC! I am super excited…and nervous. It will be my first writerly step on the road to becoming a published author—aside from writing and editing the book, of course. Nerves or not, I’m ready. Armed with notebook and pen I’ll be diving in head first and wading through the amazing sessions they have lined up. Also, I'll be participating in Pitch Slam which is basically speed dating, but with agents and editors. Stay tuned for posts of what I hope to be an awesome experience at the three day conference. Please wish me luck!

Fact 5: Next week, we will return to our regularly scheduled program…

Moxie Monday: Do

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Fiction Friday: [Hanging On]

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The squeak of the metal bed frame should have driven Nia crazy, but it didn’t. She’d missed the sound. She smiled as she watched Devin shrug his shoulders to his ears and splay his arms and legs outward forming an X with each jump.

“You better hope mom doesn’t catch you,” she said every couple of minutes, as it was her big sisterly duty.

Devin loved it, giggling more and more with every warning. Jumping on the bed was his favorite activity. Especially since learning he wasn’t allowed to.

“Look at how high I can go,” he squealed.

“Yeah, I see,” she said. “You’re way up there…like Superman.”

His smile performed the impossible task of spreading even wider and Nia took a mental picture of the moment before it was too late. A mental shrine to his infectious joy. A shrine to a time before their mother cried nonstop. Before their father left. Before the guilt defined her and ate away at everything she was before that day.

Devin was still bouncing, but the squeaking had stopped. Next, she knew, his giggles would fade. And then, not soon after, Devin would follow.

The moment would be over and she would cry from the sudden emptiness. His absence creating a hole that bore into her. It was a pain that seared at her flesh and ripped at her heart. That shuddered her breaths and knotted her stomach.

To her it wasn’t enough. To her, she deserved more. It was a dangerous feeling and it never failed to scare her. But then she would remember how leaving him alone for only a minute created a painful void in their lives…she did that.

And now, all she could do was hang on, waiting for the moment when the metal frame squeaked once again and Devin’s giggles tamped down the guilt, if only for a moment.

Moxie Monday: Earn It

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Fiction Friday: [Awake]

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I woke up this morning, but no one else did.

The first hour was the toughest because, despite the rise and fall of their chests, I worried that my family was dead. No matter how hard I shook them or screamed their names, neither my parents nor my little brother would wake. I held my mom’s hand and cried for a while.

After gathering some courage, I sprinted downstairs and right out the front door. Running into the middle of the street, I stretched my neck and strained my ears for signs of anyone…anything. I cracked the silence as I ran, screaming at the top of my lungs.

“Hello? Is anyone out here? Anyone?”

All that greeted me was a disheartening vacuum of nothingness. There weren’t even birds singing or leaves rustling. Even the wind had left me all alone.

My voice grew hoarse and I was blocks away from home, barefoot and in my pajamas. I needed to get back. I plodded toward home, dreading the emptiness that would meet me there.

Reaching my block, I stopped mid-stride. It had been faint, but I was sure I’d heard it. It was a struggle to hear anything over the rhythmic pulsing in my ears, but after a moment I convinced myself that it had just been my imagination and continued on.

Just as I was shutting the door, I heard it again. Echoey and distant, it gently pierced its way through the silence. I raced back out into the street, turning in circles, eager to find whoever it was. Then, I heard it again, much clearer this time.

Icy fingers of fear crept up my spine. I grew weak from the excitement draining so quickly and dizzy under the weight of what I’d heard.

My own voice.

“Hello? Is anyone out here? Anyone?”

Moxie Monday: One More Time

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Fiction Friday: [Up From The Shallows]

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[This week's Fiction Friday was my submission for Scene Stealers #24. Scene Stealers is a fun writing prompt from Write to Done. For this prompt, we had to use the sentence they provided to open the story (as written) and it couldn't be longer than 350 words. Click the link above if you want to give it a try. In the meantime...enjoy!]

 

She settled herself in the shallow water and looked at him, waiting to be amazed.

It was a gorgeous day. A day rife with possibilities. But, he’d never been one to seek out the possible. No, he’d always been content to sit safely by as the rest of the world took chances around him. Staring at the sand sparkling around his firmly planted feet, she wondered if he would ever aspire to anything greater than just existing.

She turned her attention to the water and marveled at how the sun danced along the ocean’s peaks. She inhaled the salty air and lavished under the sun’s kisses. She wished for him to truly see how beautiful it all was. 

From the corner of her eye, he came into view as he took one tentative step followed by another.  She held her breath when he paused, his toes touching the craggy edge of the darkened sand where the ocean had met the earth. His toes seemed to dance in rhythm with her heartbeat before disappearing under the frothy edges of the crystal blue water crashing into the beach.  

The sound of the surf faded under his giggles and the sun seemed to dim in comparison to the sparkle in his eyes.

“I did it, mommy! I did it!”

The calls of the seagulls circling above were no match for his squeals of delight. The rays of the sun no match for the heat of pride swelling in her bosom. 

Today was a gorgeous day. It was a day rife with possibilities.

Moxie Monday: And Never Too Late To Try

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