Mid-week and #writemotivation

This post is coming a bit late this week.  I know.  Bad kitty!  No catnip for you!  Ahem  Not so much as busy, just being tired and under the weather thanks to the heat and construction on my normal route to and from work.  It enough t make someone peeved and exhausted.

Not fun.

Work has been woefully slow.  So slow, I was actually able to spend the time required going over the end of month pulls on my section of the medicine shelves and finish it with about an hour to spare before going home.  That is slow because there are a lot of medications that need to have their expiration dates checked and to make sure the return-to-stock bottles are properly labeled.

As of yesterday, I am on a diet of sorts.  More like a better selection for my meals instead of the basic and cheap choices I usually have. Why you may ask?  I got the results of the blood work that they did last week.  Not the best, but better than I expected.  They checked cholesterol, A1-C (diabetes) and kidney problems.

First off, cholesterol is elevated.  Not by a lot, but enough I need to make changes now.  I have to cut down on the white rice, breads, pasta, and greasy foods.  This also includes potatoes, which I adore in all forms.  I have to add in more whole grains and green vegetables.  Naturally, fruit will be added.  I won’t have to cut out popcorn, just not have as much and with less butter.  Really, not huge changes, but it’ll still cost in the long run.  Dave needs to do the same.  On the 23rd, I’ll find out if I have to add another medication to my short list.

The A1-C levels showed me as being pre-diabetic.  This is no surprise to me and I have been working on this.  The recent changes will help out a lot with that, too.  At least I’m not fully diabetic.  We’ll see what the doc wants to do when I go in for my physical in two weeks.

Kidney function is perfectly normal.  They better be working fine.  I drink nothing but water at work.  I go through two 32oz cups of plain water each day.  Once in a while, I’ll have coffee, but only at the beginning of the shift.  Afternoons are water.

To help all of this, I have added a quarter mile walk to my daily routine.  I kind of needed to do it anyway.  Colin has to get to school somehow,  I walk with him down to the sidewalk then watch him until he’s crossed the street before walking to my car and going to work.  My bad knee isn’t liking this but the movement will help until it finally does break down fully.

Not too bad.

Now, for my goals this month.

1. Work on chapters 1 through 3 of Society of Night and Lies. Make them shine with more show and a bit less tell.

I’m finally bucking down and working on these.  Chapter 1 revisions was done last night.  There were some actual changes made in places to make the story seem more real.  I’m pleased with them, now they need to be refined and polished.  Chapter 2 will be tackled tonight.

2. If there’s time, write two more chapters to Black Friday 2.

No time to write any on this one.  Since it was one that didn’t have to be done, it won’t count against me… much.

3. Read. Doesn’t matter which author or genre, just read.

I haven’t been reading too much.  But, I knew it would be a slow reading month for me with school starting.  Next month should be better.

So… not the best but not bad, either.  Next month, I’ll be tackling these with more gusto!

How about you guys?  Having any success with your monthly goals?

Sunday Excerpt #amwriting #fiction

Sunday again!  It hasn’t been a very busy week, but it has been one plagued with appointments everyone in my house.  Not to mention this was the first week of school.

Today’s excerpt picks up where last week’s left off.  It’s here that we see just what Sabrina, aka Gabriela, will do to protect her friends.  You also get to meet her nemesis, Dean, the cowardly wolf who would just love to get his paws on Sabrina’s neck.

 “Well, well, well, ladies, what do we have here?” The growl of the wolf behind them was followed by the click of a revolver as the hammer was cocked.

Both whirled around to face the wolf simultaneously, their rain coats flaring out to swirl about their arms and legs as each drew their own weapon. Daggers sprang to their hands as they whipped the edges of their cloaks aside and prepared to attack the unwelcome wolf. Both cat and mink narrowed their eyes as they gazed upon their enemy, but only the Gabriela’s eyes were ablaze with the barely contained anger she felt for this wolf alone.

“Dean…” hissed Gabriela as she adjusted the hold of her dagger and slid one foot behind the other, “I should have known you would come looking for us.”  Her ears flattened against her wet hair as she bared her teeth at him.

“Now, why wouldn’t I, Bree? You are our father’s favorite, regardless of what you’ve done in the past. I’m just making sure you did go through with killing the Foxworth boy like he wanted.” Dean’s statement was cool and haughty of  as he gave both women with an appraising look then smiled darkly; mostly at Gabriela.

“Go away, wolf. You not needed, or wanted here.” Mindy’s replied as she sniffed at him disdainfully. “Comrade Gabriela and I can take care of business without you watching.”

The wolf scoffed at the both of them then brandished his revolver before taking aim at the cat and smirking, “I’m not so easily fooled, dyke. I suggest you back down before you end up being a target for my new little toy here. Bree might get mad if y…”

Before the wolf could finish, a black booted foot swung up to knock the gun from Dean’s hand, then, after completing the spin, Gabriela leapt at him with her claws extended. The clatter of the revolver skittering across the ground to rest in the shadows was drowned out by the feral growl Gabriela made as she lunged at the wolf.  Her hands went around his throat, intent on strangling him.  Gabriela snarled, “Don’t ever threaten my friends again, wolf. I’ll take your life as easily as I did the others before I left.”

Here was her one chance to take her revenge.  She knew Dean was behind the deaths of her suitors.  He was the source of much of her torment before she decided to leave the Claw and Fang.  All she needed to do was tighten her fingers to crush his throat and finally have some peace in her life.

Dean struggled until those slender fingers started constricting his airflow then laid still. He still glared at the feline pinning him down; pinning his ears back against his skull. The threat made against his life, he fully believed, but his hatred of this particular cat was buried that fear deep inside where it wouldn’t bother him. 

Gabriela hesitated for a second, her eyes hardening as harsher truth pushed aside her desire to rid herself  of Dean’s presence permanently. If she killed him, then there would be no place she could hide.  There would be others who would come for her and her husband.  No amount of running would give her a safe place because the Claw and Fang were everywhere.

In that brief second, Dean brought his feet up and kicked Gabriela off of him, knocking the air out of her lungs and stunning her momentarily. His gun was out of sight beneath the shadowed overhang, well out of his reach. As he wisely started to back away from the aggressive women, he darted his eyes here and there to try to find the revolver. No chance was given for him to look before the Mindy suddenly lunged with her dagger poised to slash across his gut if he didn’t move faster.

With his tail tucked between his legs, Dean ran off.  Just before he rounded the corner onto the street, he brandished his fist at the two women.  ”Don’t think you’ve gotten rid me, Gabriela.  I’ll make sure you’ll pay!”

Sunday Excerpt #amwriting #fiction

For the time being, things have cooled off here in Oklahoma.  For the last several days, we’ve had rain, the real stuff that comes down in sheets with a bit of thunder.  It has been the kind of rain that slows down business and makes stupid people even more stupid because they have no idea what a wet surface is like.  You know the ones I’m talking about.

Today’s excerpt comes from my novel in progress, Society of Night and Lies: The Past Through Shadows (name changer pending).  This one is in the middle of being revised and edited so what you see here may not be what will show up on book shelves later.  One can never tell.  We pick up in chapter Six where Sabrina, also known as Gabriela, and her friend Mindy are keeping watch for Jason to come out of a warehouse so they can follow him to his hiding place and make sure no one else of the Society notices that he isn’t really dead.

 Dark sullen clouds covered the sky and rain fell steadily, giving everything that the few streetlights illuminated a glossy shine. Even the brave few that wandered the streets at this late hour seemed to take their time as they went from vehicle to building, or vice versa. The rain always seemed to slow things down, allowing the world a slow motion view of all that happens so that anyone can stop and think back on things they’d rather not think about at all.

 Hiding beneath an overhang in an alley, a pair of cloaked figures kept watch on a single vehicle, an old motorcycle belonging to a silver fox by the name of Jason Foxworth. Both had been there for several hours, before it started raining, watching the warehouse for the fox’s arrival. Now, that he was there, they just needed to wait for him to leave before either could spring into action. Waiting is all they have done since well before sunset.

 ‘Geeze, how I hate the rain. I hate standing in it, and watching it…’ thought Sabrina while she kept her eyes glued on the door across the street from where she hid. Out loud, she said, “Mindy, we have got to find a better place to stake out this warehouse than this. I don’t mind getting wet, but I can’t stand being soaked like this. Not to mention, it is fucking cold.”

 “Da, is very cold, friend Gabriela, but rain is not so bad. You just tired from waiting so long.” Mindy pushed back her hood to reveal a kind furred face then smiled big, showing a pearly white row of teeth.

 Before Gabriela could answer, a deluge of water fell on her, soaking her even more through the dark gray cloak so that even her clothing and fur were just as wet. Sputtering, she huddled against the side of the building where it was the driest and shoved the hood back so she could shake the excess water out of her hair and facial fur. Black fur seemed to almost sparkle from the droplets clinging to each end in the dim light cast by the nearest street light, but her eyes appeared dark in spite of the green shine of reflected light.

 Giggling, Mindy helped her wet feline friend though the attempt just wasn’t worth the effort. The humor of the moment escaped Gabriela, for like her friend said, she was tired of waiting in this dreary weather all for the sake of a single fox. With ears laid back, she glared at the tall mink then resumed watching the warehouse door while drying off as much as she could.

 Mindy was far too aware of her friend’s foul mood and stepped back to also watch the same door. While they both kept watch, another snuck up behind them in the darkness, just as dark and mysterious as they, but with a far more sinister task to finish. Silence was the shroud the stranger wore as he crept silently among the scattered crates and debris of the alley.

Monday Report #writemotivation

Here it is, another Monday (Boo!) and time to tell everyone how good, or bad, I have been with my writing goals for the month.  All I can say is… I’ll tell you later.

It has been a rollercoaster of a week for me.  Busy at work which makes tired to think about writing at home.  I found a few more old Nano stories and started reading them just to see where I was in them.  On top of all of that, I was tending to the new kitten (Yay!) we got to make sure my tomcat doesn’t hurt her while they wrestle and get to know one another.

Between those two, I believe we made a record in the amount of time it took two cats to settle in and be sociable with one another.  Before the second day was done, Caffeine was more interested in trying to let her know he was the top cat; which she immediately corrected him much to his dismay.  He shrugged that off and soon found curled up in the kitty cube sleeping with her on the third day.  Ever since, both have been nestling on the bed with me at night to sleep; usually with Hylie (the kitten) snuggled up tight against my knees while Caffeine curls up in his divot by my feet.

Saturday, there was a #writemotivation meet up which was fun.  It was also inspirational as well.  On the way up to Wichita, we were talking about the book Fifty Shades of Gray and why it was receiving as much ridicule as the Twilight books.  There was plenty of good reasons given and some examples the others have found.  None of those I will go into here.

The inspiration I got for this year’s NaNo novel came from those reasons.  It will be a funny take on the scary movie/thrill genre which will give me some experience in that genre.  Imagine if you will a short, anthropomorphic, demonic duck.  His minions are the tall, brawny ostriches who literally have their heads in the sand.  These minions will be in varying degrees of stupid which will be where a lot of the comic relief in the action will come from and the ‘leader’ will have most of the one-liners.  Such this one: ‘Leave me alone, I’m brooding.’  either the demonic duck or his ‘wife’ will say that while sitting on a nest or chair while reading plans for the next conquest.

The bad guys can’t go around unchecked, of course, so on the spur of the moment, we came up with a flamingo.  A flamboyant flamingo who uses a rapier and dances and is already named, Flamenco… as in the dance, which he also does.

There’s two months to go to come up with the situations and comments for this book.  I want people to laugh all the way through this book and feel sorry for the poor bad duck.  That’s plenty of time… or not.

On to the goals!!

1. Work on chapters 1 through 3 of Society of Night and Lies. Make them shine with more show and a bit less tell.

I’ll give you three guesses.  The first two don’t count.  Abso-f***ing nothing!  Nada!  Zilch!  Not a thing done!  I have looked through and found places to start but I haven’t touched it at all since setting it up on Google Docs so my friend can help out.

2. If there’s time, write two more chapters to Black Friday 2.

Since nothing was done to one, nothing has been done with two.

3. Read. Doesn’t matter which author or genre, just read.

Don’t be surprised if this is the only goal I meet this month.  I’m still slogging through the Apprentice Adept series.  I‘m finally on the last book in the series, Phaze Doubt.  It’s slow going because I have never read this one before.  Next, I’ll be reading Scene and Structure and Michelle Pierce’s beta The Sorcerer’s Blade.  Both deserve my full and undivided attention.

That’s it from me.  How’s everyone else doing?

Sunday Excerpt #amwriting #fiction #fantasy

This excerpt comes from a crossover that I should be shot for making, but, it has garnered plenty of welcome attention on the one forum it was posted.  This one was written during NaNo when another story I was working on finished a few thousand words too soon.  This story did well in getting me to the end and well over the 50K mark. It is almost complete as far as the first draft writing.   Already I have made some changes but only in a single character’s name.  Other’s will appear later when I decide to work on it more.

This excerpt has what I think is my best attempt at showing.  The main character, CloudBloom, is disoriented and trying to get to a place of safety before sie is knocked out the first time.  I wanted to get across what sie was feeling in that moment and those few thoughts before assistance arrived.

A flurry of activity buzzed around the sensitive ears of CloudBloom while she lay fighting for consciousness. Something had happened. Something terrible but she could not recall what it was. An alarm was sounding off, the monotone voice crackling and barely discernible though the source could not be more than a few feet away. She heard voices. Voices filled with worry and excitement of some kind.

Though right in front of her, sie saw people moving about, shadows with color radiating around them. Sie was hot and there wasn’t a cool breeze or water anywhere to cool her off. Arms and legs felt too weak move and yet, sie felt hirself moving. Scraping metal then excruciating pain shot through hir midsection before all went blank. Only heat, intense heat, could be felt through the blackness that engulfed hir body.

For what seemed an eternity, the heat stayed with hir. Deep into hir darkest dreams, the heat followed hir. There was nowhere sie could go to escape it. Then, suddenly, she felt the cool touch of a spring breeze brush across her face. Pain still followed hir, but it seemed more of a numb reminder that something was not right. Little by little, sie felt the cool air touch the rest of her body. Relief was washing over hir and calming the already tensed and alert muscles.

Briefly, hir eyes cleared, the darkness parted to give hir a view of an angelic face of white fur, intense blue eyes, and wavy hair that swirled about something in the middle of the forehead before sie finally passed out. Only a few voices could get through the ringing in her ears. Who they belonged to, sie did not know, but sie felt safe and secure as sie faded out and that singular voice speaking to hir.

“Hang in there, miss. You’ll be in good hands. Just hang on. Help is here.” Then, a little more faintly, “I have one over here! She’s barely alive. Over here, quickly!”

“They’re coming, miss. Miss?”

It could have been minutes, hours, or days since sie closed hir eyes before CloudBloom awoke in a room lit by the afternoon sun. All was quiet. Only a songbird was twittering outside the window. Not a single sound of machinery could be heard; the beep of a monitor, or even the soft buzz of electricity waiting to be put to use in something. It was almost deafening with how quiet it was to hir.

Slowly, sie opened hir eyes and saw the sunlight reflecting off the cream colored wall across from hir bed. Then pictures came into focus, followed by the movement of drapes shifting with the breeze coming in from a window a short distance from hir bed. Things were still out of focus, but the longer sie remained awake, the better everything looked.

Sie was alive, and for some reason, this felt like a very good thing. Memories flitted across hir mind. There were others with hir before hir world took a decided turn for the worse. Others like hirself and worlds recently visited. There was a mission they were doing. But, sie couldn’t remember if sie was with the military or an outing with a nature group. Things didn’t seem to want to come together with the jumble in hir head.

What mattered is that sie was awake, no longer in that nightmare where it seemed like sie was being burned alive. Being so awake, sie took a long, shuddering, deep breath and let it out with a sigh. The soft sound brought attention to hir that sie wasn’t expecting.

“Well, good morning! Or should I say good afternoon, miss.” The lightly accented voice came with a face covered with pale pink fur and a bright cheerful smile. “You had everyone worried for a while there. We thought we had lost you a few times.”

Introductory Post

Okay, this has been sitting around since it was accidentally created back in April during the Blogging from A-Z thing.  While that was fun, I could subscribe to the vast majority of the blogs I visited.  Now, I can.

I'll probably not write any original posts from here, but I will cross post anything I write on my WordPress.com account to this one.  So, the unlucky will see multiple posts of the same thing from me whenever I do write something.  All the rest will see what goes on here.

Comment as you want.  If something I say offends you, then don't read.  I write these for my own pleasure and to let the world know what is going on as far as my own writing.  This will be my one and only apology for anything that is offensive and anti-political.  Remember, these are my opinions on what I see and hear.

For now, I post two to three times a week.  Sundays I post excerpts from my own works.  Mondays are my #writemotivation posts showing how much or little I have done as far as my monthly goals.  At random, I'll post something to keep people up to date on what is going on or if I had an idea I want to share.  It could be anything, so keep watching.

Eventually, I will create pages and categories for my various books in progress and status of current published works.  Time and mental energy dictate what is done, so expect to see changes come at a very close rate.

Thank you for reading this introductory post and I hope you enjoy what comes along over time.

Oh, don't be afraid to comment.  I don't bite and I do appreciate the thoughts and views of the stuff I post for people to see.