Spooktoberfest 2014 Genesis's "Home By The Sea"

Hello! Happy Saturday!

I decided to do the Cover Girls' Spooktoberfest this year! We have to create a 300-word flash fiction and use the five words below. If I did it right, you will also see the LinkyTool for the other participants, and for you to join if you want! There is still time! The winner will be revealed on Halloween (insert creepy ghost noise).
chill
cocoon
commotion
curse
virus

A lone tree hung over the beach house, one big cocoon of spider webs instead of leaves. I hesitated, but winter was unofficially here, and I could bear the chill no longer.

The front door had no knob and swung open when I knocked. I stepped inside and called out. No one answered. The rising sun ate away at the darkness like a heavenly virus, and I only realized I was nervous once my muscles relaxed. The house was coated and stale with dust. I walked further inside, entered a parlor with mildewed furniture: a sofa, two chairs, a coffee table. On one wall, a bar with six stools, a piano on the other. I imagined high society drinking here and chatting about the stocks, and at the thought, such a commotion arose that I whipped around.

Tens of people stood behind me and in the corridor, talking and drinking. The sun’s rays revealed decayed flesh and tattered garments I only saw when I wasn’t directly looking at them. That alone should have paralyzed me, but their shadows on the wall, clawing and crying for a way out while their oblivious bodies laughed and carried on did the trick best. They turned to look at me with pale, dead eyes, and I knew there was a curse on this place.

“Welcome to the home by the sea.”

I turned again. Three ladies on the sofa, men in the chairs and on the stools looked back at me. A woman at the piano played a tune I’d never heard but would hear again. It was the bartender who had spoken to me. In the mirror, his shadow screamed at me to run away.

They all said to me in one dreadful moan, “Sit down. Listen to our stories.”

Friday Freeday: First 250

Halloo!

This is my first week as a 30-year-old. I feel no different. lol Maybe it will kick in 6 months from now.

Last week on a whim, I entered The Crystal Bearer into Miss Snark's First Victim's July Secret Agent Contest. It only involves the first 250 of your manuscript. It had been in my head to incorporate Ghuli's watchmen more in the first 250, and I even thought about starting with them instead of Ghuli. Commentors have liked the fun glimpse of Ghuli so far, but they've confirmed my thoughts and want to see more of the watchmen to know who they are, so I have actually added them into the first 250. I don't know how popular scene cuts are in the first 250, but maybe it's effective?

Here is the old 250:

If things went how Ghuli desired, she would swing through the air in the next few minutes. Otherwise, she would have to explain to her watchmen why breaking her arms and legs was a good use of her time. She sat on a high, steady, blue willow tree branch deep in the forest, tying a cluster of its switches together as the sun heated her skin.

She only had a few minutes left before Cyan found her, so she clutched the ridged bark as she stood, then pressed her long, brown feet down against the branch. She stretched her arms out in front of her, the tied switches dangling just an inch below. Ghuli held her breath, stepped down onto them with her right foot, closed her eyes, and stepped with her left. She fell through the air for two seconds before the switches jerked tight beneath her feet, eliciting screams and laughter from her as she moved through the veil of blue switches. She swung upwards until she stared up at the wraps bound around her feet, the hem of her un-dyed woolen skirt sucked against her shins. Then, she fell back through the same switches, grasping her makeshift swing as it scooped her up in the other direction. Her black curls shielded her eyes and mouth as her body lay suspended in the air for another long second before she swung forward again.

After minutes of swinging, she locked eyes with her First Lieutenant Watchman as she fell forward.
The new 250:

If things went how Ghuli desired, she would swing through the air in the next few minutes. Otherwise, she would have to explain to her watchmen why breaking her arms and legs was a good use of her time. She sat on a high, steady, blue willow tree branch deep in the forest, tying a cluster of its switches together, glancing down at the ground every now and then.

Cyan would find her soon, so she clutched the bark as she stood. Though the ground seemed even farther below her now, she stretched her arms out in front of her, the makeshift swing dangling at her toes. Ghuli stepped onto the swing with one foot, closed her eyes, and stepped with the other. Her breath caught as she fell through the air.

#

“I don’t hear her anymore,” Cyan murmured. He stood at the opening of the Forest of Weeping Willows, staring down the black sand path of the Eastern Road.

His Second Lieutenant, Laris, joined him. “She may have wandered a little.”

“She was supposed to stay on the road,” Cyan said, aggravation creeping into his voice.

“You know the Princess, my brother.”

Cyan huffed and walked into the forest, leaving the road for the western trees. He did know Ghuli all too well. With the Island Continent so far west, Ghuli liked to sit among the trees as the setting sun warmed the forest. He probably would have enjoyed the sunset himself, if Ghuli had obeyed him for once.

I MADE ROUND 1!!!!!

If you don't follow me on Twitter, you've missed my screaming for the past half hour or so, but I MADE ROUND 1 OF QUERY KOMBAT!!!!

I'm on Team SC!

Because you follow me here, you know the struggle I've had with The Crystal Bearer, formerly known as Save the Queen (a title I will always treasure), especially with querying and submitting to publishers. The changes I've made this year to the story, and the changes I've made in myself to boost my confidence this year...I didn't start this sentence right, but all I wanted was to MAKE THE CONTEST. Even if I don't make Round 2, I made it to Round 1, and that lets me know I am on the right track. I'm finally doing something right and getting somewhere with Ghuli. 10 years. 10 years. We're getting there, Ghuli.

I have to do something else for a while, because I keep trying to get misty.

Have a good weekend, guys! :-D

Friday Freeday

A very happy Friday to you all!

If you're a Twitter and a blogger, you're probably aware that Query Kombat is back. I haven't been on my writing-Twitter this much since...EVER! But I'm meeting and following new people and being social, which is always a step in the human direction.

I've thrown my baby into the ring yet again, and while it's hard to be completely confident when you're up against so many people, I have a good feeling about this year. :)

I also opened up a few of my WIPs to see what they were up to (as if they could write themselves), and I hope to touch at least one of them within the week. It's hard when the scenes aren't coming to me in order, but I've been doing well with making myself write those. The next step will be writing the scenes that make me uncomfortable, not because they don't belong, but because of strong emotions or moments that need to get put down on the...word document (I was going to say paper).

So I will keep you all posted on those, and I hope you have a great holiday weekend!

Pitch Wars Mentee Bio

Good evening!

It's 10:34 as I start this, and it might have been 24 hours ago where I learned there was a contest preparing to open up for application! This is what I get for walking too far away from that rock I live under for too long. I almost missed it!

Pitch Wars (which I remember seeing last year) might be one of the biggest agent contests for burgeoning published authors. At midnight this morning, the Mentor Round began, where writers got to choose up to 4 mentors seeking their genre to help them polish their manuscript. Each mentor posted bios which included what they were looking for in a manuscript. Hence, the mentees decided to do the same thing (and I like the word mentee lol).

Also, a big thank you to Brenda Drake for hosting Pitch Wars!

So a little about me, shall we?

I'm a middle child of 3 girls, am a textbook Cancerian, and am a lefty.

I started writing when I was 7 and wanted to write stories like the "superhero action drama" X-men on TV.

I actually wanted to write horror stories but ran out of ideas early. Now, I try to stick closer to fantasy and superhero action dramas. lol (If you're wondering why I say superhero action drama, it's how the TV Rating system explained why they rated X-men. I don't even remember the rating anymore, just the reasoning.)

I love turtles. Ninja or normal.

I love babies but have very little tolerance for children...try to figure that out.

I love Final Fantasy games. I've played FFX three times.

I transferred colleges twice: University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Florida State, and Temple University. I have a BA in English.

I try not to use prepositions at the end of sentences (like I did way up at the top), but I don't like to sound too formal all the time. lol

I go to bed early according to my sister & cousin. I'm going to bed now. lol It's 10:54.

Query for #PitMad

Guten morgen!

So those of you in the Twitter-Writer-know are aware of Pitch Madness happening until 8pm today. You get to pitch your story in 140 (including the genre and category help), and a PARTICIPATING agent just may favorite your tweet, which is generally a request for more (it may vary).

Since I decided to throw my hat in the ring and saw that some agents come to the blogs to look at more, I thought it would be wise to post my query which I worked on live a few weeks back! So: SAVE THE QUEEN!

***

As far as Ghuli knows, she is the sole heir to the throne of a race massacred by the metal army the world calls the Contagion. She will learn her home was destroyed once before.

 Raised by a team of handmaids and watchmen who keep her from the army’s reach, Ghuli grows up swinging from willow trees and learning fairytales from lands near and far, but the ever present Contagion scours the world, destroys villages, and kills thousands searching for her. Sometimes it finds her. Forced to flee for safety, Ghuli tries to dream of the fairytales that once soothed her to sleep. She dreams instead of dark places and abandoned castles, of ghosts and worlds she’s never seen.

 At least, she doesn’t remember seeing them. She meets a wraith who controls the Contagion and seeks to punish Ghuli for betraying her in a time Ghuli can’t recall. She runs from this new threat and into her consciousness, lurching through time to help protect her body until she can reach a relic hidden among a land forgotten by most. The relic will not only mend Ghuli but show her what it was that destroyed her home the first time around. Once made whole, Ghuli can stop the wraith before the Contagion leaves nowhere else for her to hide.

SAVE THE QUEEN is a YA fantasy complete at 102,000 words.

Winning!

hahaha

Anyway, while I have a TON of blog entries to read (I don't know how they're piling up!), I have actually won two contests in which I've won books and swag! :o

The first is from an old friend of mine, Christian Wynn, who self-published The Holiday Hotel (Jack Taylor Cases, vol 1.) this past April. Here is the blurb from Amazon.com:

Jack Taylor and his mother are still struggling to settle into their new lives without Jack’s father as they journey to his hometown for the holidays. Jack’s mother is clinging desperately to happy memories, but she doesn’t seem to remember that she’s repeating the same day over and over. The same bizarre repeating day brings Jack to a small town, where he finds an unexpected ally in an aspiring investigative journalist who has had a few strange days of her own.

Their investigation leads them to the Holiday Hotel, and the two young people discover that the imaginary characters from their favorite stories are more realistic than they ever could have guessed. In this wondrous hotel for vacationing holiday spirits, Jack finds himself caught up in an otherworldly mystery that threatens to destroy his world along with theirs. With the help of his new partner, an alluring fortune teller, and a few benevolent spirits, Jack uses his crackerjack detective skills to help him solve his first case and come closer to unraveling a deep family secret of his own.

I'm very excited to read this, first because I didn't know Christian wrote a book (I lost touch with a lot of people when I bounced around colleges)! Second, the fantastical element is really cool, seemingly a play on the Ghosts of Christmas, but the Spirits of Mother's Day and Father's Day. I won the book and some posters! No idea what I'll do with the posters, but they're cool to have. hehe

It's available in ebook and hard copy at this Amazon Search result page.

And this week, I won some swag from my AQC friend Terri Bruce, who just released her book Hereafter! I can't wait to buy the book (though I have to lol). For commenting on a blog during her Virtual Tour, I won 2 postcards, 2 bookmarks, and 2 "afterlife" related note cards with matching envelopes.

Hearing the first chapter read by E.F. Jace at Verbose Veracity, I knew I needed this book! The picture was painted so well, and I just can't wait to see how Irene grows up, now that she's dead and all...Here's the blurb. ;)

And the link to the ebook, but there are hard copies, too.

Thirty-six-year-old Irene Dunphy didn't plan on dying any time soon, but that’s exactly what happens when she makes the mistake of getting behind the wheel after a night bar-hopping with friends. She finds herself stranded on earth as a ghost, where the food has no taste, the alcohol doesn’t get you drunk, and the sex...well, let’s just say “don’t bother.” To make matters worse, the only person who can see her—courtesy of a book he found in his school library—is a fourteen-year-old boy genius obsessed with the afterlife.

This sounds suspiciously like hell to Irene, so she prepares to strike out for the Great Beyond. The only problem is that, while this side has exorcism, ghost repellents, and soul devouring demons, the other side has three-headed hell hounds, final judgment, and eternal torment. If only there was a third option...

I just realized that both of these books have fantastical/supernatural elements to them, and that's so neat! I don't think I've read a good "ghost story" in while. My last may have been Christopher Pike's Remember Me, back when I was 12? Sheesh!

Thanks, Chris and Terri! I can't wait to dive into your books. =D

What If? Blogfest

So, man, am I a late entry!

I'm almost sure I was following Cassie Mae's blog, but if so, that means I haven't looked at my blogger for a good two months. That also means I just saw there is a contest happening this week! -_-

It is the What If? Blogfest, and the rules are as follows:

Think of your favorite "well known" fairytale and ask "What If…!"

Then, pick one of these four categories:
· Best Plot Twist
· Best Love Story
· Best Tragedy
· Best Comic Relief
Finally, write a scene(s) illustrating a new detail of the fabled fairytale that changes our perspective. 300 words MAX.

I love a good tragedy, so I decided to go for Team Tragedy!

Hopefully I have time to go read some of the other bloggers' entries, because LG Keltner's was really good! I started following LG from the last blogfest I followed. :D

And here is my entry!
----------------------------------------

 Thus With A Kiss...

This wasn’t happening.

The kind old lady had told him exactly what to do to wake Snow: find her, confess your love for her, then kiss her. Well, he had found her, told her he loved her, and kissed her, so why was she still asleep? Why wasn’t she stirring?

Charming’s stomach cramped, as though his breakfast had been sour and he hadn’t noticed. The air chilled his suddenly hot skin and made his head swim. The dwarves watching and waiting for their fair maiden to awaken all looked at him. They dried their eyes long enough to realize something was terribly wrong.

Snow had been asleep for weeks. The poison should have worn off by now, right? It couldn’t have still been on her lips. It just wasn’t possible.

Still, Charming’s next steps were his last. His legs grew numb and buckled beneath him. His head hit the mossy ground with a soft smack, and he looked at the frosted leaves above him, the white-gray sky, the dwarves’ faces once they ran to his side. Doc raced away to get his bag, and Happy started to cry all over again.

As his breath quickened and his heart slowed, Charming whispered, “Snow.”

His eyes closed, and just before he died, he thought he heard her sweet voice say, “Charming?”

Totally About to Cheat (Versatile Blogger Award pt. 1.5)

Well, not really, but...

Okay, so I'm pretty sure everyone I follow has had the Versatile Blogger award because most of the people I follow right now are in the Agent Query Connect circle, so they've nominated each other as one of the ten already.

BUT there was a bloghop contest (you know, the one I mentioned in my last post Hookers & Hangers) that had NINETY-FIVE entrants! What are the odds that all of them have been nominated?!

Pretty good, probably, but it at least gives me a chance to look at others' blogs, too, even though I'm lousy at keeping up with even the ones I follow now! Still, ten of those peeps are about to be given the Versatile Blogger award once I go through their hookers and hangers. And I might even follow them, too. hehe

Hookers & Hangers

That's a great title. lol

Falling 4 Fiction had this great bloghop contest where you post the first sentence from some of your chapters on one day, then the last from some of your chapters on another. I didn't do the contest, but I thought it would be cool to see what some of my openers and enders were, and if they were intriguing or not. SO, here are some from Save the Queen. And, yeah, some aren't just one sentence. lol

Hookers:

Ghuli awoke thinking she would be wandering aimlessly, undead with no one to pass her on to T’orre’s Energy, but she had survived.

Andyrsn came down the stairs, glanced over at his fellow watchmen and the temple scholar unconscious beneath multiple layers of dust, plaster and wood, and stopped walking. (Long doggone sentence.)

Ghuli awoke to the distant voice of the temple scholar calling for his sister. Brodie shifted beside her, sighed as she climbed out of bed, and left to answer him. (That sounds extra scandalous out of context!)

Andyrsn now had someone who was willing to play cards with him. (Hurray for Andyrsn!)

The Southern Continent of the Contagion: an ominous world none dared to touch.

Across the inhabited continents, those with the cursed eye hadn’t moved or made a sound since their fall.

Hangers:

He started back down the stairs with a warm smile on his face. (That, too, sounds scandalous out of context.)

Ghuli needed answers. She knew they must find the Great Scroll. Her life, more than this journey, now depended on it.

She looked up when she realized someone else was there, and her eyes widened when they focused on Andyrsn. Before he could do or say anything, she disappeared.

Cyan tried to move his mouth to identify the soldiers, but the one over him gently pushed his eyes closed.

They had to overcome on their own, surpass their fathers and survive all that would come their way. Ghuli’s life depended on them.

Ghuli closed her eyes, felt as though the wall was moving away, and she put both hands on it to go wherever it would lead her.

Conclusion: I should probably change one of those lines that ends with Ghuli's life depending on something even though they're in two separate books of the whole novel...and the ones that begin with Ghuli waking up, even though one was from unconsciousness and the other from sleep...

We shall see how that turns out. :)