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Marie at 1 Write Way

  • Squirrels: This Time It’s Personal (Part 11)

    September 10th, 2013

    Continued from Squirrels:  This Time It’s Personal (Part 10), a chain story event started at The Community Storyboard.

    ***

    Darlene’s head felt like someone had dropped a safe on it. She didn’t want to open her eyes, afraid of the pain and of what she might see. She could hear and smell the rodents that had thrown her into the back of the SUV. They were snickering and scraping and farting and belching off in some distant corner. She was in a chair and the pain in her wrists and ankles made clear that she was tied to it. And there was some disgusting cotton material stuffed in her mouth. She slowly turned her head toward the sounds and peeked through one eye.

    The light was dim, gray almost, maybe it was the pain in her head that made it difficult to see well. She could barely make out the blurry, furry figures off in a corner, around a table. She lifted her head some more, trying hard not to make a sound as a searing hot pain shot up through her neck. She must have been out for a long time.

    “Hey, the broad’s awake!” Darlene’s blood ran cold at the raspy voice of the one who had choked her. She could make out the pear-shaped figures as they got up from their chairs and started to move toward her, snickering and fondling their whiskers with their disgusting little hands. Darlene wanted to vomit, but with the rag in her mouth, no way could she give in.

    She smelled them long before they were close to her: stale beer, pistachios, and … and … corn. She tried to stare them down, to make them think she wasn’t afraid. But she was terrified. There were three of them, two rodents and a giant covered in hair. Sasquatch!

    The rodents circled her chair, walking around and poking her, giggling and laughing as they did. Sasquatch just stood in front of her, his beady red eyes peering out through the thick pelt of hair that covered his face.

    “I say we use her in the poker game … a strip poker game. The boss doesn’t need to know that we’ve had a little fun.” One of the goons leaned forward from behind her and Darlene could feel the tickle of his whiskers against her neck. She shivered with revulsion. If only she didn’t have that rag in her mouth, she would have spit at him.

    Suddenly she felt something cold and sharp against her throat. The goon leaned even closer, licked her ear and pulled her head back so she was looking at him upside down.

    “Now, pretty thing, we’re going to untie you and have you sit with us while we play our game. And you’re going to behave … unless you want your pretty throat cut!” Darlene winced as the knife ever so lightly cut into her skin. She blinked her eyes and the rodent gave her a big toothy grin. Christ, what an overbite he has, Darlene thought as the vermin released her hair and stepped back.

    “Don’t cut the ropes, Bob. Just untie them so we can tie her back up afterward. Remember, the boss can’t know!” The rodents laughed, the sound echoing off the metal walls of the warehouse, and Darlene saw them start fondling their nuts … she couldn’t tell if they were acorns or pistachios. Her heart started racing as she felt the ropes loosen on her wrists. The second rodent had knelt in front of her and was working on untying her ankles. She could see that he was also trying to look up her skirt. She was itching to kick him in the nuts, but knew she had to restraint herself. She was too weak. Her power was at its absolute minimum. But somehow she had to get away, or die trying. The Sasquatch just stood there, watching.

    Once she was unbound, she was hoisted to her feet. The rodents were grinning widely, their buckteeth so unclean they were almost phosphorescent in the dim light. The Sasquatch stepped forward and extended a huge hairy hand toward her blouse. Then a bright light flashed in front of her, a roaring boom echoed through the cavernous warehouse, and the Sasquatch exploded into hair and gore. Darlene fell to the ground as the rodents dropped her and ran for their guns. Just as quickly, she was picked up again and carried to the other side of the warehouse.

    She gazed up at the young man who was cradling her in his arms. He had silky dark hair, smoky blue eyes, and was totally buffed.

    “Are you OK?” He asked with such urgency that she almost laughed. Of course, she was OK as long as she was wrapped in his muscular arms. But he was all seriousness and he scowled like he was channeling Mel Gibson’s Hamlet.

    “Sam!”

    “Dean!” The young man apparently named Sam hugged her closer as he turned toward another rather handsome and more scruffy dirty blond dude coming toward them. The man apparently named Dean looked at Darlene and started to say something when Darlene screamed.

    While the two bros were all attentiveness to her, the remaining creepy rodents were slinking along the shadows, machine guns in their hands. The guns went off and Sam, Dean, and Darlene fell to the floor and slithered out of range of the gunfire. The air became more dense and dark as the goons shot up the boxes that were stacked all around them.

    “Dean, what should we do?”

    “I don’t know, Sam. I wish Cass was here.”

    Darlene nestled between the two very fit men, thinking how happy she could be if only they weren’t being fired on by rodents. And there might be a third guy? Hell, she thought, if she had to die, then at least she was in the company of some hot dudes.

    “Dean!”

    “What, Sammy?”

    “What do we do now?”

    “Hell if I know, Sam.”

    ***

    And hell if I know where this story is going to go ultimately. But, for now, it’s going to go to Belle at Ruminations & Observations!

    CSB-Logo-MarieAnn

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  • … the global HUG-FEST’s in full swing… come and feel the squeeze! …#TBSU…

    September 9th, 2013

    It’s the start of the HUG A BLOGGER/WRITER WEEK! Big hugs everybody :)

     

    Seumas Gallacher's avatarSeumas Gallacher

    …now just look what we’ve gone and done, Mabel… we send out the declaration of the start of the HUG A BLOGGER/WRITER WEEK and what happens?… we get more positive feedback than that bloke giving away free stink bombs at a political rally… sometimes, I know the rest of the WURLD thinks the legions of quill-scrapers are a bit of a weird lot… sort of emotionless killers on paper or laptop of untold thousands of plot victims… hermetic creatures burrowing away in their virtual candle-lit garrets… oblivious to the touchy-feely aspects of life that other mortals display… now the truth emerges… all yesterday afternoon and evening. I’ve been processing new names and friends to put on my Weekly Awards list and the Blog Scratchers Corner rota… most of them attracted by the magnet of a virtual HUG… so there it is, laid bare for all to see… we ARE

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  • Top Ten List of Things Not To Do When Traveling Through the Countryside of An Underdeveloped Country

    September 9th, 2013

    Here is the tenth installment of Ten Top Lists of What Not To Do by John W. Howell of Fiction Favorites at http://johnwhowell.com and Marie Ann Bailey of 1WriteWay at http://1writeway.com. These lists are simu-published on our blogs each Monday. We hope you enjoy.

    Quito, Ecuador Credit:  http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AVirgen_de_Quito.jpg

    Credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AVirgen_de_Quito.jpg

    Here is the tenth installment of Ten Top Lists of What Not To Do by John W. Howell of Fiction Favorites at http://johnwhowell.com and Marie Ann Bailey of 1WriteWay at http://1writeway.com. These lists are simu-published on our blogs each Monday. We hope you enjoy.

    10.  When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, do not forget to bring flip-flops or some such protection for your feet if you choose to stay at quaint inns.  Often you will find yourself in a long line of other travelers and locals waiting to use the single shower in the multi-story building.  Besides standing in other people’s wet dirt, you may also encounter microscopic critters that tend to linger along the tiled floors and are happy to ride your feet back to your country of origin.

    9.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, do not forget to practice squats several times a day to build up your quadriceps and to prepare you for the inevitable pit toilet located in the back yard of the local inn.  Do not assume that you will always have the advantage of something to hang onto while you try to find that happy balance of getting your bum directly over the pit without getting it directly into the pit.

    8.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, do not forget to carry at least two rolls of toilet paper on you.  One roll for the inevitable pit toilets that never have toilet paper anyway and the other roll for when you do manage to find a private toilet where you can spend the next several hours wishing you hadn’t drank that tap water even though you were outrageously thirsty at the time and nothing else was available.

    7.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, do not drink tap water (see #4).  You may drink anything that comes in a bottle which means you may be drinking a lot of beer, which leads us to the next item on the list.

    6.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, do not allow yourself to be over-served even if you are feeling only mildly inebriated at the time and you are dining on a full-course meal.  Chances are some amoebas are lingering on your plate (which was probably washed with tap water) or within the food and you may eventually find yourself in the predicament of trying to balance your bum over a pit toilet while simultaneously trying not to throw up on your flip-flops.

    5.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, do not expect that everyone will speak English and you will not have a need to know the local language.  For example, learn to ask “Where is the bathroom?”  If you’ve read this far into the list, then you know why you need to know this.

    4.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, do not take a room in a hotel or inn that is directly across from a church.  After a few days of church bell ringing to announce the time (6 AM, noon, 6 PM), funerals and weddings (often on the same day), you may wind up with a loss of hearing to rival Quasimodo.

    3.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, do not forget to also practice squats several times a day to prepare you for the strenuous hikes that you may encounter, especially on rainy days when the landscape becomes wet and muddy.  You do not want a team of local boys to have to push on your bum to get you up the steep hill that was supposedly a shortcut to the inn in which you’re staying.

    2.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, avoid spending the evening with a U.S. ex-pat who grows and smokes his own marijuana.  While it may seem safe at first, you run the risk of your host being a paranoid sonofabitch who may at any moment start ranting about the U.S. government and the CIA and the FBI and their collusion with the Peace Corps and you will suddenly be wishing that you could slip away during those few all-too-brief moments when your host is not staring at you with wide bloodshot eyes while sharpening his machete.

    1.   When traveling through the countryside of an underdeveloped country, beware of clear liquids served by young children at a roadside stand, especially at night.  Chances are they are not selling lemonade, but instead are selling “firewater.”  The upside is the firewater may kill all the amoebas that have taken up residence in your stomach.  The downside is you may become too quickly inebriated to appreciate it.

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  • September 8 Writing Prompt: The House (A Long Short Story)

    September 8th, 2013

    Here’s my contribution to this week’s writing prompt at The Community Storyboard. Be forewarned: it’s a story of bloody horror!

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  • Prompt for the Week of September 8, 2013 – Friday the 13th Horror!

    September 8th, 2013

    Come on, my fellow fans of Horror! Submit your response for this week’s writing prompt–Friday the 13th Horror–to the Community Storyboard!

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  • …have ye hugged a Blogger/Writer today?… ye know ye want to… #TBSU…

    September 8th, 2013

    Go on … Hug a blogger/writer today. It may just be what the struggling artist needs :)

    Seumas Gallacher's avatarSeumas Gallacher

    …by the awesome, omnipotent power vested in me (by myself) I hereby declare the start of the HUG A BLOGGER/WRITER WEEK... the WURLD can be changed one hug at a time… and who better to be on the end of one of yer Beargrabs than a poor, neglected quill-scraper?… one of those solitary, locked-up-for-eons-in-a-virtual-candle-lit-garret producers of penned or laptop-tapped masterpieces for the reading delight of the rest of humanity… what better way to manifest yer appreciation of the expended blood, sweat, tears, computer-batteries, snow-paque typing-error-eliminators, and piles of chocolate biscuits, coffee, tea, and the occasional stronger indulgence that gobbles up a scribbler’s budget?… if ye see one in the street ye’ll recognise them immediately… usually wearing dark glasses, as the daylight is not a common feature of their existence… sometimes muttering to themselves, which in truth is merely a gaggle of dialogue among the characters of their current WURK

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  • What’s the book about?

    September 8th, 2013

    Good argument for being able to describe your novel in a one sentence pitch.

    clareodea's avatarClare O'Dea

    Now there’s a question to get an aspiring writer sweating. Since I started writing in earnest and gradually educating myself about the world of writing, I’ve discovered there are lots of extremely important rules out there. I’m not talking about mere guidelines; I’m talking about make-or-break, tarnish-your-name-forever-should-you-break-them rules.

    Naturally it is understood that anybody exceptionally talented can disregard all the rules because the brilliance of their writing will override any other considerations but it is also understood that the newbies listening to the oracle dispensing the rules do not fall into that category of genius.

    Last November in the draughty bar of a Co Wicklow hotel with a British soap character giving birth at top volume on the television in the background, a friend of mine leaned across his third cup of tea and told me one of the most basic and sacred of rules of all. Figure out…

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  • 8 reasons why a Writer should join twitter. On the shortest day of the year a celebration of writing short

    September 7th, 2013

    Bridget Whelan offers great reasons for why a writer should join Twitter. It’s not just to promote your writing. Perhaps, more importantly, it’s to build community.

    bridget whelan's avatarBRIDGET WHELAN writer

    I know writers and readers who embrace every kind of social media but still can’t stand the thought of twitter. I wrote this two years ago on another blog and I still think it’s true…
    1) You exercise your writing and editing skills. It’s hard being pithy and witty in 140 characters
    2) You can find out what’s happening in the publishing industry – many (most?) publishing houses, editors, publicists and some agents tweet.
    Leading London agent Carole Blake (author of From Pitch to Publication) tweets. Chances are your favourite contemporary author tweets.
    3) Feel part of it – I once got tweets from a dinner table at the Booker. It was fun to know what everyone was eating or being too nervous to eat (lamb) and who won before it was on the news.
    4) Make contacts and friends
    5) Increase your blog readership
    6) Promote your writing…

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  • I have smote thine enemy

    September 4th, 2013

    Best news ever … Ionia beats the Big C!

    Ionia Froment's avatarreadful things blog

    Fireworks 123   For four long years the woman battled the demon. The demon known only as “C” violated her body, dimmed her future and messed with her mind.

    She fought this demon with the strength of her army. When she was too weak to fight, too tired to resist the demon’s advances or too negative to be positive she relied on them to battle it for her. Were she the soppy type, she might be wiping her eyes on her chain mail at the moment. *Hold on I have something in my eye…

    Okay, all better.

     

    So back to the story. The woman fought this vile beast year after year. The demon would weaken, but refuse to relent. Just when she thought it may tire and leave her be, it would come back again, stronger than ever, somewhere else.

    Gathering all the love she had been storing, she forged a…

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  • Guest Blog: Sport and Spirituality in the Golf Novel The Legend of Bagger Vance

    September 3rd, 2013

    An interesting look at spirituality and sport (golf). Read on!

    InterestingLiterature's avatarInteresting Literature

    By Lisa Beckelhimer, University of Cincinnati

    Sport is frequently elevated to some higher meaning in American culture. Traditional sports writing, memoirs, and historical accounts can inspire readers. But so can several works of fiction, including Steven Pressfield’s mystical golf novel The Legend of Bagger Vance (1995). An athlete/tortured soul in need of salvation, his angelic or god-like mentor with the power to grant such redemption, and the mystical qualities of the sport of golf work together to create a powerful metaphor between sport and spirituality.

    Pressfield’s book is often compared to Michael Murphy’s classic Golf in the Kingdom (1972), but the former screenwriter and avid golfer is better known for his military fiction. In The Legend of Bagger Vance, Pressfield explores war, but also guilt, redemption, and golf.The story follows Rannulph Junah, a broken man but also a local golf champion, as he competes with real-life champions Bobby Jones…

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