Frozen: Two Suspenseful Short Stories by Marcy Kennedy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The five stars are for Marcy Kennedy's writing skill. I get the feeling that she whips these little horror stories out with no effort at all. The subject matter is gory. I am more of a 'Little House on the Prairie' sort of guy, but as a want to be writer I read beyond my comfort zone. The first of these short stories was about a wife being betrayed by her husband and best friend by making her think she was crazy, and just before being locked away she sees what they had done but it was too late. Sort of a one flew over the cuckoo's nest sort of thing. A thriller, but I could take it. The second story is about a young girl with a history of mental disease, who is so psycho she murdered, then murdered to correct the first murders because she realized they were a mistake - huge thriller. I did not take this one well, and may have to go seek professional help to get over the trauma. If you like thriller's read Marcy Kennedy's books.

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TOMBSTONE DIDN'T DIE

          I did not plan on going to Tombstone yesterday. The battery on my iPhone went dead within fifteen minutes upon arrival. Sierra Vista was yesterdays destination. There is a light bulb store there that brags they can get any bulb you need. Well, I need a bulb for a Kodaslide table viewer, model A, made in the 40's. They did not have it, but they are going to search for one and let me know Monday if my trip was wasted.

          I decided I had seen enough of highway 90. My sense of adventure told me to go home via highway 80, through Tombstone. What a payoff. Should have charged my phone on the way. Oh well. Next time Tombstone will be my destination and my phone will be charged.

I love this street performer. Called himself Redbone. Has a really neat spiel. I told him he is a national treasure.  He said he doesn't think anyone else feels that way and that it was a tough crowd. Hope he's there when I go back. He told me all about his historical instruments, his style, the origin of this style of music. Of course I didn't have a notebook or tape recorder. Me - the want to be writer - never prepared.
          I'll be ready next time. Destination Tombstone via highway 80. Phone charged, tape recorder on. Gonna wear my boots, too. 

WRITING FUN - Writing Prompt

Write a story about a paperclip. Limit your story to 150 words. Include the words 'London', 'desk', and 'archive'. And write it in 20 minutes.
(I got this prompt from following Tiffany Jenson's writer's blog.) She has a lot to teach to us who aspire to write.


     First I must disclose that I did not complete this little ditty within the twenty minute challenge. It took me fifty minutes, but I should be able to knock off a couple more minutes because I was eating a pot pie at the same time.

     I was amazed at how helpful it was to "attempt" to write within a short time limit. It jarred my mind out of the self conscious writers block mode, into a sense of whew, look at me I'm writing! So, thank you Tiffany for throwing this little exercise out there for us beginner's to sink our baby writer's teeth into.

     Here is my little ditty:

          Sarah stood wringing her handkerchief around her finger until circulation had stopped and her index finger turned blue. Finally the pain set in enough to cause her to let go of it. "So your telling me my records are lost because of a paperclip?" It was a large paperclip encased in pink plastic, heavy on the few papers it held together before she laid them on the consulates desk in the hotel she was staying at in London. Seems it fell off her vital records. The consulate held it out to her. "Yea, I'd want it back if I could teach it to talk. Then it could tell you where, when, and in what country I was born, and I could go back to America!" Sarah snatched the big pink paperclip out of the consulate's hand. "Because I used this big pretty pink paperclip my papers aren't in the archive!"
(150 words exactly)


So kids, join the writing fun.  What else are you going to do while you're waiting to open your presents?  Slap your 150 words in the comment area below this post. Then you can eat your pot pie!

Virgin Passport User

San Ignacio, Sonora, Mexico

This is the first time in my life that my travels involved the use of a passport. I've never had one before, just got my first one ever, and I was anxious to use it. So imagine my excitement when I was invited to go to Ignacio, Sonora, Mexico. Well, excitement isn't a complete picture when it comes to me going to Old Mexico. Yep, I'm one of those people afraid to go to Mexico. The only news coming out of that country is about drug cartels, crooked 'policia', and kidnappers that take your families money then kill you anyway.

YAR, ME LIKES IT - BOOK REVIEW

Unicorn Western by Sean Platt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I put off reading this book because the title reeked of absurdities. My bad. UNICORN WESTERN is a delightful treat for readers, no matter their preferred genre. I don’t usually read fantasies, but I liked Johnny B. Truant's "The Fat Vampire", so I

SWAMPED WITH MURDER, MYSTERY, AND ROMANCE - A Book Review

Lowcountry Bribe by C. Hope Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Carolina Slade Bridges is the full name of the heroine in Lowcountry Bribe, but don’t call her Mrs. Bridges.

Writer's Digest Contest #53

I just want to let you know that I am busy writing things other than book reviews. Right now I'm working on a little ditty for the Writer's Digest Your Story contest. They have one, a Your Story contest  in every issue of their magazine. I have made a few attempts before. Refer to my previous post:

Writer's Digest Contest #47

http://beamingrae.blogspot.com/2012/12/writers-digest-contest-47.html


So here are the entry rules for Writer's Digest Contest #53 - Write a short story of 750 words or fewer based on the prompt below. You can be funny, witty, etc; after all it is your story.

Prompt:    A girl puts a quarter in a gumball machine and a human tooth comes out.

The deadline is October 14th, 2013.

BOOK REVIEW - Laura Pauling spun magic for young adults AND adults

HEIST by Laura Pauling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jack Brodie, or Fiasco, the main character, is a young boy of sixteen with the weight of the world riding on his shoulders. He is trying to save his Dad who is in jail for being involved in the Gardner heist in 1990. But it is 2013. What can Jack do to fix his Dad’s past mistakes? Jack has a unique ability to time travel through the art itself. It’s not enough he is going through the normal trauma of being a teenager, he’s also trying to get his Dad out of jail by time traveling, and each time he does his world is hurled into chaos. I’m not even sure how Laura Pauling pulled this off, but she did. What a ride. I was exhausted by the time I finished reading this plot turner. Good read. I recommend this book to all readers of every age.

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September 17th Writer's Digest

(500 words or less)

WEEKLY WRITING PROMPT

You delete a chain email that says if you don’t forward it to ten people, you will have bad luck for ten years. On your way out of the office, a black cat passes you. Then you find a parking ticket on your car. And, to top it off, your car won’t start. Was it actually the email? Write your response to the bad luck, as well as other ensuing events that make you wonder about hitting the delete button. 

WHAT I CAME UP WITH:

BOOK REVIEW

How To Survive Ancient Spells and Crazy Kings by Laura Pauling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I want to adopt Bianca, with all her vim and vigor. Bianca, the main character, is a twelve year old girl who loves her grandfather, Zeb, and was convinced she had received a sign that he was in trouble after eating a piece of pumpkin pie, and so her sleuthing began. She wanted answers and nothing was going to stand in her way, so naturally she was elated to discover her parents had

RELATIVES OR NOT RELATIVE TO ME? OR TO THIS DAY AND AGE??

Mr. & Mrs. , and who's that baby?

"I know dear. No. I can't hold the baby, I'm holding my gloves dear."

"She knocked my hat off"

"Yes dear. Well your hat isn't a John Fredric's, which isn't low in price."

"When she comes back in the room she'll expect the woman to be holding the baby."

"No dear. She'll see I'm holding my gloves. Shush dear. Here she comes."

Grace, by TL Bliss - Book Review

Grace by TL Bliss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a story about a young girl, Sara, who loves to write. And about how Sara found the true purpose and value of her writing after interviewing her older and wiser neighbor, Grace. Both had written as a way to deal with life, yet neither had shared all the notes, poems, and memories they had collected. Both kept them hidden away in a box, hidden from the world, and more importantly from the ones

Book Review - An Apricot Year, by Martha Egan

An Apricot Year by Martha Egan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a testament to us mature women that have been abused, then abandoned in the prime of our lives. That would be any time after fifty years of age. In Martha Egan's book, AN APRICOT YEAR, the main character is all the above. Luli Russell was married to an abusive drunk who mentally and physically abused not only her, but her children also. In those days women were taught to sacrifice for the

BOOK REVIEW - No Laughing Matter: A Short Story, by James Scott Bell

No Laughing Matter by James Scott Bell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

MASTERFUL WRITING RINGS A JAMES SCOTT BELL

The tension in every sentence, every word, of this suspenseful short story caused me to inhale it in one breath. The main character, Paul Harvey, is a comedian that had just bombed on stage at a comedy club, then naturally proceeded to the bar to cry in his bourbon when he got an offer he couldn't refuse.

HORSE TRADING

The stranger looked at Susie, shook his head, rested it in a right angled tilt, and said, "That horse is not worth $500. If you're set on that number then I'm done here."

"Nice meeting you then." Susie turned, cleared the top two-by-four of the coral, was nearly to the gardenia arched gate entrance of the white picket fenced yard surrounding the little white wood plank house she was born and raised in. She never walked, she always happily bounced along. Her puppy would give out before she did.

Guy Rogers had decided it wasn't the horse he was interested in anymore, and no price was too high. "Hold on there girly!" At six feet, four inches, he was afforded a gait that could close the distance between him and most anything that walked on earth without putting much effort into it.

"Yes? I'm sorry, what'd you say your name was?"

"Guy".

"You change your mind on the horse?" 

"Just thought I should do my horse trading with a man, not a baby girl."

Now Susie was pissed, "It's my horse Mister! I'm old enough to own it, feed it, brush it, and saddle it!! I'm selling it, my asking price is $500, you said you don't want it, so I'll thank you to ride on out of here on that sorry poke under your saddle, or you will be dealing with my Pa!!! He won't settle cheap on taking a piece of your hide neither!"

No price too high, thought Guy. "Whoa there little lady." He bowed his head as he tipped his hat. "I sure didn't mean to offend you in any way at all." Guy fell in love right then and there. 

Guy got on his sorry poke and rode over the ridge to make camp where he could watch for Susie's Pa, and accidentally bump into him on his way home. He decided he needed a job in this here part of the country. 

Coral that little filly.

How About A Cup Of Really Good Coffee

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I've learned so much about coffee from ROASTe, the largest online, one stop coffee shop. You could have a cup of coffee, or you could have a cup of really good coffee.

Don't be overwhelmed by the vast selections of coffee blends, beans, and brews. Start by setting up a coffee profile, your coffee profile, to help document what you like, build on that, then discover what you can learn about a really good cup of coffee.

THE WORST WORDS/WORDS TO BANISH

Banished to vaporized memories?
 The vapor's are still there.

When I was an english major at ASU, ok like in the '70's', an english professor made the statement that there are no bad words, there is only bad usage.  From that time to forever this is what I believe.

I've been following the last two posts on Dictionary.com, they have a blog. These last two posts THE WORST WORDS OF 2012, and The words you want to banish in 2013 got me going.

Little Lord What You Gonna Do This Year

This is Little Lord What You Gonna Do This Year serenading Little Miss I Don't Know.  His song is a pleasant melodic blend of voice and lute, enticing  Little Miss to succumb to the creative flow whirling around her and throughout the world; to stay in tune, and keep her seat in life's harmonious symphony through 2013 and forever. 

"I will not rest on my laurels", Little Miss says. "But keep my eyes and heart open all year long, and beyond."

A laurel for my muse.  Bring it on 2013.

Blogging Debacle

There is nothing you can say, write, or read that hasn't been said, written, or read. Trying to say something nobody has said before seems impossible. Coming up with a story that's never been told before seems impossible. Original angle?  Impossible!  This stymies me when I'm trying to write/blog.  HAVE YOU SEEN THE INCREDIBLE BLOGS OUT THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do I get past this? By realizing that I am an important part of Life's creative expression. I am the medium through which Life itself expresses color, harmony, form, beauty, resonating in Life's symphony of living art. I'll simply seek out and appreciate my innate place in Life's creative source.  Most importantly, quit trying to make a living as a proffessional writer when I'm not.

What blocked my creative abilities that resulted in today's post? Trying to write for money without any formal schooling, manuscripts, or the discipline to work the long hard hours it takes to consistently produce thousands of words a day.  Yes, I'm one of those dits who came up with the harebrain scheme to blog to make money before I even knew what a blog was.  Just heard people were doing it and thought, well by-golly, I can do it, too.

The most important things I've learned is that I enjoy trying to write, and enjoy reading about writing.  I am creative.  And admitting defeat in this means success on another level.  

I'm happy to be in a lower echelon of writing. I'm a happy hobby blogger.  So much easier, so I must be doing it right.  

THE COMMA

It seems the use for this little writing tool, the comma, is changing.  In Strunk & White, THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE, the first chapter titled ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE has seven sections, five of them are about commas.  This being the granddaddy of rules in writing, is a good place to start when considering punctuation.  The attention this authoritative book gave to commas indicates their importance; has been the long established rules about how to use commas.  Do we need a new edition?

What was brought to my attention in a newspaper article, “The double life of commas”,written by Ruth Walker in her “verbal energy” column in the Christian Science Monitor (issue 36, pg47), is that we are now suppose to omit the comma after if, and, or, but, namely a conjunction, when used at the beginning of a sentence.  She sets forth that there are two kinds of commas.  1. Because of a rule (Strunk & White), or  2. Those that serve as a kind of stage direction.  One of her pet peeves is a comma after the conjunction that begins a sentence.

When I talk I pause every time after I say but.  It's my speech rhythm, tone, voice, my vernacular.  I'll be telling a story then say but and take a breath. I use but to say, “wait a minute, listen to this!”.  It's in my writing because that's the way I talk.  One writing rule is to write the way you talk.  ELEMENTS OF STYLE, page 63, "Write in a way that comes naturally." So when I start my sentences with the conjunction but, I will not be able to omit my comma directing you to pause then proceed.  I'm a stage director from the word go in this case.  Things are always changing.  That's a good thing.  We don't write or talk like Shakespeare anymore, but, for now, when I write it will have to remain the same when a certain conjunction begins a sentence.

Ernest Gowers wrote that the correct use of commas – “if there is such a thing as ‘correct’ use – can only be acquired by common sense, observation and taste”.

I would like to invite all the writers out there to write stories about the pictures (in any of my posts) and send them to trularae@gmail.com.  and I will post them.

Want more exposure, write a story about a picture.