Wingspread
April 30, 2022 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic tagged as family stories, flash Fiction, Short Stories, sisters
Darci waved the embossed certificate under her sister’s nose. “Don’t you realize it’s a red-letter day? I’m not letting you mess this up.”
Grabbing at the cream-colored document, Kara tried to take it from Darci, and in the brief tug, the paper ripped in two.
“No!” Darci shouted.
Startled at her sister’s vehemence, Kara dropped her half, and Darci snatched it.
“I didn’t mean for it to tear.” Kara regretted that she’d reacted in anger. “But I still don’t like it.”
Darci breathed out slowly. She set the two torn halves on the coffee table, fetched the roll of clear tape, and knelt to patch the rift, all the time ignoring Kara. When she was done, she sat back on her heels and held the certificate up to inspect it.
“It’s still ruined, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m going. You can’t stop me.”
No, she couldn’t, Kara knew. “I just wish you would reconsider.”
“Never,” Darci said, underlining the word with a scowl.
“Ever since Mom died, you’ve been . . . ” Kara tried to put words to her observation. “It’s almost like you have a death wish.”
With her scowl deepening, Darci stood up. She hugged the patched paper, wrapping her arms tightly across it. “Mom would have wanted me to do this. She trusted me—she trusted both of us to do what we were meant to do. For me, this is it.”
Kara pushed away the memories of those last days of their mother’s life, the IV drip of pain medicine, the odor of bleach, the gaunt frame of the woman who’d brought them into the world. What was it Kara was meant to do? She still had no idea at twenty-five, but Darci was different. Three years younger, she burned with a mission.
And to be accepted into the Gloved Force was an achievement few people earned. Kara had been astonished when Darci broke the news. Her sister, a Glover. To learn those secrets . . .
“It’s dangerous.” Kara tried not to sound pathetic. “You’re so young.”
Darci’s face softened. “Life is dangerous. Every single day. You never know which hour will hold your last breath.” She moved across the room to sit next to Kara. Laying the certificate to one side, she picked up Kara’s hand and held it between her own. “If I can do this thing, and I know that I will, and I should die as a consequence, I’ll still be fulfilled.”
Kara saw the steeliness in her sister’s eyes. When did my kid sister grow up? “When do you leave?”
Darci smiled then, accepting Kara’s olive branch. “Monday.”
In five days.
“Let me give you something.” Kara brought back from her bedroom a maroon ring box. She ran a finger over the crushed velvet. “This was Mom’s.”
Darci opened the lid and sucked in a gasp. A slim gold band inlaid with three red sparks.
“Rubies,” Kara said. “‘One for each of us,’ she told me.”
Her sister removed the ring and held it to the light of a lamp, her eyes glistening.
“Mom said to give this to you when you were ready to fledge,” Kara said. “Go fly.”
Some of Dianna’s Books
The Bethlehem Writers Roundtable 2022 Short Story Award Deadline April 30th
April 29, 2022 by Bethlehem Writers Group in category Contests, From a Cabin in the Woods by Members of Bethlehem Writers Group, Writing Contest tagged as #TheBWG, Bethlehem Writers Group, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award, Deadline, Short Story Award, The 2022 Short Story Award
Polish those stories and get them in!
Deadline for the Bethlehem Writers Group short story contest, “An Element of Mystery”, is April 30th.
The theme is An Element of Mystery (broadly interpreted).
BWG is seeking never-published short stories of 2,000 words or fewer.
First Place will receive $250 and publication in the upcoming anthology: An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Tales of Intrigue or in Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
The final judge of the 2022 Short Story Award is New York Times best-selling author Kate Carlisle.
Here is the link for more information on the 2022 Short Story Award. Scroll down for the entry form.
Books from Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC
Tracy Reed: Our April Featured Author
April 28, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Beautiful Men, fashion, Sophisticated Romance, the Big Apple, Tracy Reed
Tracy Reed: Our November Featured Author
A California native, novelist Tracy Reed pushes the boundaries of her Christian foundation with her sometimes racy and often fiery tales.
After years of living in the Big Apple, this self proclaimed New Yorker draws from the city’s imagination, intrigue, and inspiration to cultivate characters and plot lines who breathe life to the words on every page.
Tracy’s passion for beautiful fashion and beautiful men direct her vivid creative power towards not only novels, but short stories, poetry, and podcasts. With something for every attention span.
Tracy Reed’s ability to capture an audience is unmatched. Her body of work has been described as a host of stimulating adventures and invigorating expression.
Books by Tracy Reed
War by Neetu
April 26, 2022 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as grief, Neetu, terror
War
I try to find words for war how it wrecks, how it feels but there is no language I find to reach that space inside me to define the terror give utterance to grief why war when there is no winning when there is only loss and losing no matter which side you're on © Neetu Malik
Some of Neetu’s Books
Social Media 101
April 25, 2022 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class, Jenna Grinstead, Social Media for Authors, twitter for authors
Social Media 101
Presented by: Jenna Grinstead
Date: May 14, 2022 9AM PT
Pricing: A2P Member fee: FREE
Non-A2P Member fee: $10
About the Workshop:
Join us for an exploration of social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Tiktok.
We’ll breakdown the demographics who visit and interact with each site, what the objectives of using the site are and then share examples of how authors are finding their audience through each of these. We’ll also share how to create a social media plan and build your platform.
About the Presenter:
Jenna Grinstead is a whimsical Midwesterner with a penchant for magic and a deep desire for a world where the weird and different are embraced and celebrated.
She is a graduate of The Ohio State University where she studied journalism. She found a way to turn her imagination and creativity into a career in marketing, while writing contemporary romance, young adult and middle grade fiction. She often conducts workshops and speaks on writing, world-building, social media and marketing.
Jenna is a member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Central Ohio Fiction Writers, Romance Writer’s of America and Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Her young adult romance manuscripts have won several regional writing awards, including The Maggie and The Indiana Golden Opportunity.
When she’s not plotting her next story you can find her devouring novels and mint chocolate chip ice cream in her house with California Poppies painted across the garage.
She is represented by Analieze Cervantes with The Harvey Klinger Literary Agency.
Featured Books
SLIVERS OF GLASS
Southern California 1955: the summer Disneyland opened, but even "The Happiest Place on Earth" couldn't hide the smell of dirty cops, corruption and murder.
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