Dry Run
July 30, 2023 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic tagged as fantasy, short fiction, writing
What was July but sun and heat and more sun? Terina wiped the droplets from her forehead and wished for the crisp days of October. Grunting slightly, she pushed the wooden cart forward. In the noon warmth, she wanted to simply lie down in the shade beneath it and nap the afternoon away. But she was due in Ladenville before dark, to set up for the next day’s festival.
It had been more than two years since she’d attended the festival, and she didn’t recognize the harsh landscape that surrounded her: the dry grasses, the trees whose leaves were mostly wrinkled and yellow, the dusty creek beds. It should have been a verdant season, but a drought had sucked the life out of the countryside.
Her own hamlet, miles back, was a lucky oasis still green and lush.
Had the townsfolk of Ladenville not spoken to their resident merlin? Bade him summon the rain beasts?
A man carrying a burlap bag over his shoulder approached Terina on the path. Sweat soaked his shirt. He nodded at her and she nodded back.
“Sir, can you spare the time for a short question?” Terina wiped her forehead again.
“Aye,” the man said, but stood away from her, cautious.
“I am several years away from this land, headed to the Brine Festival. Why such dryness?”
The man frowned and spat at the ground. “Our merlin passed on more than a year gone now, and no one left has the knowledge to call the rain.”
Eyes wide, Terina tried to imagine such a scenario. “The Fates are often fickle. My sympathies, sir.”
He nodded again and went on down the path.
Rummaging in her pack, Terina pulled out a flask of water and sipped; the aridness made her thirsty. She contemplated her next steps: Maybe the Brine Festival was a bad idea. Drought made people irritable and less likely to spend their coins. When she slipped the flask back into her pack, her hand brushed the bottle of elixir.
Uncorking it, she sniffed the sweetness of ripe berries. She knew only a brief sketch of the rain ritual—not being a full-fledged merlin, but it was worth a try. She held the bottle above her head, letting the desiccating breeze lift the scent upward.
“Iniye ab-wo neq,” she recited. There was another step that she tried to remember. A tuft of sedge? A handful of creek mud? The small rill that crossed her path contained neither. Every creek stone she turned over yielded only hard, cracked earth.
Digging again in her pack, Terina located the peach she’d squirreled away for a snack. Soft with ripeness, the fruit might work. Holding the peach aloft as she had the elixir, she squeezed it until the juices ran down her arms and dripped to the ground.
She repeated the incantation and waited several moments.
In the deep blue of the sky, the smallest of cumulous clouds popped up.
She waited again, this time for the cloud to spawn more clouds. But the cumulous remained solitary.
With a sigh, Terina cleaned the juice from her arms and closed her pack. Pushing hard against the cart, she persuaded it to roll onward, to the north and east, toward Ladenville.
Behind her, as her one step became ten, and then stretched to a quarter mile, the water vapor in the blazing heavens condensed. Thunderheads mushroomed and spread, cutting off the sun. And the rain beasts rumbled long and low.
More of Dianna’s Stories
Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger Featured Authors
July 28, 2023 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month, Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as 1950s Crime novels, Author Interviews, Chatting with Authors, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery Series, Will Zeilinger
July Featured Authors
Janet Elizabeth Lynn was born in Queens and raised in Long Island, New York. She is the author of murder mysteries, cozy mysteries and with her husband Will Zeilinger, 1950s hard-boiled detective mysteries.
Will Zeilinger has lived and traveled the world and has been writing for over ten years. His novels range from mystery to romantic comedy and those 1950s hard-boiled detective mysteries with his wife Janet.
Partners in Crime
Together Janet and Will write the Skylar Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood in 1955. They have an E-book How it Began: The Skylar Drake Mysteries available from Smashwords.
Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. In their next adventure, they will team up using the penname E.J. Williams for a new mystery series set in the 1960s. Their first novel in the International Crime Files, Stone Pub is in the works.
Chatting With Authors
In addition to writing novels, Janet and Will have a YouTube Channel, Chatting with Authors featuring informal Zoom interviews with authors of various genres. We encourage readers to check out all their videos.
This creative couple lives in Southern California . . . and yes, they are still married, and they even blog together at The Married Authors.
The Skylar Drake Mystery Series
Daylight Truth by Neetu
July 26, 2023 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as from thje heart, love, Neetu
Daylight Truth
soft murmurs in the dark
don’t enlighten me
they leave me fumbling
for something real to grasp
let whispers fade
with the light from stars
be silent until
day breaks and I can
see in your eyes
the words that spill
from your heart
(c) Neetu Malik
Some of Neetu’s Books
Dreams in Writing
July 25, 2023 by Kidd Wadsworth in category Infused with Meaning by Kidd Wadsworth tagged as assassins, dreams, dreams in writing, kidd wadsworth, nightmares
I woke at two in the morning from a nightmare in which I was being hunted by an assassin. In the dream, desperate to get away, I hid on the third floor of an abandoned building. I remember looking out the dirty windows and seeing the assassin below in the parking lot looking up at me. He was tracking my cell phone.
I removed the sim card and, just for good measure, smashed the phone.
Two days later, he almost caught me hiding in a bakery. The owner, an old friend, came rushing into kitchen whispering, “The man you described just walked through the front door.” I ducked out the back and hid on the fire escape. As he left, I saw him glance up at the street cams.
Damn.
I hitchhiked into the Indiana countryside. I figured I was safe among the endless fields of ten foot tall cornstalks. I was wrong. As I turned and ran, he shouted after me, “You’ll never get away, I’ve tapped into the satellites.”
That’s when I woke up. Everything was familiar: my bedroom, my sweetie softly breathing beside me. I wasn’t afraid; I was curious. How would I evade an assassin? I turned to that great fountain of wisdom, the TV. As my husband slept, I searched Netflix and Amazon Prime for a movie that would show me how to escape.
Click. Click. Click.
I clicked almost as many times as Indiana has ears of corn. Then I discovered a Bruce Lee movie! Yes! Surely, Bruce would know how to evade an assassin.
Guess what? Bruce Lee never evades. He never hides. He confronts his enemies. He turns to face them, looks them straight in the eye, and kicks butt.
That’s when I knew who the assassin was. My assassin was a family problem. Yes, I wanted to hide. And yes, I definitely wanted to smash my cell phone, but I couldn’t get away. I had to become Bruce Lee. I had to face my problem head on. I needed to look it in the eye—and kick butt.
So, why did I tell you this?
I recently read a fascinating book called Dreams: God’s Forgotten Language by John A. Sanford. I believe dreams can add depth and, strangely, genuineness to a story. But there’s a catch, and it’s a big one. You’ve got to get it right. Dreams follow certain patterns—unobvious patterns—that we all instinctively recognize. So, if you want to put a dream sequence in your story, read an authoritative book about dreams and common reoccurring images in dreams, first. Otherwise, the dream won’t read as “real.” Rather it will seem contrived, a way too convenient plot device, and pop the reader right out of the story.
BTW, I did actually dream about being hunted by an assassin, and I do think my subconscious was telling me to stop running away from my problems. I’m currently working on becoming Bruce Lee, but he’s a difficult act to follow.
Happy Writing!
Kidd Wadsworths Has Stories in the Following Anthologies
The Power of Facebook Groups: Promoting and Connecting with Readers
July 24, 2023 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class, Facebook Groups, Jenna Grinstead
The Power of Facebook Groups: Promoting and Connecting with Readers
Presented by: Jenna Grinstead
Date: August 19, 2023 9AM PT
Registration Closes: August 20, 2023
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $5
Non-A2P Member fee: $10
About the Workshop:
In this interactive workshop we’ll discuss the power of Facebook Groups for your writing. We’ll discuss what groups are, how to form them, look at examples of authors who are using them to research their books, improve their craft, connect with other authors, connect with fans, and, most importantly, to sell books.
You’ll have the opportunity to learn the secrets to how to find groups, interact in existing groups to promote your author brand, create a group, nurture a group and grow a group into a community that aligns with your goals. Whether you’re a published author looking for tips on how to sell via Facebook Groups or a newbie seeking to understand how groups can help you in your writing, this workshop is for you!
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 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 and Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Her young adult romance manuscripts have won several regional writing awards, including The Maggie, The Stiletto 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.
