The Pen of a Ready Writer

Andy Griffith show via Pinterest      Many thanks to Anne-girl for hosting this month's Plot Bunny event.  And also congratulations to all the participants.  It was neat to see the stories that everyone came up with.   If you go quickly, you can head over to Anne-girl's blog and find links to the other plot bunny participants on the right-hand side of her blog.    And I earned this award for participating:     We now return to our regular programming...

     Kevin leaned his head against the back of the couch and watch scenes flick across the television screen through half-opened eyes.  He was bored.  Bored with the television.  Bored with the day.  Bored with his life.      Over the sounds of explosions and screaming emanating from the television, Kevin heard his mother enter the room, her low heels clicking across the rich wood floor.  She stopped behind him and Kevin felt a brush of fabric tickling his forehead.  Kevin swiveled his eyes up and saw the lower edge of a dishtowel sweeping over his hair.  His mother held the other end of the towel in her hand and seemed completely oblivious to Kevin as she stared at the television with a furrowed brow.     She could be so aggravating sometimes.     "I wish you wouldn't watch that garbage," his mother said, still frowning at the characters portrayed in the movie.      Kevin turned his eyes back to the screen with a bored expression.  "Why not?  Dad watches it,&quo

Series:      The Third Revolutionary War Title:      The Lost Truth Back Cover:      When the nation was born, its leaders warned of what could happen if the people lost sight of the Truth.  But, nearly three hundred years later, that warning has been forgotten or dismissed as old-fashioned.  As the government begins to crumble, the nation totters on the brink of its third revolutionary war.  Is there any way to stop it? Characters: Kevin:      son of a crooked politician      disillusioned with the world Wesley:      torn between pursuing a religious or political path Marian:      a budding writer      longing to do something or write something of great importance     

Joy is hosting the second day of her blog event and you can check it out HERE .  Today's theme is "Faith and Fantasy."  Since I feel that I do not have much experience in the fantasy genre, I can't answer all her questions.  I'll be skipping over the ones I don't know how to answer.  You can go to her post to see what I was supposed to be doing and didn't.  ;) 1. Taken from a Christian perspective, what are your thoughts and feelings on the fantasy genre in general? Do you hold to any convictions or guidelines on things like magic, sorcery, fantastical elements or allegory in fantasy books?   Her first question asked about my guidelines regarding magic, sorcery, fantasy, and allegory. This is something that I am in the midst of evaluating. I was raised to know that things like magic and sorcery were wrong. Our God is so powerful, and magic was the devil's twisted copy of that power. That meant that it is not nearly as strong as God and

Hi!     I'm just popping in today to say "welcome" to my new followers and "thank you" to those who have been with me already.  A couple of you joined this month, and I was soooo excited to see you here.  I am immensely grateful to each of my followers and hope to write excellent things worthy of you!       Thanks again!  And welcome!

     There are a number of rules impressed upon a new cashier.  These largely revolve around speed, precision, and customer satisfaction.  And you learn very quickly that most customers think merely of themselves and that the cashier gets blamed for everything from a slow-moving line to the increased price of bacon.  I say "most customers" for not every customer falls into this category.  Scattered throughout the day, a different type of customer appears.  Like salt on a bland dish, they make the whole day better.  And it is for this reason, that I remember them.      We had a customer -- he was what we call a "regular," coming in several times a week.  He was an old man with a thick Polish accent and a shuffling step.  With his little European-style hat and jacket, he looked like he belonged to another world.      On this particular day, he came through my line.  Slowly, he set his little collection of grocery items onto my conveyor belt, and he began to talk.

Title:     Tips for Shoppers: Anecdotes from the Life of a Grocery Store Clerk Back Cover:      A clerk in a grocery store sees all manner of people.  From proud old ladies to rude gentlemen, from compassionate customers to selfish shoppers, from the most upstanding citizen to the sneakiest thieves -- the stream of people is a never-ending series of life lessons.  From the eyes of a humble clerk come a set of stories that every shopper should read.

     Aldrich awoke with a start.   Sweat trickled from his brow.   Instinctively, he reached up and placed his hand over his left eye.   Then slowly he sat up and looked around the room.      The moonlight poured into the room through the open square window, lighting the floor.   Aldrich could see his two sisters sleeping on their pallet on the other bed in the room; Hope was nearly lying on top of her older sister.   The two boys were on a pallet on the floor.      Aldrich put a hand against the wall, gaining comfort from the familiar, rough boards, and lay down again with a sigh.   It had been a dream that woke him – the same dream that haunted him for as long as he could remember.   Voices, a flash of light and pain, and then darkness.   And he always woke up in a cold sweat.      What did it mean?      Aldrich remembered the time he had asked his wise friend, the old hermit, about it.        “What are dreams?” Aldrich had asked.      “That is a question that has

Title:      The Forest Prince Back Cover:      For as long as he can remember, Aldrich has known no life other than that of a woodsman's oldest son.  But, thanks to an old hermit, Aldrich learns that he was born a prince.  As a baby, he suffered an accident that caused a blindness in one eye.  Fearing the reaction of the people, the lords switched the deformed prince with another baby.  When Aldrich further learns that the replacement prince is a spoiled brat, he journeys to the castle to set things straight, one way or another!

     Joy at her blog is hosting a special event this week in honor of her blog's 3rd birthday.  You can read about it in her post here.       For today's part of her party, I am answering some questions.  Here they go: 1. Tell us a little bit about yourself, your tastes, and the little hobbies and things that your readers probably don't know about you!      There is so much more to a person than can be introduced in a little paragraph!  So I will content myself with listing 3 things that you probably did not know about me.      a. I work at unusual hours.  At my job, I have regular hours (something like 8am to 6pm on one or two days a week) but I also am on call 24/7.  That means at any time day or night, I could be called in.  And when I am called in, there is no guarantee of when I will return home (it may be a few hours or it may be several days).  How's that for a schedule!      b. I want to be multilingual someday.  At the moment, I speak English and

via Pinterest      The early morning dew filled Amelia’s sneakers with water.   She remembered choosing them that morning.   “ These are old ,” she had thought to herself.   “ It won’t matter if they get wet .”   But she had been thinking of river water – not ordinary, everyday dew.   Amelia made a rueful face as she trudged down the hill in soggy sneakers.      “Hurry, ‘Melia,” called her younger brother.   Luke had been a fireball of energy all morning.   The upcoming river trip was a dream come true for him.      It was a dream come true for Amelia as well.   Not even her soggy sneakers could dampen her mood.   She had never been on the river before, but she had long hoped for an opportunity like this.   She tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her ear, tugged at her hat to make sure it was secure, and listened to the early morning chorus of birds.      There was another sound, too -- one so subtle that it was softer and deeper than a whisper.   The sound of t

Title:       The River of Time Back Cover:      " Amelia stared wonderingly at the river.   Her soul filled with the poetry of it.   And in every direction she looked, there was not a sign of man.   There was nothing to indicate the progress of the 21 st century.   Amelia suddenly felt suspended in time.   The branches overhanging the river could have belonged to any period of history…"      Amelia and her brother are excited to embark on their first canoe trip.  But there is something unusual about their canoe, and the  simple ride down the river turns into something of historical proportions, carrying them through 5 centuries.   Join Amelia and Luke as they journey down the River of Time! via Pinterest

Title:      A New Reign Back Cover:      What happens when an old legend comes to life?  Not even their wicked ruler could entirely kill the hope of the people who dreamed of the legend's return.  When their hopes come true and a new reign is instated, the people rejoice.  But the influence of the old, evil reign lasts far beyond its visible power, and the people find that the new reign demands more of them than they ever imagined.

I am doing this plot bunny backwards: posting the 1st scene before the back cover blurb.  But it only seemed fitting as the first scene was written before I gave much thought to the rest of the book.  So, without further ado, I present to you the first scene of my fourth plot bunny: Character from Narnia movie via Pinterest     “The boy belongs to me,” the woman said, her cruel eyes sending hateful messages.   She wrapped her fingers like claws around the small boy’s shoulder.      The man opposite stood staring at her, wondering at the twistedness of this remote country.   “Impossible,” he said, simply.      The crowd that had gathered around them stepped closer, unwilling to miss any word of the confrontation between their reigning lady and the stranger.      The woman laughed lightly.   “You are not from this land,” she said patronizingly.   “You don’t know the customs or the laws.   Regardless of how they do things in your land, that has no bearing on what happens h

     I am sharing words of wisdom from my dog this morning.  He is nearly exploding from the need to do something.  All morning, there has been a great deal of commotion in front of our house.  Honking, beeping, thumping, banging, scraping...people moving, machine digging and dumping, cars moving slowly.  He's never seen a construction crew like this at work before.  He wants desperately to do something about their presence, but I insist that he stay indoors and reduce his barking to a minimum.  He feels keyed up by the outdoor activities but restricted in his own release of that energy.     I thought that this might apply to books as well.  It is perhaps my own perception, but it seems to me that sometimes an author can pour so much internal conflict into a story that it is a tremendous relief to have some actual action.  As a reader, I appreciate that outlet as much as my dog does. How about you?  Have you ever seen a story with too much excitement and not enough action?

     It always tickles me to find someone who hasn't heard a particular Bible story.  I start talking about one of my favorites, and somebody says, "You're kidding!  That's in there!?!?!?"      My dad had a similar experience the other day.  He and a friend (I'll call him Frank) were swapping stories of tough Bible characters -- you know, the kind that could be on an action adventure movie -- and my dad started talking about Abishai. Perhaps Abishai looked something like this? (Artos, son of the Pendragon Pendragon: Sword of His Father via Pinterest)      Now Abishai was a mighty warrior, loyal to David even before David became king.      For those of you who don't know anything about David, let me catch you up.  David was a mighty warrior himself, and God was with him.  He won many victories for Saul the king -- so many that his renown was greater than the king's.  Needless to say, Saul was fiercely jealous against David.  He made several at

     Isaiah wove his way through the lunch line like all the other children, but his mind was not on food.  His imagination painted a scene before him where he and his faithful dog climbed a treacherous mountain, forded a raging river flood, and fought an attacking pack of hungry wolves.  Nearly every day now, he dreamed of the adventures he would have with his dog; and nearly every night he prayed for God to please give him a puppy.      "Earth to Isaiah!" called his good friend, Carl.  "Are you going to sit with us, or are you just gonna stand there?"      Isaiah flushed, embarrassed, and hurried to join his friends.  Carl was already sitting with Jake and Roger at a table near the center of the room.     “One of our hound dogs had puppies,” Jake said.   He drew circles in his soup with his spoon.   “Anybody want one?”      “I would but I got to ask my dad,” Isaiah said, with a glimmer of hope, leaning forward with his arms on the cafeteria table.  A ho