The Pen of a Ready Writer

Below are some snippets from my current secret project:      William shook his head, mumbling to himself.   He was not sure what he had expected from his father’s return, but this boisterous man before him was not it.   ***      “Prince William?” Peter called, lifting his torch to see his master.   “So God has seen fit to bring you both back to us in one piece, eh?” ***      ... And William awoke in a sweat.   He drew a shaky breath, silently cursing his father for ruining his dreams with his return.   Then he raised his head from the pillow and looked about him, hoping that the sight of reality would drive his dream into oblivion. ***      The prince raised his hand, pointing an angry finger toward Decellus.   “You think you have beaten me, but I will outsmart you yet!” he threatened.      Decellus smiled, his eyes crinkling up ...

19,687 words        Last night, I finished my first draft of my secret project.  Do you know how delicious that feels?  I lean back in my chair and sigh.  My arms hang limp as though I have exhausted myself in some incredible athletic feat, my heart pounds with relief, and a warm contented feeling spreads over me.  My mind tries to temper any wild excitement with reminders of how much work is yet ahead of me.  The editing process looms, not letting me say that I am "all the way" done.  But another part of me hushes this logic, wanting to enjoy the feeling of completion, if but for a moment.  A hen could not crow more triumphantly over her egg than I can, at this minute, crow over mine.  I feel completely spent but happy.  I am done!  My first draft is done!  What a delicious feeling!        Stay tuned.  In a couple days, I will post some snippets from my first draft....

      Just a quick reminder that Anne-girl's new blog, Half-Baked , is starting next Monday on September 1st.  Check it out.  :) And, after that, we will have:      Jenny's cover reveal for her upcoming book, Plenilune , on October 6th.  You can always see more about Jenny and Plenilune on her blog: http://thepenslayer.blogspot.com/

     Hello, all!  I have a bit of a challenge for you, if you will accept it.  I challenge you to write the beginning of a story based on the picture of your choosing.  This is purely meant to be an exercise in spontaneous writing and in building a good "hook" into your scene.  So, here is the rules: 1. Find a picture (pinterest, the internet, your own files, or somewhere else) 2. Write a scene, inspired by that picture.  It can be an opening scene or a scene anywhere in the book. 3. Post your picture and scene on your blog. 4. Leave a link to your post in my comments below. 5. Check back and see what others wrote.      Easy enough, right?  And it should be lots of fun.  I can't wait to see what you guys write!  

FOLLOWING Cute baby ducks (via Pinterest)           Today seemed like a good day to talk about some of the blogs that I follow.  I don't have a lot of time so I am not going to be wordy about it, but I wanted to share these with you.  Enjoy! Here are some of the blogs that I follow:  Rachel Heffington @ theinkpenauthoress ( http://inkpenauthoress.blogspot.com/ ) Some words to describe: wit, charm, banter, Brits, vintage, occasional nonsense. Jenny Freitag @ The Penslayer ( http://thepenslayer.blogspot.com/ ) Some words to describe: deep, powerful, dedicated, passionate, fearless, occasionally dark. Anne-girl @ Scribblings of My Pen Tappings of My Keyboard ( http://scribblingskeyboard.blogspot.com/ ) Some words to describe: adventure, courage, wisdom, challenging, action, showing.  Joy @ Fullness of Joy ( http://joy-live4jesus.blogspot.com/ ) Some words to describe: sweet, beautiful, encouraging, i...

via Pinterest      "It will be good.  It will be normal, and, heaven knows, you need a bit of normalcy."  The words echoed in my mind as I stared out the window and waited for the plane to leave the tarmac.  My madre adottiva had spoken them 2 weeks before I left.  I could still see her frizzled blonde hair sticking out at odd angles as she stopped and ran her finger along my chin.  Always busy, she was.  Always rushing around to take care of the 9 children in her care, but she stopped for me...for that one moment.  Her eyebrows rose toward each other worriedly, and her lopsided smile showed that she pitied me for my hard life.      Was my life hard?  I shifted in my seat, and the window showed me my reflection.  With my ash blonde hair tied back in a bun, you could see my facial features clearly.  My eyes were big and green, my nose very straight, and my chin small and pointed.  I...

     Most of you have heard me mention Anne-girl before.  I follow her blog ( http://scribblingskeyboard.blogspot.com/ ).  She is one of the bloggers whom I feel has helped me to improve my writing, and, since I like her writing style, I trust her advice when it is given.      I am pleased to announce that she is starting a new blog, especially designed to help aspiring authors to write better stories.  Here is what she says about it: "Half Baked is a blog dedicated to the art of writing and exploring what goes into a solid story. The blog operates on the principal that most stories are like cake, delicious and scrumptious and all the other cake words that are out there. But just like cake, a story can come out gooey and shaky in the middle, half baked. This blog is meant to help turn awesome ideas into solid, fully baked novels. Stop by ahalfbakedplot.blogspot.com on September first to join in the release party. There will ...