The Imago of Wolfman Jack (a.k.a The 2nd Platform Builder's Challenge)

The second challenge of the Platform Building Challenge is upon us.  Rachael has tasked us with the following:

Write a blog post in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should:


include the word "imago" in the title

include the following 4 random words: "miasma," "lacuna," "oscitate," "synchronicity,"

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional and included in the word count), make reference to a mirror in your post.

For those who want an even greater challenge (optional), make your post 200 words EXACTLY!



[DISCLAIMER-- I have 200 words WITH the title-- I read excluding as including :-)]

The Imago of Wolfman Jack


“That was Tonight, Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae. Our Truth, by Lacuna Coil, takes us to the top of the hour and your requests.”

Janis flipped the switches, sending the new tune rocking out across the airwaves and leaned back. She stared at the glass wall, the dark room beyond making the surface reflect like a mirror, picturing her mentor, Wolfman Jack, doing the same.

The night seemed to oscitate before her, begging her to fill the void as the hero of her youth had. Looking down at the request list, she cringed. It seemed each song Nick had scrawled on the page was a miasma. With all the other stations polluting the airwaves, she hesitated to add to it with this so-called music. What would the idol of her youth, her idol of today, have done?

“Nick,” she said into her headset, conscious of the time remaining on the song.

“We need to find a new playlist,” the two said in perfect synchronicity.


Janis laughed. “You know what they say about great minds.”

“Yeah,” Nick winked, handing her a new list. “They make great friends, and better boyfriends.”

Have a great Monday!

Platform Building Challenge-- Short Story

Our first challenge for the Platform Building Crusade is to write a short story/flash fiction piece of 200 words or less beginning with the words "The door swung open."  For added difficulty, you can end with "The door swung shut"  and be exactly 200 words. 

I decided to go for all of it.  Here is what I hope will find its way toward the end of one of my WIP's based on a reverse Sleeping Beauty idea.  If you like it, you can "like" it here! (I am number 199)

The door swung open, and Kaylee peered inside, breath hitching as she found Devlin, perfectly still and white as the sheets tucking him into the four-poster bed. A tear slid down her cheek, and she dashed it away. Arabella thought she could keep them apart, but although her spell had been strong enough put Devlin and much of the kingdom to sleep, it wasn't enough to conquer true love.

Slippered feet silent on the wood floor, Kaylee hurried to the bedside, pulling out a strange vial. Blood from the Golden Dragon mixed with the purple elixir from the wise woman formed an antidote for the spell. At least in theory it did.

Hand shaking, Kaylee wiggled out the stopper, hesitating as she held the vial to Devlin's lips. There was no guarantee what she was about to do would work. If it didn't, she would live out the remainder of her days in the dungeon.

With a quick prayer, Kaylee tipped the strange liquid into Devlin's mouth. Nothing happened. Kaylee leaned her cheek against his, wishing his eyes open as a single tear trickled onto his lips. The chime of a crystal bell filled the room and the door swung shut.

Busy Weekend

Happy Labor Day, everyone!

Sorry for the late post today, but it was a crazy weekend.  I spent Saturday with my mom at my niece's.  She was flooded out from Hurricane Irene last week.  Then Sunday, we had to outfit dear son for hockey, as we found out he has evaluations this week.

I will be posting more later this week for the Platform Building Campaign Challenge and the Judge and Jury blogfest.

Have a great day!

Over Kill

Happy Monday!  Welcome to all my new followers (many from the Writer's Platform Building Campaign), and welcome back to all my regular followers.  I hope you all made it safely through the rain and wind from Irene.

Last night we were at loose ends and decided to watch FOOLPROOF.  (Those of you who like LEVERAGE will really enjoy this movie.)  It is about a group of friends who plan heists, plotting every detail, but never carry them out.  One day, their plans get stolen and used. They are contacted to create new plans for a new break-in in order to recover the stolen plans.

I really enjoyed the movie, but I noticed something I see much too often.  There were a few scenes where the camera pointed out something important to the viewer, then showed it again.  I understand they wanted to be certain the viewer understood the significance, but for me once was enough.  Twice was over kill.

Which brings me to writing.  I have been guilty of this in my writing, not trusting my reader to understand the first time I said it, so I add it in two or three more times.  I'll put it in exposition, then repeat it in dialogue (or vice versa).  In fact, just this morning I received back chapters from a CP and she marked three sections I had done this in.  (Thanks Tammy!!!  I promise I will fix that!)

How about you?  Do you trust your reader to get the subtle clues the first time, or do you hit them over the head with it?  And, as a reader/movie viewer, which do you prefer, those subtle "Oh, their going to that!" moments or the  "Alright, already,  I got it the first time you showed me fifteen minutes ago?" ones?

Writers' Platform-Building Campaign

Rachael Harrie is running her third Platform Building Campaign.  Info can be found here.   Sign-ups are open through August 31st.  What are you waiting for???   Looking forward to seeing you there!

Interruptions

The last few months have been quite busy for me as I adjust to being back working full time, instead of being an almost full time mom at home.  I do love being back in the workforce, but juggling all the other things becomes a new talent.

I realized over the weekend after reading EJ Weseley's post, that while writing my blog 5 days a week was a good strategy when I wasn't working those same 5 days, that I need to cut back a bit.  So, I am taking the rest of the week off of posting, and next week will start a new blogging schedule- most likely Tues/Thurs for a bit.

In other news, the finalists from the Nature's Magic Blogfest are up.  You can find them here.  Read through and vote for your favorite!  While mine didn't make it into the finalists, I did enjoy writing for this blogfest and reading all the other snippets that were shared.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!  See you next week!

Tips and Thanks!

Thank you to all who stopped by for the Nature of Magic Blogfest.  If you missed it, click on the link to the right and check out all the entries.

Welcome to all of my new followers and welcome back to my regular readers!

Today I'm sharing with you three things I've learned from my critique partners that I am trying to share with others I critique for.  Hopefully you will find them helpful in your writing as well.  So, in no particular order:

1) Be careful of over using words.  I used to use THAT a lot.  Now I've replaced it with THEN.  Another favorite I've seen in writing is AND. If you can say the sentence without the word, leave it out.  In the case of THEN, find another word (Thanks Trisha!!!)

2) Use common words.  While I am a big fan of building vocabulary, I strongly believe a reader will lose interest if they are having to run to the dictionary every page (or paragraph!).  Nothing is wrong with common words

3) Don't be repetitious with words.  Do all your paragraphs start with the same word?  Do all your sentences in the paragraph begin with s/he?   Did you use the same descriptive word three times in that paragraph when you could have substituted something else?  These are things I check for after I get my thoughts down.  I often have drafts where each of these things happen abundantly.  When I revise, I try to catch them and change out words-- sometimes I miss it, though-- thank God for Beta readers!!!

I hope these help you as you read through your work or critique others.  What do you look for? Any tips you have to share?

Nature of Magic Blogfest

Today is the Nature of Magic Blogfest.  In 250-1000 words, you are to describe what magic means to you or your characters.  When I found out about this blogfest, it was as though fate smiled down on me.  I was just getting to a point in my WIP where I needed to expound on the magic of the world.

In my WIP (YA Fantasy), The Ruby Dagger,  my main character Moira has lost her voice as a side effect of her magic being stolen.  Moira has gone to Cytherea, an island of sorceresses and it is winter.  When she arrived on this island a spell was cast allowing Queen Latrice and another woman to be able to "hear" her speech.   In this excerpt,Moira and the Queen are enjoying a walk in a garden inside the palace.

Moira walked down the path, pausing every few feet as Queen Latrice pointed out hidden blooms and plants in the underbrush. The variety of plants and flowers amazed Moira. She had never seen so many in one place, not even in the large fields of Ravenvale.

They stopped before the largest flower Moira had ever seen. The bloom so large, it seemed the stem shouldn't be able to hold it upright. It was as though strong magic was at work.

“No magic is used in this room,” Queen Latrice said, when Moira asked. “The glass walls capture the warmth of the sun, and everyone has the chore of watering and weeding.”

Why don't you use magic in here?

“If we used magic to grow the plants, it would contaminate them, taint them with parts of ourselves. By letting them grow naturally, the magic they are used for will be pure.” Latrice gestured to a small group of white flowers growing in the shadow of the giant red bloom, disdain coating her words. “These blooms here will be sold to wizards in Ravenvale for use in their potions."

You don't seem to care much for the wizards, Moira said.

“Why should I?” Latrice asked as she continued down the pathway. “Other than the money they pay for our plants, they are worthless to us. We are forever correcting the messes made by their elemental magic.”

Moira frowned. She had never heard of elemental magic before, and the wizards she knew of were all quite competent in their magic. Although, she did question their habit of selling potions and charms to non-magic users. Perhaps these were the source of the problems Queen Latrice mentioned.

What do you mean 'elemental' magic'? I've never heard of such a thing.

Queen Latrice's eyes lifted in surprise. “You have never heard of this before?”

Moira shook her head, and Latrice threw her hands in the air, stalking away around a bend in the path. Moira trotted to keep up, surprised at the monarch's reaction.

Latrice led her to a marble bench beneath a flowering fruit tree. “Come, sit beside me as I correct the sad neglect of your education.” She huffed out a breath, then looked at Moira. “There are two kinds of magic in the world, elemental and spiritual. Wizards, may the goddess bless them, use elemental. Sorcerers and sorceresses use spiritual.”

Moira stared, waiting for Queen Latrice to continue, but the woman just sat there looking at her as though waiting for her to say something. Did she really think that explained the difference and why she disliked wizards so much?

What is the difference between elemental and spiritual magic?

“Ah. . . the difference. Elemental magic uses the elements—earth, air, fire, water. Wizards manipulate these elements to create their own magic in potions, charms, and spells. Sorcerers and sorceresses, like us, are touched by the gods and goddesses themselves, bestowed with a portion of their power, their magic. The magic flows in our blood, and we learn to manipulate it to create with it.”

Moira frowned. I use the elements when I cast a spell, but I am a sorceress.

Latrice smiled. “There is always overlap in magic for sorceresses. We use the magic that flows through us, manipulating the elements with its power. We create talismans and amulets, rings and potions, as do wizards. The difference is we can create the magic out of nothing, should we choose to. They must take what is there and use it to create new magic.”

Moira had never realized there was that much difference between sorcerers and wizards. She knew magic came easy to her, even easier than many of those who had taught her. They had often seemed to wonder at the power and control she had with so little training. 

Let me know what you thought, then click above to see more magical posts!  Have a great weekend!  I'm off to explore the world of magic on the Blogfest!

Recipe Friday!

Hope you've all had a great week!  Remember I'll be posting here tomorrow as part of The Nature of Magic Blogfest!

Today's recipe is a favorite of my son's.  Loaded Nachos.  Hope you enjoy it as much as he does!

Loaded Nachos
Ground beef (about 1 pound)
Taco seasoning packet
tortilla chips
lettuce (chunked up or shredded)
salsa
sour cream
shredded cheese
black olives, sliced
jalepenos
banana peppers

Cook your meat as you would for tacos. Add taco seasoning following the directions of the seasoning packet.  On a plate, layer tortilla chips.  Then add as much (or more) of the rest of the ingredients above in whatever layers you like.  Enjoy!

Jumping Ahead

When you're writing, do you move forward along a pre-determined time line, or do you jump around, writing scenes as they come to mind?

I have been known to do a little of both.  Normally, I write the story in sequence, but occasionally I write out of order.  There's that scene that just pops into mind and you have to get it down on paper/screen before it is gone with the breeze.

For the Nature of Magic Blogfest Saturday, I wasn't at the point of my story to write the scene about the magic in my world.  In fact, I was about four chapters away when I had the idea for the scene I will be sharing.  What amazed me was this scene helped me answer a bunch of questions that were making huge gaping holes in my story.

So, would I write out of order again?  Absolutely!!  Especially if it helps me find the answers I need!

World Building

As I work through my current revisions, I am finding ways to build my world a bit more. To explore the magic of the realm and the lands within.  My beta readers have noticed the subtle comments and told me it has made a world of difference in the story.

When you write, do you make your world as important as a character, almost making it a character in and of itself?  If you haven't, have you thought of ways you can add little touches to flesh out the world for your reader?


Speaking of exploring the magic, I will be making a special post this Saturday as part of the Nature of Magic Blogfest.  Post in 250-1000 words what magic means to you or your characters.  Follow the link and join in the fun.

A Day Late...

OK, so this blogfest was happening yesterday, and I meant to get this post up, but work, life and writing intervened (I'm sure you all understand!)

Well, here are my answers to the Bernard Pivot Blogfest from  Nicole's One Significant Moment at a Time.

1. What is your favorite word? I would have to say my favorite word is asinine.  I just love the sound of it.  
2. What is your least favorite word? Hmm.  My least favorite is quit.  I never want to give up on something.
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?Music.  Definitely.
4. What turns you off? Negativity.
5. What is your favorite curse word? Well, I don't really swear that much, but I do like the British word wanker.
6. What sound or noise do you love? I love to hear my son's laughter.
7. What sound or noise do you hate? Wind chimes-- or any incessant noise that really  doesn't create a song.
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? I wanted to be a lawyer when I was younger.
9. What profession would you not like to do? Taxi driver.  Between the people and the other drivers.... Yeah, not for me.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Welcome home!  It's good to see you!


How about you?  How would you answer these questions?