Lazette Gifford's Blog, page 78

Flash Friday # 58: Surviving Elsewhere Part 6: Into the Water(Serial)

(Link to Part 5)





Something pulled me into the water and I flailed in panic.


"Be still!" a voice whispered. My head remained above water so I wasn't being pulled down by this -- naiad? "Do not draw their attention!"


I thought that wise when I heard the wolves moving closer. I found Edmond in the water as well, treading like a dog. He didn't look happy. Then I turned my head a

Flash Friday # 57: Surviving Elsewhere Part 5: The Pond (Serial)

(Link to Part 4)



One step and another. The wolves howled and I hoped they were farther away this time so we could rest soon. Everything blurred and my shoulder became a pinpoint of agony and spreading fire. How long since I had been shot? Where was Maggie?


The shadows gave way to bright light, all but blinding me. Behind us I could hear the whisper of trees: Go, go, go they said

Flash Friday # 56: Surviving Elsewhere Part 4: The Trees(Serial)

(Link to Part 2)



We hadn't walked more than a dozen steps into the stand of trees before even Edmond began giving them nervous looks. The limbs continued to move, the branches twisting and turning, dipping low so that sometimes I had to swerve to avoid hitting one that hadn't been there a moment before. A fog enveloped the trees as well, moving as though it too were alive. Did I fear the

Merry Go Round Tour # 25 -- Motivation

I have written 634,310 words this year.


I have written over a million words each year since 2002.


So what is my motivation?


My motivation is very simple and directly related to writing and nothing more: I have stories to tell and I want to see them completed. I think tossing aside unfinished work is a writer's worst sin. It is a waste of precious writing time that most people

Flash Friday # 55: Surviving Elsewhere Part 3: The Scent of Trouble(Serial)

(Link to Part 2)





I tried desperately to fight away the pain and fear as I slowly turned my head to the left in the direction of the howls. I had a bullet in my shoulder. I couldn't ignore it. But the howls seemed to tear at my very soul. I wanted away from whatever creatures came our way.


A dense forest stood close by with a line of tall trees and forbidding shadows. I heard the

Which is easier to write?

 

 






Novels or short stories? Which type is easier to write?


I've been thinking about this since a Twitter post yesterday that said writing novels is easier than writing short stories. Well yes, it is for some because there are people who are natural novelists and their creative writing abilities are really focused in that direction. However, the reason for this 'professional'

100 Word Leaps and JulNo Notes

July was a difficult month for me. Well, duh. You start out with a heart attack on the second and it's kind of hard to get your footing afterwards. New drugs didn't help, either. I slept a lot of July away.


Almost anyone in my position would have bowed out of JulNo.


I am not like most people. I was fretting over too many things -- my health, the cost of all this hospitalization

Flash Friday # 54: Surviving Elsewhere Part 2: Arrival (Serial)

(Link to Part 1)



. . . . The bullet hung in the air, aimed at my head. I couldn't move, though I could clearly see everything in my field of vision, including Sheriff Creston's enraged face and the hatred in his eyes. He wasn't moving, either. I couldn't even breathe, but apparently I didn't need to.


I stared at death coming for me.


The bullet wobbled, came forward an inch --


"

Flash Friday # 53: Surviving Elsewhere Part 1: The Journey (Serial)

      The first I knew my life would take a turn for the worst was when I awoke to find my cousin Maggie standing over my bed.



I yelped -- first because she'd disappeared right after her fifteenth birthday three years ago, and second because in the hot summer night I only wore my underwear. I grabbed the sheet while sleep fled.


"I've seen you in your underwear, Mark," she whispered and

Flash Friday # 52 -- The Throne of Obsidian

     Everyone assumed Prince Calis died with his father when Argonis the Pyromancer, who had hidden his essence in a torch brought into the room, set the room ablaze destroying everything except the fabled Obsidian Throne. They never found his body, but many had leapt to their deaths as the fortress sailed over the hillside. Kragis, the Royal Mage, died fighting someone far more powerful