Pamela Schloesser Canepa's Blog, page 83

“The Post Office Box,” Flash Fiction, Limit:250 Words

By Pamela Schloesser Canepa.

Tussling with the dog. That was Jasmine’s story, this time. The scar would dissipate in a week, she knew. It did hurt. This was so unfair, yet, all too familiar.

Driving to work, Jasmine noticed she’d inadvertently put on one navy blue shoe and one black. An understandable mistake; they were almost identical, and those colors were close. I wonder if anyone will notice? She realized the light had turned. I sure don’t need a ticket.

To her left was the post office. Darn, I forgot that electric bill. Rick will lose it. Do I go back? She worried it might make her late, yet she didn’t need one more fight about the mail.

Her thoughts drifted to the invitation that had arrived the week before, for her ten year high school reunion. Of course, with a four month old baby and a full-time job, she hadn’t seriously considered. Still, she had thought of going.

“You just want to see all your old boyfriends! You wench!” Rick had screamed, holding the baby in his arms.

“No, Rick, don’t worry, I don’t need to go.” That’s how it always went. Keeping the peace. When she never received any in return.

Abruptly, she pulled into the post office. “I need a post office box,” she announced to the clerk. JUST for me.

With receipt of the key, she found the assigned box. It was cool inside. She imagined fitting inside of it, this doorway to distant places.

New e-book published! From Bedlam to Ben

 

My 75 year old mother says, “I just want to put my arms around him.” (So, I chose well, huh)?  She was referencing the cover of my latest e-book, From Bedlam to Ben.  Ben is fearless, protective, strong, and full of inner turmoil.  Read about Ben’s struggle and transformation through, oh wait, that’s what the trailer is for.  Give it a look?

From Bedlam to Ben, a sci-fi novelette with romance, tension, and turmoil, is now available for .99 download on Smashwords at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/656337 and on Amazon at http://amzn.to/2b3ND3O

With the purchase of this e-book, the reader is given a link to sign-up to receive a 20 page short story that is a spin-off of my upcoming time travel novel.  I say “upcoming” loosely; I just started editing and it most likely will be coming out in a year, since I insist on holding a full-time job.  Stubborn, I am.  :)  I am also hoping to get this time travel book into print and e-book form.  So much to learn…

Please do give the book trailer a look, download the novelette for .99.  It is a continuation of the Made for Me series but reads well as a stand alone as well.  I may not publish many e-books for a while, since I am gestating a full-length book, and I intend for it to be fully cooked and served just right!  You may get more short stories from me in the interim; ideas just pop up at times.

Happy reading, everyone!  For those of you who are like me, happy writing!  May you be driven, ambitious, obsessed, sleepless,  but most of all, inspired!

-Pamela

Seeing Through Sampson’s Eyes, special price, 1.99

Now 1.99 for Kindle download.  Seeing Through Sampson’s Eyes, the second e-book in the Made for Me series, is now just 1.99 for a Kindle download.  It’s all strategy, and maybe we could call it a test, but at 107 pages, this book is a novella.  Reader so far seem to really like it, but wish it had been longer.  I suppose that’s a good sign, right?  So I decided to lower the price for a while and see how it goes.  I think it’s an amazing deal.  It is separated from Made for Me because the tone is entirely different.  A reader in the U.K. says it reminds her of Bladerunner, a movie I have always loved, but certainly with less violence.  One reader said it really got her thinking and even reminded her of some of the stories that show up on our primetime news reports lately.  I can see that parallel as well, and I’m sure that affected my ideas in writing this story.  Topics involved: #sci-fi, #coming-of-age, #ethics in future technology and #equality.  Find it here:  https://goo.gl/PR0O9s

The plan is that I will have this book priced at $1.99 through Labor Day weekend, at which point I will reassess my plan.  I am soon planning to publish this book on Smashwords as well, making it available for Nook, Barnes and Noble, and various other retailers as well as Kindle.  Wish me luck!  It’s a lot of work, but I am willing to do it.  In the meantime, I recommend you give this book a read.  It is a nice continuation from Made for Me, but can also be read on its own, and provides a good deal of suspense as well.  Again, you can download it on Amazon through this link: https://goo.gl/PR0O9s

Happy Reading!

-Pamela Schloesser Canepa

Vacationing off the Beaten Path

This was my view from my back porch each day, perfect to accompany breakfast and coffee!

I thought I’d be writing this post about another check mark on my bucket list.  My goal is to see the sun rise in 50 different cities.  I am at about five.  So this would have been Warm Springs, Ga, number six on my list.  Only, the sunrise was terribly elusive, the weather was very misty, and the massive tree coverage would have impeded the view, anyhow.  Not that I would trade the trees for anything.  They added to the relaxing atmosphere.  So, instead, I am writing about how good it is sometimes to go somewhere off the beaten path, away from the crowds, and how much I enjoyed the views and the slow-paced vacation on Pine Mountain and in Warm Springs, Ga., which is, by my calculation, the closest place where I can get the mountain experience.

This place has a lot of history, it being the once frequent vacation spot of President FDR.  He went there for the relaxing mineral springs, which seemed to ease troubles arising from the polio in his legs.  We visited FDR’s little White House, his home away from home, which was quite interesting.

The town of Warm Springs was very quaint, with a lot of historical touches, but they really need a revival of tourism.  Maybe it was just slow due to the start of school, which was a little earlier for them than our schools in Florida.

Nature’s beauty was quite plentiful at Callaway Gardens.

Even when the weather was stormy, this place was beautiful!  We’d just sit on that back porch and watch the rains come tumbling down.  And it did rain, every afternoon I think, although it was after we’d worn ourselves out with outdoor activities or swimming, so we were ready to relax when the rains came.

The mountains in our view were not directly west of us, so the sunset was behind the tall trees.  We got just a peek, but it was oh, so lovely.

Never mind the sunrise.  It would have been at the other corner of the building, and the two mornings that I woke up early enough were terribly misty and foggy, I would not have seen it anyway.  It’s just as well.  I got plenty of other beautiful views.  This vacation was just what I needed!

DESIST, ASSIST and PERSIST.

*Re-blogged from an interesting writer/blogger from Scotland*

It’s now one year since I published my first book, ‘Damp Dogs & Rabbit Wee.’ Get me –  ‘first book.’ Now I’m talking in some kind of author-type langua…

Source: DESIST, ASSIST and PERSIST.

A Job at the Mall, a Quick Hot Dog, and Why I Couldn’t Keep it. Age 17. Stupid #$%t I Did When I was Young, pt. 3

If you read my last “Stupid %&$t I Did When I was Young” entry, you may have surmised that someone was really looking out for me.  It’s great, now that I look back, I can stop judging myself and just realize, I sure did have someone looking out for me.  Don’t all 17 year-olds need that?  How many times did I get myself in harm’s way, being careless and not looking out for myself, or simply reacting to situations in the wrong way?  It is so good, today, to look back and see how blessed I was.  Today’s story takes place 2-3 months after last week’s story of the white rabbit and cursed donuts.  Yes, I was 17, a year that shall go down in infamy for me!  This post is not for the faint of heart.  I’m being very open and frank, and I don’t mind sharing the stories of how dorky I was at times.  Hence, why I have titled this series ‘Stupid #%&$ I Did When I Was Young.’  I just shake my head at my young self, sometimes.

Through many of these experiences, I have learned a lesson, such as, it’s never too late to change your mind; those split second decisions to “turn around the car” and “get back on the right track” are really important, even if they come at a late point.  Some of these experiences only served to show me I really needed to take care of and honor myself better, ironically, the topic of yesterday’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt show on Netflix, in which Tina Fey was truly in top form, but I digress….

Aimee Mann and Madonna were my idols.  To put it in other words, I wanted to live Madonna’s life, and have Aimee Mann’s looks.  It was a pipe dream, okay?  Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin were played on my radio quite often, as well, to sort of round out my musical taste.  It was my goal to be pale, light blonde, and very thin, with lots of eyeliner.  I struggled a lot at age 17 with a negative self image, negative body image, depression, and as I see from looking back at this particular experience, a little bit of anxiety, whether social or otherwise.  My mom and I were not too close at this point, as she was a working mom so I kept secrets from her a lot, and she had put her foot down after I let my first car literally get destroyed by false friends.  So I was feeling a little rebellious against that.  However, I was ecstatic when I got my first mall job, because I could ditch the fast-food uniform, but it meant I had to deal with the public more closely.  I did just fine at putting on nice clothes and styling my hair just right.  However, people had to remind me to smile, so I did.  It was my job.  Maybe that was good for me….

This particular mall I worked at was quite booming back in 1985, especially on this bright summer day.  It was my lunch break.  I headed to the hot dog stand where I quite often ate, since it was pretty cheap and I seemed to have just a little money.  Maybe my mom was out of town that week.  I recall one of her uncles had passed away that summer, and I stayed in town because of my new job.  Fending for myself meant eating out for every meal, on the cheap.  Man, it was crowded on that day, maybe it was a Saturday.  I seem to recall the whole mall being packed.  A school friend was working behind the counter.  I only had $1 and change.

“Do you want cheese?”  She asked.

“No,” I lied.  I was really hungry.

“No charge,” she whispered.  Cool!  How lucky I was!

They had no tables in the hot dog “stand,” so I sat at a bench.  Either I felt guilty about the cheese, or I couldn’t stand the crowds; for some reason I was nervous and started wolfing down that hot dog.  Soon, it became obvious that a large portion of the hot dog was stuck in my throat.  I kid you not.  There were people all around and I just couldn’t allow myself to cause a scene.  I stood up, I couldn’t swallow, could just barely breathe, and I walked very cautiously to the store where I worked, where I knew there was a bathroom with many stalls so I wouldn’t have to wait in line with this deathly shocked look on my face.  Yes, I was obviously in distress.  I ran into someone on the way there, and they said, “Are you alright?”  I just shook my head yes, because man, I didn’t want to cause a scene in the store!

I made it to the bathroom and got into a stall.  I’m sorry if it’s gross, but my only recourse was to stick a finger down my throat, which, of course, caused the gag reaction.   Up came the hot dog bit, into the commode.  So I flushed it away.  I’ll admit I had a very unhealthy body image, but I was not one to waste food like that to stay thin.  I would just not eat, or I’d eat very little.  But, seriously, I was hungry that day and I’d lost half my lunch!  There was no more money either.  I went up to the break-room to find someone to bum money from, and there was the guy who obviously had a crush on me.  “Can I borrow a few bucks?” I asked.  I felt bad, being helpless and knowing I’d never return his feelings.  Yet I knew he’d say yes.  He gave me a few bucks and his break was over, so the awkwardness didn’t linger.  I sat and ate a pitiful sandwich from the machine, blocking the hot dog from my mind and at least filling the empty, shocked feeling in the pit of my stomach.

So, I’m quite grateful that the young man was there, because I may not have had the nerve to ask anyone else.  I simply felt sure he wouldn’t spread the gossip.  And I am so thankful that I didn’t choke to death on my walk from the bench all the way to the store bathroom.  I suppose someone was looking out for me.  We all need that when we are young and, well, ‘stupid.’  Prone to action before thought.  However, I did learn a lesson.  Eat slowly.  Now I do.  It’s never good to express nervous anxiety through your eating habits.  It causes digestive issues, which I have to this day, and they help to remind me to slow down.  I do not tolerate chaos around me when I eat, speaking up if people bang on the table, holler, or jump around telling a crazy story.   I also eat very few hot dogs to this day.[image error]

It’s been fun and enlightening looking back at my life and digging up the most shocking and surprising stories.  I hope I have inspired or surprised someone with my frankness.  Maybe I’ve got you thinking about your stories of youthful infamy?  This may be my last regular”Stupid %$ I Did When I was Young” post for a while.  My life is about to get really busy again.  My summer break is almost over, and I’m working on other writing projects.  But I enjoyed this exercise in remembering, reflecting, and writing.  Perhaps I’ll post a random entry occasionally, and return to it regularly next summer.

So many times in these events, I felt like a loser, sitting on the side of the road in a car that did donuts when roads were slick (see last week’s post), or almost choking on a hot dog.  But I wasn’t a loser.  I survived all that, and I can look back on it and laugh.  Definitely NOT a loser.  Thank God those days developed into better days, and developed me into a stronger woman.  Youth is not wasted on the young.. . I believe I learned what I needed to learn, even if it was the hard way.

“The Truth or I’ll Shoot,” Free Short Story, Smashwords Debut as an Author

 

This post commemorates my debut as an author on Smashwords!  I’d love it if you checked out my site and maybe downloaded a free short story!  I just had to do this, even though it required some self-schooling on formatting.  Why should I miss out on a whole other publishing venue?  It’s free to publish.  You don’t need an agent.   They distribute to Nook, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, etc.   I’m in!  So, the plan is, when I publish from now on, I will publish on Kindle and Smashwords.  I’ll probably even get my already published books on there when their 90 day enrollment is done.  Can you tell I’m excited?

In just a few days, I’ve had 26 free downloads of my short story.  This is good news.  Users of Smashwords are meeting me as an author for the first time.  I’d love to get a few reviews of my story, though, and that might also serve to help my visibility on Smashwords before I publish my next book, a novelette, to both Smashwords and Kindle in August.  (Yeah, that’s really soon.  You’ll be hearing more about it in a week or two)!

So, why not give this mysterious, paranormal story of an odd family legacy a try?  It’s around 2,900 words, and free.   I’d really appreciate a review.  Let other people know I’m worth giving a look. You can find the free story here on Smashwords:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/651691

Thanks!

Pamela

The River. #echoesofmyneighborhood, #5

Is there anything as beautiful as a sunset on the water?  Well, maybe sunrise on the water.  I’d have to say they are equally beautiful.  Living in Jacksonville, Fl, I am able to enjoy both.  Above is a photo of a sunset on the St. Johns River at a county dock.  This is just a little ways down the road from me, heading out of my neighborhood, down a main street, and turning into another residential area.  However, our huge river winds all around town.  This county dock, on my side of town,  has a park and historical site.  It’s a great place to go and relax, take a short walk, and stop and gaze.  Many people also go to fish off of that dock.  It’s a beautiful location.

Walking back through the trails into the park, you still get a little glimpse of the river through the trees.  This photograph was taken on a day that had been rainy and stormy, and it was just winding down. There would have been a sunset, except for the clouds. You can almost see the breeze stirring through the Spanish moss.  The dark and light images made a wonderful contrast.

Here is the county dock again, pictured on a sweltering hot summer day, mid-day to be exact, from another angle.  I mean, it’s one of those days the heat seems to be cooking the wood, and some of the wood was new at that point, which may have accounted for the smell, but in my mind’s eye, it was the sun baking the wood.  I was also dripping with sweat.  No one goes out there too often on hot summer days.[image error] Those from out of town don’t either.  You can sort of tell how bright and intense the sun is on this day, because a lot of the colors look faded, as if every color is reflecting so much light.

Such is the mixture of bright, sunny, cloudy, dark, and rainy that we get around here, in this place I call home.  You can get beautiful views on any sort of day.  Just keep your eyes wide open, and especially head for the water.

Echoes of My Neighborhood is a Thursday blog challenge, initiated by fellow blogger Jacqueline Obyikocha, who blogs at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com .  Jacqueline is very supportive of other bloggers and always inspires me with her poetry and photography.  Please stop by and peruse her blog.  While there, you should also visit her Echoes of My Neighborhood posts, or you can get to them directly at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/category/travel-2/dubai/echos-of-my-neighbourhood/   You won’t be disappointed!

 

 

 

 

Pamela: blogger, writer, Earth inhabitant

 

The White Rabbit Hates Donuts! Stupid #&$t I did When I Was Young, pt 2

 

Photo courtesy of Bing, Creative Commons.  This poor guy looks a little anxious. :(  Okay, no animals were harmed in today’s story.  In fact, the white rabbit was not an animal, but a car.  It was the first car I was allowed to drive on my own.  Yes, I know, it sounds very Alice in Wonderland-ish, and maybe that’s actually fitting.  Too bad I don’t have a picture of that car.  The white rabbit, however, did not like donuts at all, and rebelled in kind.  Read on for the story of a lesson I learned the hard way at age 17, in my second Monday installment of “Stupid %&$t I Did When I Was Young.”

It was 1985.  Billy Idol played on my radio and in my cassette player almost non-stop.  I had a job.  That was great, even though it was in a fast food restaurant.  Even though I sometimes worked pretty late on weekend nights.  I had a car that could get me there, since Mom had just bought a newer car for herself.  The white rabbit was a Volkswagen Rabbit, and I know it had potential.  I just didn’t know what to do with it.

His name was *Jaxx.   (Or maybe it wasn’t. :))  He was different.  Outspoken, unafraid, with long hair and tall as an oak tree, no lie.  I was different, too.  Quiet.  Somber, would sit in a corner alone if I didn’t know anyone, and half the time, I’d have my head down too unless I was in a class with some of my friends.  Honest,  I didn’t die my hair black, though many probably expected me to.  This was 11th grade, and I had some interesting friends, quite an assortment.  One of them was really into getting into every rock concert or going to see every new band she could.  I went with her many times.  Through her, I met Jaxx.  He didn’t have a car; I did.  But what he did have, was a fake i.d.  Imagine what a valuable piece of plastic that was to us!  I would gladly drive him places.  Well, some of my other friends wanted to go, and they’d bring boyfriends.  Inevitably, I let him drive my car because I’d get, you know, too tired to drive.  Sometimes they’d meet me up at the *Jack in the Box (Name changed to protect the innocent restaurant chain) and get something through the drive-through, then wait in the parking lot until I got off.  I don’t think I got much sleep back then.

We’d go off to the drive-in movies or out driving.  When I let Jaxx drive, he usually drove like a crazy man.  Hey, it was a five speed!  One night, a bunch of them wanted to try and do donuts, round repeated spins at high speed, in the car.  I think it was just my car, well, someone had a Pinto, maybe it was subjected to donuts, too.  I don’t know; it gets hazy.  So, yeah, they were doing that and I was just laughing with everyone else, in a lackadaisical, anything goes spirit.  Why worry?  Why question it?  Who does that when they’re 17 and having fun anyhow?  Oh, I sure needed to learn a lesson.

We were out so late this one night, I just knew I’d be in serious trouble.  Jaxx said, “Man, I stay in trouble.  I’d just like to run off.”

And I said something like, “Yeah.  I should do that.  I’m tired of my mom’s strict rules.  I’m tired of school.”

Well, everyone else had to go home to avoid grounding, I guess, but he and I didn’t want to go home.  We decided we would just run off.  Now, I’m sure my car sounded bad, but for some reason I don’t remember specifics.  However, it got us to an IHOP on the other side of town, Westside, I think.

We sat there eating something cheap, and I was drinking coffee, thinking what am I doing here.  Looking at the night shift waitress thinking, will I need a job like that to feed myself?  What were we thinking?  Are Jaxx and I gonna live together?  Could we even stand each other?  Mind you, we weren’t actually dating and he’d never kissed me.  He had a fake i.d.and devil may care attitude.  I had a car, and an easy-going attitude.  Meaning, I didn’t really look out for myself.  I had to learn that lesson the hard way.

I looked at him, and he looked at me, and one of us, I’m not sure who, said, “This was not a good idea.”  What a relief.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll have to face grounding.  I’m tired,”  I said.

“You look tired,”  he agreed.  Actually, I think he said something much meaner.  See what I mean?  All this guy had going for him was a fake i.d.  So glad I came to my senses.

Of course, I got grounded.  Of course, something was wrong with the car.  It got me home, but it didn’t start the next day.  I asked one of my friends who had been there to tell me what happened to it.  She told me, “Jeff says Jaxx knocked the engine off the engine block.”  Great.  If I would’ve just told him to get out of my car, if I would have just taken care of my car, what a frustration.  I hadn’t.  I didn’t look out for myself, either.

I don’t know if Jaxx had already been a dropout, or if it happened soon after, or if I just didn’t have the guts to tell him he caused that damage to the car and owed me for repairs. Summer was just a month or two away, anyhow. The car sat in our driveway for months until Mom got someone to buy it for dirt cheap.  That was part of my punishment, losing the car.  I knew I deserved it.  She had been rife with worry that whole night that I was out until 4 or 5 a.m.  I can sympathize with her now, looking back.

I got rides to work, rides home, waited around so Mom could drop me off before work.  I worked, and save $700 for some kind of used Plymouth that did its own donuts on the side of the road when it was rainy out.  Guess I’m lucky I lived.  That car liked donuts. :p We won’t go too far into how I felt, sitting at the side of the road, heart racing.  God, it was a close call.  Considering it once happened on a highway, I must have had someone looking out for me.

It seems like I straightened up in Senior year, realizing my love for Literature, and that I could actually go to college, just had to choose carefully which classes I chose to sleep in.  I kept working, got a better part-time job, still driving that rusty Plymouth, but I was able to get some work done on it.  It became less dangerous to me, thank God!  My outlook on life was a lot lighter, brighter.  Maybe I was more determined.  My dad was going to pay my first two years of tuition if I paid for books.  So, I did go on to get my college degree, working and paying for the rest of it myself.  After all, you learn a lot more when you pay for what you get.  A tough lesson, an education.  And don’t subject the white rabbit to donuts, or so-called friends who insist on donuts!

*Some names have been changed to avoid dredging up the past.  Well, it is prominent in my memory right now, it being summer time, but I would like to have certain people remain just that, a memory.[image error]

Calling All Poets/Creative Minds to A Grand Collaboration – Poets for Peace

forgottenmeadows

image copyright neha 2016

Hello Everyone,

This collaboration is initiated by my talented friend Michael (M. Zane McClellan)  from the poetry channel and will be hosted here on forgottenmeadows. Many wonderful bloggers like Marie (https://writingwingsforyou.com/), Kim (https://zipsrid.wordpress.com/) and others have helped in putting this together and spreading the word out. The deadline for contribution is August 31st, 2016! I urge you to help us make this creative effort successful by joining in.Below is Michael’s message:

“In response to the recent unceasing, and, in fact escalating global violence, we have seen and felt a corresponding surge in poetry about it.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to share your thoughts and feelings, a piece of yourself, to add to other Poets from around the world. We are hopeful that the combined weight of our collective spirit and wisdom will be felt worldwide as well.

The…

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