Cherie Reich's Blog, page 93

Flash Fiction Fridays

She's a Real Doll
I kissed Maggie at her building's doorstep. "Would you like for me to come up?"
She smiled and touched my cheek. "Not tonight. I have to work early. Good night." She turned and sauntered in. Her hips swayed just right, and I watched her leave.
I sighed, wondering when she would let me upstairs. We'd been dating for three months. Wasn't it time?
***
Several more months went by, and I was certain Maggie was the infamous one. I loved her, but I still never got past her front door at night. I invited her to my place, but she declined. I couldn't take it anymore!
"Marry me, Maggie doll? Please. I love you," I asked on bended knee with a ring and roses in tow.
"Oh, yes! Of course, Marty!" She hugged me, and we kissed.
She left before midnight.
***
As our wedding day neared, I worried something might be going on. It's fine if she wants to wait until we're married, but I needed to know.
I slipped a sleeping aid into her wine at dinner. It was very wrong. She's my fiancée. I should trust her.
We went back to her apartment, and she left me outside the door.
I waited until her light went out. Then, I entered her building, found the hidden key to her door, and snuck inside. Everything was so quiet, and I felt foolish. I was breaking into her place. What have I done?
I wanted to leave. I stood in the door frame for ten minutes. Curiosity dragged me to her bedroom.
She was under the covers asleep, and I felt guilty as hell.
I went over to her bedside and leaned down. "I'm sorry, baby. I was wrong. Sleep tight." I wanted to kiss her, but I froze.
Maggie wasn't there. 
A life-size doll took her place.
I stumbled backward into the nightstand and knocked over the table lamp. The bulb shattered, and I ran.
***
She explained how she kept the doll in bed while she moonlighted at her other job. She wanted everything to be perfect. I told her not to work so hard. I would take care of her.
We were married on June 17, 2010. She is so beautiful, and I'm the luckiest man in the world.
I carried her inside our hotel room. We booked the honeymoon suite, and it couldn't be nicer. To be honest, though, I paid little attention to it. I only had eyes for Maggie. My bride.
We made love on the king-sized bed.
I collapsed against the mattress and regained my breath. "You are fantastic, Mags."
She turned on her side and smiled at me. "I love you, Marty." She leaned in to kiss me, but she paused. "It's almost midnight."
I looked over at the clock. 11:59. "Yeah, almost—"
The digital numbers flashed 12:00.
Midnight.
I couldn't move.
My skin hardened like plastic. My eyes glazed over. Sounds grew muffled. I could barely see the clock change to 12:01. I was stuck, frozen in a doll-like state.
My Maggie moved over me and looked into my eyes. "Thank you, Marty. You set me free." She kissed me, yet I couldn't feel her lips upon mine.
Then, she left.
12:02.
12:03.
12:04.

200th Post!

That's right. This is my 200th post. It's hard to believe I've written so many.

I looked back at the beginning of my blogging journey and saw I started blogging on May 29, 2009. It was also the day my short story "The Case of the Tom Cat" was released by the Publisher-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If you have followed this blog for any length of time, then you already know what happened to them and that story. One day, I hope to have the story republished, but until then, it sits in a file on my laptop (and on my flash drive and a few other places).

In my first entry, I told a little bit about myself. If you want to check it out, click here.

I occasionally do look back at my previous blogs. Some are fun to read. Some are a bit depressing. But all in all, I'm glad I blog.

I currently have 32 followers, and I'm sure there are more that read my blog but just don't let me know. That's fine, if you wish. Just comment once in a while to let me know you exist. I do appreciate it. *grins*

This blog has changed a lot since the beginning. I feel like I've grown as a writer and as a blogger.

Since I started, I've written on average 11.76 posts per month. That's on average 2.9 posts a week. It's about right. I try to blog at least three times a week. Now, I have a good reason to, since I have Promo Mondays, Wednesday's Writing Update, and Flash Fiction Fridays. I like to get other days in there when the mood strikes or I feel like I have something important to say. I've had interviews and reviews on my blog, which I would like to do more interviews and I moved my reviews to my reviews blog, Surrounded by Books Reviews.

I do have two other blogs, one with Livejournal and one on my website, but I prefer blogger. I only post my Wednesday's Writing Update on the other two.

I would like to thank those for sticking with me and my blog. I appreciate it and look forward to comments and reading your blogs.

Thank you!

And, here's to 200 more!

Wednesday's Writing Update

Wow. Just one more day left until the end of September. I can already feel November looming over me, and I keep thinking I have so much I need to do and not enough time to do it before NaNoWriMo. *breathes* Okay, much better.
I finished editing and reading through "Melek Katili" on Monday, and I submitted it to ARe's Just One Bite writing contest. They are supposed to pick the 32 semifinalists tomorrow. Yep, tomorrow as in September 30th. I really hope my story is picked. At this point in my writing, I couldn't have written a better one for the contest, but I am trying to remind myself that paranormal romance isn't my typical genre. I probably didn't even know what I was doing, and thus probably have very little chance.

I've been working slowly on "Lady Death" for Rogue Blade Entertainment's Assassins anthology. The deadline isn't until November 30th, but if they have enough stories, they'll close it on October 1st. They only look at the first 500 words, and mine are so ready to be sent, but I want to finish the story before sending my 500 words. My goal is to finish the story by Friday, so I can go ahead and submit my entry. I will still have time afterwards to polish it up a bit.
Next week from Thursday to Saturday, I'll be attending my first writing conference. I am already getting anxious, scared, nervous, worried, and, yes, excited about it. I must admit I'm worried about the hotel and parking as well as my time pitching to an agent. I think it'll be fine once I get there and check into the hotel and have all that straightened out. I know people going from the Valley Writers group. I feel like I should have been planning much earlier, though, for this. For one, buying business cards from VistaPrint isn't expensive, but shipping them is. Instead of picking my cool designs I posted earlier on my blog, I created something at Staples, and I'll pick them up today during lunch. I do like my card choice; it's a dark purple sky with a lightning bolt, which I thought fit what I write and my favorite color. I got 100 of them, which was the lowest amount you can order. Once they are almost gone, I'll be buying some from VistaPrint and choosing the cheapest and longest shipping available. I just didn't have time this time. Oh, well. I plan to post about my experiences at the conference. I do wish I had one of my novels perfectly polished when I pitch them, but I ran out of time. Does anyone have a time turner they can loan me? *laughs* It'll be fine. *breathes*
Also, on Sunday night, I finished reading Lisa Rusczyk's Chasing the Dark. This novel will be published by Passionate Writer Publishing, and it's supposed to be released on October 25. You can read my review of her novel here.
By the way, October's Flash Fiction Fridays will revolve around horror. Be prepared to be scared. I hope. In a good way. *grins*
Well, I'm off to get some writing done. *crosses fingers*

Banned Books Week (September 25 - October 2, 2010)

From September 25-October 2, 2010, it is banned books week. One of my favorite quotes about books comes from Oscar Wilde: "There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written." I've always loved that quote, and I think it is so true. Now, I wouldn't really recommend banning badly written books, but that's another story altogether.

I would have thought that by the year 2010, we would have more sense not to ban books. Why would we want to limit anyone the choice to read? True, there is such a thing as age appropriate books. I wouldn't want my child (if I had children) reading the Kama Sutra until they were eighteen, although I have little problem with them reading To Kill a Mockingbird or Stephen King. And, if I ever have children, they must read Harry Potter.

I don't believe books should be censored for language, violence, religion, or sex as long as it is true to the book. We should be encouraging people to read instead of saying, "Read This, Not That." How can we grow and open our minds without books?

Here are the Books Banned or Challenged in 2009-2010 according to the ALA. Check the list. How many have you read? By the way, I really like their robots. It's what we'll all be if we ban books. Fight for humanity! *grins*

Promo Monday

For today's Promo Monday, I would like to promote the anthology All About Eve edited by Carol Hightshoe and published by WolfSinger Publications as well as promote Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes.
 


Title: All About EveEditor: Carol HightshoePublisher: WolfSinger Publications (April 2010)To purchase on Amazon as Trade Paperback, click here.
Book Blurb:  Eve - the first woman - some call her Pandora. Both the Christian and ancient Greek myths make her the reason man was plagued with...

Flash Fiction Fridays

Switch
The baby's crying startled the wet nurse. "There, there, little one. You don't want to wake up the entire castle do you?" She scooped the little girl into her arms and released her breast from her shirt. "Drink, sweetheart."
Latching upon the nipple, the baby princess suckled the warm milk and soon fell asleep.
"Such a good lass." The nurse cooed and set her into the crib. Not noticing the golden light hovering over the baby, she settled into a rocking chair. Sleep brushed over her...

Tagged!

So an internet tag has been going around where the blogger answers eight questions, and then tags eight people to answer the same. I was tagged reading the Nicole Zoltack's blog. I'm going to follow suit. Instead of picking 8 people, if you're reading this, tag! (Yes, also borrowed from Nicole. *grins*)


1. If you could have a superpower, what would you have? Why?For the Harry Potter lover, I would love to have the ability to apparate. To be in one place and then suddenly appear in another....

Wednesday's Writing Update

It's time again for another episode of "Wednesday's Writing Update."
I feel like I don't have much news to report.
I submitted my fantasy short story "Magna's Plea" to Pill Hill Press's Shadows & Light, Vol. II: More Legends on Monday. Within ten minutes, it was short listed. Woohoo! Now, short listed doesn't mean too much unfortunately, since there is no guarantee. I should know something around the deadline for the anthology, which is October 31st. I really do hope for good news from...

Contest on The Bookshelf Muse

Checking my blogs today, I found out about Angela Ackerman and her blog The Bookshelf Muse from Nicole Zoltack. Angela is having a 1000+ followers blog contest. Yes, one thousand followers. That's completely amazing!! Congratulations, Angela! So, please check out her fabulous blog and enter today! Contest ends Wednesday, September 29th.

The contest is for new and old followers, and it is in two parts (a general drawing and special mentorship drawing).

General Drawing:

5-First Page critiques

Decisions, Decisions

Looking at the calendar, I realized that in two weeks from Thursday I'll be at the James River Writers Conference. I feel like I have so much I need to get done from now until then. One of those things is business cards. I want to have some cards to hand out to people. I tried making my own on the computer, and they aren't the best. I'd rather have something nicer, so I've been looking at Vistaprint. They have some great card designs, and the prices aren't too bad. Plus, I can get them in aro...