Sarah Butland's Blog, page 16

Charlie

Start the story by visiting “Abandoned” or read on to learn about Charlie.

Blinded

See part 1: Abandoned

Lucas was not about to leave before the rest of the crowd called it a night. Helen already thought he was such a baby and this was a chance to prove her wrong. He felt he was old enough to take care of himself and was surprised she seemed to feel the same as he turned to see her walk away. “I’ll find my own way home, then.” Lucas was as stubborn as he was timid.

Looking up to see Charlie still close he decided to stick with her, one of the only faces he still only barely knew. Lucas knew she was in a lot of the same classes as Helen though wasn’t sure if they were friends or merely classmates. She started moving towards the house, away from the crowd and Lucas had to hustle to catch up. Panting when he finally reached her she turned with a puzzled look.

“Are you following me?”

“No…yes… I just… You know my sister – Helen- and she left. I wanted to stay and wanted to know where you were going.”

“You got balls, kid. Does she know you’re with me?” Not that Charlie actually cared but she was an only child and and very little to do with kids. She simply knew she didn’t want to start now but felt she had no choice.

“Balls? No, sorry, I didn’t bring any. What are you going to do?”

Charlie seemed confused at first, more confused than Lucas and then she realized she’d have to watch her language around him. “Oh, right, I thought I’d discourage others from following us by making a path of balls, they would at least slow them down.”

“Where are you, er we, going?” Looking towards the house Lucas shivered at the idea of getting any closer to it. The crowd wasn’t moving an inch and seemed a safer option. He was stubborn though and hated the thought of another person thinking he was a baby so he stayed.

“Just up to the step. I want to take a picture of the crowd to submit to the Broadcast and my blog. You coming?”

Lucas was determined to go and show his big sis how brave he could be. When they arrived and she took a few pictures of the crowd Lucas caught his breath and asked if he could be in one of the pictures, with the house as the background. Charlie agreed and had Lucas stand right by the door as she took a few steps back for the best vantage point.

The flash blinded Lucas, eyes being too well adjusted to the dark, and he stumbled a bit. “Did you get a good one?” There was no answer. “Charlie? Did you need to take another one?” Lucas didn’t hear an answer or a sound from the crowd and when his eyes fixed themselves he was terrified at what they saw.

That’s it for now…stay tuned for part three “Charlie”.

A New Month, A New Challenge

In celebration of completing the A to Z Challenge, and not missing a post, I decided to stay motivated and expand my daily posting but this will be a bit different. Last month each post was random, about words that inspired my passion for writing but now I’m going to write a bit of a story starting with each day’s letter. So today, May 1, 2018 I’m starting with the letter A for Abandon.

Abandon

The road was crowded with on-lookers who gazed at nothing but a dark house in a deserted field. A single light shone from the upstairs window while the curious stood watching, no one saying a word. And then someone saw it, shouting partly in fear and partly disbelief. A shadow passed by the upstairs glow, dimming it slightly for just a brief moment so it was hard to miss and others wondered if it was actually even seen.

Charlie was known in the village as the gossip so Helen was not surprised she was the one who made the claim. Helen didn’t even want to be there but her mother forced her to take her little brother, Lucas. It was tradition, their mother said, for the older sibling to take the younger to the night of the watch. It was something the people of the village did every ten years on May 1st. This year happened to fall on a Tuesday when their mother worked the night shift and Helen had to babysit. If anything was going to happen Helen wasn’t sure it would be appropriate for her scaredy-cat brother but her mother wouldn’t listen.

Charlie sent shivers down Helen’s spine. She somehow ended up beside her while trying to get Lucas on the other side of the crowd. With Charlie bringing attention to their spot she was forced to put away her phone and pretend to be curious. ‘How mundane’, thought Helen, ‘it’s just an old abandoned house with nothing more to show than broken shutters and rotten steps. Lucas is going to have nightmares and be awake all night. Charlie wasn’t helping.’

And then Helen saw it, just as Charlie said. “Ow! Helen, let go!” Helen had no idea she was squeezing Lucas’ shoulder and quickly took her hand from him. “, let’s go. There’s nothing there and it’s getting late. You’re frozen, too.”

“No, what did you and Charlie see? I want to see it!” He knew he sounded whiny but he waited all of his life for this moment. Yes, he knew he’d have nightmares after, for weeks likely but this would help with his comic books. Lucas was staying until he saw what he came to see.

“I’ll make you a hot chocolate when we get home,” Helen enticed, knowing her mother would strangle her if they left now, especially with offering chocolate before bed. It didn’t work anyway as he wasn’t following her when she finally looked back. She cringed when she did notice the crowd moving into the gap she just created and wasn’t able to see Lucas at all. Helen was done for.

stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow: Blinded

A New Month a New Challenge

In celebration of completing the A to Z Challenge, and not missing a post, I decided to stay motivated and expand my daily posting but this will be a bit different. Last month each post was random, about words that inspired my passion for writing but now I’m going to write a bit of a story starting with each day’s letter. So today, May 1, 2018 I’m starting with the letter A for Abandon.

Abandon

The road was crowded with on-lookers who gazed at nothing but a dark house in a deserted field. A single light shone from the upstairs window while the curious stood watching, no one saying a word. And then someone saw it, shouting partly in fear and partly disbelief. A shadow passed by the upstairs glow, dimming it slightly for just a brief moment so it was hard to miss and others wondered if it was actually even seen.

Charlie was known in the village as the gossip so Helen was not surprised she was the one who made the claim. Helen didn’t even want to be there but her mother forced her to take her little brother, Lucas. It was tradition, their mother said, for the older sibling to take the younger to the night of the watch. It was something the people of the village did every ten years on May 1st. This year happened to fall on a Tuesday when their mother worked the night shift and Helen had to babysit. If anything was going to happen Helen wasn’t sure it would be appropriate for her scaredy-cat brother but her mother wouldn’t listen.

Charlie sent shivers down Helen’s spine. She somehow ended up beside her while trying to get Lucas on the other side of the crowd. With Charlie bringing attention to their spot she was forced to put away her phone and pretend to be curious. ‘How mundane’, thought Helen, ‘it’s just an old abandoned house with nothing more to show than broken shutters and rotten steps. Lucas is going to have nightmares and be awake all night. Charlie wasn’t helping.’

And then Helen saw it, just as Charlie said. “Ow! Helen, let go!” Helen had no idea she was squeezing Lucas’ shoulder and quickly took her hand from him. “, let’s go. There’s nothing there and it’s getting late. You’re frozen, too.”

“No, what did you and Charlie see? I want to see it!” He knew he sounded whiny but he waited all of his life for this moment. Yes, he knew he’d have nightmares after, for weeks likely but this would help with his comic books. Lucas was staying until he saw what he came to see.

“I’ll make you a hot chocolate when we get home,” Helen enticed, knowing her mother would strangle her if they left now, especially with offering chocolate before bed. It didn’t work anyway as he wasn’t following her when she finally looked back. She cringed when she did notice the crowd moving into the gap she just created and wasn’t able to see Lucas at all. Helen was done for.

stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow: Blinded

Z for Zeal

This is it! The final installment of the A to Z Challenge and, once again, it’s a challenging letter. I first titled this post Z is for Zombified as it feels like I’m a zombie these days, trying to balance everything I want to do while continuing to do what I need to do. I get it, we sometimes need to balance our priorities and let some things slide (check my post about Persistence and Priorities) it’s just not in my nature to say no to a writing project.

I went with Z is for Zeal instead as I zealously strive for living through my passion no matter my exhaustion level and the pressure plus deadlines seem to help with that. The more opportunity I have to write the more passionate I become.

This month while working on the daily posts for the A to Z Challenge I also managed to read a book, review it, write a new bio, write a press release, interview other authors and catch up on some replies. My level of zeal when it comes to writing is through the roof when I actually make the time to do what I love.

So I am signing off on this challenge with some zeal and motivation, thinking I’m going to work on a daily blog post for May following the same A to Z theme but with fiction this time. With so many ideas running around in my head this may give me the platform I need to find the one I want to grow!

So thank you to all of you for sticking with this with me and I’ll see you soon!

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

author of so much!

Y is for Yesterday

I was going to write Y  is for You as without you, while I would still write, life wouldn’t be the same. You, dear reader, keep me on track, motivated and aiming to please with my writing. You are the reason I publish and not just write, you are the reason I hire cover artists and editors and invest the cost of publishing a paperback. You are the reason for my blogs, and empty closets, the reason I look at past stories and post them on Patreon or fine tune them for an ebook. You, dear reader, are like the GPS to my road trip, guiding me to my destination and rerouting if I go off course.

Instead of going on and on about You I changed my Y to Yesterday for the A to Z Challenge. The common thing to say is why put off for tomorrow what you can do today and yet I did that very thing yesterday. Usually I prepare my blog posts the night before and, admittedly, forgot yesterday and then was too tired to bother. So I did put off what I could have done yesterday to do today. What I don’t feel is regret in this instance for doing that.

I enjoyed yesterday; the sun was out, the temperatures were gorgeous and I went for a walk. While I enjoy writing, when the sun is out and the warmth is there I feel better taking advantage of those wonderful days by being outside.

They say you shouldn’t have any regrets, that you shouldn’t look back on what you did or didn’t do yesterday and be upset about it but I do admit to having regrets on occasion. I try not to hold on to those regrets or dwell in them but there are some that I feel hold me down. Like why didn’t I enter that contest, why didn’t I market a bit more or pitch that story to a publisher. Where would I be if I took left instead of right? Or art instead of write? (Trust me, art is really not a feasible option for my talent.)

The only thing I can do with yesterday is keep it in my memories and help it shape my today.  That’s why, before anything else this morning (even breakfast!) I wrote this post so as not to miss out on one day of this challenge.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

author of Life Imitated, Blood Day and more!

X is for… Xenophilia

I thought it was impossible to find a relevant word for today’s A to Z Challenge but I found it and it’s a great one, once you know what it means, just don’t ask me how to pronounce it.

W is for Willpower

Having willpower is vital in the long term writing game. I used to check my sales daily, being discouraged when the graph showed absolutely no movement – even when I offered a book for free. In this A to Z Challenge post I’m covering this very important topic with respect to dreaming big!

While deciding to do what you love is challenging, keeping with it can be even more of an obstacle. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is all about this idea that those who want it continue to go for it despite the brick walls they often see. Said brick walls can deter the best of us but these best, if they give up when facing even one of the many walls, don’t believe in themselves enough to keep going. It’s people like you and I who keep hitting our heads against these walls, wondering how to get through who eventually wear down each wall and succeed.

Succeeding at anything takes willpower as circumstances continually hurt the head and the heart, especially when we are so closely connected and invested in doing what we love. Being confident in being an author means not checking your sales rank constantly and just simply having faith that the time will come if you dedicate yourself, continually banging your head against whatever wall you’re facing today.

There are many things I give up easily, maybe too easily, but living through passion is something I’ll always be stubborn about and ensure I find the willpower to simply keep trying.

How strong is your will?

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

author of I Saw the Forest, Life Imitated and more

V is for Variety

In today’s A to Z Challenge post we tackle the letter V and for that I chose variety over victory though both are so important. With variety I find I do feel victorious more often. Give me a challenge and I’ll tackle it. While it may not be my best work every time it lets me dabble in fields I don’t generally gravitate to. Blood Day the Short Story is, once again, a prime example as I tried to write a 4000 word short story for young adults with a lot of obstacles in my way. I could have passed, admitting that it wasn’t my forte or genre of choice and, with the looming deadline, that I wouldn’t have time but I dove in, excited to try my hand at something to get my imagination running. And, though you likely know this part already – it won and was so well loved by its readers they demanded more!

I’ve done some copy writing which was raved about by my employer, written short stories and poems and do freelancing people are continually commenting on, in a good way! I have also hosted workshops and various readings, spicing things up along the way to keep my writing career interesting.

A lot of the marketing videos I’ve watched, not specific to writing necessarily, repeat that someone should find the one thing they excel at and to continue doing that. For writers it would be to pick one genre and put out multiple books for that single audience but if you know me at all you know that I’ve tried something in a lot of different fields and I love it, so are many readers!

Variety helps all of us from getting bored and losing interest, it also helps us determine our best fit and realize what we don’t like or aren’t so good at. Imagine eating the same food for every meal the rest of your life – thankfully most of us don’t have to!

Let me know what you’ve tried today that is different from the usual.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

author of Sending You Sammy, Cherish Your Treasures, Arm Farm and more!

U is for the Ups and Downs of Working for Yourself

Deciding to work for yourself takes a lot of guts and requires one to just take the leap or, responsibly, weigh the ups and downs of taking the plunge. In this A to Z Challenge I’ll go through some of the ups and downs I’ve personally considered during my life.

A definite up would be to have more time for my own family, taking vacations when I best feel it necessary and working as much as I need or feel I’m worth. I do wonder how I would spend my time, if it would be spent wisely or just in celebration of feeling free time wise. Without the regular paycheque or benefits I do hope I’d be able to focus and dedicate myself enough to maintain a steady income.

Another up would be fulfilling my dream and having it all under my control. People often ask what defines success and, for me, it would be all about living through my lifelong passion. Since I could write that’s what I loved to do and I continually expressed my desire to be creative and support myself through that love of writing.

Hearing back from a fan about how they connected with a story, the people I meet through freelancing and the challenges I face and conquer are all such great motivators for continuing to write for myself.

Yes, there are many downs to working for yourself and putting that pressure on writing for income – we all know them and that’s why most of us continue to work for someone else. I would love for you to tell me your own personal ups and, if you took the leap, let me know how it went and how it felt!

Thanks for reading,

Sarah Butland

author of Being Grateful, Being Thankful and more