E.D. Martin's Blog, page 38

Weekend Writing Warriors 10/5/14 #8sunday

October = Halloween = horror!

Here’s a snippet from “Tim and Sara,” about two friends who escape from a mental institution. Tim is in the dayroom, people-watching. He notices a nurse doing something he shouldn’t and tries to confront him.

“What am I worried about; you’re not gonna tell anyone, right, Tim?”

 

He reaches towards me (blood on his fingers his plaid shirt is covered with blood dripping from the knife in his hand Ellen is on the floor not moving her shirt bloody so much blood so much blood everywhere why is there so much blood why isn’t she moving Ellen get up I call but he laughs and says she can’t hear me no one can hear me the knife moves closer blood and flesh I can’t leave Ellen so much blood Ellen why won’t you get up) and I run, have to hide somewhere because he hurt Ellen but he won’t hurt me.

 

I duck under the table that Old Joe and Scott Brown Elliot were playing chess on, curl into a ball with my head tucked between my knees.

 

“That counts as your move,” I hear Old Joe say but his voice sounds far away, as if I’m underwater. They can’t find me if I’m underwater (Paul was floating in the water blood surrounding him too on the shore on the dock blood everywhere but not his hand where’s his hand he can help me if he has his hands stop floating you have to help me so much blood so dark under the dock monsters in the water monsters in the house monsters trying to get me) and I know there’s no water but I don’t trust the water anyway.

 

Someone’s hand reaches for me and I pull tighter, not willing to let them pull me away from under the table (under the dock Paul’s hand floating next to me something brushes my leg something in here with me with Paul’s hand with the blood I thrash around have to stay still or he’ll find me like he did Ellen so much blood Ellen get up hide somewhere). They can see me though; they can find me.

 

“Tim,” a voice says, calling to me through the air that suffocates me like water, “Tim, it’s okay.”

Find out more about Tim’s and Sara’s demons by getting your copy on Amazon. Then post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

And while you’re at Amazon, get a free copy of my latest short story, “Not My Thing.”

Writing Exercise #1: Character Development

I’ve recently joined a local writing group. We start most of the bi-weekly meetings with a quick writing exercise. This week’s task was to select a random picture from a stack, imagine that the person was in front of us, and write his or her backstory. I’ve been thinking about my characters for NaNoWriMo, and so I decided to write about one of them.

Houston Jones sits across from me, his gaze darting around the diner.

“Want a drink?” I ask, hoping to calm him down.

He shakes his head. His hands, at first clasped tightly in his lap, clutch the edge of his chair, then drum a beat on the table.

“So…” I prompt him.

“It’s tough, ya know?” My expression must say clearly that I don’t know. “Being here. All this.” His hand sweeps at the patrons, the tables, the whole city.

“You need a job.” No sense wasting time. His agitation is only increasing, and I don’t know what will happen when he reaches his breaking point.

“We didn’t have cell phones. The internet. Think about that. You wanna meet up with someone, you call from a payphone. Plan ahead. Now everything is available, immediately. People ain’t planning no more. They’re in such a hurry, but they ain’t got nothing to hurry to. I learned, the last thirty years, there’s never nothing to hurry to.”

He takes a deep breath, as if to go on, but remains silent. His chest heaves slightly, like he’s been running, and maybe he has, only it’s his thoughts been running for the last thirty years he was locked up, and now they’re out but the world has changed and maybe he’s right; where do you run to?

“I need that job. No more running. I lost thirty years. I ain’t got no time to waste being like this.”

“It’s working in a garage, hauling scrap, general maintenance. Think you can do that okay?”

He laughs, a biting sound that hurts my heart. “I ain’t got much choice.”

This book will be about five people coming together in the face of tragedy. I’m toying with the idea of making it twenty-five short stories, almost like episodes of a sitcom, that are loosely linked and come together with the equivalent of a season finale. Thoughts?

Weekend Writing Warriors 9/28/14 #8sunday

For September, I’m going to pull from my novel, The Lone Wolf, which was released last fall.

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

In this scene from Kasey and Andrew’s first meeting, she’s just bumped into him at the local bookstore. Literally.

I tried to think of something witty to say, or quirky, something that would make him laugh, make him want to get to know me, while he regarded me with a mixture of polite boredom and expectation.

 

I gestured toward the section behind him and asked, “So, you like military history?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“I think it’s interesting, but I always get frustrated by the policy decisions because it seems we go in and do whatever we think is best for a country, without consideration for what they want, and so no wonder they hate us so much, if all we do is use violence to enforce our will.” I paused, realizing I might be ranting, and gave him an apologetic smile, then said, “My dad fought in Vietnam, so I grew up exposed to all this; I’m a pretty strong pacifist.”

 

“Career military,” he said, and all traces of the smirk, or smile, or whatever it had been, were gone.

 

“Oh,” I answered, sure my face was definitely on fire.

 

“If you’ll excuse me?”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

You can get a copy of The Lone Wolf at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords, or the audiobook at Amazon, Audible, or iTunes.

And make sure to get a copy of my latest short story, “Not My Thing,” free at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

Weekend Writing Warriors 9/21/14 #8sunday

For September, I’m going to pull from my novel, The Lone Wolf, which was released last fall.

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

Last week, Kasey and Andrew shared a look across a bookstore. This excerpt is from a week after that first meeting.

While browsing McKay’s history section, walking backwards reading the titles, I bumped into the blue-eyed man, who was engrossed in the military history section.

 

He scowled at me for a brief moment, but as recognition dawned in his eyes his expression softened.

 

“I’m so sorry,” I said as heat rushed to my face. “I wasn’t paying attention; I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

 

“No harm, no foul.” The corners of his lips drew back into a smile, or perhaps a smirk. “You come here a lot, right? I’ve noticed you around.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

You can get a copy of The Lone Wolf at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords, or the audiobook at Amazon, Audible, or iTunes.

And make sure to get a copy of my latest short story, “Not My Thing,” free at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

Weekend Writing Warriors 9/14/14 #8sunday

For September, I’m going to pull from my novel, The Lone Wolf, which was released last fall.

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

Last week, Kasey and Andrew shared a look across a bookstore. This continues from where that left off.

For the next few days, my mind kept returning to the eyes of the man at the bookstore. Even after that quick glimpse, they still haunted me; that man haunted me. For some reason, I was simultaneously intrigued and put off. We’d never spoken to each other, never interacted, and all I had to go by was a glance, an overheard conversation. That was no reason to—to what? To think about someone? That’s all it was; no need to overreact. For God’s sake, I didn’t even know his name.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

You can get a copy of The Lone Wolf at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords, or the audiobook at Amazon, Audible, or iTunes.

And make sure to get a copy of my latest short story, “Not My Thing,” free at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

Weekend Writing Warriors 9/7/14 #WeWriWa

For September, I’m going to pull from my novel, The Lone Wolf, which was released last fall.

After her husband’s infidelities are revealed, Kasey Sanford just wants to rediscover who she is. After an abusive childhood and years as a career soldier, Andrew Adams just wants someone to tell him that he’s doing the right thing with his life. When their paths cross, Kasey and Andrew embark on a tumultuous journey that demonstrates just what they’re willing to do to save the ones they love.

In this scene, Andrew and Kasey bump into each other for the first time when Kasey is studying a display in a bookstore window.

After a few minutes, I sensed someone staring at me and looked through the window into the café section of the store. A dozen or so people dotted the tables, some sitting alone and others grouped together. Near the back, three people clustered around a table. A balding man and a plump woman had their backs to me, and facing them, facing me, an attractive blondhaired man, maybe mid-thirties, watched me intently.

 

Most people would have the decency to look away when they’d been caught staring, but not this guy. Our eyes met. He took a drink from his coffee cup and laughed at something but didn’t break eye contact.

 

I dropped my own eyes back to the robot in front of me, my face on fire, then glanced back at the stranger; he was still watching me.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

You can get a copy of The Lone Wolf at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords, or the audiobook at Amazon, Audible, or iTunes.

And make sure to get a copy of my latest short story, “Not My Thing,” free at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

Fall 2014 goal review

Every year, I set goals for myself, and every three months, I review my progress. After the hectic summer I had (working 50 hours/week, 20 hour/week internship, two classes, and researching for my thesis), I don’t know why I’m even bothering because I didn’t accomplish anything this summer, but here goes anyways.

1. Finish my third novel, tentatively titled On the Other Side, which will be a steampunk political thriller because, well, why not.

This not only didn’t happen, but On The Other Side has been pushed out of line by outlines for two other novels that I might write first. One is about five characters very loosely based on people I met while interning at a homeless shelter, and the other is a sequel to The Lone Wolf.

2. Write and submit at least one new short story every month.

I’ve had two submissions in 2014: one for a publication that went defunct, and one rejection. I haven’t finished any new stories recently, but I’ve been heavily mulling over plot points; all I really need is to make myself sit down and write them. And then submit them.

I’ve recently joined a local writing group that starts each bimonthly meeting with a short story prompt. I’m hoping to finish each story I write and get them submitted.

3.Get a short story collection ready for publication (not including The Futility of Loving a Soldier, which will be out this fall from Evolved – hopefully).

I have three stories with similar themes and tones, plus a couple more half-finished stories that would fit with them. If I can get six done, I’ll publish them like I did with Us, Together.

4. Self-publish at least two long short stories.

I’m currently working on three that should come out to be about 10-20k words. Depending on when/if I get them done, I’ll probably go through my publisher, Evolved Publishing, rather than self-publish, like I did for “Not My Thing.” The results have been awesome for that – it hit #1 in July on Amazon’s free literary short stories list.

5. Read 100 books.

I’m at 43 – 24 books behind schedule.

6. Learn a new language – either Spanish, Tamil, Arabic, or Icelandic – to the point I can carry on a basic conversation in it.

I plan to really hit this goal this fall. I’m taking a class on campus once a week, so I’m hoping to get some language CDs to listen to on the hour-long drive. It’s nice to decompress to whatever’s on my iPod, but I feel kinda guilt for not being productive during that time, considering how much stuff I always have to do.

If you’ve set goals for yourself, how’re they going so far this year?

 

 

Weekend Writing Warriors 8/31/14 #WeWriWa

Continuing on from last week’s story, Dark Paradise, about two teens in the early 1960′s – good girl Celly and reformed bad boy Duke. Their friends have set them up on a date at the fair, and they’ve ended up on the Ferris Wheel.

The Ferris Wheel starts with a creak and a jolt. Celly clutches the bar in front of her and ignores Duke laughing at her insecurity.

 

“Relax, nothing bad’ll happen.” As if to prove his point, he starts the chair swinging.

 

“Stop it,” she tells him as the bile begins rising in the back of her throat.

 

“Or what?”

 

“Or I’ll-”

 

He leans in and cuts her off with a kiss.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

And make sure to get a copy of my latest short story, “Not My Thing,” free at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.

Weekend Writing Warriors 8/24/14 #WeWriWa

Continuing on from last week’s story, Dark Paradise, about two teens – good girl Celly and reformed bad boy Duke. Their friends have set them up on a date at the fair.

As they walked towards the Ferris wheel, Celly’s heart pounded. She still wanted to kill Mona for putting her in this situation, but she had to admit that Duke wasn’t necessarily the worst person to be set up with. Tall, understatedly muscular, with smoldering dark eyes – yes, it could’ve been a lot worse.

 

“So,” he said, breaking the silence, “they tell me you like to just stay home all the time.”

 

“No, I like to go out too.” She hoped  he couldn’t see her burning face in the dark, then wondered why she even cared. “Sometimes.”

 

“Is this one of those times?”

Read more at the Weekend Writing Warriors website, http://www.wewriwa.com.

Weekend Writing Warriors 8/17/14 #WeWriWa

This week’s snippet is from from a WIP novella, Dark Paradise. Set in the early 60′s, it’s about the relationship between two teens, good girl Celly and reformed bad boy Duke. In this excerpt, they’ve both been dragged to the fair by their friends, whom Celly has discovered have set them up on a date.

“Date?” she asks.

 

“‘Date’ might not be the right term. Hank slipped me a couple dollars to keep you occupied so he could take off with your friend. Maybe babysitting is more appropriate.”

 

Celly stares at him, mouth open, cheeks red. Mona dragged her along just so someone could be paid to babysit her? She’s definitely going to kill her friend.

 

He grins at her discomfort and asks, “So, Ferris wheel first or do you want something to eat?”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website.

And make sure to get a copy of my latest short story, “Not My Thing,” free at Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.