E.D. Martin's Blog, page 40

Weekend Writing Warriors 6/1/14 #WeWriMa

New month, new Weekend Writing Warriors theme! For June, I’m going to pull from my horror/paranormal universe stories, starting with an excerpt from “Tim and Sara,” a short story I published a couple years ago.

The victim of debilitating flashbacks, Tim is content to spend the rest of his life at Kirkbride, a state mental hospital. But his friend and fellow resident Sara is concerned that she has to save her soul before it’s too late, and so she devises a plan to break them out of the hospital. Can Tim help his friend while holding onto what’s left of his sanity?

In this scene, Tim has gotten them kicked off the bus at a station in the middle of nowhere. They’re waiting to catch another bus the next day.

I wake in the middle of the night to a station lobby that’s empty, lights off but the parking lot streetlights provide more than enough illumination in here. Sara lies next to me, curled in a ball, hair in her face. I reach over, brush it off and behind her ear. Her face is relaxed as she sleeps, peaceful.

 

I stretch, return to sleep but I’m awakened by a loud noise. I open my eyes, afraid to move. Sara is in the corner, pleading with someone who may not even be there, stomping her feet, crying. I know I should help her but I’m afraid of her voices, afraid of what they might make her do if they find out I’m listening.

Get a copy of the story to find out what the voices make her do!

Then post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

If I wrote fanfiction

Tuesday is meeting day at my current job. I thought it might be fun to share what goes through my head while sitting through them.

Penny from Inspector Gadget always tried to do the right thing, but her idiot uncle always got the credit. Sure, it was fun for awhile, but over time it got to her, especially as she got older and became a detective herself. All those comparisons, all those compliments – she was about to snap.

Gadget’s promotion to police chief was hard to swallow, but when he was made head of the FBI, it was too much to take. She tracked down Dr. Claw, who recognized her genius and gladly hired her on. She’s been working for M.A.D. ever since.

What do you think – would Penny go over to the dark side?

Weekend Writing Warriors 5/25/14 #WeWriMa

Continuing on with the Viking theme, here’s an excerpt from a short story I’m working on, “There Are No Vikings in Montana.” Jill has been seeing some weird stuff recently – a chupacabra and a walking tree, among other things – and now she thinks she’s seeing a Viking too. She’s finally confronted him, and he’s informed her the tree is actually a dryad.

“A dryad,” I repeated, my tone dripping with disbelief.

 

“Yes, it is a tree spirit.”

 

“I know what a dryad is.”

 

Again, his look that implied I was an idiot.

 

I hurried to explain, “Dryads aren’t real. Or Vikings either, for that matter.”

 

Before I could move away, he reached over and pinched my arm, then asked, “Could I do that if I were not real?”

 

“Fine, maybe you’re real, but I’m still not buying the whole dryad thing.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Review: The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky by David Litwack

Last summer, I had a guest post by David Litwack, author of Along the Watchtower and There Comes a Prophet. He’s since signed with my publisher, Evolved Publishing, and his latest novel, The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky, is releasing today. I received a review copy through Novel Publicity Events.

After centuries of religiously motivated war, the world has been split in two. Now the Blessed Lands are ruled by pure faith, while in the Republic, reason is the guiding light—two different realms, kept apart and at peace by a treaty and an ocean.

A mysterious nine-year-old from the Blessed Lands sails into the lives of a couple in the Republic, claiming to be the Daughter of the Sea and the Sky. Is she a troubled child longing to return home, or a powerful prophet sent to unravel the fabric of the Republic? The answer will change the lives of all she meets… and perhaps their world as well.

This book fit in well with his previous two; There Comes a Prophet is a post-apocalyptic world ruled by an authoritative government set on controlling all aspects of its citizens’ lives, and Along the Watchtower is a blend of our world and a Dungeons and Dragons-esque fantasy world. The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky is set in a world similar to ours, except for a sharp divide between reason and religion.

All these books center on the main characters leaving the familiar to fight against the status quo because that’s what they believe is morally best. For this latest book, Litwack skillfully portrays each side – atheists and believers – as both good and bad. After finishing the book, the reader is left seeing that neither side is entirely right or wrong. Personally, I come down pretty hard on one side of that debate, and so I’ve been thinking about this book for the past few days – is it okay to maintain neutrality in a situation like this? Whether you agree with Litwack’s characters’ views on this matter or not, the important thing is, this book will get you thinking.

The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky is available now through Amazon or Barnes and Noble. You can learn more about the author, David Litwack, on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

And, of course, there are goodies to sign up for!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Weekend Writing Warriors 5/18/14 #WeWriMa

Continuing on with the Viking theme, here’s an excerpt from a short story I’m working on, “There Are No Vikings in Montana.” Jill has been seeing some weird stuff recently, and now she thinks she’s seeing a Viking too. She’s finally confronted him.

“Who are you, and why are you following me?” I demanded.

 

He didn’t respond; the look he shot me implied this was a stupid question, that I should know the answer.

 

“Ever since the fireworks, when the world shuddered, for lack of a better word, I’ve been seeing stuff that shouldn’t be possible. I nearly ran over a chupacabra, a tree straightened up and waved at me, and now I’m being followed by a guy in a leather kilt and a horned helmet. No one else is seeing this, but I’m not making it up, I swear!”

 

“It was a dryad.”

 

“What?”

 

“The tree; it was a dryad.”

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Summer roadtrip #1

It’s not technically summer, but I am halfway through one of two weeks I get off from classes this summer, so yes, it is summer for me. I start an internship and a couple classes next week, so I thought I’d unwind this past weekend while I had a little bit of free time by heading to a remote, relaxing location: Washington Island, Wisconsin.

Weekend Writing Warriors 5/11/14

Continuing on with the Viking theme, here’s an excerpt from a short story I’m working o n, “There Are No Vikings in Montana.” Jill has been seeing some weird stuff recently – a chupacabra and a walking tree, among other things – and now she thinks she’s seeing a Viking too.

I turned to look back and sure enough, that guy was still there, watching me intently.

 

“Did you see him?” I asked Amy.

 

“See who?”

 

“That guy, the one with the sword and kilt.”

 

Amy looked over her shoulder. “There’s no one there.”

 

I looked back again. She was right; he was gone.

Post a link to your eight sentences blog entry, or join the fun at the Weekend Writing Warriors website. And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 5/4/14 #WeWriWa

For May, I’m going to focus on Vikings. Because, well, who doesn’t love Vikings?

This week’s excerpt is from “The Beach,” about a young Viking woman.

Sleet soaks Pría’s dress, but she makes no move to seek shelter. “Ég mun alltaf elska þig,” she whispers to Eyjólfur as his flaming barge drifts into the sea: I will always love you.

 

* * * * *

 

Geirmar, a young warrior in her village, falls into step with her one morning as she walks along the beach, and says, “I’m so sorry for what happened.”

 

Pría shrugs because warriors are meant to die; it’s not his fault.

 

“Perhaps, one day, you’ll find room in your heart for another.”

 

She stares out at the waves, at the spot on the horizon where she last saw her own warrior, on his funeral barge with her heart tucked alongside.

 

“Perhaps, one day, it will be me.”

 

“Perhaps.”

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

And make sure you get a copy of my short story, “Not My Thing.” It’s currently free at Smashwords and Barnes and Noble (Amazon is still dragging their feet with the permafree thing, but you can get a Kindle version at Smashwords).

Weekend Writing Warriors 4/27/14 #WeWriWa

It finally appears we’re getting spring this year after all. To commemorate the warmer weather, green grass, and chance for outdoor activities not requiring mittens, this week’s excerpt is from a short story, “Man of the House,” that’s in my collection Us, Together.

For eight-year-old Jerry, Sunday, May 17th, 1987, started as a day just like any other, with church in the morning followed by an afternoon on the couch watching baseball with Dad. Mom kept popping her head in from the kitchen to complain about the beer, the cigarettes, the TV being so goddamn loud and didn’t he realize the baby was trying to sleep?

 

Of course Dad must have realized it, sitting there hunched over, rubbing his temples and downing can after can of Budweiser. Good American beer for a good American man, he always said. When Jerry was older he was never able to drink the stuff himself, told everyone it tasted like crap but really the taste brought back memories that made him cry.

 

But that day in May, that Sunday, Jerry wasn’t crying. He was eight years old, bouncing on the couch, rooting for the Cubbies. Asking Dad if he saw that play, if he thought it could’ve gone another way, if that ump was crazy, and Dad just sat there on the couch, drinking beer after beer, not answering.

Read the rest of the story, and five others about kids trying to cope with what life throws at them, in Us, Together, just $.99 at Amazon.

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

Weekend Writing Warriors 4/20/14 #WeWriWa

Happy Easter! Today’s story, appropriately and irreverently enough, comes from an unfinished short story I wrote a couple years ago, “Noah’s RV.” It’s a modern day retelling of Noah’s Ark, with one awesome exception.

Noah set to work fortifying the RV, attaching metal plates to every surface. He quickly became the object of ridicule by his neighbors.

 

“You planning on camping around robotic bears?” joked one neighbor.

 

“Paranoid a bit?” asked another. “You expecting the apocalypse or something?”

 

“Been listening to those televangelists and preppers too much lately?”

 

Tired, worried – no, scared out of his mind by what was coming – Noah finally snapped. “Yes; I’m preparing for the zombie apocalypse.”

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