E.D. Martin's Blog, page 41

Weekend Writing Warriors 4/13/14 #WeWriWa

This week continues with the story from last week, “Not My Thing,” which was just released as a free short ebook by Evolved Publishing.

When The Dancing Freemasons embark on their first major tour, Jeff’s dreams of being a rockstar have come true – until he can no longer connect with the music. One night after a show, he meets a woman who might be the one to get the music flowing again, but is the cost worth it?

For the last few scenes, Jeff’s been awkwardly chatting with that woman, and finally worked up the courage to ask her to grab a bite to eat.

“Give me your hand,” he says.

 

Her eyes narrow, but she complies.

 

He traces the veins on her wrist. “This, in here… your blood flowing through your body tells a song, a story for anyone who takes the time to listen.” He taps her smooth skin, playing out a drum beat he’s been working on. “For me it’s all about finding that song, that story, and translating it into something that other people can understand and connect with.”

 

“You probably say that to all your groupies.”

 

“Groupies aren’t my thing.”

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

Weekend Writing Warriors 4/6/14 #WeWriWa

This week continues with the story from last week, “Not My Thing,” which will be released as a free short ebook by Evolved Publishing in early April.

When The Dancing Freemasons embark on their first major tour, Jeff’s dreams of being a rockstar have come true – until he can no longer connect with the music. One night after a show, he meets a woman who might be the one to get the music flowing again, but is the cost worth it?

For the last few scenes, Jeff’s been awkwardly chatting with that woman. Last week, he asked her if she wanted to grab a bite to eat.

They end up at a Denny’s by an airport, where Jeff orders a greasy breakfast plate, and Lisa goes for pancakes.

 

She watches him as he tears into his food, her fork suspended over her own plate. “Don’t they feed you guys?”

 

He shakes his head, swallows down the bite in his mouth. “Rock stars get free booze, not food. It keeps us happier.”

 

“If it’s that bad touring, why do it?”

 

“It’s the music, pure, one hundred percent about the music.”

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

Spring 2014 goal review

Every year, I set goals for myself, and every quarter, I review my progress. So, here goes.

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

This hasn’t happened, and is nowhere close to happening any time soon.

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

I wrote about twenty stories when I was in India in January, and I’m slowly working through edits. But so far, I’ve submitted two stories (one in January, one in February). I have one forthcoming from my publisher, but I’m not counting that one because it didn’t technically go through a submission process.

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

I don’t have nearly enough short stories right now for a collection.

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

I may revise this, because if my publisher is willing to release them, it’ll be better publicity. I guess it all depends on when I get something finished, and how long it is. I have a series of novellas in the planning stages that may fit here.

5. Read 100 books.

I’m at 19, which Goodreads tells me is 6 behind where I should be. I’m actually pretty impressed with this though; I’m working fulltime and taking a full courseload this semester, so I don’t have much time for anything.

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

I found a great podcast, Coffee Break Spanish, that I listen to at work. So far my Spanish skills aren’t great beyond the whole “Hi, how are you?” thing, but I’m slowly making progress.

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

Weekend Writing Warriors 3/30/14 #WeWriWa

This week continues with the story from last week, “Not My Thing,” which will be released as a free short ebook by Evolved Publishing in early April.

When The Dancing Freemasons embark on their first major tour, Jeff’s dreams of being a rockstar have come true – until he can no longer connect with the music. One night after a show, he meets a woman who might be the one to get the music flowing again, but is the cost worth it?

He’s been chatting with the woman, with lots of awkwardness on both sides, but they’re slowly warming up to each other.

An idea dances into his mind, reverberating through his thought processes and overcoming the musical inertia that’s been plaguing him the last few days. “Since you’re not a fan of Electric Comet, what do you say we blow off their set and grab a bite to eat?”

 

A reluctant wariness crawls across her eyes, and she says, “That’s not really my thing.”

 

“You need to get back to your friends.” A chorus of “told you so” threatens to drown out the fledgling song of hope murmuring through his thoughts.

 

Her phone beeps, then a half-step later rings. She turns it off. “Let’s go.”

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

Weekend Writing Warriors 3/23/14 #WeWriWa

This week continues with the story from last week, “Not My Thing,” which will be released as a free short ebook by Evolved Publishing either later this month or early April.

When The Dancing Freemasons embark on their first major tour, Jeff’s dreams of being a rockstar have come true – until he can no longer connect with the music. One night after a show, he meets a woman who might be the one to get the music flowing again, but is the cost worth it?

Last week, he mentioned his band’s name and she responded, “Who?”

It’s getting cold, and the night air isn’t helping his headache, his missing sense of touring equilibrium. It’s time to go back in. Might as well end whatever this is before it gets much further. “Actually, I’m in the Dancing Freemasons.”

 

“I thought you looked kind of familiar,” the girl says as she finally turns to look at him. “I’ve never met a famous musician before.”

 

Jeff laughs. “Two seconds ago you said you’d never heard of my band, and now I’m famous?”

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

Weekend Writing Warriors 3/16/14 #WeWriWa

This week continues with the story from last week, “Not My Thing,” which will be released as a free short ebook by Evolved Publishing either later this month or early April.

Jeff is a drummer out on his first major tour with his band The Dancing Freemasons, playing small clubs across the Midwest, but he’s come down with a bad case of writer’s (musician’s?) block and can’t get the songs to come out right.

Having just finished his set, he’s trying to chat up a girl he met, while the headliners, Electric Comet, are inside playing.

“You here for the show?” she asks.

 

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” he says and smiles a bit, then asks, “Are you a fan of Electric Comet?”

 

She shrugs and says, “They’re okay. I’ve only heard one or two of their songs.”

 

His heart increases its usual rate of thuds. “So you’re here to see the Dancing Freemasons?” He could write a song to this beating of his heart; “Girl in the Alley”  is what he’ll call it.

 

“Who?”

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

My Writing Process – Blog Hop

I’ve been tagged by a fellow writer to discuss my writing process.

Samyann is the author of Yesterday: A Novel of Reincarnation, a historical romance spanning from the Civil War, to the Great Chicago Fire, to modern times, and she tells all about her own process on her blog.

Q. What am I working on?

What am I not working on? I’m finishing up the first draft of my novel A Handful of Wishes, which should be released by Evolved Publishing December 2014. I’m also putting the final touches on a short story collection, The Futility of Loving a Soldier, that’ll be released this summer (maybe; I’ve been trying to finish it for a year). And there are always a dozen short stories floating around, half-written, that I’m trying to work on.

Q. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I don’t write a specific genre; I write what I find interesting. So while The Lone Wolf was literary/women’s fiction, A Handful of Wishes is magical realism. My short stories range from contemporary to horror and paranormal. I focus more on a common theme – love and betrayal, sacrifice and redemption – as opposed to any genre conventions.

Q. Why do I write what I do?

Again, I write what interests me. I’ve always read widely, from everyday fiction to genre stuff like mysteries, sci-fi, and horror, as well as a lot of nonfiction. I try to write stories that’ll elicit a strong emotional response from my readers and stick with them long after they’re done reading.

Q. How does your writing process work?

Poorly, at the moment. Right now my weekday schedule is up at 5:30, work 7-5, class from 5:30-8:30, then home at nine to write papers until about midnight or 1:00, then fall asleep and do it all over the next day. Unfortunately, I’ve been getting a lot of great story ideas but haven’t had a chance to write them, other than brief notes. When I do have time to write, I usually do so fast and furiously, because the stories have been marinating for awhile and are pretty ripe for telling.

Q. Who will we meet next week?

I’m going to tag author Christopher Starr, because he’s about two months overdue for a blog post.

He’s the author of the Heaven Falls series, starting with The Road to Hell: The Book of Lucifer, about Lucifer’s fall from grace.

 

Weekend Writing Warriors 3/9/14 #WeWriWa

This week continues with the story from last week, “Not My Thing,” which will be released as a free short ebook by Evolved Publishing either later this month or early April.

Jeff is a drummer out on his first major tour, playing small clubs across the Midwest, but he’s come down with a bad case of writer’s (musician’s?) block and can’t get the songs to come out right.

Last week he met a girl in an alley after a show. It was a bit awkward.

A smile twitches across her lip. The vodka has begun flowing through Jeff’s veins, tamping his inhibitions; he feels encouraged to keep talking to her, but he can’t think of anything clever or funny to say, and he hates using the whole band thing as a pick-up line.

 

“So…” she says, hugging her arms around her body and shivering just a bit.

 

“Want my jacket?”

 

“I shouldn’t.”

 

“I don’t have cooties.” Who even says that anymore? She’s going to leave; he’s sure of it.

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

Weekend Writing Warriors 3/2/14 #WeWriWa

New month, new story. This time I’m pulling from a short story, “Not My Thing,” that’ll be released free from Evolved Publishing sometime in the near future.

Jeff is a drummer out on his first major tour, playing small clubs across the Midwest, but he’s come down with a bad case of writer’s (musician’s?) block and can’t get the songs to come out right.

In this excerpt, he’s just played a set and is in an alley outside the venue, where he meets a local woman.

He nods at her and says, “S’up.”

“Hey,” she says as she stares straight ahead, as if aware she shouldn’t be talking to strange guys in dark alleys.

 

“Want a light?”

 

Still staring ahead, she says, “I don’t smoke.”

 

“Me neither.”

 

She turns her head slightly, probably sizing him up. “But you offered me a light.”

 

“Then it’s a good thing you didn’t accept.”

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

Weekend Writing Warriors 2/23/14 #WeWriWa

Continuing with the love theme for February, and picking up where we left off last week, today’s excerpt is from “The Kindness of Strangers,” a short story I wrote for The Indiana Horror Anthology 2011.

In this story, Laura left her friend’s party after seeing her ex with another girl. It started raining as she was walking down the road, and a stranger offered her a ride and a chance to vent.  He then gave her a powder that would ensure no one bothered her ex again. Now she’s back at the party, looking for her ex.

She grabbed an abandoned cup of beer as she walked and dumped the packet’s contents into it. The beer fizzed, turned black, then amber again.

 

Laura walked into a bedroom and shut the door behind her. “Hi, Sam.”

 

Sam sat up and said, “Laura, how many times have I told you, we’re through!”

 

“You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”

 

“I’m not yours, and I’ve told you to stay the hell away from me!”

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