Stephen Drivick's Blog - Posts Tagged "shoulder"
E(X)cerpt-Sometimes We Ran 3
This is my sixteenth entry in the A-Z Blogging Challenge for April, and it happens to be X. X is hard, so I am going to cheat. Here's an e(X)cerpt from my work in progress Sometimes We Ran 3. It's rough, so I'm not responsible for misspellings, plot holes, terrible pacing, or bad words.:)
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We stood in the kitchen doorway, and got our first up-close look at Zombie-Boy. He stood before the stainless-steel refrigerator. The monster slammed himself into the large appliance over and over trying to attack his reflection. Sometimes he used his teeth and hands leaving smeary handprints on the steel. His frostbitten feet made squeaking noises on the marble floor.
I put away the flashlight, and drew my gun. Nothing fancy. Just kill the bastard. As if Elizabeth read my mind, she took cover behind the door frame and readied her weapon. She looked back at me, and I nodded. The kill was hers.
Before Elizabeth could pull the trigger and extinguish the zombie's spark, it lifted its head and took a deep, snarling sniff of the air. The zombie had caught our scent. After taking in few more gulps of air, it pinpointed our location and turned around. Zombie-Boy hunched over into attack position, and a low growl that made the hair stand up on my arm escaped his rotting lips.
“Shoot it, Liz!” I called out. At the same time, the Red-Eye pounced on us from the kitchen. It knocked me to the ground, with my gun coming out of my hand. It fell to the floor, and disappeared under the dining room table. I watched from the ground as Elizabeth retreated from the doorway, fumbling with her rifle. She hesitated as the zombie got near her, and she never raised her rifle or fired a shot. The zombie grabbed onto her jacket, and began to attack.
Elizabeth had hesitated. Her hesitation might have killed us both.
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On a side note, I had to step away from the A to Z Blogging challenge for a few letters. I did something to my shoulder and it hurt to type. It's also hard to type when there's an icebag attached to your shoulder.:)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We stood in the kitchen doorway, and got our first up-close look at Zombie-Boy. He stood before the stainless-steel refrigerator. The monster slammed himself into the large appliance over and over trying to attack his reflection. Sometimes he used his teeth and hands leaving smeary handprints on the steel. His frostbitten feet made squeaking noises on the marble floor.
I put away the flashlight, and drew my gun. Nothing fancy. Just kill the bastard. As if Elizabeth read my mind, she took cover behind the door frame and readied her weapon. She looked back at me, and I nodded. The kill was hers.
Before Elizabeth could pull the trigger and extinguish the zombie's spark, it lifted its head and took a deep, snarling sniff of the air. The zombie had caught our scent. After taking in few more gulps of air, it pinpointed our location and turned around. Zombie-Boy hunched over into attack position, and a low growl that made the hair stand up on my arm escaped his rotting lips.
“Shoot it, Liz!” I called out. At the same time, the Red-Eye pounced on us from the kitchen. It knocked me to the ground, with my gun coming out of my hand. It fell to the floor, and disappeared under the dining room table. I watched from the ground as Elizabeth retreated from the doorway, fumbling with her rifle. She hesitated as the zombie got near her, and she never raised her rifle or fired a shot. The zombie grabbed onto her jacket, and began to attack.
Elizabeth had hesitated. Her hesitation might have killed us both.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On a side note, I had to step away from the A to Z Blogging challenge for a few letters. I did something to my shoulder and it hurt to type. It's also hard to type when there's an icebag attached to your shoulder.:)
A to Z Blogging Challenge - A Reflection
In April, I participated in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. The challenge was to post on your blog everyday except Sunday using the letters of the alphabet ...even X and Q.
I accepted the challenge and began to blog. The letters fell quickly. Not all of my posts were solid gold, but they were okay. I talked about characters from my novels, pollen in North Georgia, where my ideas came from, and motorcycles. I was on a roll.
Then something happened. My shoulder gave out.
Call it a pinched nerve or old age, suddenly my shoulder and arm didn't work so good. Sitting at the computer and typing was painful, and the ice bag attached to my arm limited my movement.:) Around the letter P I knew I had to take a break, and I sadly skipped a few letters. I picked it up at the letter X. I'm almost better. My shoulder has gone from shocking pain to just a little stiffness.
Despite the injury, I was able to get 18 out of 26 letters – about 70%. Even though my shoulder exploded, I did have a good time and it was a very rewarding experience. I also picked up a fan or two and a couple of comments. The other posts from the challenge were interesting as well.
Thank you to the organizers of the challenge. You guys did a great job.
Would I do it again? Sure. I just hope my body holds out.:)
I accepted the challenge and began to blog. The letters fell quickly. Not all of my posts were solid gold, but they were okay. I talked about characters from my novels, pollen in North Georgia, where my ideas came from, and motorcycles. I was on a roll.
Then something happened. My shoulder gave out.
Call it a pinched nerve or old age, suddenly my shoulder and arm didn't work so good. Sitting at the computer and typing was painful, and the ice bag attached to my arm limited my movement.:) Around the letter P I knew I had to take a break, and I sadly skipped a few letters. I picked it up at the letter X. I'm almost better. My shoulder has gone from shocking pain to just a little stiffness.
Despite the injury, I was able to get 18 out of 26 letters – about 70%. Even though my shoulder exploded, I did have a good time and it was a very rewarding experience. I also picked up a fan or two and a couple of comments. The other posts from the challenge were interesting as well.
Thank you to the organizers of the challenge. You guys did a great job.
Would I do it again? Sure. I just hope my body holds out.:)
Sometimes We Ran 3 - 3 Months Published.
Hard to believe, but Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue has been out for 3 months already.
It had a difficult birth. Halfway through the writing, I suffered a pinched nerve in my right shoulder. Pinched nerve is putting it lightly. It felt like someone was shoving a jagged piece of glass in my shoulder blade every time I tried to type. At one point, I was down to about 20-30 words a writing session.
Fingers went numb as well. On my right hand, the fingers got all tingly and sent shooting pains when I hit the keys. Long words and sentences almost made me pass out.:)
That wasn't all.
I recovered, my shoulder felt better, and the typing picked up. I managed to finish the manuscript. After a few self edits, I sent it to my editor and waited.
And waited...
Sometimes We Ran 3: The Manuscript just disappeared. The normal one week turnaround from my editor turned into a two month delay. Turns out the editor got the flu and couldn't do any manuscripts.:) After a slight delay, he got to SWR 3 and did his usually bang-up job. It was sent back with an apology.
So, after all the struggle let's put it on sale! 99 cents until next weekend.
Available in the Amazon Kindle bookstore. You can borrow it with your Kindle Unlimited membership if you want.
Quick link: http://tinyurl.com/SometimesWeRan3AMZN
Till next time zombie fans. And take care of your shoulder nerves.:)
It had a difficult birth. Halfway through the writing, I suffered a pinched nerve in my right shoulder. Pinched nerve is putting it lightly. It felt like someone was shoving a jagged piece of glass in my shoulder blade every time I tried to type. At one point, I was down to about 20-30 words a writing session.
Fingers went numb as well. On my right hand, the fingers got all tingly and sent shooting pains when I hit the keys. Long words and sentences almost made me pass out.:)
That wasn't all.
I recovered, my shoulder felt better, and the typing picked up. I managed to finish the manuscript. After a few self edits, I sent it to my editor and waited.
And waited...
Sometimes We Ran 3: The Manuscript just disappeared. The normal one week turnaround from my editor turned into a two month delay. Turns out the editor got the flu and couldn't do any manuscripts.:) After a slight delay, he got to SWR 3 and did his usually bang-up job. It was sent back with an apology.
So, after all the struggle let's put it on sale! 99 cents until next weekend.
Available in the Amazon Kindle bookstore. You can borrow it with your Kindle Unlimited membership if you want.
Quick link: http://tinyurl.com/SometimesWeRan3AMZN
Till next time zombie fans. And take care of your shoulder nerves.:)
