Meka James's Blog, page 32
August 9, 2014
Weekend Writing Warriors entry #4
Another entry for Weekend Writing Warriors. WeWriWa is a blog site open to all authors/writers published or unpublished. Follow the simple instructions on their blog to sign up and then post a snippet of writing on your own blog to join in on the fun.
This excerpt is from the same short story I did last week. It's from a competition I did a few years ago. The assignment was to write an event that was sad and tragic.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Entry #4 **final installment**
Her Own Hands
She told me to go put on something pretty while she fixed him a drink. I remember my shaky legs carrying me into the bathroom. I saw the blood thinners she had left after her surgery. I felt the tears streaming down my face as I popped the cap and forced down all the pills. I looked at the razor sitting on the side of the tub and held it to my wrists."We need to stop the bleeding?" I heard someone yell.
"Do you know what she took?" Another voice asked.
"We're losing her." Someone shouted.
The sounds faded and the darkness surrounded me like a warm blanket.
That's it for this story. I will see if the next entries can be something more upbeat. :)
August 6, 2014
I'm a dot com...
So, with the help of my friend and personal tech advisor, Daijah, I now have a website. For the most up-to-date info, following my blog is still the best course of action. However, head over and take a peek at AuthorMekaJames.com
Have a great day!!!
August 4, 2014
Blog Tour
My first blog tour is taking place this week. Visit Girl Heart Book Tours for a complete schedule of stops. It will be a full week of spotlights, reviews, excerpts and guest posts. Also you can enter for a chance to win a ebook copy of Fiendish as well as a $5 Amazon or B&N gift card.
August 2, 2014
Weekend Writing Warriors entry #3
Another entry for Weekend Writing Warriors. WeWriWa is a blog site open to all authors/writers published or unpublished. Follow the simple instructions on their blog to sign up and then post a snippet of writing on your own blog to join in on the fun.
This excerpt is from the same short story I did the last two weeks. It's from a competition I did a few years ago. The assignment was to write an event that was sad and tragic.
Entry #3 **Trigger warning. Sensitive issues covered***
Her Own Hands
I took it, I took it all. I took the ridicule at school because I only had three outfits and often times smelled. It’s not like I wanted to smell, but more times than not, the water was turned off in the single wide we lived in. Food was a luxury I didn’t get often since she'd rather drink away our government assistance. Then she met John. He was a doctor she met while on shift at the diner. My mother was always cruel and heartless, but she had reached an all time low when she informed me that he had paid for a night with me. Not only that, but if he enjoyed himself, it would be a regular thing and she would finally have a way out of this terrible life. I would finally be useful to her.
This excerpt is from the same short story I did the last two weeks. It's from a competition I did a few years ago. The assignment was to write an event that was sad and tragic.
Entry #3 **Trigger warning. Sensitive issues covered***
Her Own Hands
I took it, I took it all. I took the ridicule at school because I only had three outfits and often times smelled. It’s not like I wanted to smell, but more times than not, the water was turned off in the single wide we lived in. Food was a luxury I didn’t get often since she'd rather drink away our government assistance. Then she met John. He was a doctor she met while on shift at the diner. My mother was always cruel and heartless, but she had reached an all time low when she informed me that he had paid for a night with me. Not only that, but if he enjoyed himself, it would be a regular thing and she would finally have a way out of this terrible life. I would finally be useful to her.
July 26, 2014
Weekend Writing Warriors entry #2
Another entry for Weekend Writing Warriors. WeWriWa is a blog site open to all authors/writers published or unpublished. Follow the simple instructions on their blog to sign up and then post a snippet of writing on your own blog to join in on the fun.
This excerpt is from the same short story I did last week. It's from a competition I did a few years ago. The assignment was to write an event that was sad and tragic. It wasn't titled before, it was simply called assignment #4 but I've given it one now.
Entry #2
**since I'm new to this, I'm not sure on the rating requirements/limits for the pieces. While the piece is considered PG-13, it does deal with heavy subject matters that could be triggers for some. Just wanted to put that out there.**
Her Own Hands
"Why…why did you do this?"I think my mother was crying out to me. I could almost laugh at her tears since she’d never shed any for me before. Why she asks, as if she didn’t know. My entire life she’d blamed me for everything that was wrong in hers. Starting with the fact that my father abandoned us when I was just a week old."You cried too much," she would snarl at me. I was the reason none of her relationships worked out. "They didn’t want to be bogged down with a kid," she would scream once whoever had walked out on her.
This excerpt is from the same short story I did last week. It's from a competition I did a few years ago. The assignment was to write an event that was sad and tragic. It wasn't titled before, it was simply called assignment #4 but I've given it one now.
Entry #2
**since I'm new to this, I'm not sure on the rating requirements/limits for the pieces. While the piece is considered PG-13, it does deal with heavy subject matters that could be triggers for some. Just wanted to put that out there.**
Her Own Hands
"Why…why did you do this?"I think my mother was crying out to me. I could almost laugh at her tears since she’d never shed any for me before. Why she asks, as if she didn’t know. My entire life she’d blamed me for everything that was wrong in hers. Starting with the fact that my father abandoned us when I was just a week old."You cried too much," she would snarl at me. I was the reason none of her relationships worked out. "They didn’t want to be bogged down with a kid," she would scream once whoever had walked out on her.
July 19, 2014
Weekend Writing Warriors Entry #1
This is my first entry for Weekend Writing Warriors. WeWriWa is a blog site open to all authors/writers published or unpublished. Follow the simple instructions on their blog to sign up and then post a snippet of writing on your own blog to join in on the fun.
This excerpt is from a short story competition I did a few years ago. The assignment was to write an event that was sad and tragic.
Is this what it’s supposed to be like? Feeling like you are struggling underwater fighting to breathe; hearing what is going on around you yet not being able to do anything about it? Well, that’s how I felt. Death, it was suppose to be quick, and fast. I should be falling into some pit of darkness or walking towards a light but I wasn't. I was stuck in some middle ground vaguely aware of life going on around me.
This excerpt is from a short story competition I did a few years ago. The assignment was to write an event that was sad and tragic.
Is this what it’s supposed to be like? Feeling like you are struggling underwater fighting to breathe; hearing what is going on around you yet not being able to do anything about it? Well, that’s how I felt. Death, it was suppose to be quick, and fast. I should be falling into some pit of darkness or walking towards a light but I wasn't. I was stuck in some middle ground vaguely aware of life going on around me.
July 18, 2014
Book Review: Jessie's Choice and The Decimation of Mae
So this week since I've been suffering for a bit of writers block, I decided to start making my way through my TBR list. I finished off two books that were relatively quick reads.
Jessie's Choice by Amanda Nichol
WARNING: Jessie's Choice is the first book, in a five book series. Be advised this book ends in a cliffhanger and has explicit language. The follow-up to Jessie's Choice is scheduled for release on August 28, 2014.
Joining TRU was a no-brainer. I needed a fresh start, and other people needed saving. I was more than happy to help.
Joining TRU meant less time to focus on her… On him… On what could have been.
Joining TRU was supposed to make me forget my past, but I didn’t…I ran right into it.
As part of an elite experimental police force, Jessica Rossi has been trained to handle any situation she encounters. For Jessie, putting away bad guys and ignoring her growing feelings for her team leader is all in a day’s work. When a new case gets a little too personal, she suddenly finds that even the best trained detectives sometimes bite off more than they can chew. With so much at stake though, she can’t afford to quit. Even if that means working side by side with the guy who ripped her heart in two… Or making a deal with the devil himself.
Three men…One thing in common…They all want her.
Some choices are simple.
This is not one of them.
My Review 3.5 StarsI enjoyed reading Jessie's Choice. I like police dramas so that was a plus for me. The one thing that keeps me from giving it a higher rating was the break in action that came in the form of long narratives. While I liked knowing the back story of the characters, I wished at times that it was spread out more instead of being given to us in large chunks. The characters were all likeable for the most part--didn't care for Shock no excuse for what he did and to think she would still want to be with him...yeah right buddy!
I am interested to know what happens with Shawn and his cousin since his parents' murder is still unresolved. I would also like to know if the moles will come back to play a role in later books.
There was a good mix of drama surrounding the case balanced well with the personal drama of the characters that made for an overall very enjoyable read.
The Decimation of Mae (Blue Butterfly Book 1) by D.H. Sidebottom
***WARNING*** This story doesn’t contain hearts and flowers, it doesn’t even contain the word ‘love’. It isn’t for the fainthearted, nor those who want romance and happy ever afters. It’s dark, in fact it goes beyond the dark realms of misery and despair. It makes your heart suffer, it will beat you down and it will still demand more from you. Yet it is still a story of hope and courage. Friendships develop and understanding digs deep, whilst acceptance and surrender give way to reverence and sacrifice. It contains disturbing scenes of sexual violence, cruelty and torture. It also includes self-harm, pain addiction and brutalisation. Please bear this in mind before purchasing this book. Thank you.
****
The Devil visited me three times in my life; albeit, my short life. Not in the physical sense, you must understand, but very much literally.
He was persistent, resolute and tenacious. His ruthless greed to annihilate me was utterly disturbing. I am sure if he had hierarchy, the man at the top would have dragged his arse into Hell’s prison for his unscrupulous methods.
I was just fifteen when I first became aware of what he was capable of. This initial taste of him set the playing field for how my life was to be lived – for want of a better word. He mocked me, showed me mercilessly how he played the game and how he liked to cheat at said game. He ridiculed and taunted me until, six months later, he won and took something of so much importance from me that I would never be the same again.
His second visit was, in my eyes, so much more cruel and heartless. I know we’re talking about the Devil here, and yes, you have a right to say he had no heart but even then, even when I was so utterly broken, I begged to differ and hoped – no, prayed – that somewhere deep in the caverns of his black, tortured soul there was something that beat and confused his emotions once in a while.
The third visit was somewhat different than the other two. He tried, and at first succeeded to bring me to my knees once and for all, but then something happened. God finally intervened and altered Satan’s intention; he sent hope and morphed the Devil’s minion into an Angel, hoping to break and shatter the anguish and suffering. He gave the ability for me to feel pleasure in pain, order in the chaos and light in the darkness. But in giving me a reprieve, he also gave me something that would finally and ultimately obliterate me. He gave me the capability to love, therefore giving me the ability to be destroyed. And Satan made sure that I was destroyed. Cruelly, viciously and sadistically.
I am Mae Swift, and this is the story of my decimation.
My Review 3 StarsSo I finished this book a day or so ago and it's taken me a while to figure out what I wanted to say. When I finished this book I thought something was wrong with me. I'd read the other reviews and although I did feel for the characters, they didn't reach me on that same level.
This book on some level reminded me of The Dark Duet series. Not an exact match, but some things felt similar.
I felt bad for Mae, I really did. She had not just lemons handed to her, but she was given rotten ones! No hope of turning things around there but she didn't let that get her down. I so admired her for that. She continued to try and make it, to live what live she could.
Daniel...what to say about him. He was a bastard, sick, twisted, and downright horrible. I got that, I was okay with that because this was a dark read so I expected him to be that way.
The last 15-20% of the book had me screaming BS. I understand Stockholm, I understand Mae's need, her overwhelming desire to connect with someone, anyone. You saw that with Pauline, and Frank, and finally Lola. She tried to find something good in her situation, just a bit of humanity. I felt that, I felt that need and I wanted her to have it.
There are moments in the book where some questions are answered, things are revealed and again I was calling BS in that moment. I couldn't wrap my head around it. I read and re-read it, but I couldn't get it. Which is why I thought something was wrong with me. Then there was the ending...I knew part of it was coming, it was set up that way throughout the book, but still the other part...just didn't sit right with me. Not after everything Daniel had done...it left me frustrated.
I loved Mae's character. She was strong willed, spunky, and tried her damnedest to keep from being broken! I really loved that about her, and she is what made the book for me. Daniel...well he played his role perfectly. He had a job and he did it without remorse, and without hesitation. I liked my dark guys dark and he delivered that...to a point.
I don't know how many books are planned in this series, but I do want to read book 2 because the teaser at the end of the book has me wanting answers.
July 2, 2014
Smashwords Month Long Sale
Fiendish is on sale for the entire month of July as part of the site wide promotion going on at Smashwords. You can get Fiendish at half price using coupon code SSW50 Buy Here
