Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Visual Dare 24: Frustrated.


TIME FOR ANOTHER VISUAL DARE!




Yes, I decided to go on a more whimsical bent with this one. I found the below photo on Pinterest (original source has been removed) and it was just too funny to ignore the story possibilities.

Seriously: There has GOT to be a good story behind this one.

What's your take?

You know the drill.....tell the story in 100 words...or less.

This prompt will be up until next Tuesday midnight EST. Then we'll do it again. Savvy?


Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Visual Dare 23: Peeking


TIME FOR ANOTHER VISUAL DARE!






Use this image in one of two ways:


     * incorporate it into your current Work In Progress - literally, or figuratively
     * use it as a 100 word flash fiction to get the brain going in a different creative direction.


Post your flash fiction, using the link tool below!

Happy writing!



Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Visual Dare 22: Scattered


TIME FOR ANOTHER VISUAL DARE!


Below is this week's Visual Dare!





Use this image in one of two ways:


     * incorporate it into your current Work In Progress - literally, or figuratively
     * use it as a 100 word flash fiction to get the brain going in a different creative direction.


Post your flash fiction, using the link tool below!

Happy writing!




Sunday, September 9, 2012

5SF: Memories

Good Grief!!! How did I let another Five Sentence Fiction prompt sneak up on me?!? It's been up a few days already and I just learned that the prompt is MEMORIES.

At the risk of sounding insane - because, you know, I'm already hip-deep in a couple other WIPs already - I used this prompt to play around with yet another story idea that's been rattling in the back of my head. It's still very much a shot in the dark...so many details to sort out...but here goes:

MEMORIES



She stared beyond the blazing fire pit into dusk-blue waters beyond, and thought back to when her world wasn’t inverted, or her family missing (she refused to think them dead).

Behind her, The Portolan House throbbed with life: full of curious rooms and half-told secrets, odd people and stranger inventions, and the impossible rituals that bound them all together.

I’m too young to feel this old. Absently she twisted the octopus ring on her finger, her mind racing back to the moment they’d brought her here – an accident, Brock said; but Meggie wasn’t so sure.

Nothing happens by accident, she told herself; but the hunger for what she’d left behind was too painful to ignore, despite the assurances of the Portolan staff that she would – eventually – fit in and leave her past behind.



Don't know about Lillie McFerrin's Five Sentence Fiction? You should check it out here.

Then go and add your own "memories" flash fiction to the line-up!! 
(I promise, we looooove fresh blood joining in the fun!!) 

As always, comments and observations are appreciated!!
Thanks for reading!!


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Welsan 16: Blood Pottery



Here is another episode in Welsan's Story, courtesy of another Write For Ten prompt.
Today's prompt is the word: clay


I was pleased to find this prompt today, as it allows me to go back to one of the original scenes that first draws Welsan into the intrigue of the Vassal of Ochre. What a mercy I made the tea set in Episode 4 a clay one...


As a potter, I absolutely adore this teapot. Just sayin'.



Welsan took up his teacup and rolled it lightly, watching the tea leaves swirl through the bottom of the cup.
“More tea?” The merchant’s hands were already on the fat-bellied teapot before Welsan could say anything, so he gladly held out his cup for more. He watched as the merchant poured out the tea – much stronger by now, as it had been sitting so long – and then handed round the coriander and sugar, each in their own snug jar. Both jars, like the teapot and cups, were a dull reddish-brown, unmarked and unpainted, with a natural sheen that reflected light with a soft, burnished glow.
Welsan said nothing, but spiced his tea slowly as he turned all the little details of his visit over in his mind. Across the table, the merchant watched him steadily, waiting for further comment, either on beserker glasses or the Vassal of Ochre, but the silence stretched so long he grew restless and said:
“Something troubles you, my friend. Have I been too forward in our conversation? I have heard that men like you prefer more…delicate negotiations.”
“Men like me?” Welsan sipped from his clay cup again, winced, added more sugar. “The Guild does not usually hire men like me. In that we are alike – both content in our solitude and the darker trades in which we find ourselves.”
The merchant waved a broad hand at the words, and gave a wry smile.
“But you have chosen your solitude – no, do not deny it; I see it in your eyes. You are not the first Mori I have dealt with; but you are the strangest. Where are you from?”
Welsan held up his teacup. “Where did you get these dishes?” he asked. “This is a curious tea set for a man of your position.”
The merchant sat back, affronted both by the question asked, and the question left unanswered. His eyes narrowed.
“It is a plain enough set,” he said. “Plain dishes for a plain man.” He spread his hands wide, as though to show he was hiding nothing. “Plain clay for living clay. What does it matter where I got them?”
“It matters a great deal, if you own anything made of blood-kiln clay,” said Welsan. “Several of my Mori brothers work the wild borderlands, and with the potters there. Potters that make dishes with curious…properties.” His eyes flashed to the merchant’s face, now fish-white and bordering on terror. A little more pricking, and I will know some things.
He dropped his eyes to his cup again, and took a swig of tea. “What else do you trade for in Ochre?” he pressed. “Not spices and tea only, I’d wager.”


Intrigued? If you liked this episode of Welsan's odyssey, you may visit his page to read more.

Questions? Comments? Let me know in the comments below!
And as always - thanks for reading!!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Visual Dare 21: Odd Couple


TIME FOR ANOTHER VISUAL DARE!


Below is this week's Visual Dare! Image by Jeremiah Morelli.




Use this image in one of two ways:

     * incorporate it into your current Work In Progress - literally, or figuratively
     * use it as a 100 word flash fiction to get the brain going in a different creative direction.


Post your flash fiction, using the link tool below!

Happy writing!


Monday, September 3, 2012

Welsan 15: Two Weeks Overdue



Here is another episode in Welsan's Story, courtesy of another Write For Ten prompt.
Today's prompt is the word: appetite.


This episode follows on from the last one, episode 14.


Gallows would keep very no-nonsense steins in his covert tavern/workshop. Of course.


Jada sipped absently at her Black Taggart, her mind scrambling to piece together all the floating bits of information. There were too many questions and not enough answers, she decided. I’ll have to delay my death a little longer, she realized with an inward sigh. Can’t die until I know my family is safe. Somehow, amid all the questions and disruptions of the past two days, her death seemed to jeopardize her family more than her life originally had. How had it come to this?
A dull ringing began in her ears, and her stomach clenched. With slow recognition, Jada discovered she was incredibly light-headed. The room swam in front of her, a kaleidoscope of noise and smells that made her stomach churn.
Later she realized that she must have visibly paled, for when Gallows turned to her next he gave a start, and got to his feet.
“How stupid of me,” he said. “I’m babbling about soul-glasses and you’ve both come from who-knows-how-far. We’ll visit my workshop later. First you eat.”
“Not me,” Jada squeaked. Her tankard seemed unbearably heavy all of a sudden, so that she dropped it onto the table with a bang. Her hands shook. Her heart felt as though it were hammering through her chest.
“Soup for her, if you don’t mind – and maybe a place to lie down.” Welsan’s voice echoed through her mind. If her head hadn’t felt so woolly, Jada would have thought he sounded…concerned.
That can’t be right. He’s here to oversee my death, not save my life.
She tried to open her mouth to argue, to say that she wasn’t hungry and not to bother; but the room hitched around her so violently she closed it again. A roiling surge of nausea threatened to overwhelm her.
“She’s two days past her Departure Day.” Welsan’s voice was even more echo-y now, and distant, as from deep within a tunnel. “If she prepared properly for her Departure, then she hasn’t had anything but liquids in almost two weeks.”
Gallows made some exclamation, but Jada never heard the exact words. Her last conscious thought was of coarse hands catching her as she toppled over, before all motion and sound dissolved into blackness.


* * * * *

Intrigued? If you liked this episode of Welsan's odyssey, you may visit his page to read more.

Questions? Comments? Let me know in the comments below!
And as always - thanks for reading!!