October 25th Challenge

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good Morning! So, did anyone miss me? It’s been eleven days. That’s the longest I’ve gone without posting since I started this blog. Fear not, I have been writing and doing other author related activities, along with others, in my absence.

Last Friday I picked up Lys at a service station along the NJ Turnpike, she’s home for fall break. That was an experience. I cannot remember the last time I drove on the Turnpike. I believe it was when I was a little girl, growing up in Edison, and we would take the Turnpike to our church on Sundays, in Fords. I was ten when we moved out of Edison… so, yeah, it’s been a while.

I had another book signing at Peddler’s Village last Sunday. Karen Scheuer (A Bug and a Wish) was there with me, and let me tell you, we froze our bippies off. The wind was positively wicked. Surprisingly, even in the less than ideal conditions, there were a lot of folks out and about, and we both sold quite a few books.

Normally, after a book signing, I’m shot, and pretty much go to bed right after I get home. I couldn’t do that on Sunday, because we were celebrating my Father-in-law’s birthday. It has been too long since we were all around the table, so it was nice having the whole family together. My in-laws, my sister-in-law and her three kids, Paulie, me and our two girls, my son and Alex, his girlfriend, plus Bri, Dani’s friend tagged along, then add in the four dogs – it was a total zoo, and I loved it. We had a blast. The one bad thing was, my mother-in-law is such a wonderful cook, I ate WAY too much.

This past week has been spent on a new project with an extremely short deadline. I thought I had two weeks, but I only had five days. I was asked to be one of a dozen authors to submit a short story for a “spooky” compilation. It was a wonderful opportunity, and I didn’t want to pass it up, but how many times have you hear me say I’m not meant to write short stories.

I was freaking out that I wouldn’t be able to set a tone, set the scene, and develop the characters enough for the reader to care about them in less than 5K words. Well, I managed to write it in just shy of 2,600 words. Here’s the opening:

The night is clear, the moon is bright, a low fog swirls along the moor

She appears, the woman in white, a mere echo of the infamous paramour

She begins to stroll, to sing her song, a siren to an unsuspecting man

For ‘tis her fate, a curse imparted, to forever wander this land

Now in death, as in life, she’s forced to lure them still

They are drawn to her, the wretched souls, bound by their own free will

A kiss of death, she will bestow, upon their unsuspecting lips

When they awake, remembering the dream, they will already be in death’s grip

~ Scottish Lore

Now, this isn’t actually “Scottish Lore”, I made it up, but it sets the tone for the story. I had Lys read the first few pages after I had written them, and she said “Eh, I’m not really interested. You know exactly what’s going to happen. They guy gets lured, she kisses him, he dies.” She wouldn’t read the story when I finished it, so she will never know how wrong she was.

Okay, I need to boogie. I have to get ready for another signing at Peddler’s village. I won’t be able to post again tomorrow because I’ll be dropping Lys off at some unknown meeting place, at some ridiculous hour, and then heading back to Peddler’s Village for another book signing. I’m just thankful the weather this weekend is better than last weekend.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend, and happy writing!

Your Next Challenge:

Write your own “spooky” short story (well at least set the stage in the ten minute allotted time).

You have ten minutes (be honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t count, and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.