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flash fiction Archive

I’m postponing my #WriteMotivation Update post until Friday in lieu of  The Bone Season Blog Tour. If you don’t know what #WriteMotivation is, well, we are a small group of writers (growing more each month) that loves to chuck positive messages, cookies and Dinos, and cheer their fellow author on in both good and bad times. Stop by our Twitter Hashtag, or even join our Google Plus Community. The more the merrier.

I hope you enjoy the blog tour. The book was amazing!

Here’s my one girly pleasure! Hope you like the nail art. 😛 (Click the pictures to see more detail)

The Bone Season Nail Art The Bone Season Nail Art
The Bone Season Nail Art The Bone Season Nail Art

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I wanted to share with you my first piece of fanfic I’ve ever done. I’m not sure I even did “fanfic” right. It’s not about any character in the book. The location is not stated. Nothing about my piece can be found in The Bone Season. Maybe this was the beginning of Scion. Before 2059.
I combined this prompt with this book and wrote the following and won 2nd place in the little contest 🙂

I hope you enjoy it:

Clairvoyance is shunned, segregated, banned. Those who have it, hide it. Some enter the underground syndicate. Others, well…here’s a story about one of those “others”.

Mind Share
by Jamie Dement

Cracks in the cement captivated me as I walked along the street on my way home. Step on a crack, break your mother’s back. A game I played as a child, when she was alive, when I was innocent. Now, I make sure I step on every single one of them.

From the outside, our house looked like any other home. A two-story cottage, quaint with its white picket fence. It even had a porch swing. Hedge roses split our property from our neighbors. Everything perfectly trimmed. Neat and clean.

Outward appearances can be so deceiving.

Dad’s home. His car was in the driveway, too lazy to pull it in the garage like normal people. At least that gave me a heads up before I walked in the door. I know what to expect. What’s coming.

I dreaded it.

I took a deep breath before I pushed the kitchen door open. He sat at the table, bent over so only the top of his bald head beamed at me. He didn’t move, even when the screen door bounced shut. Its taught spring always brought it closed harder than it should. Like slamming a gavel down on my sentencing.

I stood, frozen, contemplating my next move.

No matter what, Mom always said, just get to your room. He stops then.

But he never stopped. She’s proof of that.

Ever since we buried her, it hasn’t stopped. He hasn’t stopped. I come home. He’s either there or not. But somehow, it still happens. If it’s not first thing through the door, it’s later when I sneak down to get something to eat. Yeah, sure he doesn’t follow me into my bedroom. But it’s getting there that’s the struggle. Either way, it’s never ending.

I pulled the strap on my backpack tighter, trying to make myself as thin as possible so I could squeeze past without touching him. Touching triggered everything. There wasn’t much room between him and the fridge but I could manage. So long as he didn’t move.

His burly hands gripped the edge of the table so hard his knuckles were white. I stood as tall as my five foot self could and held my breath as I walked by. He didn’t raise his head but a low moan came from deep within his chest. I felt it more than heard it. I knew what it meant. My heart pounded against my ribs, demanding to be released from its prison.

His hand twitched.

My feet tangled as I tried to run passed him, up the stairs to my room, to safety. But it was too late.

His hand grasped my wrist and everything went white.

I drifted alone on a gentle breeze. Catching the updrafts. Swirling in the downdrafts. Floating on a cushion of nothingness. The sky was crystal blue, clear as the waters of Paradise. So peaceful.

But it wouldn’t last. It never did.

“Hello, darlin’,” said Dad.

So it begins again.

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The Bone Season

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I won a signed ARC copy from Tor. At first, it was highly intimidating. The size, the maps, the flowcharts, the glossary! Yes, the glossary!

I started reading the first few chapters and felt very overwhelmed with the language. It used old street/gangster slang combined with made-up slang. In the beginning it made my head spin! I nearly stopped reading because of it. The glossary helped, yes. But having to reference it made it daunting, to say the least. But I got used to it, eventually. I still had to reference certain words, even towards the end, just to be sure I was correct. This did throw off the pacing, in my opinion.

Shannon’s world building is in-depth, sucking you into the London underground, but drawing an alternative reality, one in which requires all the maps at the beginning in order to keep straight. I’ve always loved alternate history, and Shannon does well with this aspect. Yes, it’s in the future, but the history is different. Set in England 2059, which really isn’t all that distant, the past history of the nation/world is marginally different, but still incorporates certain historical points and people that we can relate to, so we are not too removed from the story.

But the story…

The story drew me in. The conflict, the emotion, the action. All of it left me craving more with each turn of the page. Getting inside Paige’s head, Shannon’s first person POV, was definitely worth it. She knows how to instill the necessary emotion in Paige and the reader, while keeping everyone else at a safe distance.

Despite the complexity of the world and the language, I definitely would recommend giving this book a try. See for yourself.

For me, I can’t wait to read more.

View all my reviews

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In honor of her release, we are having a blog hop to celebrate. I thought it would be fun to join in and I hope to spread the word around for everyone. I had the pleasure to interview Samantha Shannon. It is definitely interesting to get some real feedback from authors. This was fun! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Without further ado….

Here’s Samantha Shannon:

1) Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? When did you start writing? Anything or anyone influence you? Or have you always known?
I’m from West London, England. I started writing at about thirteen and wrote my first novel from the ages of fifteen and eighteen. Before that I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do – I always said I wanted to be a vet (no idea why, I’m terrible at the sciences) – but my mum tells me I used to write little stories when I was about nine, so I guess the urge to write was always there – I just didn’t fully recognise it until I got older. I’m the first writer in my family, to my knowledge.

2) What do you do when you are not writing?
Mostly I read – apart from write, it’s my favourite thing to do. I love going to the cinema, too. I specialised in Principles of Film Criticism at university, which has given me a real appreciation for good films.

3) How did you choose the genre you write in?
I’ve always been drawn to fantasy – you can break all the rules. The dystopian element was inspired by Margaret Atwood. I read her book The Handmaid’s Tale just before I started university and fell in love with it. Characters in a dystopia are in extremis, and that allows you to see a side of them that you wouldn’t be see if they were in, say, a kitchen sink drama, which is pure realism. The Bone Season really mashes up multiple genres – I just wrote the story I wanted to write, even if that meant veering away from ‘genre etiquette’.

4) Where do you get your ideas? Do they come at you as an image that you have to expand? Do they come as a problem you have to solve? or the other way around?
I started writing The Bone Season after completing an internship at David Godwin Associates (DGA), a literary agency in Seven Dials, a small district in London. While I was there, I had a vivid image of a girl having the same day at work as me, but she happened to be clairvoyant. There are a few shops selling crystal balls and tarot cards in Seven Dials, which I suspect is where the image originated from. I started building the world after that, creating the Seven Orders of clairvoyance and the basic foundations of Scion. Paige’s voice was really what drove the story – I built the details of the world around her.

5) Do you ever experience writer’s block? What do you do to curb it?
If I get writer’s block I usually go for a walk to clear my head. I have to get away from the manuscript for a while. When I come back, I’ll feel refreshed and ready to get back to work.

6) Plotter or pantser? Can you go into a little bit of your methods?
I use what I call the ‘flesh-and-bones’ structure: I know the skeleton of each plot, and all the major joints, but I let the characters write themselves to some extent. I think it takes the fun out of writing if you have every tiny detail planned.

7) Have you written a book you love that you have not been able to get published yet? Or was Bone Season your first? Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?
I wrote a sci-fi romance novel called Aurora before The Bone Season. It was rejected by ten agents and remains unpublished. Now I read it back to myself, I can see why! It wasn’t particularly unique and the writing was terrible. It was much easier to get The Bone Season published. I sent it to the agent I’d done an internship with and he took it on very quickly. I was lucky.

8) I loved the interaction between Paige and Warden from the very beginning. What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
I think my favourite part was when Paige enters the butterfly’s dreamscape in Chapter 16. I loved imagining what it might be like inside a butterfly’s mind. It’s one of my great pleasures to write dialogue between Warden and Paige, so I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!

9) I rediscovered my dream almost 3 years ago. Sold a few short stories, but the novel is unbelievably scary. Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Always be open to constructive criticism. You need to be fairly thick-skinned in this industry! More importantly, don’t give up at the first hurdle.

The Bone Season by Samantha ShannonFUNZIES:

10) Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point? (not much point really, between my immediate family and my cats, no one else will see it.)
I do make it. I still live with my parents, and my mum blows a fuse if my bed isn’t made.

11) Star Trek, Star Wars, or Doctor Who? Or a mash-up of all 3? (I’d love to see a mash-up! throw in some Monte Python while you’re at it!)
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never seen Doctor Who! I like both Star Wars and Star Trek, although I can’t call myself an expert in the latter as I’ve only seen the 2009 film. I love Spock.

12) cats or dogs?
I prefer dogs, generally. I’ve had quite weird pets in my life. I used to have a tarantula and now have a tortoise.

13) favorite flavor of caffeine?
Oh, coffee, absolutely. I’m a cliché like that.

Follow Samantha on Twitter, @say_shannon, visit her blog, samanthashannon.co.uk and join The Bone Season Facebook page.

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I hope you enjoyed this post. Please let me know what I could have done different/better. I’ll never stop learning.

LadyJai

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Photo (c) Steve Conry http://www.flickr.com/photos/docs_best/

I’ve done it again! I’ve managed to receive another acceptance letter. Kazka Press has accepted my latest submission, The Stepping Stone, to their February Flash Call. That makes 3 pieces they’ve accepted in the last 5 months I’ve been doing this. I’m pretty stoked. Now, if only I could get more to accept me. 😛

So, on March 1st, 2012 you will be able to read my speculative fiction piece based off this Gizmodo Article “Before and After: New Island Appears In The Red Sea Almost Overnight”

A new volcanic island has appeared in the Red Sea almost overnight. The eruption was first reported by local fishermen in mid-December 2011, 40 miles off the coast of Yemen. — Gizmodo

Logically speaking, this island emerged from an underground volcano that erupted. However, my writer’s mind went in a different direction. Check out my story and let me know what you think.

You can read The Stepping Stone, on Kazka Press.

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Source

 

 Assimilation

Shadows crept across the wall as Dani flipped through the books she’s torn from the shelves. She crouched lower between the bookshelves, hoping to find what she was looking for before they arrived. Page after page of long-forgotten information. Images of distant worlds she would never be allowed to see. Diagrams of mystical machinery that would never be built in time. Even recipes for potions that took far too long to brew. All useless.

She tossed the book to the floor and grabbed another. That jagged silver circle of light returned to her vision once more and slammed her against the piles of books strewn at her feet. Arms sprawled against the wall, she steadied herself, holding her breath. Hoping nothing toppled and cut the silence as the shadows grew ever closer.

The flashing light lasted longer than it ever had before. Her vision cleared just as the searing pain returned. The end was too close. She let her head droop and caught sight of it. The tattered ends of an orange piece of paper stuck out from a discarded book. Freedom was now within her grasp. Filled with a sense of euphoria, the shadows engulfed her and everything faded.

*******************************************************************************************************************************

This is my entry for Rachael Harrie’s First Campaigner Challenge (of my Fourth Campaign, February 2012). The rules are as follows:

Write a short story/flash fiction story in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, including a poem. Begin the story with the words, “Shadows crept across the wall”. These five words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional), do one or more of these:

  • end the story with the words: “everything faded.” (also included in the word count)
  • include the word “orange” in the story
  • write in the same genre you normally write
  • make your story 200 words exactly!

Open with “Shadows crept across the wall”  ✔
End the story with the words “everything faded.”  ✔
Include the word “orange” in the story  ✔
Write in the same genre you normally write  ✔
200 words  ✔

If you like this, please click the link and vote for #189

Also, if you liked this piece, please feel free to read some of my other works on my “Free Reads” link at the top of the page. Some have been published as well. Thank you for reading.

Let me know what you think! I love reading everyone’s comments!

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My Second Published Story

Posted November 30, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
Source: KazkaPress.Net

KazkaPress.Net selected my story for publication for a second month in a row! KazkaPress does offer some amazing prompts for their speculative flash fiction requests. I’ve enjoyed it immensely! And, have reveled in the fact I’ve been published…TWICE!

Drake’s Hoard is now live!

Here’s what KazkaPress wanted for the November Contest:

The November 2011 issue of National Geographic featured an article on the Staffordshire Gold Hoard. If you don’t know, this hoard of gold is an treasure trove of Anglo-Saxon…well, treasures…from 1,300 years ago. It was discovered in 2009 by a bloke with a metal detector. However, no one knows why it was buried in this ground 1,300 years ago. Here’s a tidbit from the article, which you really want to read all of: 

Much plunder was carried away—possibly down the old Roman road Watling Street, which leads past the site where the Staffordshire Hoard was found. Event and place are commemorated in the Welsh poem “Marwnad Cynddylan—The Death Song of Cynddylan”:

Grandeur in battle! Extensive spoils
Morial bore off from in front of Lichfield.
Fifteen hundred cattle from the front of battle;
four twenties of stallions and equal harness.
The chief bishop wretched in his four-cornered
house, the book-keeping monks did not protect.

A retinue of 80 horses and spoils from a “wretched” bishop (a detail that conjures the gold inscription and crosses): The poem offers a tempting explanation for the hoard, an explanation, alas, built from slender, circumstantial evidence that has happened to survive from an era from which most evidence was lost. We can conjure other teasing theories. Our unknown travelers may have chosen the burial spot because it was obscure—or because it was conspicuous. The burial might have had a marker for rediscovery, or it might have been intended as an offering hidden forever to all but their gods. The hoard may have been ransom, or booty, or a votive thanks. It may have been a collection of Anglo-Saxon heirlooms buried at a later time. [by Caroline Alexander in NatGeo]

We at Kazka Press want to know: What’s the story of this treasure? Why was it buried? In 713 words exactly, excluding title, write a piece of flash fiction that tells the story of this treasure. And your story must have a speculative fiction backbone to it–fantasy, sci-fi, slipstream, cyberpunk, steampunk, etc. We’ll be especially pleased to see a strong, fantastical historical fiction element to this month’s entries. 

That’s the theme, the whole sum and total of it.

You can read the whole Staffordshire Gold Hoard story if you wish, and then my published speculative fictional pieceabout it. Let me know what you think. I hope you like it! If you do, please vote for it as well! The ones with the most votes get a chance to be published in their print anthology! Thanks!

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Campaigner Challenge E-book Anthology Benefiting Help Harry Help Others

Posted November 16, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
Interested in reading Flash Fiction? Here is a collection of 176 stories to peruse through. While everything may not fit your taste, there is bound to be something in this anthology that you will like.
Based off Rachael Harrie’s 3rd Writer’s Platform Building Campaign, this is a collection of participant’s flash fiction pieces for each of Rachael’s three challenges. The reader will not only be supporting a good cause, but can determine if the writer met the challenges presented.
All proceeds from the sale of this Anthology go to Help Harry Help Others. It’s a wonderful charity started by one little boy. Diagnosed with brain cancer, Harry “single-handedly raised over £85,000 (roughly $137,000) for brain cancer research by fundraising and selling hand-made bracelets.” You can read more about this cause by visiting Help Harry’s Website. I could not do it justice.
Please consider purchasing this e-Book anthology. You can find purchase details here:

Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/Campaigner-Challenges-2011-ebook/dp/B0066UV28C
Amazon (UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0066UV28C
Amazon (DE): http://www.amazon.de/dp/B0066UV28C
Amazon (France): http://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0066UV28C
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/104468
Barnes & Nobel: [To be Announced]

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October Flash Fiction Contest Winner & Publication with KazkaPress

Posted November 1, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
Source: KazkaPress.Net

As many of you know, I recently signed my first publishing deal. If you didn’t know, you may be interested to read about it here.

If you are interested in reading my piece, you can read it off KazkaPress.Net. Please understand, parts of this are real, and parts are not. We were to speculate the purpose of the numbers station, UVB-76. If you like military, spy, spooky, sci-fi, conspiracy theories, all rolled up into one,  I suggest you read this first, then read my story and what I speculated the purpose of UVB-76.

If you like it, I’d be most appreciative if you rated it. The more ratings I get, the more chance I have in this piece being selected into their 713 Anthology. Be sure to read the other stories they chose as well.

Thank you for your support and your votes! I hope you enjoy the short story.

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My First Publishing Deal

Posted October 27, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
Source: KazkaPress.Net
Back in September, a fellow writer friend on Twitter (@mohio73) tweeted about a flash fiction contest from @Kazkapress. Since I’ve been doing several Flash Fiction pieces lately, and have found them incredibly fascinating, I looked forward to the 1st of October when Kazka Press would reveal their prompt and requirements for their Flash Fiction Contest. All I knew was it would be theme based, paid 1 cent a word, and they wanted EXACTLT 713 words. Pretty cool, huh?
So I waited.
On October 1st, as promised, KazkaPress released their prompt. Total Sci-Fi! I could do this! 713 words, easy peasy. 🙂
Their prompt was the following:
The October 2011 issue of Wired magazine featured an article on UVB-76, a (supposed) numbers station located in Russia. The article begins as such (and we encourage you read the entire, sublime article):

 

From a lonely rusted tower in a forest north of Moscow, a mysterious shortwave radio station transmitted day and night. For at least the decade leading up to 1992, it broadcast almost nothing but beeps; after that, it switched to buzzes, generally between 21 and 34 per minute, each lasting roughly a second—a nasally foghorn blaring through a crackly ether. The signal was said to emanate from the grounds of a voyenni gorodok (mini military city) near the village of Povarovo, and very rarely, perhaps once every few weeks, the monotony was broken by a male voice reciting brief sequences of numbers and words, often strings of Russian names: “Anna, Nikolai, Ivan, Tatyana, Roman.” But the balance of the airtime was filled by a steady, almost maddening, series of inexplicable tones. [Wired.com]

The Wired article was a very interesting read. If you like military, spy, spooky, sci-fi, conspiracy theories, all rolled up into one, I suggest you read this. Once I read the article I knew exactly what I wanted to do and how I wanted to present it. It is nothing you would think a “short story” would be like. Not at all. It would be military document presenting the “story”. I wanted it as authentic as possible, and since I’ve been a part of the military all my life, living and working with, I have been exposed to the military style of writing for many years.

The problem came up with researching a specific document for this purpose. Google is an awesome tool, as are my contacts within the military. 🙂 Researching the precise format for a military document was the easy part. Coming up with documents to back my theories was another matter altogether. Research, research, research and more research ensued over the first week or so after the prompt came out. I was beginning to think I wouldn’t make it. But I kept at it. And managed most of my words over those days. And finally, it all fell into place–including my word count.

So, off it went to a few “readers” who helped me pick out the grammar errors, the military-ese errors, and the congruence issues (hey, I found an extra person in there that didn’t belong! LOL) Edits, revisions, more edits and the whole while trying to keep to that 713 word requirement. It was fun and tedious all at the same time.

When it was finally done, I sent it off to KazkaPress. But that’s when the doubt set in. Was my story REALLY a story? I mean it was a fictional Military document and I was beginning to wonder if it would even fit in to the “story” category. After reading some other pieces from others I’ve known to be submitting, self doubt and “I’m not good enough” set in. And when @kazkapress tweeted this tweet:

I was in total agony. I just KNEW I was going to get rejected, yet again! It wasn’t a true story. It wasn’t good enough. There are so many other people who are more talented than I was. And all the while these thoughts haunted me, my friend @KTHanna was telling me I was being silly, I was good enough, and it was a really good story, unique in its presentation as well. She had the confidence in me that I needed. She was my motivation, my support and my sanity!

Last night, I received an email from KazkaPress. My heart lept into my throat. The bile came with it. My stomach flipped and flopped and I really didn’t want to read it. I was standing in Walmart after grocery shopping, waiting for my husband and son to come back with that last item we forgot.

I read it.

Jamie Dement, Thank you for submitting to our October Flash Fiction contest.”

Here it comes….

We’re delighted to inform you that your submission grabbed us by the throats and took us for a ride. A very entertaining ride. We’d be fools not to purchase and publish the work you submitted.”

WHAT?!! Seriously?!! OMGOMGOMG!

And I sat and waited for 10 minutes. 10 long. agonizing. minutes. for my husband and son to return so I could give them the news! It was all we talked about the whole way home. My son was so excited he was trying to figure out what book was going to be published. He really wants my Walter Bear published (a Picture Book I would love to publish one day). But that’s going to take a bit of work. When I told him it was a short story, he then I he asked about Soul Stone. Another story that’s not quite ready. Yes,  he is an alpha reader of mine. 🙂 He’s just about 9, so he’s only allowed to read certain stories. And he didn’t get a chance to read this one, yet. Not real sure if he would be able to comprehend this one at his age though, so we will leave that at that. (He did come home two days ago and told me that my desire is rubbing off on him and he is now writing stories and wants to be published! YAY!!!)

So, now we wait until the 1st of November. Please come back here or check out KazkaPress.Net on November 1st to read my story! Thank you all for you wonderful support!

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3rd Write Campaign Challenge

Posted October 19, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)

And here we are wrapping up the 3rd and final Campaign Challenge. Rachael Harrie is one amazing woman to do this. I want to thank her for her hard work and dedication. This undertaking sure has made it a challenge just for her. Please stop by her blog and thank her too.

Here are the rules for the 3rd challenge:

Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should show:

 

  • that it’s morning,
  • that a man or a woman (or both) is at the beach
  • that the MC (main character) is bored
  • that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting
  • that something surprising happens.

 

 

Just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: “synbatec,” “wastopaneer,” and “tacise.” (NB. these words are completely made up and are not intended to have any meaning other than the one you give them).


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Source

A Proposal

“Couldn’t you have found another program?” Liz rested her chin on her knees as she drew them to her chest. With her finger, she swirled the black sand at her feet. 

Patterns of chaos mimicked the pinks and purples that bled from the sky into the water. The first sun was about to peek over the horizon. Liz watched as the water swelled across the distance, gaining momentum but not height, until it tingled their feet and fizzled away her marks. A small sigh escaped past her lips. 

A BUZOT! from behind made them both jump to their feet. A thin stream of white smoke filtered through the sand dune, exposing a control panel. Salt mixed with burnt sulfur danced at the back of Liz’s throat and almost made her gag. 

“Synbatec westopaneer tacise?” Matt shook his head. 

“What?” Liz cocked her head and scrunched her brow.

“Synbatec westopaneer tacise?” Matt’s face began to flush. He fidgeted with the silver plate embedded behind his right ear. As his finger slid over the plate, the hologram squelched and flickered. He clapped both hands around his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “Fheskkha!” 

Liz knew that pain all too well. Her universal translator was always on the fritz. 

“Here, let me.” Liz scooted closer and took her tiny sonic screwdriver out of her belt. It clicked on and a blue light coursed with the high pitch whirl. She touched it to the plate behind Matt’s ear. “Now, keep talking.” 

“Synbatec westopaneer tacise? “Synbatec westopaneer tacise?” 

Liz upped the pitch of the screwdriver as Matt continued. “Synbatec westopaneer tacise? Will you westopaneer tacise?”

“Almost got it.” Liz hit the screwdriver against the palm of her hand. 

“Will you westopaneer me?” 

Liz added a second frequency and the screwdriver sung.

“Will you marry me?”

*******

300 words, excluding the title. I think I’ve covered all 5 senses. Did you know they were on a beach? It was morning? Could you tell Liz was bored? At first at least? And did you notice the stench behind them? And how about that ending? Was it a surprise?

Hope you like this. If you do, please vote for #62. And if you want to read the other entries, don’t forget to visit Rachael’s blog post. I’m sure there will be plenty more before the challenge closes. 
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Night Shade — #FridayFlash

Posted September 29, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)

I was introduced to the #FridayFlash on Twitter only 2 weeks ago. I had to do some research as to what it is and how it works. But basically, you write a flash fiction (1000 words or less) and post it on Fridays. Simple as that.

If you are interested in learning more, or reading other stories, here’s the official website for #FridayFlash.

This is my first attempt at something like this. In fact, I wrote this before I wrote my 2nd #WriteCampaign Challenge but I figured I would post that first.

I would love to hear your comments. Anything I could have done better? different? Anything you particularly liked?

Thank you!

NightShade
Wisps of clouds hung in the sky in front of a full moon. Shadows etched on the ground below my open window. I leaned out over the ledge in hopes of finding a breeze in the heavy air.
            In the moonlight I could see the mountainous grooves left by the day’s travelers etched in the dusty road in front of our house. I looked down the road for comfort. Annie’s house was not that far and I could make out the lantern in the window. Annie always left it on for me, in case I woke in the middle of the night and needed her. It was her way of letting me know she was there for me.
            I never liked the night. SHE came in the night. Only Annie believed and comforted me. She understood. 
           A full moon was less chilling than a new moon, but still I shuddered. In the fields between our two houses, I watched a shadow move across the tops of the prairie grass. I strained to make out the shape. My heartbeat drummed in my ears and my eyes widened in realization. It was HER! She was coming!
            Frozen to my window, I watched as the shadow skimmed along, dipping in and through and around the stalks making its way towards Annie’s house.
            No! I thought. Not Annie! Please, not her!
            Annie’s lantern dimmed.
No, Annie, No! Don’t go! I screamed in my head.
Annie’s shadow darkened her window as the Shade paced the ground below. I watched in horror, fear gripped my heart, as Annie climbed out her bedroom window. I refused to breath as Annie disappeared into the darkness that was the NightShade. 
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#TuesdayTales — The Devil’s Darning Needles

Posted September 27, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)

I stumbled upon the #TuesdayTales hashtag on Twitter a little too late last week. I’ve been really getting into this flash fiction challenges. It truly is a challenge to be able to write a story in such few words. and it’s so much fun! Don’t forget to check out @GlitterLady’s #TuesdayTales and join the fun!

Here’s my entry:

Source: http://www.whatsthatbug.com
The Devil’s Darning Needles
The Devil’s Darning Needles hid just beneath the waters of Shoal’s Lake—always at the ready to erupt at the precise moment when the weary traveler’seyes should close. Anticipation swept through them as a glint passed through the surface. All eyes watched the Knight remove his helm. He slipped off his gauntlets and placed them at his knees as he bent to scoop the cool water for a drink. He leaned against the willow tree and let the summer breeze lull him to sleep. The Needles swarmed out of their watery hive, weaving over and through the Knight’s eyelids.
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Psycho Imago – 2nd Write Campaign Challenge

Posted September 22, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)
 
Rachael Harrie has done it again. Here are the guidelines:

 

“Write a blog post in 200 words or less, excluding the title. It can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should:

 

 

  • include the word “imago” in the title
  • include the following 4 random words: “miasma,” “lacuna,” “oscitate,” “synchronicity,”

 

 

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional and included in the word count), make reference to a mirror in your post.

 

For those who want an even greater challenge (optional), make your post 200 words EXACTLY!”

 

Completed all the above, including 200 words exactly AND used the mirror!
Here’s my entry into the 2nd Campaigner Challenge if you like it, please vote for #24!

(Source)
PsychoImago

            I bashed my foot against the dresser as I moved across the bloodied room. A sharp, glorious pain seared through my ankle. A smile crept across my face.
I leaned against the edge of the dresser to get a better look in the shattered mirror. Her listless body reflected back with many angles to investigate. I licked the coolness of the glass that reflected her untouched breasts,slicing my tongue on its sharp edge.
Like the mirror, she was shattered, broken. Blood pooled in the lacuna my cleaver created. Her hair matted. Her porcelain face caved in. Exposed bones peeked through her jacket and jeans. It teased me from all directions. My daughter was now perfect.
Time had stood still in my dance. I didn’t care. I could do this forever. Shivers of pleasure pulsed in the pit of my groin and my lust got the better of me. I played the death scene out—perfect synchronicity between memory and motion. I danced with death again and again.
Her body began to decay. I drew in a deep breath. The stench of her miasma rose from her battered body. I fell on the bed in exhaustion and began to oscitate
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#FridayReads

Posted March 18, 2011 By Jamie Dement (LadyJai)

A few weeks back, I noticed a few of my Tweeple (twitter friends) posting what they were reading along with a hashtag of #FridayReads. It has always been fun to see what different people are reading. It is an insight into their likes, dislikes, and possibly character.

And it is a great way add new books you are unfamiliar with to your personal library.

I started reading at an early age. I can remember sitting down at the kitchen table when I was in kindergarten and reading my books out loud to my mother. Being an only child, growing up in a relatively closed neighborhood, children my age seemed to be very scarce. Also, moving around a lot and traveling long distances, I needed to busy myself with things that would pass the time. Books, were my escape, my time travel, and my companions.

It wasn’t until I started college that I took an hiatus from reading for pleasure. Once I graduated, I got married, and seeking out my career path consumed me. My Muse seemed to have taken an extended vacation. I didn’t realize she was gone until 20 years later. That’s when I received my e-reader. Once I got that, and got back into reading, my Muse decided to visit briefly–to check in on me, so to speak.

I’ve now finished the entire Sword of Truth Series, and was at a loss of what book I was going to read next. Then, I found #FridayReads and a whole slew of other readers all telling me what they were reading. This is one way to get recommendations and to see what is popular each week. Now I am a reviewing member of GoodReads and LibraryThing, and sometimes, just sometimes, I win new, or about to be released books (in exchange for reviews of course).

Since I received my Sony e-Reader over a year ago, I have gotten back into reading. Which, in turn, has gotten me back into my writing. Without books, I would be lost. Stephen King has said “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” And it really is as simple as that.

If you want to read more, you can visit the FridayReads Blog. And I would like to invite you to join in on Twitter or Facebookand help promote it, or just tell us all what you are reading! And don’t forget, it’s every Friday, every where in the world!

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