Tag Archives: writing

Writerly Web Sites

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So the last time, I focused on sites that helped with the craft of writing, namely editing. Today, I am going to give you a few sites to help with some other things.

First up is David P. Vandagriff‘s Contract Counsel page. He also writes the Passive Voice blog and tweets as Passive guy. Passive guy has breaking news on the business and legal aspects of the writerly life. Both pages that he maintains has a wealth of information about the business of writing. Because, like me, I am assuming that writing is not something being done for the fun of it or as a when I think about it kind of hobby. But rather, because writing AND making some money is the goal. So while I know that it might be more pleasant to focus on the art aspect of writing, don’t do that at the expense of the business of writing. Stay abreast of current happenings. You’ll be glad you did. Plus, if you are unagented and get a big 6 5 publishing contract, he has rates for having a professional look it over for you. Always a good thing.

Next up is Stephie Smith‘s contest chart. Yes, that’s right- contests. At some point, you will need or want or be encouraged to enter your writing in a contest to pitch it in battle against other writerly types. Seriously. Even if you don’t like competition, writing as a business is ALL about competing. When you submit to an agent, you are competing. When an agent or you submits to a publisher, you are competing. When your books get released into the world wide marketplace, you are competing. So take this shit seriously. And along the way, enter a few contests. Not only does this help develop you as a writer- it really does, it also gets your writing much needed exposure. Maybe a few of the judges in the competition see your work. Never hurts. Especially if you are unagented and the judge is from a house that only accepts agented work. This gets your writing which would have never crossed their desk in front of them. And if you win? Sheesh, accolades are never a bad thing.

Last but not least, boys and girls, are writer conferences, retreats and workshops. Stacey O’Neale has a list on her site. It is by no means a comprehensive list. Locus has a conference list and there are several other sites that list lots of these go and learn some crap events. Going to these events serves several purposes. First, there is the networking aspect. You get to meet a lot of people you normally wouldn’t have ever met if you’d stayed in your writing bat cave. Second, you might actually learn some new shit about writing. No one knows everything about how to be a great writer. No one. You can always learn something whether it is an advanced class or a beginners class. Even if you think you already do it correctly, go take an entry level class to reaffirm you are the shit. Or it might show you a new way of doing old shit. And last, writing is about what’s happening IN THE WORLD. Get out from behind your computer and/or desk and go experience some shit so you can incorporate that shit into some new writing. Seriously.

Enough with the Hating

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I was informed that m/f sex in m/m books was offensive, disrespectful, yada, yada, yada. And all I have to say is Fuck You JesseWave.

Read what you want. Write what you want. Review what you want. But don’t couch your misogyny in terms of choice and needing warnings that a vagina is about to be used for sex. Warnings on books should be and traditionally has been about rape, incest, excess violence and the like. Not about vaginas being fucked. Ain’t nothing disrespectful about vaginas being used for their intended purpose. Not at all.

And trying to play off your vagina hating rant as anything but HATING is a lie. Don’t want to play in my sandbox? Fine. Don’t want me to play in your sandbox? Fine. But don’t call me, the toys I bring to the sandbox or anything about me names. Derogatory names and tell me I’m being disrespectful. Apologizing for calling my vagina and vaginas around the world as being cootie filled is full of hate. Cause you shouldn’t have said it in the first place. Now I know how you really feel about vaginas.

And I don’t normally write m/m stuff. I do write menage stuff. I read a whole lot of shit though.

This whole issue pisses me off.

Not long ago, just WRITING about m/m romances and sex could get you tarred and feathered. So the m/f community excluded it from ALL writing and pairings regardless of the reality of the situation. Then someone got a clue, smacked the shit out of the m/f community with a two-by-four of common sense, and viola, we get some m/m action. Then m/m took the fuck off. Which I applaud. Seriously. Love having some diversity in my ability to read some different stuff. But now, to be told that women writers of m/m are clueless and/or having women having sex in m/m stories is denigrating in some fashion pisses me the fuck off.

Don’t we have enough hang ups about fucking in this society without the m/m community- which, by the way, should be MORE tolerant, having hang ups about some people having sex. I don’t have girl cooties. None of my gay friends have fag cooties. None of my multi-gendered friends have freak cooties. I don’t care who’s catching or pitching. Nor do I care what instrument they are using. What I care about is the derogatory terms with which they are being described.

Fuck you. It is hard enough in this puritanical society to be free to express ourselves sexually. To be labeled as having girl cooties makes me feel about the same as being referenced as a breeder. I won’t stand for it in RL. I won’t stand for it in my writerly life. Just like I wouldn’t stand for nasty shit being said about others who have sex not in conformance with the “norm.”

It is beyond time to have m/m sex portrayed in mainstream fiction of all genres. Just as it is beyond time to have m/f sex portrayed in m/m fiction of all genres. M/m should be leading the way, not crying that there are vaginas in the m/m world. No m/m couple lives in a vacuum. Surprisingly, there are lots of vaginas in the world- yes, even in the m/m world. And sometimes, they even get used.

I don’t write off-scene sex often. So if the peeps in my books are fucking, you’re seeing it. I’m sure there are authors that write off-scene sex. I’m sure there are authors that write explicit sex scenes. I bet the heat level has nothing to do with sexual orientation or preference. It’s just the way they write about sex in their books.

So here’s your fucking warning: People in my books like to fuck. Some have dicks. Some have pussies.

That is all.

July Blog Chain

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Doing AW‘s July Blog Chain. I hadn’t planned to do this month’s cause I am seriously busy, busy, busy. I just left editing hell for revision hell and am on a crash course for more writing, editing and revisions. But I couldn’t resist the prompt.

This month’s prompt:
Dog Days of Summer

In other words, the hottest and most sultry part of summer. Etymology lesson here. As always, can be prose, poetry, play, fiction, nonfiction.

Instructions:
Simply post your blog’s URL in this thread to join. I’ll let you know in this thread when it’s your turn. Once your turn comes up, you have two days to complete a blog post using the prompt. When you are finished, please add a link to your post on the thread.

Each post should be less than 1000 words if possible.

Dog Days

“Did you find them?”

“No, my Lord. They’ve hidden themselves well,” replied the soldier. His mouth was in a tight line. His eyes showing the fatigue his body did not.

“Search every house in the quarter. I want my slave back. And I want him back too,” Lord Andier’s voice sounded calm. His eyes were fevered, however.

The soldier kept his thoughts to himself. Wisely. The heat was making everyone crazy. Although, the soldier knew it wasn’t just the heat making Andier crazy. Andier had been crazy long before the sweltering summer heat. Trying to find Dideron and the stolen slave, Isla, was trying to find a needle in a haystack. There were too many people. Too many poor. Dideron and Isla could be hiding anywhere.

“If you can’t find them by tomorrow night, there will be hell to pay,” Lord Andier’s voice was still flat, holding no emotion. “Do I make myself clear, Major Ascanto?”

“Perfectly, my Lord. It shall be done,” Ascanto replied.

“Excellent. Find Isla. Bring her to me bound and naked. Bring them both to me bound and naked. Then raze the entire city,” Andier spoke.  Ascanto wasn’t sure he heard correctly.

“My Lord?”

“Bring that bitch to me and the mongrel she’s fucking, then kill everyone on this planet,” Andier’s voice was razor sharp.

Ascanto kept the horror off his face, but it was a near thing.

“Lord, there are a little over a million people just in this settlement,” Ascanto tried to reason with his Lord.

“Yes, and they hid my traitorous Isla, no? And spawned Dideron from their loins,” Andier’s eyes lost their feverishness as he spoke. “I loved her. I gave her everything. She betrayed me. With a street rat. Kill them all. They are mine. This planet is mine. The city is mine. They live by my sufferance. And now they will die by my sufferance as well.”

Ascanto knew better than to answer. Not this time. Andier had just dropped verbal landmines. But Ascanto couldn’t hide his thoughts from himself. It hadn’t taken long for Ascanto to realize Andier was insane. Completely and clinically insane. Andier was also too powerful for any to speak of his insanity.

The vision of the city burning along with its inhabitants made Ascanto’s stomach turn. He knew it then. He should have never accepted this post. He’s had reservations about it from the first. He knew the superstition about the Sirius sector. Had chalked it up to imagination and the need to blame the unseeable on the unknowable and hadn’t put credence in the warnings that something was wrong, seriously fucking wrong, here.

Now Ascanto knew it was true. All of it. It was also too late. He’d been caught in the madness. Caught by his arrogance.

“Shall I warn them, my Lord. At least tell them to evacuate?” Ascanto kept the horror from his voice, knowing it would fuel Andier’s anger to even greater heights.

Andier didn’t speak for long moments. “Yes. Let them scurry to try and evade the destruction. Whoever remains will be sacrificed. Those left behind will be payment for those allowed to escape.”

“It shall be done, my Lord,” Ascanto replied as if Andier had made the suggestion. It was safer for all of them if Andier thought it was so.

Ascanto turned and walked to the door.

“Major,” Andier called. “Don’t fail me. Your men will pay for your failure. While you watch.”

Ascanto was glad his back was turned and he was facing away from Andier. He wasn’t sure he could kept the revulsion from his face. This Sirius sector assignment had been a clusterfuck from the first. It had just gone past clusterfuckiness all the way to fucked up beyond all belief.

“It will be as you wish, my Lord.”

Ascanto stepped out of the Lord’s chambers and into the scorching summer heat. It was so hot, it felt as if the flesh was melting straight off his bones. His men should be resting, sleeping off the heat. Instead, they were going to go searching for a missing slave and her lover. House to house.

Sacrifice. Sirius. The height of summer. The words kept repeating in Ascanto’s mind. Over and over again. Until Ascanto threw back his head and laughed. It wasn’t a laugh of amusement. Not at all.

“Perfect. History is come alive. Repeating after nearly a millennia,” Ascanto spoke to himself. He entertained the thought that he was perhaps going slowly mad himself. Cracked. Like Andier. It wasn’t the first time he entertained the thought that it was the sector driving them crazy. Something in the air, or not in the air.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Height of summer.

It was a loop none of them could avoid.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Height of summer.

He should have never taken this assignment. He should have begged for the spot in the Orion sector. On his knees if he had to. He should have pleaded for a transfer when he realized the extent of the rot in the Sirius sector. He didn’t. And now he would pay. His men would pay. They would all pay.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Height of summer.

Madness had come for them all. All because of a crazed Lord, and a love affair. Forbidden love affair, true. It was the insane Lord that turned the love affair from a romance to a tragedy. That turned the sheltering of lovers into a mass treason. That was going to turn this city from a bustling market into a slaughterhouse. And make everyone on the planet a sacrifice.

Ascanto gave orders to his men. His men were too well trained to show any emotion. They moved to carry out his orders.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Summer.

Ascanto wondered if other soldiers in other times listened as those very same words reverberated within their minds. He should have never accepted this assignment. His realization came too late, however.

Sacrifice. Sirius. Summer.

Three words. Embedded forever in his brain. He wouldn’t survive. He knew it. He accepted the inevitable. Then he moved to follow his men. Searching each house. Until death came for them all.

Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com (link to post)
articshark – http://www.drslaten.com/blog (link to post) <———— you are here
Sunwords – http://susannedoering.wordpress.com (link to post)
Diem_Allen – http://mindovermistakes.blogspot.com (link to post)
U2Girl – http://ancatdubh.org (link to post)
robynmackenzie – http://www.iwanttobeawesomewhenigrowup.com (link to post)
Lady Cat – http://radomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.ca (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes – http://www.taraquan.com (link to post)
pyrosama – http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com (link to post)
Angyl78 – http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
SuzanneSeese – http://www.viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Diana_Rajchel – http://blog.dianarajchel.com/ (link to post)
HistorySleuth – http://historysleuth.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
AshleyEpidemic – http://www.soipondered.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
SRHowen – http://srhowen1.blogspot.com (link to post)

Some Days I Suck as a Writer

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I reread what I’ve written and the fear that I suck overwhelms me. I think it’s natural. Sometimes, I just think maybe I should throw the towel in and quite while I’m ahead. Other days, I feel like I have stories that people want to read but my mechanics are atrocious and I should just stop already.

I’m not sure if all writers are plagued with doubt. I think so. But I don’t know for sure. There might be a writer out there that thinks all their words are gold and they shit roses. I dunno. Most days, I feel okay about my writing. Most days, I feel like even though my mechanics suck, I have enough talent to at least tell a decent tale. But every once in a while, I get a day that makes me want to cry, scream and nash my teeth. Because on those days, I just KNOW I suck as a writer.

But I seem to be a hard headed bitch. I plow through ANYWAY. I used to have periodic bouts of uncertainty in my before life as well. It diminished over time. But it still caught me. I mean, throwing up before every opening statement after a decade and a half was a pretty sure sign of some anxiety, no? I don’t have opening statements anymore. So my insecurity comes out in other ways. It comes out in me reading what I wrote and wanting to delete the whole frickin’ mess. But I don’t.

I got into a car accident when I was 16. I was pissed, scared and hyped. When it came time to go to sleep, I couldn’t sleep. The accident kept playing over and over in my mind. I went to my dad. He told me to stop thinking about it. Everyone walked away unscathed from the accident so no permanent damage had been done. Well, except to the cars but they could be fixed. But then he gave me a bit of advice that I use in lots of areas in my life. He told me to go to sleep and that everything looked better after a night of rest. That morning brought new perspective. So I shut down my mind and went to sleep. And when I woke up the next day, I did feel better. Not that it undid the accident, but that the accident wasn’t looming so large in my mind. I was able to get a handle on things. And he was right, not that everything looked rosy, but it didn’t look as bleak as it did the night before.

So when I am the most sure I suck as a writer, I shut down Word and putter around until I can get to sleep. Cause I know when I wake up, even if my writing stills sucks, I can find a new perspective and it wouldn’t look so bleak. Sleeping on it doesn’t make me any less of a sucky writer. What is does is allow me to make that suckiness not loom so large in my mind. I get a handle on it. Mostly. Well, until the next time I’m sure I’m a sucky writer.

Plagiarism

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So there was a big brouhaha this past weekend when Lorelei James found out that @AlisonGilmore had ripped off her entire book and put it up as her fanfic and then to a blog. AlisonGilmore claimed she was writing the book chapter by chapter. She wasn’t. She was and is a thief of the highest order. She ripped off someone else’s work and claimed it as her own. There was a huge internet smack down. HUGE. Like by several people all getting into the act and it brought her blog pages down and she ended up shutting off her twitter account. She now has a new twitter account and has made it private. Only the internet isn’t “private.” Not at all. The internet is very public and is forever.

Limecello posted a blog about the internet takedown.  As did Rilzy on her blog. They both have several pictures of the images capturing the twitter logs and the blog and the subsequent takedown. They have a, forever on the internet for all time and for anyone to see and read,  blog entry about the blatant plagiarism AlisonGilmore engaged in when she ripped off Lorelei’s book. The book was ALL JACKED UP.

Plagiarist aren’t new. They are the necessary evil when you are an award winning author. Only the internet makes it so much easier to find them and ferret them out. Like ridiculously easy. Almost as easy as it makes for someone to do the ripping off. So the internet is both a sword and a shield. It cuts and protects all at the same time.

What it can’t do is make stupid people smarter. Or people who can’t write, write. And that’s what it boils down to. Plagiarist are inherently lazy, stupid and weak. No talent is involved when you steal someone’s ideas and storylines. Word for frickin’ word.

AlisonGilmore sent a tweet that said in effect- writing romance, erotic romance and erotica is for talentless dweebs. I won’t go into why writing GOOD smex is hard- almost as hard as writing comedy. But what I will go into is my response to AlisonGilmore’s talentless dweeb comments. My tweet is below. I bolded what I wrote in response to her tweet. What I wrote is true. And it was a kick-ass response to her assertions.

 

D.R. Slaten ‏@DRSlaten 14 Jun

Plagiarism is for people who can’t think. @laurahunsaker @megantgrimm @loreleijames smut is for people who can’t write.

Editing 101

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I normally don’t write a whole lot about my writing process. While I think writing is endlessly fascinating, I don’t think non-writers think that at all. Not a lot of action happens when I write, well other than typing my ideas into the computer. lol So I try to make this blog about more interesting things. Things that interest me. But every once in a while, I like to share what I’m writing as well as how  I write. Today is a process piece. It’s all about editing.

This is not an advance class on editing. It is my technique for editing. I do one big edit and then I am done. I use a combo of Holly Lisle and Rachel Aaron‘s technique. Do what works for you. Like both of them, however, I do believe there is such a thing as over editing and diminishing returns on additional edits.

I print out my manuscript. That’s right. I don’t do a computer edit, not at first. The print out lets me switch from writer to editor mode in my brain. I become the teacher with a red pen. Then, I let it sit for at least 24 hours. Other people let it sit for weeks, months, etc. I can’t do that. I have a driving need to finish what I start. And having a polished, edited manuscript is the end of writing that book. For me at least.

1. Read the entire document through. Either underline or put check marks by misspelled words. Every time you see a time- day, hour, month, etc.,  reference write it down in a separate notebook making a timeline. On another sheet, write down plot holes, things that didn’t explained, characters introduced but not developed, etc. Big huge glaring things. Add a note of the page number.

2. Now read through again. Start scene analysis. Do this scene by scene. I write primarily romances. So I ask the question: Does this scene further the romance? Does it develop either character? Does the scene further the conflict by my heroine/hero? If not, mark it out. Fix timelime issues. You will be able to see them from the timeline you made. Fill in plot holes, explain the unexplained, remove undeveloped characters or add stuff to develop them. Remove extraneous words. Is the scene a mini-story? Could better words be used? Your pages on paper should look like it is bleeding red. lol

3. Start on page one and start making your corrections into the computer version of your document. If you found some stuff as you correct, if it is little things… fix as you go. If not, write it down. Make all your corrections from the earlier notes. Fix time and place issues.

4. Do another read through. Write down any errors you see and add it to your list. When you are done, go back and fix all the things wrong on your list by page. Do not start at the beginning again. Just fix your list mistake by mistake.

5. Do a final spellcheck. I usually do a concurrent grammar check as well. But this is fiction so there are a lot of exceptions. Many of you will and can skip adding in the grammar checker.

6. Now, let it sit for 24 hours. Either load your document onto a kindle or make a pdf file. Read it through from beginning to end like a reader. Use your reader brain. Does it work? Do your words flow? Is it a good story? Make logical sense?

7. Fix any errors caught on the read through like a reader reads. lol Do a final spellcheck.

8. Put the frickin thing away as you send it out into the big, wide world. 🙂

Viola, you are finished. And that is how I edit.

It used to take me two weeks to edit a manuscript of 20-30K words because I didn’t plot out my stories. Then I started using a vague basic outline and my editing time diminished.  Now, I write using a detailed outline and my editing time is cut almost by half to two-thirds. Why? Because I normally don’t have huge plot gaps anymore, or timeline issues- they got resolved in my outline already. Sometimes my characters do something I didn’t outline, so I just put it into my outline, work out further problems later in my outline that occur as a result and viola, back to using my outline for my story. I just started doing this for my last manuscript. The difference is AMAZING.

An outline also helps in writing a synopsis. I already have the bones to the synopsis in the outline. Easy peasy.  I will never write without a detailed outline again. Not only does it help with my writing, it is invaluable at the end when I am editing. Cuts my work time in half.

Start another manuscript while your finished manuscript is marinating. Then you can either edit straight through or write half the time/edit half the time. The choice is yours.

June Blog Chain

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Doing AW‘s June Blog Chain again. Might the last for a bit. I got a lot on my plate right now.

This month’s prompt:
Bugs

Yep. Bugs. Simple and easy. Prose, poetry, play. Fiction, nonfiction. It’s all good, all bugs.

Instructions:
Simply post your blog’s URL in this thread to join. I’ll let you know in this thread when it’s your turn. Once your turn comes up, you have two days to complete a blog post using the prompt. When you are finished, please add a link to your post on the thread.

Each post should be less than 1000 words if possible.

Bugs

“Don’t let them escape,” she cried.

“I’m tryin’ not to,” he answered.

“Oh my god. Get them.” She was horrified.

Silas wasn’t a very forgiving overseer. Not even a drop of compassion flowed through his veins. She and Orrin would be written up and their pay docked. The last thing she could afford was to have her pay docked.

“Hurry and get ‘em back into their containment units, Chessie,” Orrin’s tone was forceful while his voice was low. “Mebbe they won’t notice. Or mebbe we can tell ‘um they died in the unit.”

“That won’t work Orrin. They added the unit weight monitors yesterday. The units just got calibrated,” her voice held the resignation she felt. “It’s useless. I’ll file the report.”

“Shit.”

It wasn’t a minute after she hit send on the report, the communicator on the console started beeping. She didn’t want to hit the green button, but she did.

“Ms. de Marco?” asked Silas.

“Yes, this is she,” she answered, albeit reluctantly.

“I see from the report, your team lost a little under a gross of cockroaches,” he said. His voice held neither disapproval or approval.

“Yes sir. That’s correct,” she said. “It was my fault, sir. Mr. Abernathy bears no fault.”

“I noted that on the report as well,” he stated.

“It’s the truth,” she said emphatically. “Although Orrin helped me when I tried to get them back. They ran, sir. We couldn’t catch them.”

“The loss of the gross will cost the company just under $10,000 dollars, Ms. de Marco. How do you propose to rectify this situation?” Silas asked her.

“Well, I’ve given it some thought, sir. I would be willing to be docked half pay and work over time for the remaining portion,” she suggested.

“Acceptable,” Silas told her. Again, no inflection in his voice to indicate emotions running one way or another. “Computer please note the date and time of the agreement.”

“Agreement noted and entered,” a chipper female voice acknowledged.

“Will that be all sir?” she asked miserably.

“Yes. Good day,” Silas sign off. The communicator beeping one long beep to indicate the call was over.

“Crap,” she cursed.

“Doan worry, Chessie. I kin share my rations. I know you need ‘em,” Orrin offered.

“This can’t go on Orrin. We need to figure out a way to get the overflow when we open the units,” she said.

“How kin we do that if the company hasn’t?” Orrin asked.

“The company doesn’t care Orrin,” she said. “They dock the workers pay if any of those bugs get out. So they don’t have a profit loss. No profit loss equals no motive to fix the situation.”

“I guess that’s true,” Orrin agreed.

“Well we might as well eat lunch while we think about it,” she told him.

“Alright,” he agreed readily.

Orrin hit a series of buttons. Two bowls appeared with grayish extruded paste in them. He handed one to her and kept the other for himself.

“Hot sauce?” he offered her the bottle.

She took it. While the paste was nutritious, it tasted bad.

“Thanks. I can’t stand the taste plain,” she told him. “Since I started working here. Seeing how they live, I have to put something on it.”

“I just like the hot sauce,” Orrin grinned at her. “Even if the paste didn’t taste like shit, I’d put some on there.”

She didn’t say anything in response. There wasn’t really anything to say. So they finished their meal in silence. Each lost in their own worlds. She was pretty sure they were two vastly different worlds, but still, Orrin had his moments.

He wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but he was funny and nice. He was real nice. He’d helped her out on more than one occasion.

“Do you think we’ll ever get anything else to eat?” she wondered out loud. “I read about all the food that didn’t survive and I can’t imagine what they’d taste like.”

“I dunno, Chessie. Mebbe someday, the ground will grow things again. Or they’ll find somethin’ sides us and the bugs survived,” he said. “Until then, at least we kin eat all we want. Working with the food gots some benefits.”

“Yeah, at least my kid won’t starve,” she said sadly. “He just won’t have much besides food for a while.”

“Naw, girl. I told you I’d help out. And I will,” he said good naturedly.

“I can’t let you do that Orrin. You’ve been helping me out too much,” she said. “Who knew taking care of the food was so difficult?”

“They’re just particular. They don’t want ‘em to get out in case some other folks start to breed ‘em too. Then if everybody could grow ‘em and breed ‘em, the company’s profits would go down,” he said in a surprising moment of insight.

“Yeah. That makes sense,” she said. “It was just easier when I work part time in the office before Eric died, you know?”

“Yeah. I do,” he patted her shoulder. “Welp, it’s time to water the little buggers. Got to keep ‘em plump so they weigh more for sale.”

“Better than feeding them,” she shivered. She hated feeding them. Hated dealing with the corpses. The cyclical nature of the how they bugs ate human corpses, getting fat and then the bugs were ground into paste to feed living humans. Well, it just kind of freaked her out. If she’d never worked in this department, she wouldn’t have it in her face. She could have pretended. But when you’re the one feeding the damn things, it was real hard to pretend.

“Now ain’t that the truth.”

“You’re right. Let’s get back to work,” she sighed. “But one of these days, I am going to figure out how to get them from one unit to another without losing any of them.”

“That’d be a good thing, Chessie. Help us both out,” Orrin grinned at her.

Micro-farming cockroaches was essential now they were the only source of protein left on Earth. Well other than humans. But no one wanted to go there. At least not yet.

Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
Diem_Allen – http://mindovermistakes.blogspot.com (link to post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com (link to post)
articshark – http://www.drslaten.com/blog (link to post) <————————–me
Lady Cat – http://randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.ca (link to post)
U2Girl – http://ancatdubh.org (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes – http://www.taraquan.com/ (link to post)
SuzanneSeese – http://www.viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
robynmackenzie – http://iwanttobeawesomewhenigrowup.com/ (link to post)
Sunwords – http://susannedoering.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Angyl78 – http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
susanielson – http://somesemblancethereof.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
HistorySleuth – http://historysleuth.blogspot.com (link to post)
SRHowen – http://srhowen1.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Lyra Jean – http://beyondtourism.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
xcomplex – http://arielemerald.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
milkweed – http://www.thistlequill.blogspot.com/ (link to post)

 

May Blog Chain

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Doing AW‘s Blog chain again this month. Loads of fun.

This month’s prompt:
Dialogue Only

Make a post that is only back-and-forth dialogue, with no description or tags. As always, it may be fiction or nonfiction, prose or poetry, or any other form you care to use. If you want an additional prompt for your dialogue, you can use Wrong Place, Right Time,” but this is strictly optional.

Instructions:
Simply post your blog’s URL in this thread to join. Each post should be less than 1000 words if possible. Read and comment on other participants’ posts if you possibly can–they’ll be doing the same for you!

Dialogue Only

“Oh my god. That feel so good.”

“Does it?”

“Yes. Yes it does. I didn’t think that I would like it so much.”

“Don’t think I’m not laughing at you. I told you would like it, if you just gave it a chance.”

“You were so right.”

“Can I mark today down in my calendar as the day hell froze over?”

“You are so not funny even if you were right. No need to be smug about it, you know.”

“I’m not being smug about it. I’m just being right. For once.”

“Laughing at me isn’t helping get you out of hot water, mister.”

“No. But it is making me feel better all the way around.”

“Oh god. That’s it. That’s the spot.”

“Right there?”

“Yes. Now a little to the left. Yeeeessss, perfect. Just right there.”

“Oh, I can feel it. It feels really tight.”

“Totally. But if you keep rubbing it, maybe that’ll change.”

“I like all those little moans you make. And every once in a while you squeak like those dog toys they have at the supermarket.”

“Are you saying that you like girls who squeak?”

“No. I’m saying that I like it when you squeak.”

“Oh. Well that’s okay then.”

“I should hope so.”

“No need to be dickish is there?”

“Other than I want to be dickish? Probably not.”

“Jeez, you can be really frustrating.”

“You think I’m the one who’s frustrating? Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. Didn’t I just say that?”

“Well, yeah. But I don’t see how you can think that. I mean, of the two of us, you are the more frustrating.”

“Says who? Did you take a poll at the local supermarket? You know, when you checked out the doggie squeak toys?”

“Um no. I just know. It’s my superior intellect brought on by me having a dick.”

“Oh using you and dick in a sentence is something I can so get behind.”

“Are you sure you want to taunt me when I have you in such a vulnerable position?”

“Oh yeah. Maybe I need to rethink my strategy on that.”

“Oh now, we’re going to be nice.”

“Well yeah. You just pointed out my precarious situation. I’m not a stupid girl. I know when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em and definitely when to shut up.”

“Perhaps you can decide to shut up now so I can finish?”

“I could. But where is the fun in that?”

“Are you trying to make me miss my stride?”

“You have a stride going on? How’d I miss that?”

“Obviously when you wouldn’t shut up and let me get on with it.”

“Okay man with the magic hands. Do your worst. Better yet, do your best. Get on with it.”

“I’m trying.”

“Try harder.”

“I’m going to need headphones if you keep this up.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t concentrate.”

“You need to concentrate to finish this?”

“Only if you want me at my best.”

“I always want you. At your best. At your worst. All the time.”

“Now you decide to be sweet?”

“I’m always sweet.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. And if you do a really really good job, I’ll show you just how sweet I can be.”

“Well, that’s some incentive.”

“True.”

“Almost done. It’s not suppose to hurt. Well, not too much anyway. Let me know if I hurt you, okay?”

“I will… oh sweet baby jesus, that is fabulous.”

“If your moaning is anything to go by, yes it is.”

“You keep doing that and I’ll keep on moaning.”

“Moaning is good.”

“I thought you liked the squeaking better?”

“Squeaking is cute. Moaning is like a 5 star review.”

“Gotcha.”

“Yes you do. And I’ve got you. My hands seem to really like you.”

“Well that’s good cause my body seems to really like your hands. It’s like a mutual admiration society.”

“I admire your society.”

“Not as much as I admire yours.”

“Almost finished.”

“Really?”

“I’m not ready for you to be done.”

“I don’t have anything else left. You’ve sapped my strength with all your tightness.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“Is it my turn?”

“To do me?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, in that case. Yes it is.”

“Okay. Turn over and I’ll get some oil.”

“Don’t use too much. We don’t want a huge wet spot on the sheets.”

“I got this. This isn’t my first rodeo, you know.”

“Okay. I’m ready.”

“T minus 2. I’m almost ready as well.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Now it’s my turn to make you moan.”

“I like this taking turns business.”

“I just bet you do.”

“We should do this more often.”

“Next time, let’s try a simultaneous mutual massage session.”

“I’m game.”

“Awesome. Now shut up and let me get down to business.”

“Alright. Shutting up now.”

“Not really shutting up if you’re still talking.”

“Oh my god. That feel so good.”

Here are some of the other participants blog links. Check them out if you have the time or inclination.

Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
articshark – http://www.drslaten.com/blog (link to post) <——————- you are here
pyrosama – http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
Sudo_One – http://sudoone.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Nissie – http://www.rinchupeco.com/ (link to post)
Angyl78 – http://jelyzabeth.wordpress.com/ (link to post)
Lady Cat – http://randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.ca/ (link to post)
U2Girl – http://ancatdubh.org/ (link to post)
MsLaylaCakes – http://www.taraquan.com/ (link to post)
SuzanneSeese – http://www.viewofsue.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
LanaK – http://lanaketrick.blogspot.com/ (link to post)
in_one – http://quirkythomas.blogspot.com/ (link to post)

30 Posts in 30 days

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I set a goal for myself at the beginning of April. I wanted to write a blog post a day. April is one of those months that only has 30 days. I thought no problem. I can write 30 blog posts. I write thousands of words day. How hard can it be to write a few hundred for a blog post.

I mean, I’m interesting. I have interesting things to say. I can come up with 30 interesting topics. Holy Crapola Batman. Writing 30 blog posts in 30 days is hard. Seriously hard. Like I ran out of things to say within a few days and had to rack my brain for topics kinda hard. I wasn’t that interesting. I didn’t have as many interesting things to say. In fact, I found that I was down right boring. Really, watch the paint dry, boring.

Once that reality check was in place, I came up with recurring topics and themes. This helped but did not alleviate any of my boring qualities. Not at all.

I am happy to report that I met my goal. But this could be the hallmark of a boring person. Reliable but boring. I did what I set out to do. This trait could just mean that I am pig-headed. I mean it could mean that I have follow through but it could also mean that I am just too damn stubborn not to finish what I started. So I guess finishing out the month of April by actually doing what I set out to do could mean lots of good things for me and my personality. But… but… but it could also mean a whole passel of bad things as well. It probably boils down to whether you are a glass half empty or a glass half full kinda person.

What I know is I am is a person who is tired of writing a blog post a day. I can’t keep up the pace. My hat goes off to those that can. More power to you. I just can’t join you. My short foray into that world was wrought with pain and the musings of a boring mind. Not a good thing to learn about myself. 😉 So today is the first day of May. And I can safely say I will not be trying to write a post everyday. Never again. Nope, Nuh-huh, Not doing it.

Like I said, I learned a lot this past month. Including my lesson. lol

Muse is Riding Me Hard

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Today is going to be a really short post.

My muse is riding me hard. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I don’t want to go to yoga. My story wants out like yesterday. It is times like this I really wish I had taken typing in high school. I am a modified two finger pecker. Not efficient at all. My story is mostly writing itself. But because I type so slow, I am not keeping up. Which makes my muse impatient. Making me want to ignore everything else but the story.

And it wouldn’t be so bad but right at this moment, I have two full novels running side by side in my head. Seriously running. Fast. Like crazy fast. Trying to beat each other out. To see which one I will write first. The only thing those two have in common is that they are both contemporary. After that, they diverge in many, many ways. So not only are they competing to see which one gets written, they are discordant as they compete.

I think I might be going slowly insane. Evidence of this is that I am talking about muses and writings as if they are real people or something. lol All brought on my lack of sleep along with crazy voices talking in my head. At least I am not answering them yet. Well, other than to tell them to shut up. But do they listen? No. Are they trying to help a bitch out? No. They want their story written and they want it done… YESTERDAY.

I am only human. I type like crap. I am trying. Soon. So very soon, I will have these stories finished. But I know my trials and tribulations won’t be over. There are other character voices that aren’t as loud yet but once I am done with my current WIPs, I know they will start yelling too. No rest for the weary, yeah? 😉