I know and understand the need to put things in writing. So why don’t I do it more often?
For me, writing things out serves a variety of purposes.
1. It helps me to plan.
When I need to think things through and make a plan, it helps me to write it all out. I don’t mean type it on a computer. I mean get a notebook and pen and physically write it out longhand. Handwriting. Cursive.
There is something about the flow of the pen on the paper, the scratching of the nib, the feel of the pen in my hand and the paper under my hand, that ties me to the moment. It’s very tactile. And that becomes very important in the planning process. I can touch something and feel connected, down-to-earth instead of pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking.
2. It helps me to remember.
Up until about a year ago, I didn’t have any trouble with my memory. But the last six months at one particular job changed that. It was high stress. OK. It was always high stress, but the last six months were more high stress than usual. I started forgetting things. Simple things. And, honestly, that scared me. So I started writing things down that I absolutely had to remember.
I’m out of that job and no longer have such high stress levels, so my memory has been improving, but I guess writing things down became a habit, so I still do it.
3. It helps with my writing.
That sounds silly. Writing helps with writing? Of course it does! But let me explain.
There are some things that I cannot just type on the computer as I think them up. Poems are in this list. I have to write poems out longhand first. Then I revise them. Then I type them in the computer and revise as I type. And they will probably go through another revision after that.
There are also some story segments that are sticky, meaning they don[t really want to be written the way I’m writing them, so they go into a notebook first, too. If I’m writing nonfiction (like I’ve been doing a lot lately), sometimes I have to write around the subject before I can get straight to the point. It helps to write that out longhand, too, instead of dumping it all into a manuscript and then having to edit it out later.
These are my main reasons for putting things in writing. Do you have any to add to it?
Image used courtesy of The Public Speaking Project under a Creative Commons license.
Did you see my post yesterday that included a short story? No? Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to go back and look at it. It’s OK.
It actually worked out to be an unintended experiment. And it showed me a few things.
While there are blogs where short stories are posted and well-received, this is not necessarily one of them. It does not mean it was a bad story or that no one liked it. It does mean that when you visit this blog, that is not the kind of content you come here to read.
I have worked to make my mark in two distinct niches: Creativity and social media. Over time, I have discovered that I am making some pretty good progress in those two areas. They are broad enough that I can write about many things that fall under those two umbrellas. They are also what I need to focus on here.
So let’s call yesterday’s post a social media experiment. It may have been an unintended one, but that is what it was. After all, isn’t that what most, if not all, social media is? An experiment to find out what works? It’s kind of like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.
For me, creativity and social media stick. Thank you for helping me figure that out.
Today I have been going through some of my short stories and poems looking to see if I have anything suitable for an anthology I’ve been asked to submit to. In the process, i cam across this short story. It’s too long for the anthology and has a little bit of language that isn’t suitable, but I like it.
It’s centered around Halloween, but it’s not spooky-scary. I’ve decided to share it with you. This is something I would ordinarily publish under my pen name, Kat O’Reilly, since it is fiction. Here it is.
CHEZ MORTE
“Come on, Crys,” Donna said from the ticket booth. She and Adam had already paid for their ticket.
“I hate haunted houses,” she said, joining the group under the black awning.
“It’s not that bad,” Adam added. “You’ll be fine. We’ll all be in the same group and make sure you’re in the middle.”
“Haunted houses are great,” Tonya said behind her. “I used to run one. It’s fun. You’ll like it.”
“I doubt that,” Crys grumbled, getting her money out of the front pocket of her jeans to pay the ghoul guarding the door. “Anyone who enjoys haunted houses and being scared spitless has something seriously wrong with them.”
“Welcome to Chez Morte, where your worst fears will come true,” the ghoul said as the door opened.
Tonya, Doug, Angie, and Chad joined them before entering the dim interior.
Worst fears, huh? Crys thought. What? Are they going to make me think I’m blind? Can’t happen. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and wound her way through the roped-off lanes.
Another ghoul wearing a top hat made them wait at the gate. Beyond it, Crys heard screams and laughter–both nervous and sinister. A chainsaw revved in the back.
Crys, positioned in the middle of their group along with Chad, shivered and crossed her arms. “I wish I didn’t already pay for this.”
“You may enter Chez Morte,” the top-hat ghoul said, opening the gate. “Only five at a time.”
Crys looked over her shoulder at Tonya and Doug. That left her at the end of the group.
“We’ll catch up as soon as we can,” Tonya said as the gate swung shut.
Crys followed close behind Chad and stepped on his heels. “Sorry.”
After a long, sloping passage with flickering lights, they entered the first room. Spatters that looked like blood dotted the walls. A man and a woman sprawled on the once-white sofa.
Crys smiled slightly as she neared the door leading out of the room. That’s it? she thought when the woman jumped up off the sofa, yelling and screaming.
Crys yelped and ran through the doorway, bumping into Chad.
The next room turned into a maze of cells with monsters banging on the bars. Around the next corner, a Frankenstein lay on a table. He sat up as Crys walked past. She breathed a sigh of relief when he didn’t reach for her.
“Maybe this isn’t so bad,” she admitted to Chad. Donna and Adam walked ahead.
“Hold hands, everybody,” Adam called.
Crys swallowed and reached for Chad’s hand. It felt clammy.
When they were all together, Adam pushed the door in front of him open. All Crys could see was black. She shrugged.
The rest has been okay. It can’t be that bad.
When the door closed behind her, they were plunged into complete darkness. Crys’ breathing became quick and shallow.
“Oh, God,” she whispered. She clung tight to Chad’s hand. She swiped at unseen cobwebs. She bumped into things she preferred not to think about.
Immediately to her right, something screeched and cackled. She thought she could have touched it if she moved her right hand even a little bit.
“Oh, God,” she repeated. I can’t see anything! This wasn’t part of the deal. I want to get out of here.
She pressed forward, trusting Chad’s grip on her hand to lead her out.
Where are Tonya and Doug?
They stopped.
Ahead of her, another door opened. She let out a shaky breath when she saw the sliver of light grow.
Her relief lasted only long enough for the door to close behind her. The light began to flash. A strobe? She wished she could close her eyes. This could well give her a migraine.
A man in a gorilla mask lunged at her.
She screamed.
Chad let go of her hand.
Around the next corner, they walked in complete darkness again.
Crys wiped her hands on her jeans. Oh shit. She pushed her glasses up and inched forward, straining to see anything. Even at night, she had never seen it this dark.
Her breathing came quick and shallow again. “Let me out of here,” she whispered.
Something brushed against her shoulder and she yelped in surprise. She reached up and felt the plastic leg of a mannequin.
“Let me out,” she said again. She knew she was breathing too shallow. The room started to spin.
She shuffled forward and ran into the wall. Tears formed in her eyes.
She turned around. “Chad? Donna?”
No one answered.
“Oh, God. Let me out of here!”
The spinning in the room increased. She heard someone scream but thought it was another guest behind her somewhere.
She shuffled forward again. The toe of her shoe hit against something.
“Chad?” she asked, sobbing. The tears came anyway.
I can’t see. Why can’t I see? Where the hell am I? I want to get out of here.
Someone put a hand on her shoulder and guided her out of the room. The tears blurred her vision so she didn’t notice the door they went through or the behind-the-scenes activity.
She still breathed too fast.
Someone gave her a paper bag and spoke to her. She didn’t understand them. She held the bag numbly.
The cool October air brought her to her senses when they stepped outside.
She took a breath and tried to steady herself. “Thanks, Chad. I don’t know what…” She screamed when she looked up and saw it wasn’t Chad or anyone else from her group. A man with a hockey mask and Freddy Krueger claws on one hand still gripped her shoulder.
“Hey! It’s all right,” he said, pulling the mask off. “Sorry you got so worked up in there.”
“Yeah, well. I….” Crys let out a shaky laugh. “I really don’t like haunted houses. I didn’t even know we were coming to a haunted house.”
The man smiled. “I’ll wait out here with you until they come out then.”
“Thanks.”
He led the way to some folding chairs. Two monsters, minus their masks, smoked cigarettes.
“Just finishing up, boss,” the taller one said, dropping his butt on the sidewalk and crushing it with his foot.
“Good. Next group should be in place pretty soon.”
“How can you do this?” Crys asked, sitting in one of the chairs. Her knees still shook.
“Scare people?”
“Yeah.”
He shrugged and sat in the chair next to her. “Most people seem to like it.”
“Do you?”
“Like being scared? Hell yeah. There’s nothing like it.”
She shuddered. “That’s just weird.”
He laughed then sobered. “Most people don’t hyperventilate, though. Speaking of which–” he indicated the paper bag she still held.
Crys shrugged. “I don’t need it now.”
“Humor me. I don’t need you having a heart attack and your friends suing me.”
She bent over, putting her head between her knees, and breathed in the paper bag for a few minutes. She kept stealing glances at her companion. She guessed he was about five-ten. Bits of dark blond hair poked out from under his ski cap. The Freddy claws were still on his left hand.
“What’s your name anyway?” she asked, sitting up and lowering the bag.
“Kyle.” He looked over at her. “You?”
“Crys.”
“Short for Crystal?”
She nodded.
“You feeling okay now?”
“A little shaky, but better.”
“Cool.” He looked up at the sound of a chainsaw motor. “I think that might be your friends coming out now.”
Crys looked the way he pointed. She saw people running out of the building but not clearly enough to tell who they were at that distance. One stopped.
“Where’s Crys?”
She recognized Donna’s voice.
“I thought she was behind me,” Chad said, looking around.
“Yeah, that’s them,” Crys told Kyle. She stood to rejoin her friends.
“Look, um… I know we almost scared you to death, but what would you say to getting together for a cup of coffee or something?”
She hesitated.
“There you are!” Donna shouted as the chainsaw revved again. Tonya and Doug, along with the people they had been teamed up with, ran into the cool night. They started over to where Crys waited with Kyle.
“I promise to leave the mask and claws at home.” He smiled.
Damn, he’s cute. Surprised with herself, Crys laughed. “Okay.”
“Meet me tomorrow at Main Street Café?”
“Sure. What time?”
“Ten-thirty.”
“I’ll be there.”
“See ya,” he said. He shook her hand and gave her shoulder a squeeze before he put the mask on and went back inside.
“What happened to you?” Donna asked, walking up to Crys.
“I got separated,” she said, starting toward the car with them.
“And?”
Crys shrugged and related what she remembered, which was someone leading her out and what happened from there.
“So it was worth it then,” Tonya said.
“Worth what?”
“You got a date out of it.”
Crys started to protest but stopped herself. She couldn’t deny it. Kyle was nice. And nice-looking. “Well, yeah. You’re right on that,” she finally admitted. “But I don’t know that I’d say it was worth hyperventilating and being scared spitless.”
“Don’t you mean ‘shitless?’” Doug asked, unlocking the door to his car.
“No,” Crys said, shaking her head. “Spitless. Where your mouth is so dry you couldn’t swallow if you had to.”
Tonya laughed and opened her door after Doug unlocked it from inside. “Be sure to tell me how your date goes.”
She got in and Doug started the car. They waved and left.
“Where to next?” Donna asked as she and Adam got in the front seat of their SUV while Crys, Angie, and Chad squeezed into the back seat.
“Home!” Crys said.
“Spoil-sport,” Donna laughed. “All right. Home it is.”
* * *
Crys waited outside Main Street Café at ten-twenty-five the next morning. She looked in the window but didn’t see him there. She chewed on her bottom lip and looked up and down the street. She didn’t have to wait, did she?
Yes, I do! I said I’d be here and I will be.
She grabbed the door handle and prepared to go in when she heard a motorcycle rumbling up the street. She turned to look as the rider pulled up to a spot not too far from the door, put the kickstand down, and removed his helmet. He wore dark blue jeans, black boots, and a black leather jacket.
He got off the bike, deposited a couple coins in the meter, and looked around. He smiled when he saw Crys. “Surprised?”
She nodded. “Very. You look good.”
“Thanks. So do you.” Kyle unzipped the jacket, revealing a yellow shirt. He opened the door. “After you.”
Crys looked down at her green sweater and absently picked off a couple pills. He looked nice, like he thought about where he was going. She just wore the first thing she found this morning. She didn’t have to go to work and didn’t put much thought into what she wore. Now she wished she had.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, putting his hand on the small of her back and guiding her through the door.
Inside the café, a few patrons sat at the bistro tables. This time of morning was too late for the early-risers but too early for the lunch crowd. Crys’ shoes squeaked on the black tiled floor.
“What can I get you, folks?” the barrista asked when they approached the counter.
“A chai tea latte, regular-size,” Crys answered. She reached in her pocket for her money.
“This one’s on me,” Kyle said, making her pause. He addressed the barrista then, “I’ll have a tall mocha latte.”
“That’ll be seven-sixty-three.”
He gave the barrista the money, got his change, and led the way to a table farthest from the other customers. She went to work on their order.
“What time did you get done at Chez Morte?” Crys asked after they sat down. The table was chrome and black.
“About two o’clock.”
“And you wanted to be here this morning?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
Crys could think of about a dozen reasons, the least of which being she wasn’t a morning person. “So…do you own Chez Morte? The guys last night called you ‘boss.’”
“Yeah.” He smiled and waited while the barrista put their drinks down on the table. “Really, I don’t have to be one of the actors, but I like it so much, I do it anyway.”
“Why?” She gingerly sipped at her hot chai.
“I was a drama geek in high school. College too.” He held up a hand as though to stop a protest. “I majored in business. When the old auditorium came up for sale, I bought it, gutted it, and opened Chez Morte.”
“What about when it’s not in season?”
“We’re always working on what’s next. Plus there’s the website and store.” He warmed his hands around his latte. “What do you do?”
Crys laughed. “You don’t really want to know.”
“Yeah, I do. You ask questions like you’re a reporter or something.”
She felt her face burn. “Is it that obvious?”
He leaned back, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
Briefly, Crys wondered what it would be like to kiss him. You don’t even know him!
“Why didn’t you get a press pass instead of paying to get in?”
“I could do that?”
“Sure.” He took a drink of his mocha latte. “Tell you what, why don’t you come by tonight. I’ll have a pass waiting for you at the ticket window. No. Wait. Come early, that way I can give you a behind-the-scenes tour of everything.”
“You’re not afraid of being exposed in some sordid tell-all article?”
He laughed. “You don’t write that kind of article.”
“How do you know?” She tried to act offended.
“I know,” he said and winked.
Crys stuck her tongue out at him. “What time should I be there?”
“We open up to customers at seven-thirty. Any time before then will be fine.”
“Six-forty-five?”
He nodded. “I’ll have the pass for you at the ticket window. They’ll page me when you get there. What’s your last name?”
“Shannon.”
He grinned. “I knew you didn’t write sordid exposes. I’ve seen your work.”
“Fine. But I could, you know.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I might!”
“Only if you used a different name.”
Crys shrugged. He was right, but she wouldn’t tell him that.
“Can I give you a ride back to your place?”
“You have another helmet?” She stood when he did.
“You bet.”
* * *
“That’s pretty well how it all comes together,” Kyle said at the conclusion of the tour. “If you were to go through it now, knowing all that, I don’t think you’d be quite as scared.”
“It would still be pitch black in those two rooms. That’s what did me in.”
He frowned. “Would you still scream at me if I helped you through?”
“You can’t do that.” Crys felt an odd warmth in her stomach that he would offer.
“I’m the boss,” he said, putting the Freddy claws on. He already had the ski cap. “No one would question me about it.”
She looked at him for a long minute. “Okay.”
He pulled the hockey mask down over his face. “I’ll even make you a deal.”
“What’s that?”
“You make it through the dark rooms, I’ll buy you dinner.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll buy you dinner anyway.” He laughed.
“You just want me to go out with you.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying, can you?” he asked.
She couldn’t see his smile behind the mask but she heard the humor in his voice.
“Go to the front so you’ll be in the first group. I’ll radio that you’re coming. I’ll be waiting for you. Just don’t try to split my eardrums.”
Crys laughed. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at five-thirty for dinner.”
My newsletter is ready to go!I I’m not going to send it until tomorrow evening, though. I have included an introduction section, networking & self-promotion tips, a calendar of events, links to my books, and how to find me online.
It’s longer than it sounds. And because of that, I feel like it’s ready to go. I’ve proofed it several times over and had a couple friends proof it as well.
I found the code for the signup form, so you could fill that out. Or, if you prefer, you can send me an email and I will add you to the list.
I’m not going to spam you or send you a lot of newsletters. We would both get tired of that. Instead, this is meant to be a monthly newsletter. In the next one, I’ll include highlights from this month, including speaking at the Ozark Creative Writers’ conference next weekend.
What do you think? Want to at least get the first newsletter? Here’s the signup form:
Have you ever thought about why current projects are called “work-in-progress” (WIP)?
Have you ever been in the middle of something and it…just…doesn’t….feel quite right?
I’m there.
I have a couple friends I can use as sounding boards and I am very grateful to them! Last night, I chatted with one of them on Facebook;
The project, a book, was tentatively titled Selling Yourself Is Not Prostitution: Networking & Self-Promotion for Wallflowers. For now, it will be a newsletter and possibly an ecourse that will be available through Udemy. Nothing on that is set in stone yet, but I will let you now what happens with that.
It will still be a book. Just not in the way I had originally planned it. But that’s the way it goes with WIPs. They’re changeable. Unless you have a written contract in hand that says it has to be a certain way, you can always change it up. So I am.
Today, I am working on setting up the newsletter. It will be offered through MailChimp.com. I will post tomorrow when I have the signup information.
I am writing this while sitting at Basin Park. I just had lunch at the Balcony Restaurant at the Basin Park Hotel here in Eureka Springs. I am in town for another two-week residency at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow.
I decided I needed to start a blog post that I could tpe in later.
Part of me says I need to get back to work on my book. Another part agrees, but insists I can do it later, after the rain comes in.
For now, I’m watching traffic, taking a few pictures, and enjoying the breeze.
Why am I telling you this? Do I have a point?
Yes. I do.
We all have things to do, places to go, people to see.
But do we ever slow down to enjoy the people and things around us?
(Right now a guy has started playing a guitar not too far from where I sit. He’s pretty good too.)
The doing — the work — is good, but enjoying things — playing — is too.
You know the swaying “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? Why tolerate a dull life? Enjoy it!
Recently, in the news and circulating on Facebook and other social media sites, articles and reports talk about how Americans don’t take any time off. They always work. Why?
MasterCard companies is cashing in on this as well.
I’m not saying you have to live it up. I am saying enjoy what you have, who you love, while you can. You don’t have to be busy all the time.
Angela Drake believes in happy endings, the magic of ‘what if’ and in second chances. When not living vicariously through her characters, Angela writes about and promotes Texas and classic country music. She is an active member of two local writer’s organizations. Angela enjoys time with her granddaughters, gardening, journaling, and a myriad of artistic pursuits. She shares a home in the Ozarks with her husband, three dogs and two cats. She loves networking with readers and writers through her Facebook, twitter and blog.
Today we are fortunate to have Angela on the blog for her new book, Somewhere Down the Line, published by Boroughs Publishing Group. She took the time from her promotion efforts to answer a few questions for us.
What was your process during the writing of Somewhere Down the Line?
I wrote Somewhere Down the Line during NanoWriMo 2012… in 18 days!
I immersed myself in music by the band who inspired the story, including the title track. I cruised the internet and found THE house on Galveston Bay. If I had a cool million Dollars to toss around, that house would be mine. LOL
How did you decide on a publisher to submit it to?
Serendipity played a big roll. I didn’t write Somewhere Down the Line with the intent of seeing publication. This was just one of those stories I had to write based on an idea that would not turn loose. One of those ‘what if’ things that came about during a situation. That was in Nov. 2012. In the spring of 2013, Boroughs Publishing Group offered up a contest called ‘What’s In A Name?’. The story had to be based on a song title. I had one! The clincher was that Chris Keesler is the Editor In Chief of Boroughs. I have admired Chris for years. This was my chance to work with my dream editor. I wound up being one of the three top finalists, guaranteeing a contract for my novella.
After it was accepted, what was the process of getting to publication?
I went from six months without a budge to from edits to publication in under 5 weeks. I have Chris Keesler to thank for jumping into my corner and taking the lead. Sometimes you have to speak up when something doesn’t feel right.
Is this part of a series or does it stand alone? Somewhere Down the Line is a stand-alone. However, through the process I have found a way to combine my one true passion, music, with writing stories. So there will be more books with a song title theme and/ or music settings.
What’s next?
I have two projects in progress. One is to figure out why my first completed work hasn’t seen publication yet (though it did get ‘The Call’ once). I’ve changed the title to A Christmas to Remember (Dolly Parton song) and see if I can’t move this one out the door.
My new project is about a fireman in New England, a widow with a young son and exploring the history of ‘Field Days’.
Visit Angela’s blog by clicking her picture above. You can buy Somewhere Down the Line on Amazon.
I know and understand the need to put things in writing. So why don’t I do it more often?
I am writing this while sitting at Basin Park. I just had lunch at the Balcony Restaurant at the Basin Park Hotel here in Eureka Springs. I am in town for another two-week residency at the Writers’ Colony at Dairy Hollow.
