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Short Story Friday #5

Short Story Friday has been revamped for 2015, and I’ll be sharing snippets from my own fiction pieces, mostly short stories.  In addition to the new business, Poetic Book Tours, I’ll be writing and submitting more of my own fiction and poetry this year.

I hope you’ll offer your thoughts on this story that is currently in progress.

Here are the first, second, and third parts posted in previous weeks:

You’re probably wondering why the journal’s called Transcendence. It’s a project that all high school seniors must complete.  We’re supposed to use it to reflect on what we’ve learned here and how it will direct us toward our roles in society.

Now, our city-state is not as rigid as the other communities in the union.  But they still make us complete this project even if we don’t actually do what we conclude by the end.  We’re just checking a box for the unionists.  I’m not even sure what I’ve learned will help me in the real world because there doesn’t seem to be a place for a constant blinker.  I guess I’ll just draw from mom’s pension when she’s gone.  She’s been saving it for me, and says she’ll work until she dies on the job, which could be any day since she chases fugitives of the union who call themselves the No Collars.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this snippet and let me know what you think.

Short Story Friday: Christmas Canapes & Sabotage by Janel Gradowski

In a renewal, I’ve been reading some short stories in collections, and I really love Janel Gradowski‘s writing.  Her cozy mysteries are always full of food and fun.  One of her latest stories was published in the Cozy Christmas Capers: Holiday Short Story Collection.  I wanted to share a little bit about why I am enjoying these cozy mysteries from Janel and why we as a community should support more writers like her.

Christmas Canapes & Sabotage by Janel Gradowski is part of the culinary competition mystery series of books — her new one is coming out this month, Chicken Soup & Homicide — that find an amateur cook embroiled in a deadly mystery at local food competitions.  Amy is a winner when it comes to these amateur cooking competitions, but she is always humble about her skills, even if she is as inventive in the kitchen as some professional chefs.  Why do I gravitate to these books?  1. food 2. humor.

“‘Old Man Winter can ease up any time now.  It isn’t even Christmas, and I’m tired of the deep freeze.  I think the girl who handed my my registration packet had blue fingernails, and the color wasn’t from nail polish.'”

“‘You’re like a foodie super hero, saving the masses with a pot of tea.'”

Janel is the queen of the instant one-liners, and she’s a book blogger who has made her writing dreams a reality.  She started with flash fiction pieces published in online journals, and from there dove into more challenging, longer projects.  I love her spunk in tackling larger projects that challenged her, and I think that she’s found a great niche.

Have you found other book bloggers who’ve entered the world of authorship?  Have you read their books?  I’d love to hear about it.

To enter Janel’s party giveaway, go here.

Short Story Friday #4

Short Story Friday has been revamped for 2015, and I’ll be sharing snippets from my own fiction pieces, mostly short stories.  In addition to the new business, Poetic Book Tours, I’ll be writing and submitting more of my own fiction and poetry this year.

I hope you’ll offer your thoughts on this story that is currently in progress.

Here are the first, second, and third parts posted in previous weeks.

I don’t want you to think that I’ve forgotten about this protagonist or failed to post and let this feature go into the dustbin again.  I have been writing, but poetry!

So the muse has shifted my gears for me.  As soon as I get back to writing this short story, I will share again.  That’s a promise.

In other news, I’ve been visiting other blogs! 

I hope you’ll take the time to check out my home library at Daily Mayo and my thoughts for February Firsts at Book Blogger International.

Short Story Friday #3

Short Story Friday has been revamped for 2015, and I’ll be sharing snippets from my own fiction pieces, mostly short stories.  In addition to the new business, Poetic Book Tours, I’ll be writing and submitting more of my own fiction and poetry this year.

I hope you’ll offer your thoughts on this story that is currently in progress.

Here are the first and second parts posted in previous weeks.  Without further ado, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this girl and what you think is going on:

I’m Lythia, by the way, and this is my journal of Transcendence.  I’ve lived seventeen years with this blinking issue, but I’ve never let it stop me.  I’m what the others call a kiss-face because I get good grades in school, volunteer to help the third-raters in the suburbs, and generally make nice with the school’s interface.

There must be adults in charge of it somewhere, but no one has ever seen them — you know, face-to-face.

While I’m not wildly popular, very few students pull pranks on me.  My mother says this is a good thing, but I disagree.  I think it means I’m excluded.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this snippet and let me know what you think.

Short Story Friday #2

Short Story Friday has been revamped for 2015, and I’ll be sharing snippets from my own fiction pieces, mostly short stories.  In addition to the new business, Poetic Book Tours, I’ll be writing and submitting more of my own fiction and poetry this year.

I hope you’ll offer your thoughts on this story that is currently in progress.

If you missed the first part posted last week, check it out here.

Finn would be the one I’d flirt with, but even though he’s new here, he already knows about my condition.  That’s the high school grapevine for you.  No way he’ll let me rely on it as flirting now.  Besides, the blinking is too rapid.

He’s still sweet.  He holds open doors for all the girls, even me.  It reminds me of those books on my mother’s bookshelves.  Men held doors for ladies and helped them into their seats at dinner, an idea as antiquated as my mother’s bookshelves.

All of my materials in school are digital and holograms teach us our lessons, making even human teachers obsolete.  I guess it helped reduce student-teacher violence to zero.  That’s something.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this snippet and let me know what you think.

Short Story Friday #1

In 2013, I introduced Short Story Friday as a way to discuss individual short stories, whether e-short stories or short stories in collections, but I dropped the ball in 2014 and the feature has since disappeared from the blog.

In 2015, I’m relaunching this feature, but rather than discuss published short stories from collections or sold individually, I’ll be sharing snippets from my own fiction pieces, mostly short stories.  In addition to the new business, Poetic Book Tours, I’ll be writing and submitting more of my own fiction and poetry this year.

I’ve decided to share some of that writing here, and you can feel free to leave your feedback on the pieces I share or not.  I’ll leave that up to you, but know that I have a thick skin and can handle it if you don’t like it.

So today, here’s a little of what I’ve been working on:

I’ve been told that my eyes blink too frequently.

The diagnosis must be true because I only see glimpses most of the time. My brain must fill in the blanks to complete the images I see because sometimes I’ll be talking to someone with red hair on one side of their head and dark brown on the other.

Whether the blinking is because of my nearly dried out tear ducts or my fear of germs is anyone’s guess. But when I talk to you, I’m not flirting, batting my eyelashes like some love-sick pup.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this snippet and let me know what you think is going on with this girl.