A to Z: Beginnings B

THEME: Short Stories - at least the beginnings thereof.
YOUR PART: Throw out words from the letter of the day and I'll pick some of them to include in the opening paragraphs of a short story.
WHY: I'm most inspired when there's a little challenge involved. Usually that means an opening line or a theme. This month: your words.

Each day I'll post the beginnings of a short story using some of the suggested words, As to when I'll end those stories...well, that's what the rest of the year is for.

So join in the comments with B words. names, places, moods, genres, things, whatever you want to throw at me. My creative bucket awaits.

While we're on B.... I'll share the newest addition to my family. This is Bitsy, our adorable little rescue dog. If you decide to buy a puppy, please remember that they grow up and require love, attention and food. This poor little two year old girl is so skinny her spine and ribs are still plainly visible even three weeks after being removed from her previous home. Her wounds have healed, and she's slowly putting on weight, learning how to play and settling in with our other dog who is teaching her how to enjoy being a dog.

Looking for more great blogs? Check out the massive A to Z blog challenge list.

~*~

Gina stared at the massive spread of food set out at the barbeque, wondering how on earth she was going to make it through the evening without exploding. A tiny foot pressed against her belly, protruding through her shirt like an alien crawling around inside her. She knew she should feel all warm and fuzzy about the baby, yearning to feel it in her arms, anxious for the day she could press it's little bald head against her cheek and inhale that baby smell. But she didn't.

She was sore all the time, and tired, and sick of feeling sick. Her mother and sisters wouldn't shut up about how happy they would be when she gave them a grandchild, a niece to cuddle with. They didn't understand her frustration with the fact that after tonight, she'd be bedridden for the rest of the pregnancy. A prisoner of the impending birth.

Bugs zipped around over the tables and the vast array of her extended family. Try as she might, she couldn't ignore their buzzing or the sensation that they all wanted to be in her face. She swatted them to no avail. 

There were many conversations going on around her at once, she couldn't focus on any one of them. It was as if they were all talking about her, looking at her.

The blueberry pie beside her reminded her of the color of the walls in the doctor's office. The office where she'd laid on the table as they impregnated her, where she'd willingly waited for them to put this thing inside her so she could get the fifteen thousand dollars the agency promised when she finished her nine month term.

Her mother smiled and beckoned Gina over. How was she going to tell her that there would be no grandchild, that the thing inside her was an investment? Fifteen thousand dollars was her rent for the next year a nice little vacation to help her forget this stupid idea. She should have thrown the agency brochure away. Now she was going to have to come up with something fast because her mother had given up with the waving and was heading over with a bulging blue and pink ribbon-festooned bag printed with pacifiers.

Bilious, Gina grabbed the bandana off her head and covered her face just as the first heave hit her.

A to Z: Beginnings A

Welcome to April, where daily blogging becomes the challenge. For me, who has a hard time doing even post a week lately, this really will be challenging.

THEME: Short Stories - at least the beginnings thereof.
YOUR PART: Throw out words from the letter of the day and I'll pick some of them to include in the opening paragraphs of a short story.
WHY: I'm most inspired when there's a little challenge involved. Usually that means an opening line or a theme. This month: your words.

Each day I'll post the beginnings of a short story using some of the suggested words, As to when I'll end those stories...well, that's what the rest of the year is for.

So join in the comments with A words. names, places, moods, genres, things, whatever you want to throw at me. My creative bucket awaits.

Looking for more great blogs? Check out the massive A to Z blog challenge list.

~*~

I only knew Avarice was a girl because her family called her Ava when they thought no one else was listening. With only a fence separating our yards, I probably heard more than I should have from our new neighbors.

Some people named their children after virtues, but the Paris family was different. Avarice had three siblings, Pride, Wrath and Envy. Mrs. Paris had another one on the way. My brother and I had placed bets on which of the remaining sins they would name it. My six dollars was on Gluttony. George was sure it would be Lust. We spent the night before laughing about the sexual ambiguity of their names, trying to come up with nicknames like Ava for the others, but ended up with only snorts and bellyaches for our efforts.

The whole family was bald and wore robes so that it was impossible to tell which were boys or girls. None of them wore makeup or earrings and their robes when to the floor so we couldn’t even use shoes as a clue. They came to school on Friday, but none of the kids talked. Not when the teachers spoke to them, not at lunch, not even to one another on the bus ride home. They only place I heard their voices was in the back yard.

As I sat there in the grass with my ear not quite pressed against the nine foot tall wooden blockade of a fence, trying to catch snippets of whispers, the last thing I expected a rope to come flying over the fence to thwack me in the head. I didn’t exactly expect Ava abseiling down into my yard either. She put her finger to her lips and smiled.

A to Z April Blogging Challenge Theme Reveal

With April on the horizon, it's high time to reveal this year's theme for the A to Z challenge. I've previously gone though the alphabet with my characters and, last year, reasons why I shouldn't be participating.

This year, we'll be writing a short story! Okay, not a whole short story, but the opening paragraphs of one each day, using the appropriately lettered comments from the day before. Then, in May (or possibly June depending on when my publisher requires my edits on A Broken Race be completed), during my short story writing month, I will attempt to finish as many of these stories as possible.

Which means I need your help. Drop by each day to throw out some words from the letter du jour. I'll pick a couple as inspiration hits and into the story they will go. Each story opening will be posted the next day.

We'll get started with participation today, because planning ahead isn't my thing when it comes to writing. I'm looking for suggestions on character names with a random genre that will then be applied to stories throughout the coming month.

Suggestions? Go.

Now in Print: Healer

I'm pleased to announce that Acidic Fiction's first anthology: Corrosive Chronicles is now out in print and ebook. This dark and creepy collection of contemporary speculative fiction, includes my short story, Healer. This is a great collection of stories, and I am happy to be included in such talented company.

To be Published: A Broken Race

I'm pleased to announce that my previous not quite announcement post can now be followed with this official one.

A Broken Race will be published by Caffeinated Press and is due out this fall in both print and e-book. I'm very excited to work this this new press focused on Michigan authors and my local community as well as the other important sales avenues.

The contract has been signed and now I await feedback from the content editors. And while I'm waiting...a conversation with my daughter sparked a search through my back burner short story file, and now I'm working on a YA sci-fi novella that I set aside a few years ago. I should say, hoping to work on, because I still have to solve the plot problem of how the MC is going to overcome the antagonist - which is exactly why this story was set aside previously. I have no clue. I suppose that means reading it over from the beginning and then some plotting is in order. At least my daughter liked it so far so that gives me some motivation to figure this one out and finally write the end.

But back to beginnings: The April A to Z challenge is just around the corner. There's still plenty of time to sign up to join me in the blogging frenzy.

And still on topic: Ever wonder why authors began writing? This week on Author's Answer, we cover that very question.