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The Friday Muse – The Princess of Para
The frosted glass allowed the morning’s luminescence to bleed into the castle, filling the hallway with bright white light that flowed gracefully across the white marble flooring, the brownish-gray walls, and the ivory doors of the servants’ quarters. The scent of bacon and potatoes filled the wide corridor, signaling breakfast, but the silence that permeated the thick tile and even thicker walls gave the illusion it was still night when everyone slumbered and hid from the darkness within the darkness. Irasta walked barefoot across the tiles, the undersides of her feet chilled by the lingering cold that seized the fortress each night. She momentarily missed the comfort of her own…
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Small Sacrifices
The receptionist at the front desk wore a long white lab coat, but Brittany doubted she was a doctor. Or a nurse. Or in any way related to the medical field. She carried a bit of weight in her stomach and cheeks, and she smelled like wildflower-scented soap. Her scent was much like that of Brittany’s grandmother, and it made Brittany want to throw up. Just show me where to sign. The clipboard rose over the counter like a starship and landed in front of Brittany’s trembling hands. She noticed her black nail polish had chipped on several fingers. She couldn’t remember the last time she had painted them. She…
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The Friday Muse – XS
The event occurred many years before Conrad’s time. He only heard of it from his father, who was a lover of history and enjoyed studying anomalies of the past, especially ones that the general public did not believe in. The tower – The Princeton, a scientific marvel housing black door technology, was destroyed by explosion. The specifics surrounding this event are scattered through the telling of urban legends and the writing of conspiracy theory novels. Conrad’s father told him that because of the event – the destruction of the Princeton – that the fabric of space and time were weakened so heavily that it caused tears in reality. These tears…
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The Friday Muse – Home On The Horizon
San Francisco was never her favorite place. She might have called it home, but it wasn’t in her heart to name the City a place close to her heart. The weather was too cold, the prices were too high, and there was something in the air – something amiss – that always gnawed at her consciousness. She wasn’t sure if it was an omen or some kind of psychic ability she unknowingly possessed, but she always felt San Francisco was burdened by evil. Sure, crimes were constantly committed in the city. But that was no different than any other city. Cram 8 million people into such a small area of…
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The Friday Muse – My Fiction Year In Review
This last year I floundered a bit at different times with my commitment to write new fiction every Friday, but I picked up the mantle once again towards the end and started writing out full short fiction pieces both to get into the practice of writing every week and to get in the habit of being less shy with what I write. In case you missed any of my fiction pieces, here’s a comprehensive list of the most recent batch with links to each. New stories will pick up again next Friday. Have a great weekend! The Stars Are Brightly Shining Snowfall In EuropeThe Mad Sea End Transmission The Man…
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The Friday Muse – The Stars Are Brightly Shining
Nathan Pierce adjusted his red and black striped tie and walked through the double doors of the church, his mind screaming at him to turn around and walk back out. This was only going to be a night of stress. Winter was his favorite season, but Christmas Eve—with his family anyway—was the very least of his favorite things. As his sister, Daisy, and Daniel came up behind him—along with his mother right on their heels—he realized he would much rather be at home, listening to music or reading a book. Or even looking at the stars. Or maybe even getting hit by a car. He would take any of those…
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The Friday Muse – The Mad Sea
The sea slapped the shore like an abusive lover. The pieces left behind, tiny granules of sand, sifted away like fearful mice, retreating into the embrace of that which shattered them. Never to be seen again. Never to be thought of or missed or praised. Their existence was cut short, but nobody protested it. Not the abusive ocean tide or the abused sand. Life went on. Life was cruel. Corey watched the madness of the water at a safe distance from the shore. She knew the ocean was freezing cold this time of year, and many times, especially on this end of Harborite, a rare jellyfish would hijack the ocean…
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My NaNoWriMo 2016 In A Nutshell
It’s been a crazy month to say the least. Usually I dedicate Novembers to National Novel Writing Month, but this year my November was taken up by mounds of work in the publishing company, personal matters, and of course, NaNoWriMo. My original goal was 100,000 words – because I need to get this draft done so I can polish it and send it off to my editor. I did 100,000 words successfully a few years back (2011, I believe), and figured it would be an easily-achievable goal this year. Well, back in 2011 I didn’t have this publishing company. And my son wasn’t born yet. Now I have a small…
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The Friday Muse – Electric Lights
Clean. Clear. Bright. It gave off warmth, but it didn’t burn. It was something she hadn’t seen in a very long time. Electric light. Since the time of the Void Break, darkness had filled the land, and the hearts and minds of the people. Most went mad. Some escaped to the hills, to a secret installation where natural light was created through fire and potions and chemicals. Firebugs. Gunpowder. Blaze Dust, with its awful rotting stench. It was all used to ignite the newfound darkness, to keep it at bay while humanity attempted to restore order in a world plagued by an alien epidemic. The darkness came five years ago,…
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The Friday Muse – When Your Characters Walk Away
Turquoise. Carrie. David. Mr. Big. Kimberly. Veronica. Sean. All characters from my Expired Reality series. All friends I haven’t spoken with in a while. It’s not that I haven’t wanted to speak with them. I’ve just been…busy. Life has – as it is so good at doing – interrupted the muse countless number of times. Instead of taking my evenings to write after using my long days to work on the publishing company, I instead find my energy drained, my motivation lacking, and my muse dead and dried up like a tumbleweed. “I’ll write tomorrow night.” “I’ll write at my Thursday night writing meetings.” “I’ll use NaNoWriMo to catch up.”…