Writing from Prompts #5 Creep (Orig Pub 3/30/2014)
Ellen slipped down the holly festooned stairs. The wooden treads had only one creak which she deftly avoided. Her nightgown brushed along the edge of the holly, catching occasionally on a leaf. The lights were out, except for one candle in the window to guide the Mary and Joseph to a safe place.
She crept through the front room back toward the cozier family room. There, in the corner of the room was her target, the stocking with the little puppy on the front of it. It was smaller than the others by just about one inch, which really wasn’t fair. The cookies and milk they’d left out for santa were eaten, and there was a chocolate santa left on the plate.
She smiled at the sight. That was for Petey. She was too old for that sort of thing now. She was almost eleven after all. Petey was just five. The tree wasn’t lit because Mommy was afraid of fires, but the ornaments glittered in the moonlight. The draft from the fireplace made the ornaments twist and send sparkles across the room. She smiled as one of the lights bounced off of the spangles on her stocking.
Sticking out of the top of it was a rolled up puzzle book. A doll peeked out from the edge. Ellen longed to run over to it, but she had one mission tonight.
She stepped in front of the fireplace and up onto the hearth. She looked at the blue stocking with the puppy. Her mother’s stocking was always almost empty. That just wasn’t right. She looked down at the bottle in her hand. She’d saved up her allowance for over three months for it. She tucked the perfume into Mommy’s stocking, then stepped down carefully.
She was about to creep up the stairs when she noticed the man by the tree. His beard was white and his suit was red. He smiled at her and winked. Then, he crossed the room and stepped up onto the hearth. He nodded at her once, then he turned in place and was gone in an instant.
She gaped at the empty hearth. Then, a slow smile crossed her face. She slipped up the stairs and back into bed. Santa was proud of her.
FIN
Filed under Uncategorized, Writing
12-20-20
eBay Sales: 1 pattern, 2 honey dippers, purse
#MilWordy Update: 104,463 words (3,512 words/day to complete)
We’re on the countdown to Christmas and in a bit of decorating frenzy. We’ve managed to get the lights on the trees and brought up about half the boxes. There’s more to happen in the next few days. My body is not happy with the up and down hikes. Found 3 ornaments we’re going to let go and 1 santa figure. New Years is for downsizing though, so that’s what we’ll look towards.
The water in my bath today was a beautiful sea-green color. And I had a lovely time reading a new book.
And with all that elliptical speech, I mean to say, it’s just been a day. Though a winter day and a Sunday, but still just a day.
Documentary watched: “Leap of Faith” (about the Exorcist)
Filed under Life in Random
12-15-20
eBay Sales: none
#MilWordy Update: 104,832 words (3,445 words/day to complete)
Today has been completely unproductive and I’ve been randomly emotional. Picture of a kitten? tears. Picture of an old man being helped home by a pack of teens? tears. Picture of Mickey Mouse in a Santa hat? tears.
Is it stress? Is it a side effect of a med? Is it my blood sugars? The world (and I) will likely never know.
Just, one of those days. Here’s to tomorrow. Peace, dear-hearts.
Filed under Life in Random
12-14-20
eBay sales: Precious Moments figure, Wodehouse audiobook, vintage batteries, rubber stamp
#MilWordy Update: 103,595 (3435 words/day to complete on time)
Today was one of those very strange days when you feel tired, but know you have things to get done.
Then, there was a lovely adrenaline spike when the house alarm went off while we were out of the house. The security company called me and asked if I needed a dispatch. Um, yes, lovely, I need a dispatch because there’s no one home and I can’t get there in the next five minutes. That was a beautiful moment. Not. Then, there was the waiting for follow-up, even as I obsessively stared at the app screen for my alarm system and noting that only the motion sensor in the garage went off. None of the doors, windows, etc registered anything. Which, wohoo! that’s a good thing. But also — worry — are they installed properly? Are they registering? Oh gods, did I forget to arm it? No, no. See where it says it was turned on. So, an hour later, I called the company back and got the “cops found no sign of attempted entry and no persons onsite.” Yeah. Good news. Now I can have an adrenaline crash in peace. And stuff my face with some stress-eating chips and marshmallows. (Don’t judge me. *squints*)
On the other hand, I have things to do which I have not done yet, but the new Focus tool on my phone has reminded me of the fact that they are not yet done. In the interests of satisfying my new robotic overlord, I am attempting to catch up on some of these things before I go to bed. Does that mean I will actually finish all of them? No. A thousand times no. Does it mean that I don’t want to get any further behind? Yes.
In an attempt to make myself productive (home/work/business), I have been trying to do the Pomodoro method. To whit: 25 minutes on a task. 5 minute break. It works a treat so far. The app I’m using (and paid a whopping 8.99 for) has built in times, task reminders, calendar, and keeps reports. I used up the free trial and liked it well enough to actually pay for it. I count that as good. I might even bend enough to do a proper review of the think of the Apple store.
I got positive feedback from a reader of my latest book (To Market) and I am thrilled. They wrote to me, even though they’re only on chapter 6 because they were enjoying it and loved my main character. It’s a good thing because I do plan a follow-up book, if not more because I’m not done with her. And I left some things that were unfinished in the last book that really do need to be followed-up on. I just needed to figure out all of the consequences.
That brings me to my next piece of software: an organizing software for characters and timelines and plotting. I’m using it for universes and world building rather than just a single story. That seems to be the best use of it to me right now. It might be different later, but for now, I want to keep my characters straight. They don’t interact with each other often, but there are connections. And things that happen in one book might need to be referenced in another, so the timeline feature is really what I’m all about. I want to invest some more time in it before I formally review it though.
Open question to authors out there: What software to do you really love? Scrivner? Written Kitten?
I was/am in love with Write or Die. It’s excellent sprinting and it keeps me focussed because it starts yelling at you if you stop writing. I’ve never tried it on the setting that will start erasing your words if you stop because that would just make me too anxious to function. I’m hoping that I fall in love with my new software soon.
Another open question to authors out there: What is your “always do it” writing practice? Do you write at a particular time? Write only to deadlines? Need an outline? Need a slug of whiskey. (Remind me to tell you about my time at the writing convention with the booth that gave me a free slug. It was one to remember. And it was before noon, but… that’s a story for another day.
And one final question to my readers: Would you be interested in reading a 1996 paper on Nazi Propaganda?
Now, I’m off to actually see if I can drop a few more items off of my to-do list tonight. Stay safe, dear-hearts.
Filed under Life in Random, Writing
12-09-20
eBay Sales: salad plates, 3 books, flashlight, and… other stuff which I have forgotten because it has been such a long time since I bothered to actually update this site. *winces* I was trying to be an every day blogger, but then… 2020. Just 2020 man.
#MilWordy Update: 101,083 words (3379 words/day to complete on time)
Craft Projects: Zero completed. Zero started. It’s looking increasingly as though these will not be completed this year. And that does not shock me. My brain has been overloaded by stress for months now.
Today’s big adventure is the chair that collapsed underneath me today while I was working. I have a feeling that I will have bruises in the strangest of spots tomorrow. I mean, my bum is expected. My shoulderblade, the inside of my finger, the tip of my nose, not so much. It was a modern chair in the Victorian style that I bought second-hand. It looks as though it had been repaired previously. It still annoys me. And I’ll need to take some pain meds in hopes of forestalling the aches and pains which will inevitably creep up overnight. On the plus side, I did not hit my head, so no concussion worries.
So now I am using an *actual* Victorian chair that’s made of solid wood in the Neo-Gothic tradition. The upholstery makes me cringe. (It’s radioactive caterpillar puke green. Appropriate for a Victorian chair, but with less arsenic. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.) I was planning to use it as my weaving chair, but needs must. At least it will enforce appropriate posture. Have you ever tried to lean back in a Gothic chair with carvings? Ouch. Made for corsets to contact, not an unprotected back. Maybe it will help my back? Eh. Who knows.
Nano was a wash, as you know, but MilWordy is still going strong. And I think I can get back on track. I know that three-thousand words a day sounds daunting, but it’s still doable.
I started digitizing some of my work from the nineties. Poetry most of it. And… yeah, the nineties were not great for my emotional health. College was not a fun time for me. And I really wouldn’t want to go back to it. But, it’s the holidays and I have fond memories of one person. I don’t even really remember her name — if I ever knew it.
We would meet up maybe twice a year. She was a sorority sister. I think I remember her wearing her letters. It was never an organized thing. That would mean that we’d exchanged names and phone numbers. Or that we emailed each other. I don’t know that we ever actually had a class together, though I vaguely think we had a core type class — stats or something.
But on a random day, evening usually, we would end up in the basement of the library. It was dark down there, with lights on a movement switch. The overhead lights would go out, but there were desk lights in the study carrols. The stacks down there were the space-saver type that you could crank open or closed. And no one, but no one studied down there — except for me. And her. I think I’m going to call her Jenny, just to have something to use. So, in that dark evening, in the quiet of the library, we would talk. Jenny and I talked about everything. Absolutely everything. Class troubles, interpersonal issues, missing home, and future plans. And it was like dropping secrets into a well.
And then we’d not see each other for another semester. It was often just before finals, or just after a big test that we’d find each other and talk.
And I don’t know if she understands exactly how much those days helped me. That strange intimacy that never saw the outside. Let’s call this my thank you note. Jenny kept me from crying on the phone to my mother in that library basement. Kept me solid when I was having issues with my roommates. And kept me on-track to get out of that place with my sanity intact.
That library and its inhabitants saved me more than once. And to “Jenny” whether she was a ghost, an angel, or just a human girl who felt the need to reach out: Thank You. You made a difference. And I hope I helped you in return.
Filed under Life in Random
BitterSuites 