The Mighty Pen #1

I have to give credit to my husband, because this was his idea. Every Thursday I am going to post the beginning of a story and it is your job (or pleasure if you will) to finish the story. Post your submission and will select a winner. The winner will receive the Mighty Pen award and be featured on my blog.

I will announce the winner the following week. Since there is no winner from last week I will get straight to the beginning of this weeks story.

The Beginning

Tap, Tap. The sound of knuckles tapping against the door startled her, though she intently awaited it. Slowly, she stood and smoothed out the folds of her dress. Crossing the room she laid her hand on the door handle.

Fear seized her, refusing to allow her to open the door. This must be. She told herself again. This must be.

Hot tears fell down her cheeks following the same path as all those that came before. There was no use escaping her fate.

"This must be." She whispered to the door. Then slowly she opened the door…

Three Words #1

An old friend of mine, Erin, and I used to play this games that I know as three words. The way it works is you get a list of three words and have to write a story that incorporate those three things. One such activity gave rise to a very interesting story idea that is currently in the running for being my next project. I liked this exercise so much I thought I would share with all of you.

Here is how it will work. I will post three words and anyone who would like to, can post their stories (or snippets or summaries if you wish).

You can also post a list of three words for me and others to use. I will choose one (or more) of the lists posted by others and write my own story which I will post the following Wednesday.

Since I don’t have three words from last week – I am going to use the same list my friend Erin gave me years ago and write a short piece for you.

Three Words

• Staff
• Harp
• Belt

Flash Fiction

Using the Three Words: Ring, Bubble, Snake

The snake’s eyes gleamed in the faint light. She froze with her hand outstretched. Dare she approach? Every fiber of her being screamed to run, to pull away, escape. She could not. All her hopes for success lay there, just beyond the coiled serpent.

It lunged for her and she withdrew her hand narrowly escaping a deadly bite. She rubbed her hand relieved to be unharmed. Her fingers brushed against the red stone of her ring. She looked down at it.

"If only…" She mused to herself. Imagining the snake recoiling from a wall of flames. The red gem flashed and she felt a warmth against her face. Looking up, she saw a wall of fire between her and the snake. The snake hissed at her and then drew back leaving the way clear for her.

A small laugh of joy and relief bubbled up from her throat. Cautiously she slipped passed the wall of fire and the angry snake. Reaching the far end of the hall she slipped through the heavy wooden door she found there.

"Safe." She breathed with relief.

Prompt Tuesday #1

Every Tuesday I am going to post a writing prompt and my own response to that prompt. The idea is to get your creative juices flowing. I encourage you to post your own responses to the prompt. Enjoy!

Prompt

"Create a still life in the room that implies a dramatic moment. (e.g.an overturned chair, several balled-up pieces of paper, an open map, a torn envelope, a set of keys, a silk scarf). Describe what happened either just before or just after that moment." (Source: www.warren-wilson.edu)

Response

A breeze wandered into the room through the jagged hole in the window pane. The pale green curtains shifted when the stream of air brushed against them. The fading sunlight fell across the dark hard wood floors revealing the many scuffs and scratches. Papers, strewn across the floor, rustled slightly disturbed by the passing breeze. A dark red chair lay prone on the floor trapping some of the torn pages. Dark stains ran alongside deep slashes in the chair. The shelves lining the walls stood empty, their contents scattered, fallen, and broken at their feet. On the wall, above the desk was bare. A large rectangle of light colored wall showed the age of the area around it. The corners of the empty wall were adorned with thumbtacks clinging to the ruminants of an old map.

She took the scene in slowly, her eyes sliding over each piece of evidence telling of what had passed. Her heartbeat quickened and tears threaten to break her resolve. Taking a deep breath she turned to face her companion.

"They took him." She whispered, fearing her voice would break.

"What do we do?" The frightened young man asked.

"We get him back."

My Friend Jen

Let me take a minute and put in a plug for my good friend Jen. If you haven't already, check out her awesome blog.


Jen is a great friend. She encouraged me to start this blog, so you can blame her for my insane ranting :)
I am not sure she knows this, but she also played a part in getting me writing again. I am very grateful for that. Writing keeps me balanced and I enjoy it so much.


A little while back Jen started a blog about her journey to write a book. I started following it because of course I wanted to support her. I think everyone has at least one book in them and they should write it. Reading about her struggles and successes and talking to her about writing made me want to write again. So I made the push and last week finished the second draft of my first novel. And my ten year journey has finally come to (somewhat) of an end. 


Now I am getting ready to start my next writing project, and it is largely in part to Jen's encouragement and support.


Jen, you rock!

All About Me

Hello, my name is Krista. Allow me to introduce myself. First, I would like to get to the core of who I am:

• A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS)
• Red
• A Writer

There, now you know all the essentials of me. Of course you may wish to know more. So here is a list of some of my favorite things.

• Song: The Jurassic Park Theme song by the amazing John Williams
• Movie: The Princess Bride (plus about 50 others but I decided to choose just one)
• Book: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinely (again, there are many others but had to choose just one)
• Food: Chocolate and Pizza (not together)
• Person: My husband
• TV Show: Survivor and Hell’s Kitchen (I know I am cheating a little bit but I can’t help it.)
• Video Game: Zelda (Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess)
• Board Game: Settlers of Catan
• Card Game: Mhing
• Color: Green, no Yellow, no Purple… Green.
• Fruit: Grape Fruit
• Vegetable: Cucumber
• Candy Bar: Kit-Kat
• Fictional Animal: Dragon
• Real Animal: Tiger
• Sound: Rain
• Season: Fall
• Flower: Yellow Roses
• Genre: Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Place: Home
• Scripture: Exodus 3:11-12 and 4:10-12
• Plant: Tree
• Website: Google

Want to know more? Read on.