Flash Fiction Challenge

Here's my story for this week's flash fiction challenge from Chuck Wendig. http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/11/15/flash-fiction-challenging-find-your-favorite-opening-line/  



                                                                  MONTHLY REPORT

I flicked the lighter open and watched the flame dance in the wind. But I didn't light a cigarette, much as I wanted to. Corben doesn't like the smell and if Corben doesn't like something, you don't do it. Leastwise, not where he can see.

But it was cold. Damn cold. I was shivering in my leather jacket and it sure would have been nice to light one up to take my mind off the mid-December weather. I looked around the little park and saw no one. No doubt anybody with half a brain was inside somewhere with the heater cranked up and a nice hot cup of coco in hand. Hey, even a guy like me can enjoy some coco now and then, though I do like mine with a shot of bourbon.

Since it didn't look like Corben was going to be showing up anytime soon, I took a cigarette from the half empty pack in my pocket, slipped it between my lips, and was about to lift the lighter to it, when a voice spoke up behind me.

"You know how I feel about those things."

I jumped, dropping both cigarette and lighter into the snow. "Holy shit." I spun around to find Corben standing right behind me. "You scared the crap out of me."

Corben's full lips dipped into a frown. "Language, Mr. Verdoux. Do we need to repeat our discussion on your use of swear words?"

I swallowed. "No, sir. Sorry, sir. Won't happen again." Think what you want about my quick switch in attitude. Unless you've ever sat down and had a 'discussion' with Corben Redret, you ain't got no room to be thinking I'm some kind of sissy boy. Sure, the guy's only about five foot three and weighs maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet, but don't let his looks fool you. This is one dude you don't want to cross.

Corben adjusted the ermine trimmed collar of his sable trench coat. "Now, if we might get down to business."

"Yes, sir." I reached into the satchel slung across my shoulder and pulled out a plain, brown manila envelope. "It's all there, sir."

A crisp nod was his only reply. He took the envelop and slipped it into an inner coat pocket without checking the contents. It's not like I could get away with coming up short even if I was stupid enough to try. Which I wasn't.

I cleared my throat. "So, same next month?"

"The boss has requested you double your quota," he said, straightening his gloves.

Shock made me speak out where normally I wouldn't have. "Double? That's impossible." I was already handling more workload than anybody else and pushing it every month to keep from falling behind.

He raised a brow at my tone. "Impossible? Really? You know, Mr. Verdoux, I was opposed to your appointment into this most important of offices from the very beginning. I told the boss you'd be better off in collections, that you were too coarse for handling contracts. No subtly, no manners, no charisma, all attributes I insisted were of utmost importance in this line of work. But once the boss sets his mind to something there's no turning it. And I must say you have proven me wrong time and again. However, your position remains tenuous. No one is irreplaceable."

I knew a thinly veiled threat when I heard one. He never had like me any, so I guess he would have been more than happy to 'terminate' my services personally. "I understand, sir. Double it is."

"Very good, Mr. Verdoux. Perhaps you have a higher intellect than I had credited you with. Good day." He turned and strode off through the snow.

I watched him go until I was sure he wasn't going to turn around, then bent over to pick up my lighter. When I straightened again he was nowhere in sight. I never had been able to figure out how he did that little trick. 

On the way back to where my motorcycle was parked, I lit a cigarette and dragged the sweet taste into my lungs. Double. I still couldn't believe it. I mean sure, I knew the boss was working up to something big, but you can only expect a guy to do so much. Even with all the people in the world willing to sell their souls for the craziest things, getting forty a month wasn't going to be easy.

Cover Reveal: Fanged Outcast by Elisabeth Wheatley

 

 

 

How much would you sacrifice for a love that wasn’t yours?

Hadassah managed to befriend her kind’s worst enemies and save her brother and the human girl he loves from the Vampiric King—once. After a month spent in quiet hiding under the protection of the Huntsmen, a surprise attack from a band of Kaiju shatters their brief reprieve. Faced with new challenges and new threats, Hadassah and the others must once more fight for her brother and the girl who stole his heart. And this time, the Vampiric King isn’t the only one they need fear…

Action, suspense, humor, and romance collide in this anticipated sequel from teen author, Elisabeth Wheatley.

Add Fanged Outcast (Fanged Princess, #2)  on Goodreads
Add Fanged Princess (Fanged Princess, #1) on Goodreads

Author Bio & Links

Elisabeth Wheatley  is a teen author of the Texas Hill Country. When she’s not daydreaming of elves, vampires, or hot guys in armor, she is wasting time on the internet, fangirling over indie books, and training her Jack Russell Terrier, Schnay.

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Book Review: Switch by Karen Prince

Blurb: Trouble is brewing in the secret African rift valley of Karibu and Gogo Maya, the witch, and her leopard are about to make matters worse. Of all the dubious magic tricks they know, they choose a risky ‘switch’ they’ve been working on, to escape from somebody lurking in the forest. Unfortunately they overshoot, switching right out of Karibu and drawing an ordinary Zimbabwean boy into the mess they leave behind them. The whole disaster that followed might have been averted if another boy had not gone and sucked up what was left of the witch’s power, leaving her too weak to switch back again. CPR, the daft boy called it. He should know better than to risk kissing a witch

If you had to choose between Joe’s two best friends or his cousin, Ethan, to lead an adventure into the bush to rescue him, Ethan would be the last one you’d pick because, well … he’s useless that way. Yet the witch’s leopard inexplicably starts issuing plans right into his head. Apparently he’s Joe’s best hope because he has absorbed some of the witch’s questionable magic powers. Powers which might come in handy if he ever learns how to wield them, and if he can endure the painful backlash he suffers every time he tries.

In a world that quite literally defies belief, where magic seeps into the drinking water for anyone to use or abuse, and the terrain is impossible to navigate without help from extremely risky sources, this is the tale of Ethan’s struggle to reach his cousin, Joe, before he falls into the wrong hands and gets himself killed.

I give it 3 stars

My review: Switch is a fun and exciting adventure through a world filled with witches, shapeshifters, and mischievous critters. The boys find help in the most unlikely of places, and danger where they never expected.

My favorite character was Jimoh, the expert tracker, but all of the characters were interesting in their own way and each of the boys grew and changed over the course of the story. Sometimes the dialogue seemed a little off for teenaged boys and there were a few elements of the book that felt kind of arbitrary, like they were thrown in just to heighten tension and didn't really have much of a tie in to the actual story. But all in all I enjoyed this book and would happily recommend it to any fan of YA fantasy.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Kingdoms-Karibu-Karen-Prince-ebook/dp/B009H28446/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384347004&sr=1-1&keywords=switch+karen+prince

Book Review: Winter's Heart by Robert Jordan

Blurb: Rand, with Min, is on the run, and Cadsuane, in Carhien, is trying to figure out where he is headed.

Mazrim Taim, the leader of the Black Tower, is revealed to be a liar. Faile, with her companions, is a prisoner of Sevanna's Sept.

With Elyas Machera, Berelain, the Prophet, and an "army" of disparate forces, Perrin is moving through country rife with bandits and roving Seanchan.

In Ebou Dar, the Seanchan princess known as Daughter of the Nine Moons arrives. In Tar Valon, the schemers and counter-schemers in Elaida's White Tower are shaken to the core when the rebels appear suddenly outside the walls.

I give it 2 stars

My Review: This is an epic fantasy novel with a richly detailed and intricate world. Unfortunately, the focus on the world itself and it's many sects and religions and races, completely drowned out the characters and the story.

To begin with, this book is like reading three or four different books at once. It would have been much better had the author chosen one storyline to follow. Also, there are new characters being introduced almost every other chapter, so I couldn't connect to any of them or care what happened to them.

I lost the thread of the story somewhere along the way and I'm not entirely sure what the book was all about. Maybe it's my own fault for picking up #9 in a series when I haven't read the earlier books.

There is certainly a beautiful and fascinating world here and many characters I might have liked to know better. And maybe even several good stories. But the book as a whole was entirely too complex for my tastes.


Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Winters-Heart-Wheel-Robert-Jordan-ebook/dp/B003H3IOKU/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383762861&sr=1-1&keywords=winter%27s+heart+robert+jordan

Book Blast with author Emma Right

Publisher: Right House Books
Print Length: 170 pages
ASIN: B00ESVEVBQ

Eighteen-year-old Brie O’Mara has so much going for her: a loving family in the sidelines, an heiress for a roommate, and dreams that might just come true. Big dreams--of going to acting school, finishing college and making a name for herself. She is about to be the envy of everyone she knew. What more could she hope for? Except her dreams are about to lead her down the road to nightmares. Nightmares that could turn into a deadly reality.
Dead Dreams, Book 1, a young adult psychological thriller and mystery.

Excerpt

Chapter One

It started on a warm April afternoon. Gusts of wind blew against the oak tree right outside my kitchen balcony, in my tiny apartment in Atherton, California. Sometimes the branches that touched the side of the building made scraping noises. The yellow huckleberry flowers twining their way across my apartment balcony infused the air with sweetness.
My mother had insisted, as was her tendency on most things, I take the pot of wild huckleberry, her housewarming gift, to my new two-bedroom apartment. It wasn’t really new, just new to me, as was the entire experience of living separately, away from my family, and the prospect of having a roommate, someone who could be a best friend, something I’d dreamed of since I finished high school and debuted into adulthood.
“Wait for me by the curb,” my mother said, her voice blaring from the phone even though I didn’t set her on speaker. “You need to eat better.” Her usual punctuation at the end of her orders.
So, I skipped down three flights of steps and headed toward the side of the apartment building to await my mother’s gift of the evening, salad in an á la chicken style, her insistent recipe to cure me of bad eating habits. At least it wasn’t chicken soup double-boiled till the bones melted, I consoled myself.
I hadn’t waited long when a vehicle careened round the corner. I heard it first, that high-pitched screech of brakes wearing thin when the driver rammed his foot against it. From the corner of my eye, even before I turned to face it, I saw the blue truck. It rounded the bend where Emerson Street met Ravenswood, tottered before it righted itself and headed straight at me.
I took three steps back, fell and scrambled to get back up as the vehicle like a giant bullet struck the sidewalk I had only seconds ago stood on. The driver must have lost control, but when he hit the sidewalk it slowed the vehicle enough so he could bridle his speed and manage the truck as he continued to careen down the street.
My mother arrived a half minute later but she had seen it all. Like superwoman, she leaped out of her twenty-year-old Mercedes and rushed toward me, all breathless and blonde hair disheveled.
“Are you all right?” She reached out to help me up.
“Yes, yes,” I said, brushing the dirt off my yoga pants.
“Crazy driver. Brie, I just don’t know about this business of you staying alone here like this.” She walked back to her white Mercedes, leaned in the open window, and brought out a casserole dish piled high with something green. Make that several shades of green.
I followed her, admittedly winded.“Seriously, Mom. It’s just one of those things. Mad drivers could happen anywhere I live.”
She gave me no end of grief as to what a bad idea it was for me to live alone like this even though she knew I was going to get a roommate.
“Mom, stop worrying,” I said.
“You’re asking me to stop being your mother, I hope you realize this.”
“I’ll find someone dependable by the end of the week, I promise.” No way I was going back to live at home. Not that I came from a bad home environment. But I had my reasons.
I had advertised on Craig’s List, despite my mother’s protests that only scum would answer “those kinds of ads.”
Perhaps there was some truth to Mother’s biases, but I wouldn’t exactly call Sarah McIntyre scum. If she was, what would that make me?
Sarah’s father had inherited the family “coal” money. Their ancestors had emigrated from Scotland (where else, with a name like McIntyre, right?) in the early 1800s and bought an entire mountain (I kid you not) in West Virginia. It was a one-hit wonder in that the mountain hid a coal fortune under it, and hence the McIntyre Coal Rights Company was born. This was the McIntyre claim to wealth, and also a source of remorse and guilt for Sarah, for supposedly dozens of miners working for them had lost their lives due to the business, most to lung cancer or black lung, as it was commonly called. Hazards of the occupation.

Buy Links:

Amazon I Barnes & Noble

About the Author:

Emma Right is a happy wife and Christian homeschool mother of five living in the Pacific West Coast of the USA. Besides running a busy home, and looking after their five pets, which includes two cats, a  bunny and a Long-haired dachshund, she also writes stories for her children. She loves the Lord and when she doesn't have her nose in a book, she is telling her kids to get theirs in one. Right worked as a copywriter for two major advertising agencies and won several awards, including the prestigious Clio Award for her ads, before she settled down to have children.

Connect with the Author:

Website I Facebook I Twitter I Pinterest I Goodreads

Cover Reveal: Dark Light by Kyra Dune

This is the cover for my newest YA fantasy novel, Dark Light (sequel to Web of Light), set to be released December 1, 2013.

Blurb:

The Web of Light, a magical force lost for three hundred years, has been recovered by the heirs of the land of Solice. But its return bears a heavy price. A price that will be paid in blood.

Seva and Valdor have fled to the Outlands, where an unanswered question drives them apart. And as Valdor seeks to prove his worth, Seva struggles to control the power threatening to consume her.

But the web is not what it seems and by the time the truth is discovered, it may be too late.   

Cover Reveal: Echoes of Balance by Cally Ryanne

Today on The Shadow Portal, Cally Ryanne reveals the cover for her upcoming novel, Echoes of Balance. The author was also kind of enough to do an interview with me so we could all learn more about her novel.

What inspired you to write this book?

 So, EoB is actually a really long time coming. A lot of the characters have been with me since I was a kid; I made them up and was constantly reworking them until I found their story. Chloe did a lot of growing up before she got to where she is now. Anyway, I sort left Chloe & co. off to the side for the end of high school/beginning of college because I was busy with so much life, but towards the end of college I picked them – and their stories – back up again. (Shout out to Megan for forcing a chapter out of me every day.)

 
Can you give us an interesting fact about your book that isn't in the blurb?

 

‘Pan’ and ‘Damonos’ are the Greek root words that formed ‘pandemonium.’ Together, they literally mean ‘All of the Demons,’ which was the working title I had for the book.

 

How did you choose your title?

 

Echoes of Balance wasn’t what I originally chose, because I’m actually the worst at coming up with titles. Seriously. I get too close to the details and I just can’t name the big picture. But the folks at REUTS are totally amazing and we had a group e-mail brainstorm chain – EoB came out of that.

 

Tell us about the cover and how it came to be.

 

Again, the REUTS folks are amazing. I think Kisa and Ashley wrote a pretty cool cover art blog series on the REUTS website a while ago, but they have a great process. They asked for my input, then we brainstormed together. I actually have a fine art background, but my work is pretty abstract, so they were a big help in getting something down that’s more concrete and genre/age appropriate.

About the cover: The dress is one that Chloe wears towards the end of the book (spoiler alert) and the knife gets a lot of play in the story.

 

Did you self-publish or publish traditionally and why?

 

I went with a brand-new super-awesome experimental publisher. Because I’m an art student and that feels right.

 

What is your writing process?

 

I need to be well removed from distractions, so I will either write at this little desk in my room or my living room, where technology goes to die. I have a decent sized apartment (don’t believe the lies – there are places in NYC that this exists) and for some reason, wifi and cell service just hates our living room. It’s the best place to write. Then I stick it all in a google doc.

 

I pace A LOT when I write, especially when there’s dialogue involved. I’ll stand up and walk around while repeating the phrase over and over with slight tweaks until it feels right for the character, then I put it down.

 

When I edit, I like to be in my bed where I’m comfortable. I have a pretty sweet lap desk I got on sale at Target. (It’s like the only big box store allowed in NYC aside from the kmart that lives in Penn Station.)

 

How did you get started writing?

 

I’m an only child (not counting my best friend of ten years who I now also live with), so I was always kind of making up stories and reading to entertain myself. Eventually I started writing them down. When I was like 10 or 11, my mom – who is super techie – built a computer and gave it to me, except it was pretty grim and only did the internet (NETSCAPE. SUPER SLOW. DIAL UP.) kind of and word processing. And MS Paint. But that gets old fast, so I did a lot of typing in the text edit-y program – sometimes it was nonsense, and eventually it started being stories that were RIDICULOUS but got longer and longer, especially by kid standards. I think my first novel was like 60 pages or something.

 

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

 

I like to keep it in a 3:1 ratio. I enjoy plotting – I like to know where things are going to end up eventually, because I like to know the motives of my characters – but I also enjoy trying to work my characters into life moments* and integrate that into the story. Some are totally not feasible (‘What would it be like if Chloe and Aurelia were in my zumba class?’) but some I try to work into the stories (‘What would it be like if Chloe got stranded somewhere ala the week after Hurricane Sandy?’).

 

*Finding moments that are actually logical was a big exercise in growing up. As a kid, I think I’d just go with all this silliness and the plot was just crazy town.

What tips can you give on how to get through writers block?

 

Just push through it. Open a blank document and start writing whatever comes in your head – even if it’s nothing, just write the word over and over until something else occurs to you. Don’t think about writing good. Think about writing anything, and eventually work your way back to your story.

 

Alternately, those not-feasible situations, like what if Chloe went to a zumba class and Ducante was an instructor? Write silly. Put it aside. Never show it to anyone but your best friend when she has a bad day. But use it as a spring board to get yourself somewhere better.

 

What kind of music do you like to listen to while you write?

 

I have the most perfectly trained Pandora station, it always knows what I wants. It cycles from like ratchet nonsense (A$AP crew, Tyga, etc) to old school jams (Destiny’s Child, TLC) to indie stuff (Postal Service, Her Space Holiday) and into electronic (Diplo) and back again. I love it.

 

If I have iTunes on, I almost always listen to stars.

 

Who is your favorite character from a book?

 

I love Cloud 9 and Dondi from Rage is Back. (Ya heard, youngblood?) Actually, I love Adam Mansbach characters overall – he gives them such great voice.

 

Real talk, I also love Holly Golightly. No shame.

 

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

 

Oof, well, I work a real life job that takes up –a ton- of time, especially because I care about it a lot, so I spend a lot of time trying to be better and do well and be responsible. I’ve been on a ‘lets get in shape!’ kick lately, so lots of gym time, and I live with some awesome people, so I spend a lot of time chilling with them. Sometimes there are video games involved.

 

What's your next project?

 

So, Chloe’s world has spawned a lot of characters. A lot, a lot. Chloe’s book is a trilogy, so my most immediate project is to finish those guys (book two is maybe a quarter to a third of the way done), and then there is another trilogy that completes Chloe’s story that includes a character named Liadan as the protagonist. Maya also has a book of her own that’s half started, and I have another fantasy book that’s half started and has been living on the back burner for a while.

 

 

 

Echoes of Balance will be released on December 17^th via Reuts Publishing. Stay tuned for buy links!

 

http://www.reuts.com/

http://ducanteoriginals.wordpress.com/

https://twitter.com/callyryanne

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18619622-echoes-of-balance