Shot Gun (160 micro-fiction)

That blog site has me frazzled.

It eats more words than it saves.

When it works, it happily connects to the blogsphere.

Tho’ I think it knows I own a shot gun.

This is just one of many microfiction stories in 160 characters. Monkey Man hosts this menagerie on Sundays. Check it out!

Thanks Gregpc for the Shot

*http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregpc/386573428/sizes/m/in/photostream

Blown Away (by people in the Social Media Networking Arena)

Amazing people in the Social Media Networking Arena:

Gotta say to all the Social Media movers and shakers out there – You are Amazing!!

When I started with the Networking craze – I was skeptical.

In the beginning:

I was wondering if I was spitting in the wind or worse talking to myself.  I was!

Twitter – at first I had five followers. For goodness sake why would anyone want to follow me?

Moondustwriter’s Blog- Are you kidding. I write but so do a million other people – and from what I have seen there is some incredible talent out there. Why those people like (Oh sorry won’t name names) aren’t on the NYT best sellers list has my mind in a tangle. The thought that people would come to my site and actually read a poem that I wrote or a blog that I concocted is inconceivable. And – they do it everyday!

Now it is possible that there is a room full of bots that sit all day and take hits on my site. So far no bot has made a comment though.

My opinion is worth___:

Lately I am having people ask me my opinion on writing, poems, does their outfit match (I’m serious).

You gotta be kidding – I guess not. There must be a reason all the seniors at the university asked me to proof their papers before submission. Why Doctors have asked me to review an article before submission. Must be my perfume – eau de editor.

The bottom line:

I am blown away by the talent, humility, and kindness of the people I interface with. Writers most but techis, artists, clowns (Claude, Luke and Derek I am not talking about you). All of them are trying to get their name out there but they are friendly and take the time to lend a hand even to a teenage kid just starting out.

So to all of you Social Networking friends – I applaud YOU!!!

Photo: Stonehenge – L. Moon

Icons – by Webtreats

The Short Story

“No, I am not revisiting that memory again.” He closed his eyes. “I can’t go on loving her forever.”

Lust had been plentiful and had replaced any noble feelings I once had. I didn’t want to cherish and protect women- I wanted to use them.

At twenty, I was done with men. The last heartbreak had been too much for even this strong, independent girl.

Their one kiss removed all obstacles. They were transported to another place of love, lust, desire, and freedom.

The poet wrote on the page “What comes out of my lips is you- What is written on this page is you.”  She didn’t want the statement to ring true on paper; she wanted it engraved on her heart.

The short story has a place all of its own in the writer’s repertoire. Poetry can stem from feelings, a pastoral scene, human experience.  The novel can weave a story of lives – intersected by places in a complex array of feelings and events. The short story…

The short story has a special place in my writing folder. Like poetry it flows off  my pen. The real labor is in the edit. The personalities must develop quickly, a concise scenario, the climax, and your done. The challenge is in creating a compelling story with few details. My writer friends would agree that part of writing is creating the scene, the relationship, the challenge. Writers are usually stumped when restricted by words. Go to Twitter if you doubt this statement. Most of us have to refer over to our blogs to get our point across.

So what is it about “the short”? Personally I think it’s a way to create single chapters without laboring through piles of details. People’s lives generally occur in chapters. The short is a fun way to look into someone’s life at one moment in time- a snap shot as it were. The short story can capture the best picture, the worst picture, or the most embarrassing moment picture of a character’s life.

This said- I just started writing a short story about a hotel in a third world country. This hotel has seen history;  it’s been lived in by historical figures. I realized that I couldn’t pull one chapter from this hotel’s history. After all, which chapter would she choose? So my delightful short story has turned into a multi-chapter historical novel.

Write On!