Pages

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Wednesday Blog Hop - Hope

       **********************************************

This post is part of the Wednesday Blog Hop, a weekly hop aimed at creating flash fiction inspired by a photo and five words selected by one of the lovely hosts.

To check out the other weekly entries or to link up yourself head over to Carrie, NicoleTena or Leanne's blogs for more information.

        *********************************************



I meant to post this entry yesterday but I've been struck down with the dreaded lurgy, so I apologise for it being a day late.

As requested by fellow hopper Chris Shawbell this weeks entry is a continuation of the story I posted in last weeks blog hop. If you missed it then you can read it here first.

This weeks picture:


This weeks words:  pocket watch, cosmic, ghost, vegetable, train

And here it is!

Hope

The man who had spoken her name came further into the barn, expanding his search while the other hung back near the door. She bowed her head, praying for them to turn around and leave. She wanted to find out a little more for before she handed herself over to anyone.
The one by the door was growing impatient, checking the time on his pocket watch. 'Sir, we really need to be going.'
The one in the barn took another step towards me before sighing in defeat. 'Let's go. Davis isn't going to be pleased though if we've lost another one.'
Wendy's body sagged with relief as he walked out and closed the doors behind him, and she waited until the sound of the engine had completely died away before emerging. It seemed she'd narrowly avoided capture, but was still in the same predicament, trying to get out of the barn.
Trying the big doors again was futile, there was nothing else she could do except scramble over the hedge.
Settin off along the road, picking off twigs and leaves from her clothes as she went. She had no idea what the time was, only that the sun was shining high in the sky now. Her stomach was rumbling, reminding her of how little she'd eaten. The road was straddled either side by fields, but there wasn't any sign of civilisation anywhere nearby. Looking over into the neighbouring field there were some plants sprouting, growing uniformly in lines leading of into the distance. A closer inspection revealed they were carrots, and Wendy dug and ate three in earnest. They tasted earthy and raw, but they were food. She pocketed a few more of the vegetables for her journey.
She walked seemingly all day, and now her feet were beginning to drag a little as she grew weary. She almost didn't notice the train track intersecting the road. The section that crossed the road was clear, but either side it had become overgrown with bushes. It certainly hadn't been used for transport for a long time. It extended in both directions for as far as she could see, but in the east she noticed something else just visible on the horizon. She was unsure at first if her eyes were deceiving her but it looked like a city, way off in the distance. It had a hazy, almost ghostly quality to it but she was sure it was real.
She started to head in its direction, the faintest glimmer of hope beginning to tingle within. She crossed my fingers, willing the vision to be real, and if not then the world was playing some giant cosmic joke on her. There was only one way to find out though, and she willed her feet to keep moving.

Word count: 472

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday 22 February 2013

It's Friday, time to celebrate!


                *****************************************

This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop.

                 *****************************************



The things I'm celebrating this week:

  • It's been half term this week. I feel like I've been on holiday, and I've still been going to work everyday!
  • I've been nominated for the Liebster Award! And not just once either! Both Clicks-Clan and Lara Lacombe have nominated, which was actually over a week ago but thanks gals! I'll be posting my answers to your questions over the weekend.

  • That it's finally the weekend! It's been a pretty rubbish week at work and I'm thankful that I've survived. I'm looking forward to settling now with my family and, of course, the rugby. It's back on this weekend!

Have a great weekend everybody!

                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Blog Hop Alert!

March is going to be a busy time in terms of blog hops. There are so many going about but there are three in particular I've chosen to join in on.


I've already posted about the Back from the Future blog hop taking place on the 1st March, and I'm so excited about this one. Lots of ideas are coming to mind I just need to wrestle one to the ground and make it stick.


On 13th and 14th March it's National Wormhole Day, which is being hosted by Stephen Tremp, Laura Eno and L G Smith. It's celebrating the birthday of the one and only Albert Einstein and the idea is as follows:

What would you do or where would you go if you could traverse a wormhole through space or time just once? One safe round trip passage. Would you go back in time and talk some sense into a younger you? Go five years into the future and bring back the Wall Street Journal? See just how the heck the Great Pyramids of Giza were really built? View what the other side of the universe looks like? Kill Hitler?

This is another quick and easy Blog Hop. Since we are all busy, take a moment to tell the world a few moments, and in 100 words more or less, what you would do if you had a two-way ticket to traverse a wormhole. This is my way of getting people excited about all the amazing stuff on the horizon that we as a race are on the cusp of discovering! 
 
 
Head on over to one of the brilliant hosts of this event to find out more and to get signed up. Don't forget to check out who else is taking part too!
 
 
 
 
 
 
And then, on 18th March there's the Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest. This is brought to you by none other than the wonderful Alex J Cavanaugh, who we all know does such a brilliant job of helping us writer/bloggers connect with each other and get our voice out there. Thanks again Alex!

Just sign up and post your top ten favourite moveis and then head on over to check out everyone else's. Couldn't be simpler! Or could it? Hmm, only ten he says ... This could be trickier than I thought.






To find out more and to sign up to any of these blog hops, just click on the links on my side bar. I look forward to seeing you all next month!

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Wednesday Blog Hop - Abandoned



               **********************************************

This post is part of the Wednesday Blog Hop, a weekly hop aimed at creating flash fiction inspired by a photo and five words selected by one of the lovely hosts.

To check out the other weekly entries or to link up yourself head over to Carrie, Nicole or Leanne's blogs for more information.

                *********************************************

This weeks photo:
BloghopFeb12

This weeks words:  carpet, definition, sponge, wardrobe, pudding

Abandoned

As the sky cleared and the sun broke through, Wendy began to wake. She stirred and her shirt clung to her where it had soaked up the moisture from the grass. Her back protested as she rolled over, refusing to let her sit up without letting her know its discomfort. The smell of the fresh grass carpet beneath her body filled her senses as she struggled to orientate herself.
Looking around she didn't recognise any of her surroundings; the line of irregular trees running around the fields edge, the run down barn tucked away in the corner. She was alone in the field, neither man nor beast was anywhere to be seen. There wasn't even a bird in the sky; it was the definition of eerie. Stumbling to her feet, she started to make her way towards the barn, hopeful that it would offer some answers, or at least some way out of this field. She didn't think she could face clambering over the surrounding hedgerow.
Her legs loosened up as she walked and as she reached the barn she felt a bit more comfortable in her body again. She needed to get home and find some food though, her stomach was rumbling in protest and her mouth felt like a dry sponge.
The door of the barn fell off in her hands as she opened it, a clear sign the place was abandoned. It was filled with a musty, damp smell and old bits of farm machinery lay next to the walls in varying states of decay. As she entered the scurry of rats could be heard as they vacated their home in fear.
On the other side were larger doors to allow vehicles to enter, but they were very much out of place here. The wood was in much better condition with strong hinges holding them to the panels. Giving them a shake Wendy could hear the rattle of a padlock on the other side.
Retreating back into the middle of the barn she heard a sound that had gradually been getting louder. She hadn't noticed it before but it was definitely getting closer. Bright lights filtered in around the edges of the door as the sound stopped outside. She whirled looking for somewhere to hide, and noticed a battered old wardrobe in the corner behind a stack of tractor tyres. Shutting herself in, the smell of it reminded her of her mothers burnt yorkshire puddings.
She stayed as still as she could as the padlock was released and the doors swung open. Two men walked in dressed in black suits, ear pieces visible through the crack of the door.
'Miss Swanson?' said one. 'We know you're in here. Please, we just want to talk.'
Wendy was close to panic. How did they know her name and what had they to do with her being in this field?

Word count: 485

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday 18 February 2013

1304 The Harbinger cover reveal!

It is here! I can now reveal the cover of the next installment of Christine Rains brilliant 13th Floor series.


https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=582b76abc2&view=att&th=13c64d8b63f76b31&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=f_hc9qjd3t0&safe=1&zw&saduie=AG9B_P8LbTfdZ1oA3OPrr8tc58ak&sadet=1361135815895&sads=te7wofKzdSeoWQKksOu-ELKnldE&sadssc=1
    **************************************
Title: 1304 – The Harbinger (The 13th Floor series, #4)
Author: Christine Rains
Genre: paranormal romance
Release date: March 13th, 2013

Blurb:
Meira Harper loves both her jobs: talking about beautiful shoes and fetching souls for Zeus. But the Thunder God threatens the harpy's loyalty to her job when she receives the call to bring the soul of gorgeous Sam Wright. Meira pleads with her boss to let him live. Zeus agrees, but Sam must fight for his life. If Sam can win three challenges, he can keep his soul.

The gods never play fairly, though, so Meira needs to find ways to help Sam with the challenges. She cannot outwardly cross her master, but she refuses to let the man she loves lose his soul. They haven't even had a chance to start a life together.

Sam's soul is on the line. Meira's will be too if she's caught, but that's a risk she's willing to take.

            **********************************************************************
 
1304 The Harbinger comes hot on the heels of The Dragonslayer, which was released last week. All I can say about this series is that you have to get yourself a copy, I've really enjoyed all of them so far and I'm looking forward to this being released next month.

When I get some time I will be posting my thoughts on all of the installments so far, but in the meantime head on over to Christine's site to find out all the information you need. Enjoy my friends!


Author Bio:
Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not writing or reading, she having adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. The 13th Floor series is her first self-published series. She has five novellas and eighteen short stories published.



       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday 15 February 2013

Thank Crunchie it's Friday!


                *****************************************

This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop.

                 *****************************************



The things I'm celebrating this week:

  • oh my goodness I've actually joined the gym. I'm not sure if this is really something to celebrate yet but it's certainly something positive (apparently). I had my first Zumba class last night and I must say I'm not impressed. It's not dancing and it's not aerobics, what is it?! I just thought it was nonsense!  

  • I read The Sign of Four in two sittings this week. It's a set text for my OU course and I've felt a lot like I've been falling behind lately, but this has made me feel like I'm moving forward again.

  • the lovely surprise on Thursday morning of a Valentines card and a bunch of tulips. My husband really isn't the most romantic of people so it was a lovely thing to find, especially at 6 o'clock in the morning. He'd made the extra effort to have it ready for me, he's so lovely!

I hope you've had a good week, and have an even better weekend!

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday 8 February 2013

Celebrate small things - come on!

               
         **********************

It's Friday, it's Friday! That can only mean one thing ... it's time to celebrate!

For more places to go to celebrate the small things head over to Scribblings of an Aspiring Author, and you can sign up to!


      ***********************

              
         



Today I'm celebrating:


  •  England winning their first game of the Six Nations, quite convincingly too. For those who have no idea what this is, every year there is a rugby tournament in Europe with six nations - England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy and France - and they play each other over six weekends. The ultimate prize is the Grand Slam, to win every one of their matches. I know it's only been the first weekend but we're on for it!  It's England vs Ireland on Sunday - I can't wait!!! 






  • I actually managed to get myself out of bed and to work on time every day this week. This might not sound like much, but getting up at 5.30am to be at work for 7am is horrible! 

 
 


  • Managing to put petrol in my car before the light started beeping at me. I don't know about anyone else, but I find refueling such a chore. I know is a necessity and everything, but still ...

                                                         
                       Enjoy the weekend everybody!!!!!


                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pictures courtesy of www.shutterstock.com , wisewomenlovejesus.blogspot.com, en.wikipedia.org



Thursday 7 February 2013

Don't Break the Chain - January catchup

Don't Break the Chain is an idea from Jerry Seinfeld, who set himself a target of writing something new every single day of the year. For each day that he managed it he could put a big red cross on a 365 day calendar he'd made for himself, and over time that chain of red crosses would grow. By missing a day the chain would be broken and he'd have to start again. The challenge is to not break the chain.

I started this at the beginning of the year, and as you can see I've managed to put a cross (or in my case, a shaded block. It's still red though!) on for about half the time. So far the longest chain I've managed is ten days in a row.

I've set myself some criteria over what qualifies for a crossed off day. As long as it's something new, whether it be a short story, part of a novel or a blog post, then it qualifies. I'm glad for this because I think it's my blog posts that have been carrying me through.

For February I'm going to see if I can beat my streak of 10!

Is anyone else doing this? How are you getting on?

                                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~