Blogging from A to Z

I will be taking part in the April A to Z blog challenge. Twice.

Starting on Sunday, April 1st, I will be blogging through the alphabet both here and over at Writing Away (which you can access through that tab at the top of the page). I'm actually organized for this, wonder of wonders, and have some of my blog posts already written. It's a great challenge and a bit of fun trying to come up with a post for each letter. Most of my topics will be tied to writing and storytelling in some way, with a mention of Newfoundland here and there.

Stop by throughout the month to visit, and check out some of the other blogs that will be alphabetizing in April.

9 Days of Madness

Today my story Extinguished is up at Chris Allinotte's 9 Days of Madness. If you haven't been reading along, and enjoy having the bejabbers frightened out of you, then you really should catch yourself up. Chris has chosen some very dark and creepy tales for this year's theme, Unsettled.

Chris is a fellow Canadian and has been known to use his Leaky Pencil to scribble a few scary stories of his own. It is always a pleasure to work with him, and I am thrilled to once again be a part of his madness.

You can download last year's collection 8 Days of Madness, with stories from Angel Zapata, Erin Cole, Benjamin Sobieck, Lily Childs, and Chris himself (and me too).

Lucky? Maybe, maybe not.

This meme has been skulking around, hanging out with some of my friends. Then Cathy Webster decided to send it on down to the East coast. It's a bit of fun, and a chance to show off the latest WIP.

The rules are simple:

1. Go to page 77 in your current manuscript
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next seven lines as they are – no cheating
4. Tag 7 other authors (do it on Facebook)


I have two projects in the works right now, and since only one of them has reached page 77, I'll share that with you. It's actually a collection of short stories, half of them previously published, the other half brand new. It just so happens that page 77 lands me on a brand new story called Wreckhouse. The guy in this one may or may not be lucky.

“Wouldn’t go that way if I were you.”

An old man sat smoking near the café door. He looked as grey and weathered as the bench supporting him. He puffed on his pipe and paid me no mind.

“Pardon?”

“The Wreckhouse. You’re headin’ that way, aren’t ya?”

“Yes, I am headed through there. Or so they tell me.”

“Wouldn’t. If I were you.”

So now I have to tag seven authors to take part in this. Red rover, red rover let Tess Dickenson, L'Aussie Denise, Laura Eno, Graeme Reynolds, Shannon Esposito, G.P. Ching, and Steven Chapman come over.

Wearing My Words on My Wrist

I was so excited with how this turned out I had to share it. I was putting something together for a friend yesterday when I found this bracelet. I have such a weakness for bracelets. It was just a string of plain medallions, and I thought I'd dress it up.

Originally I was going to put some old fashioned typewriter letters on there. I've always wanted a bracelet or ring with an old typewriter font. But then I thought it would look even better with bits of text. I thought about using newspaper, but I was afraid the ink would smudge. A book would do nicely, but I didn't want to deface one of my books. That's when I decided to use one of my own stories (It also avoids any copyright violations).

I printed a copy of my story Blackbird Singing, which was published a couple of years ago. It's about a bird who's song heralds death. I had to use a tiny font to have the words fit on the medallions. I picked sections of the text for the words that appeared, words I thought were important to the story: blackbird, window, rain, singing, waiting. At the last minute I also decided to add a bit of the title in there.

The measuring and cutting were the hardest part. Once I had the text cut out, I glued each circle to the bracelet. Once dry, I applied sealant over the paper to protect it.

Once the gluing and drying was done, I attached a clasp and found a little black bird charm to go with the theme of the bracelet.

I really pleased it turned out so well. I'm not a very crafty person, so to have it come out the way I wanted is a big bonus. Now I just can't wait to wear it.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I'd like to write something long and indepth about St. Patrick's Day, but I've no time. I'm off to to the pub to hear my brother play a few tunes. But while I'm there I'll raise one to you:

May you always have a clean shirt, a clear conscience, and enough coins in your pocket to buy a pint!

Sláinte

Journeys

My apologies to everyone. I've been off the grid lately. Family called, and off I went. Today we said good-bye to my wonderful uncle, the second one to leave us in the last six months. Good-byes are always hard, but there are good memories to keep our loved ones near.

Now things are settled and I'm back. I'm not exactly sure what I am back to. I'm so long out of my routine I'm a little lost. And writing? Pffft. I don't even know where to begin there.

Maybe a good place to begin would be with my new travel journal. It arrived in the mail yesterday and I'm having the hardest time deciding what to do. Should I start filling in all those trips we've taken in the past few years, or should I wait and keep it for the next one? I don't really want to wait until June to use it. It's so full of blank pages just waiting for scribbles and doodles and maps and all the details of those journeys.

It's timely, the the arrival of that journal. When a loved one dies we hear all the stories of their lives. We talk about the things they did, the fun they had, the memories they made with us. It's then we remember the importance of living a good life, of taking advantage of the time we have and making it count.

I know when I start to fill my travel journal there will be many wonderful memories of the things I've seen, places I've visited, things I've done, and the people who shared those good times with me. I hope my life story will read the same way. I want to enjoy every minute of the adventure.

May you enjoy every minute of yours.