Apologies. Write, Edit, Publish

I intended to write a story but I've had a migraine headache for several days and I'm no good to anyone. See you next time.
Nancy

IWSG June 2017; Did you ever quit? And, Micro-Robots

Insecure Writers Support Group is a huge blog hop started by Alex J. Cavanaugh and post on the 1^st Wednesday of every month. As the name implies, many of us our insecure. Feel free to join our little group…ah…or big group, and post your insecurities and or encouragement. Just click on this link to visit other blogs and or join. Well, I recommend you do both. And no, you don’t have to visit everyone. The recommendation is to visit 10.

I missed May because my husband had surgery that day. He’s doing great.

Question of the Month:

June 7 Question: Did you ever say “I quit”? If so, what happened to make you come back to writing?

Years ago, I joined an in-person critique group. We met once a week and read our work out loud at a book store and then braced for the critique. Growing up, I was switched from my left hand to my right which gave me a learning disability known as Dyslexia. It wasn’t as severe as those born with this condition, but it still played havoc with my ability to spell, read and learn English Grammar.

No doubt you can imagine what my chapter looked like when I went home. I re-wrote chapters so many times I lost track. So, it was tempting to quit. But…I had stories and I needed to write. So here I am, a published author.

On a different note, I watch Ancient Aliens and often come away with ideas to include in my stories. It’s great if you need a magical element and you want something different from the norm. This week’s show was all about what doctors and scientists are working on currently. Of course, in between showing us this and that, the guys claim aliens did the same thing in the past.

So, I thought I’d share a snippet with you, because that show this week gave me a ton of ideas, none of which will work for fantasy.

If your old enough or if you love old movies, you may remember the one called, ‘Voyager,’ where a team of scientist enter a ship which is shrunk and injected into the body of a man who was dying. Well…they can do that now minus the people. Micro-robots that will attack disease instead of the need for surgery.

Nancy

Did you quit and come back to writing? Do you like the idea of micro-robots infiltrating your body? Can you think of a story that suits this technology? Is it horror? Humor? SciFi or some other genre. Let me know in the comments. Thanks for coming by.

When Love Meets, Write, Edit, Publish, blog hop.

Time once more for my favorite blog hop. Write, Edit, Publish, was founded by my friend, the awesome Aussie, Denise Covey. Joining her as moderator is Yolanda Renee, also awesome. To read other stories in this hop go here.

This challenged included a poem. Being inspired by the poem, I added two lines which have a * symbol before the quote. The poem is below my story.

For those who are new to my blog, I’ve been compared with Tolkien in writing style. A great honor since he is my favorite writer. If you haven’t yet purchased my epic fantasy you can do so. The title is, The Treasures of Carmelidrium. You will find it on my sidebar. Just 99 cents. At some point this year it will have a new book cover and the price will go up to $2.99.

When Love Meets

They fell together, distilled in time, transformed beyond love and hate. *Pleasure and Pain swear friendship leal and true.

            Grace lifted her arms above her head, her fingers met in an arch, heavenward. Tears, ran silent along her cheeks. On tiptoe she thrust upward, her faerie wings took flight. Beneath on the lily pad rested Storm, his wings tattered and grey. Their compassion strained beyond endurance, as *the vulture may be comrade to the dove.

            Grace called upon her healing powers. Twirling, her feathered skirt flew out, a kaleidoscope of colors. Magic shifted. Grace danced upon the air stream, casting her sparks overhead. The faerie dust floated downward, landing as soft whispers on Storm. He raised smoky gray eyes and met her crystal blue gaze.

            Anger rushed out of him. Striking the pond with flashes of thunder. Frogs leapt into the water, birds took flight, while Storm still stared skyward.

            Grace ignored his bad temper. She had empathy enough. Stored up. Measured strong. She held her love close. Gazing down, she saw her healing powers restore Storm’s ragged wings. Strong once more, his wings changed color to midnight blue. He launched himself from the lily pad and met her in flight.

She raised her voice in song.  “Born of God, my bitter foe. Take heed to measure your wild hostility. Peace with love will smooth your cares, until all is sweet, within your heart.”

Storm’s answer was heavy with his deep voice. “Grace. You who are named for all that is good fail to see evil. As bats beat their wings in rapid progression, the world will overtake you and whither your passion.” He flew close and plucked a tear, now turned into a crystal, from her cheek.

Grace smiled, fluttered close and pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Would that you could embrace the sunlight.”

“Shadows obscure its rays.”

She flew in a circle around him. “After the rain, the darkness will vanish. It is then that the rainbow appears.”

“Then we must live in the colors, and vanish when they fade.” Storm’s face softened and his regard turned thoughtful.

“Let it be so.” Grace smiled.

“We will make our home in a bilious cloud.” Storm took up the dance with Grace. His wings dripped cobalt blue while Grace shed white ivory.

“Nay, a grass bungalow beneath the evergreen on top of yonder knoll.”

“Sunlight doesn’t reach below the sturdy branches of the pine.” Storm allowed Grace’s fingers to entwine his own. She laughed then and the sound was like a whispered song through the breeze.

Word Count: 430

PEACE AND LOVE

There are two angels, messengers of light,

    Both born of God, who yet are bitterest foes.

    No human breast their dual presence knows.

As violently opposed as wrong and right,

When one draws near, the other takes swift flight,

    And when one enters, thence the other goes.

    Till mortal life in the immortal flows,

So must these two avoid each other's sight.

Despair and hope may meet within one heart,

The vulture may be comrade to the dove!

Pleasure and Pain swear friendship leal and true:

But till the grave unites them, still apart

Must dwell these angels known as Peace and Love,

For only Death can reconcile the two.

Poetical works of Ella Wheeler Wilcox. by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Edinburgh : W. P. Nimmo, Hay and Mitchell, 1917

I hope you enjoyed the story. Tell me what you liked.

Nancy

If you would like to read my other faerie stories, scroll down and select faerie from the list of post. P.S. Would you be interested in purchasing a collection of faerie stories? How many would you like to see included for your 99 cents? 

April 2017 IWSG

April has arrived and it's time for another IWSG post. The Insecure Writer's Support Group was started by Alex J. Cavanaugh. We post on the first Wednesday of the month. To read other post go here.

April 5 Question: Have you taken advantage of the annual A to Z Challenge in terms of marketing, networking, publicity for your book? What were the results?

I did participate in the A through Z Challenge the first year, but after that my health took a nose dive. I had to decide, continue to blog as I had been, or devote my time to writing and critiquing my work and the work of my critique partners. I chose to write. that being said, I can't offer advice for selling my books based on blogging. When I did blog, I didn't notice a lot of sales from my efforts.

How about you? Do you participate in the A - Z Challenge? Does blogging help you sell your books? 

Nancy

IWSG Wed. 2017 Reworking a story

Welcome to the first Wednesday of March, 2017. This post is an ongoing blog hop titled, The Insecure Writers Support Group, (IWSG), started by Alex J. Cavanugh. The goal is to share either your insecurities or to encourage others. Recently, a question of the month was added which you may answer or not. For this post, I've chosen to answer the question. To read what others have written or to sign up and post something go here.

March Question of the month:

Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?

Indeed, I did. My first serious story. I say that because I wrote stories all through my youth. I didn’t get serious about writing until about 35 years ago. I had something happen to me and I needed a creative outlet to heal. Writing was it.

When I eventually joined a writers group, I was told repeatedly to set my first story aside and start something new. I couldn’t. The characters lived in my heart. So, I plodded on, learning all the lessons that writing something good demands and re-writing that story. I even took notes on the sequel. Soon the idea expanded into four stories. Now, I have a fifth story idea and several short stories. I even wrote a flash fiction piece in that same world for a Halloween blog hop.

Did it work out? You tell me.

I self-published. Here’s the story, and the link plus a few of my recent reviews.

(I’m in the middle of re-formatting to expand my market and have a paper book available, all with a new book cover. So, this particular e-book will only be available for another week or two. Same book, new cover.)

Friendship price of 99 cents.

Amazon.com

Amazon.UK

Reviews are posted on Amazon.com

5 Stars

This book is the best book of the last decade! Very well written and the plot is nice. Thanks a lot!

5 Stars

Very well written book! I'm impressed. thanks a lot!

4 Stars

I AM HOOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are 33 reviews in total. So, did I make the right decision to stick with this book? I can only tell you, I made the only decision I could.

How about you? Did you revise an old book or are you a reader who appreciates a well written book?

Nancy

The sequel is in the editing process. I hope to release it this Christmas. Title: The Rise of Lord Sinon