Writing Update

08DEC2019

I finally was able to work on a story this weekend. Not a lot done, but progress was made toward the finish line. I haven't written anything for a while now, not counting words about my grandparents. So here's a little writing sample from this weekend.
Characters/Setting: Dave is a Los Angeles police officer, and Carol is a CSI (Crime Scene Investigator). They are returning to an apartment where an unusual murder took place...

*****

They pulled into a spot next to her car. A homeless lady pushed a cart full of belongings into the nearby alley.

Dave, concerned, questioned Carol. “You sure you’re okay to drive?”

“Yeah,” she replied. Yellow police tape decorated the doorframe of the apartment upstairs. “You mind going upstairs to the crime scene? I told my boss I would retake a few photos.”

“Sure. Let’s do this.”

They climbed up the stairs. Dave held the tape as Carol ducked under.

A couple flicks of the light switch did nothing. “You’re going to have to come back tomorrow.” Dave left the door open and pulled out his mag light.

“Over here,” she said. “I just want to take another look at it while we’re here.” She stood near the end of the hallway and waited for Dave to join her. She could feel the symbol glaring at her from the bedroom door.

He pointed the beam over her shoulder. The hash marks and symbol were still there.

She was too nervous to glance down at her hand. “Your ring, Dave. Hold it up.”

“My ring? I don’t wear a ring.”

Carol’s heart thumped in her chest. She tried to sound disinterested, “I thought you were married?”

“I was. Look, can we do the twenty questions later?”

She could hear something raw in his voice.

The flashlight beam danced around. “I don’t wear a ring, so let’s keep it moving. Is this about your ring glowing?”

“Yeah,” she answered, but she was really thinking about the world of possibilities that just opened up between her and Dave. She turned to him and smiled in the darkness. “My grandmother’s ring.” She brought her hand up and reached for the symbol. Her ring glowed, just as before. “See!”

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

Hopefully this snippet interests you. I'm still finishing up the last few pages of the rewrite. No ETA on the finished product yet. 

Picture for today: In honor of the holiday season. Not my place, but one from a nearby neighborhood. 

  

Urban Fantasies, Female Main Characters, Dragon Soul Press & other musings

11 JUL 19

Working away over here. Editing and expanding several stories, most notable today is an urban fantasy short story I wrote called (for now) The Symbol and the Ring, set in my home town of Los Angeles. Got some great feedback on it. Good pacing, good setting, solid ending. All great to hear. It's my take on urban fantasy, considering I haven't read many stories set in that genre. It's got a little fantasy in it and it's set in an urban setting, so voila! Urban Fantasy!

While I was working on the one hiccup a reader found, I spotted something else that needed fixing as well so I decided to scrub it from beginning to end. As I dove into editing, I remembered how much I liked Carol, the heroine of the story. She, like many Angelenos, is a transplant. She came to L.A. to follow her dream of acting and somewhere along the way she found a passion for police work, specifically crime scene investigation. One of my readers said that Carol felt real to them, not like a male writer trying to write a female character. Very good to hear. Looking forward to writing more stories about her! 

Picture for today: A little love for Dragon Soul Press, an independent publisher founded by a FB friend. Their covers draw you in, and the stories inside fill your heart with wonder. I haven't published anything through them yet, bad timing really. I am focusing more on self-publishing now instead of selling my stories to others. Anyways, take a gander at three of their covers for upcoming anthologies and enjoy. 
Link to their pages: 
Web: https://dragonsoulpress.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dragonsoulpress/

Sales!

11 SEP 2018

I took a look today at Amazon's Author Central and found out three anthologies with my stories in them sold recently! The three are Den of Thieves (proceeds go to a charity), Incarceration, and Protectors of the Veil (which I get no money for). It's always nice to see sales. I truly do appreciate the anthologies and Carol Hightshoe in particular. Some day I may make enough money from sales to stop my regular day job. But it probably won't be until I retire.

Still working on my next release, that short story about witches in winter. 

Was thinking recently about new story ideas. One that stuck was "Birds of Stone." Another writer suggested that I was thinking of gargoyles, but my thoughts are of something smaller. Not artist/author Jean 'Moebius' Giraud's Arzach's flying stone bird either. Something smaller. Like a rock pigeon maybe. I don't know. It's very early in the thought process. If you've never seen (can't really say 'read' because there are no words) Arzach, you owe it to yourself to do so. Great storytelling with no text. 

Photo for today: Arzach