Wordless Wednesday: Cousins!

By the dolphin fountain at Atlantis, Paradise Island

 

On a wall by a seagrape tree near Fort Charlotte, Nassau

 

#GiveIt100 – Guitar

I keep going missing for a really long time. I know. *kicks rocks* Sorry. >.>

Alright, now that I’ve got that out of the way and we’re friends again…

It’s 2014, y’all! WOO!

Are you big on the whole calendar year thing? I’m not. I view my birthday more as a new year than the start of a new calendar year. I’m also not down with the resolution thing. It’s way too calculated and generalized and bandwagony and… Well, you know. I’d rather set goals and reach them as I see fit, and not because everyone else is doing it because OHMYGODITISDECEMBERANDJANUARYISCOMINGSOONANDWE’LLBEWRITINGANEW NUMBERBEHINDTHEBIG20.

All that being said, there are a few things I’m working on. I recently discovered GiveIt100, and I think it’s kinda cool. Except for the video recording bit. I’m not interested in figuring out how to record myself doing something for 100 days, and smashing all of it together into one big video, then time lapsing it. No. That is too much work. How about I just do the thing for 100 days? Yeah. Much better. SO. What am I going to do? GUITAR!

I’m pretty excited about this guitar thing. I was doing really well with it a few years ago when I had a lot of time by myself to practice without worrying about anyone else hearing me. I did a pretty good job of teaching myself with the help of YouTube videos and song chords online. When I moved from Halifax to Nassau, I left my guitar behind. I bought a new one, but I was in a house with nosy people, and people who aren’t always particularly supportive of new, seemingly-outlandish things. Result? I never practiced.

Well, now it’s just me and The Lady, and she’ll totally ignore me if I ask her to, so YAY! Practice, I shall! Starting today, I will spend 20 minutes per day with my Caddy. Caddy is my guitar, y’all. I’m going back to the beginning. I’ll work on learning A, D, and E and switching between those chords for the next few days. Chord switching is pretty easy to practice while watching tv because strumming isn’t necessary. I’ll just sit there with the guitar on my lap, switching my fingers from one chord to the next. Genius, right? I’m planning to be able to play Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds by Sunday. THAT, I am willing to record. I’ll even share the videos with you. Accountability for me… Yeah, I don’t really know what it is for you. Entertainment?

SO! Wish me luck. 🙂

How about you? Are you teaching yourself anything new? Taking any cool courses? Got a project for #GiveIt100?

Random Update

Hey, y’all! Yet again, it’s been a while. Lots and lots and lots going on.

• It’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Doing lots of volunteering and part-time work at a local non-profit.
• Short Story Collection to be release in December. Still writing shorts to be added to it. And editing.
• Novel revisions have come to a screeching halt. I need to get back to it. Soon.
• Moving! Yeah, it’s time for a new space. A nicer space. Open, bright, and breezy. Wait ’til you see it!
• Ideas, ideas, ideas. So many of them, all tangled up together. Good grief!
• Website updates. I need to do them. Soon. Maybe this weekend?
• New story posted: Banned Books. Do check it out and comment! There are a few others I didn’t post here too, so check them out. 🙂
• Currently reading: The Story of Beautiful Girl
• NaNoWriMo is coming up! Holy busy! This month and next month will be nuts! I’m mentally preparing. But you know I love it that way.
• Photo shoot last Sunday. YES! For my professional images, author photo for the back cover of my book, and website banner. SO excited. I should get the final images in a few days.

I think that’s it. Is that it? Hmmm… I think so.

I’ll try to be back again soon, but I can’t make any promises. ‘Til the next time, BE WELL! 🙂

A Marked Man

This great story was written for this week’s Trifecta challenge. I enjoyed it so much that I had to share it with you. When you’re done reading it, it would only be right to pop over and read mine too. Hehehe. (AliciaAudrey.com/blog)

pinionpost

A Marked Man

Jess scratched his mouth. The thing itched sometimes, especially where his beard grew, where the flesh had turned liquid and healed smooth like a gentle river. The boy watched him over the fire.

“Ask your question, kid,” Jess growled. The boy trembled.

“Well, I’s just wondering what ya did,” he said, “to earn a mark like that.”

Jess sighed. People were always asking about the damn brand—if they were dumb enough to ask, at least. Elsewise they just stared. The scars made an X from Jess’ cheeks to his chin, crossing his mouth in the middle.

“I killed some kids,” he said. “The oldest, about your age. The youngest barely crawling.”

View original post 261 more words

VisDare 31: Paperdolls

Here’s a short story I whipped up a few minutes ago. The photo prompt seemed a bit too obvious to me. I didn’t want to end up in the same place n other writers did, so I used it solely for inspiration and not topic. I let it lead to a completely different mental image. Is that cheating? Probably not. The photo prompted the idea for this story, and I wrote the requisite 150 words. So there. 🙂

Click the (prompt) photo to be lead to the host page for VisDare.

Paperdolls

Passersby stop, lingering for a while. It’s hard not to gawk at them. They look ridiculous, all dressed up and lined off like that. Some people pose with them for cutesy touristy pictures.

It’s funny, the idea of powerful paperdolls. They’re well equipped for whatever may transpire, on the off chance that anything ever does. This is downtown. Central Nassau. Crowded and full of life, no one ever dares to step out of line here. Not even the paperdolls.

They wear those impractical uniforms with pride. The long, dark pants, long-sleeved high-neck tunics, limp belts, and white gloves make no sense. It’s hot. Sweltering, really. The funny looking hats barely fit. All it would take is one swift wind and they’d take flight.

Wave lines of traffic through the intersection. Smile at tourists. Pose for pictures. Sweat.

Horrible job. I guess that’s the trade-off for the right to bear arms.

Photo source: Bahamas Press
(Don’t visit there looking for real news. It’s sensational rubbish.)

—–

Yes, this is making fun of the local authorities. Well… Their uniform. Because it’s my story, and I can do that. And they look silly. Arrest me. I (vis)dare you. Hehehe.

10 Cheesy Literary Pick-Up Lines That Will Get You Slapped

Here’s a literary pickup line buffet, just for you!
Hahahaha.

101 Books

Literary pick up lines? Yeah, why not!

Book geek? Need a date?

Well, you’ve come to the wrong place. Here’s 10 literary pick-up lines to make you have an embarrassing weekend, full of shame, rejection, and self-loathing.

Here we go:

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Krazy Glue Sandwich

No, it’s not a snippet from my life. Sorry, guys. I know that makes it less of an exciting story, but, well… What can I say? At least I made it up. I can get some credit for that, right?

This one is response to this week’s Trifecta Challenge to use “band” in a story of 33-333 words. 

Krazy Glue Sandwich

“Everyone has a right to know, Mother.”

“I don’t have a right to my own privacy? Since when did everyone’s rights nullify mine?”

Mother always knew how to shut us up. To make us feel stupid. To take control.

I searched her face for any sign that she may let us win, just this once. Vacant eyes stared straight ahead in defiance.

Click the photo to read more.

Trifecta: Charmed

Yep! It’s another story resulting from a Trifecta prompt.

He loomed over her, whisky-breath escaping in heavy pants, resting on her face. His calloused hands pressed against her chest, persistent and rhythmic. Beads of sweat rolled down his whiskered face, dripping on her…

To read the rest, click the image.

Another Short Story

I’ve written another short story in response to a prompt. This time the prompt is a photo. Click it to read the story. Don’t forget to comment!

Short Story: Chipped

I wrote a short story for a prompt by Trifecta. They give a one-word prompt, and participants have to use that words in a story of 33 to 333 words. And the word has to be used with the third given definition. The word for the last one was CRACK. 

Chipped

The chip stood out, in all its laughable glory. She’d bury us alive for this.

Knowing she had only twelve months, she’d spent the time upgrading her body. Sucking from here, injecting there, her obsession knew no bounds…

Click here to read the rest. And don’t forget to comment!