When a story stalls...

I'm working on the Fairy Tale Murders, and the story seemed to be zooming along when tonight...

Nothing.  I reached a place and my muse seemed to pull away.  Something in it feels off and I can't figure out just what that is.  It could be that I'm moving too fast, or that I missed something, or that I'm not letting the story do what it needs and fighting against it.

Either way, I got stalled out of it.

On the plus side, after skipping a sprint I did another and popped out a 830 word, almost complete story... Which I'm going to share some of with you here.  :D

The prompt was 'Dark and Stormy Night' and an Epic Horse... I got the first one in.

Most stories start on dark and stormy nights, because they’re setting the stage for what’s about to happen.  In Erra Lash, its always like that so we’re pretty used to it.  Which is why my story has a different opening line… Besides this one at least… I mean… Oh, you’ll see. 

The sun peeked through the normally darkened skies and smiled down upon our small village.  To date, that had only happened seven times in two hundred years, and only twice was it a good thing.  Both had been when our leader married someone the goddess approved of greatly. 

Any other time she parted the clouds was seen as a sign of her anger at us.  See, Cess was hidden away from us, looking through the clouds to watch our world.  In this way, she could leave us to live as we wanted, with minimal interference.  Only when someone’s sins were so great that even through the cover she could see it, did she part them to dispel justice.

Kristy C

Arrow... Catching up.

Last season I started to watch Arrow, but got distracted and disliked it.  However, I'd like to watch the Flash and figured I'd give it another try.

I'm 8 episodes into the show and I am enjoying it.  There's a loooooooooooot of drama, which I understand is a part of the show, but... Its also too much at times.

Honestly, I don't have a lot to say today.  I got myself made up by a friend so I could get head shots by another friend, all for the award thingy I'm up for.

Then I added 1371 words into my story and killed my first bad guy.  Parts of the story feel like they're moving a bit fast, but its something I plan on going back to work on later.

Kristy C

Word Sprints, NaNoWriMo and a WIP

So, a few weeks ago I started doing some sprints with a group on Fb.  The best part about the sprints, I think, is the themes they give us.  We're supposed to incorporate the theme, or the word, into the story.

We meet up online when someone posts a 'Wanna sprint?' to the group.  Its often with a good 20-30 minutes before we'll actually sprint, enough time to get something to drink, set the mood and lock out the family.  Or whatever you have to do to get ready.

Then, its a 30 min 'write' sprint.

Ideally, you're not supposed to edit while you sprint.  Its about getting the words out, not the quality of the words.  Some people dislike that, as they have to go back and edit over everything later.  Personally, I've found the more often you do the sprints, the better you get at self editing on the fly.  But, that could also be just me.

Once the 30 min is up, we return to post our word count, plus either the best bit, or the bit with the prompt.  :D

Sometimes I look through a book of prompts, and add in another one to 'sweeten' the inspiration.  This is just for myself.  Other times, the song playing on my Spotify playlist will spark what I need to start something.

Then, my muse struck without me looking.

Our theme was Garbage Can and my theme was four sealed boxes.  Add to that, Familiar Taste of Poison and you get the start of something interesting.


In fact, that something was so interesting, its just over 9k in words and I think about half done.  Not to mention that I've gotta plot out sme things and needed a world map, and a mind map program.

Yeah, something that simple became much more.

From what I can tell, the story [The Fairy Tale Murders] is a novella of sorts, most likely a little too weird to be a Cozy Mystery, but something for me to explore.  My brains been in a dark place lately, and this story might be what I need to move through it.  I hope to have it finished by the end of the month, so I can start NaNoWriMo with something new.

I don't wanna share too much of the story, but I'm going to show the small start below.  Not too many words, just a hint of what its about.  And remember, this is first draft only.  So its kinda Raw.  If you listen to the song at the same time, could be cool.

Kristy C

He looked down at the body before him, eyes staring blankly back.  Even in death, she was stunning.  Black hair splayed out around her head in a sort of halo.  The kind you can’t get without someone’s carefully combing it out.  Hands had been crossed over her chest, with an apple resting above them. 

Cause of death hadn’t yet been determined, but he’d have bet money it was poison.  A glass lay next to the body, tipped over with what had been left of the wine only a few drips in the glass, and a puddle on the floor. 

It fit with the other killings they’d had lately.   Three others, each killed by poison and each laid out to represent a fairy tale princess.  His analysts were having a field day working out a profile, as well as who would be next.  Best they could tell, before this one, only Snow White and Cinderella were left.  Although he’d pointed out the others had been princesses, while she’d only married a prince. 

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the rest of the room.  Four sealed boxes had been arranged around an old metal garbage can.  X-Ray machines were being brought in to see if they could figure out what was in each, before they opened them. 

Each one had a marking on it, and he had a feeling to what was in the last one.  It bothered him to no end, because it meant the reasons would never be known.  Killers like this didn’t tend to leave notebooks laying around with their reasons. 

He just hoped, it wasn’t who he suspected.  Stepping toward them, he saw the markings more clearly.  A rose, a wave, a braid and a swan. 

“They called her Cinderella, because they made her sleep in the ashes by the fireplace and she was always covered in the cinders.”  He mumbled, opening the lid as others yelled at him to stop. 

Staring up with a blank face was a lovely woman with golden hair.  Her body had been bent and twisted to fit into the can, before the ashes had been dumped in.  Looking back at the woman on the floor, he swore. 

They had an accomplice to look for.

0.0 Surprise Events

While I was heading over to take a friend grocery shopping, I checked my email and found a surprise in it.

Hello, and congratulations! You have been nominated for a 2014 Arts Award in the category of Imagination. We'd like to express gratitude for your good work for Spokane through the arts, and congratulate you on this recognition.

Needless to say, I was a little shocked by the email.  Looking it over, the thing looked legit and nothing was asking for money or telling me to download anything.  So, there was that.  And in general, I was sure it seemed familiar.  But that didn't stop me from wondering what the heck was going on.

After a little while, I remembered what was going on.  Someone on Fb had posted a link about a group trying to bring out the art in our city.  I'd jokingly asked a friend to nominate me.  I figured I'd be just one of hundreds and not much would come out of it in the end. Once it was done, I promptly forgot about it.

Land us on today, when suddenly I'm receiving this email saying I've been nominated.  To me, I don't really understand how it happened.  Its strange, as these things don't happen to me.  Sales have been sketchy lately, with some shows doing great and others not even bringing a profit.  My book hasn't sold a copy in weeks and I'm trapped at 4 reviews.

Yes, good things have been happening as well, but in the long run... Its just such a crap shoot that I figured nothing would come of my work.  At least, not locally.

I should explain a bit of that last comment.

Plenty of people around town have asked for help in various things.  Be it money, time, product, you name it, they've asked for it.  And I've tried to help as best I can.  Not perfect, and I'm not seeking to say 'That wouldn't have happened without me', but I've worked to help the local community.  The few times I've asked to get help, raising money or rebuilding my supplies after the theft... Well, 3 in the local community have helped.  Most of the help came from people I didn't expect it to come from.  Former customers, friends I haven't caught up with in ages, people like that.  But in the few times I've asked, none of those I've helped have helped me back.

I'm not demanding people repay, that's not how it works.  But when you see one person say 'Oh, help please?' and dozens of people rush to their side and when you say 'Help, please?' no one bothers to show up, it leaves you feeling out in the cold among friends.

Sure, we're all broke.  But I've still helped.  For f***'s sake, I gave a dollar to the homeless guy who cornered me to write me a poem!!

Its about sticking together as a community.  Everyone bitches about how we've splintered and that they don't talk to 'Those' people, or 'they just blocked me one day', but no one sees that they're doing the damage as well.  I've got friends in almost every splinter of the community.  I didn't take sides.  Everyones right and everyones wrong.  I get invited to things and hugged upon being seen, but for the most part... No help to be had when I need it.

Sorry for the vent, but when you look at the local community and that's what you see... Its hard to imagine someone reading what your best friend wrote about you, from her heart [in the lawyery way she writes ^^] and saying 'I like them.  Lets honor her in this.

Its like a little flash of hope in everything.  Perhaps not all of the community is as two faced as it feels they are. [This makes me feel like the Grinch.  “And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”]

Anywho... I've asked a few friends to help me out, as I need head shots to do this thing.  I've actually needed them for a while, but keep putting it off to not be in front of the camera.  I dislike being in front of the camera.  Thankfully, I've had a few people offer to help.  ^^  A few aren't even local, but said they wished they were to help me out.  Always nice to hear.

I'll keep you updated on the event.  Sorry for the rant, but its been bothering me for a while now.

Kristy C

New Fall Shows... 2 of...

Got a chance to watch Gracepoint last night.  Gotta say, what's interesting is that where How to Get Away With Murder is fast paced and jumpy, but in a good way, this one is slower and plodding along.

The difference makes it hard to watch one right after another, but still enjoyable.  I'm gonna keep watching it and see where it goes for now.  I'm fairly hard to please, but having the chance to watch them on my laptop, while I do other things, might be what I need to keep at it.  Also hoping my dad is able to upgrade things next year and I'll perhaps get my own box.

Sadly, most of the shows coming out this year [that I wanna see] are dramas and I can't handle too much in one night.  I'll catch up a on others this week. And I promise to not post it tomorrow.  :D

Kristy C