2015 NaNoWriMo - Let's Do This

Over the years, for the few followers of this blog, you have watched me write, stop, write again, stop, and write some more. Well, the stopping is over, at least for now. I am doing NaNo again this year and I am determined to complete it. 

Except this time, you can help me. If you write, we can be writing buddies, encouraging one another to get those daily word counts in. If you don't write, drop me a message to push me, ask me if I've written today, or for the very daring of you, you can sponsor me here to help support NaNo and all of their great programs.

The novel I'm working on this year is Waking Elizabeth, a tragic romance ... not my normal genre, but the story struck me one day on my way home from work and nearly brought me to tears. That's been a few years now but the punch of the scene that came to my head is still as potent as it was then. Here is a synopsis:

For ten years, Elizabeth's husband, Jeff, has been in a coma after suffering a serious brain injury while on a job site. She held on hope that he would eventually wake up, but as the years wore on, it seemed less and less likely. He remained in a coma, neither of them able to move on.

Finally worn down by friends and family to go out and live a little, Elizabeth does but it backfires on her spectacularly. Fighting guilt over the vows she made so long ago, she struggles on what to do, to live when he cannot, to possibly even find love again ... 

Just as she thinks that she can move on, the impossible happens. Jeff, the first love of her life, wakes up. Elizabeth is caught between the past and the present ... and if love can really strike twice.


You can check on my progress by checking my blog updates, my Facebook page, or the word counter to the right.

Thanks for sticking around and I hope to see you this November encouraging me AND sponsoring me to finish this novel!

Thanks!

100 Days of Creativity - DFQ Edition - Day 2

So, two days in a row! I've made a new record!

Today's dabble is Finish That Thought...., another great Flash Fiction contest.

It was the night of a blood red moon. According to the legends of Mirja'a's people, it was during nights like these where the rivers would flow with the blood of their enemies.

It was also a night like this when the Bijeszlo attacked so many years ago, when the blood of Strijela flowed freely, saturating the ground and water.

The time for revenge was at hand. It was a special blessing from Upinde indeed that would give the Strijela a blood red moon on the same night as Sha'donar. The holy celebration before battle took on a deeper, more personal meaning this night.

Mirja'a tested the tautness of the string of her bow as she listened to the singing and drumming of the priests and priestesses. She would make an appearance soon, before her people, before they began their march north to the territories of the hated Bijeszlo.

Setting her bow aside, she picked up her hakta and tested the edge with the pad of her thumb. A thin line of red blossomed across her skin. Satisfied, Mirja'a pressed harder, causing blood to pool along the edge. Once there was enough along the blade, she used her thumb to mark her face with her lifeblood, across her cheeks, forehead, and chin. The tang of iron settled around her, but she didn't mind.

Carefully, Mirja'a held the blade out in the small fire in front of her, letting the heat burn away the last vestiges of her blood and cleansing it. The remnants of her blood bubbled, burned, then flaked away, leaving the knife sparkling and pure. The next blood that her sacred hakta would taste would be that of a Bijeszlo.

The music from the holy people of Strijela was beginning to crescendo and Mirja'a was expected to appear soon. She murmured a quick but earnest prayer to Upinde as she gathered her various weapons.

It was time. The people of Holy Upinde would get their revenge and the rivers would flow red again. Soon the Bijeszlo would discover the consequences of their actions. Soon, Mirja'a's parents would be vindicated, once and for all.

@MLGammella
355 Words

100 Days of Creativity - DFQ Edition - Day 1

So I'm a member of a most excellent group of creatives on Facebook, a very open, welcoming group that nurtures and supports one another both with creative endeavors and even personal. Many of us in that group have decided to participate in the "100 Days of Creativity." In my desperate desire to get back into the habit of writing again, I am using the 100 Days and support by my DFQ group to push me to do something, anything, to get the creative juices flowing and get my muse back in shape.

Best way to get ones toes wet is with flash contests. There are some new contests out now that weren't when I last participated. I look forward to trying these out. Look for my posts with the hashtag #100Days as I get back into it.

For the first day, I'm diving into the 100 Words challenge by Velvet Verbosity.

The word is "shelf," and these are my words.

This was her most sacred place, the place where the relics of her parents were kept. She knew every corner, every shelf. Countless nights Mirja'a fell asleep staring at the carved images of her parents while candles burn down to nubs, wishing she could bring them back.

The priests said she had immense power, but none of it was enough to change the past. None of it was enough to burn away the sounds of her parents being slaughtered by the Bijeszlo.

The only things remaining of her parents were on these shelves, powerless and impotent, just as she felt.

@MLGammella
100 Words

Time Flies ...

This is embarrassing.

My last post on this blog was a year and a half ago.

Where did I go wrong?

*sigh*

My muse left for awhile, I was so busy working, excited in my new job.

However, my muse has come back, at least for a little while. She whispers in my ear, ideas and stories that swirl and percolate in my brain, marinating until I am able to put them down to paper (or virtual paper as it were).

Maybe I've just gotten better at balancing work and pleasure ... who knows.

If you are reading this, thank you for sticking around and checking things out.

I promise I won't be gone for so long again.