Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop (Snippet Sunday 5.29.16)

Welcome to Snippet Sunday on Darkling Dreams!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the FB group that does all three.

I am going to continue sharing from my first ever novel Breaking Point for the rest of May and through June. Breaking Point is an adventure novel that for once has no elements of fantasy.

Previously on Sunday Snippets: Our main character, who has yet to be named, has taken a ride through the forest on her horse Midnight, and has found herself racing a buck through the foliage. Midnight and his rider have veered off the path somewhere and have now found themselves in a uncharted part of the forest they have never seen before.

Picking up right where I left off from last week’s snippet.

(Some sentences may have been creatively edited and punctuated to try to fit the ten sentence limit. I’m over, again. Can we just agree that my snippets will always be a little longer but not too long?)

~*~*~*~

I readjusted my seat and leaned low over Midnight’s neck, pressing my heels into his sides and urging him into a trot. “Let’s get out of here, boy. Fast.”

Midnight didn’t even need my encouragement. The moment I spoke, he leaped forward to a canter, skipping the trot completely. We rode on and on, the hooting of the owl following us as we went. My fear began to mount even higher the farther we traveled. Nothing was at all familiar and I was beginning to think we weren’t going to find our way back home.

The thought of being lost out here in these words made me urge Midnight on faster. We raced with the wind, now speeding along at a fast gallop. Both of our breaths came in raspy gasps as we pushed our limits. The adrenaline caused by fear the only thing sustaining us.

It felt like we were riding for hours, for what really could have been no more than twenty minutes, when we saw up ahead the shining sun in a wide open clearing. Hope leaped within my chest at the sight of the warming sun. Midnight pricked his ears up as he saw it too, nickering in joy. Feeling exhaustion creep into my bones I pulled back on the reins, slowing us down so we could catch our breath.

As long as I could see the clearing, I wasn’t too pressed to make a run for it out of fear.

It wasn’t until we had slowed that I realized I no longer heard the owl hooting. Silence had replaced its constant chatter again, broken only by the occasional far off chirp of a bird from up ahead. The eerie silence settled in my gut again, new fear beginning to spread through me like black tendrils.

Crack!

I screamed at the sound, spinning my body and horse towards the source of it. My heartbeat sped up again in anticipation of something there. I tore my gaze through the mass of trees, scanning for the cause of the loud crack. My brain new it had to be just a tree branch breaking or some animal stepping on a fallen twig; but my imagination still ran wild with thoughts of murderous wood lurkers.

Clip-clop! Clip-clop!

From behind us came a new sound: the sound of hooves striking the ground. Again, I tensed, turning my horse and I around to face the sound. I half expected to see another horse and rider behind me, or maybe even another buck; but my eyes met nothing but trees and air.

~*~*~*~

Just what is behind them? Are they being followed?

Cover made by @writethelove on Wattpad

 

This story is not yet on Wattpad either as it is another unfinished work and unedited as well. I refuse to put up anything that is unedited. One day I hope to finish this book, but my focus this year is Fated to Darkness.

However! If you wish to read anything else that I do have finished, you can hop on over to  my profile on Wattpad and check out what I have to offer. I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,
hop on over to Facebook and check out Snippet Sunday!

Still Computer-Less

Ugh. Just ugh.

It has been a rough couple weeks since my last manageable post.

So here I am — was — again, back at the library to schedule the Sunday Snippets since I’m still without a working computer. It really sucks, and I’m still such a lost puppy. I figured if I’m scheduling my snippets I might as well schedule a post for Friday while I’m at it for an update.

Yes, I am still computer-less. Sadly. Very sadly.

The verdict now seems to be I either need a whole new computer, or I need to get a new hard drive for mine. Except, we aren’t even completely sure the hard drive is the problem on mine. I’m guessing I’ll take it to get looked at somewhere, see what a real expert says and go from there.

However, I’m starting to have mini panic attacks. I mean, Camp NaNo for July starts in a month. A MONTH. Do you know how nervous I’m getting that I won’t have a working computer when that time comes? I’m extremely nervous. I want to be able to do NaNo. I want to finish this first novel in my series this year.

I can’t do that without a computer to work from.

This is an author’s worst nightmare. Well, okay maybe the worst, worst nightmare would be losing an entire page, chapter, novel… Yeah, that’s way worse. I had that scare once already, not going there again. This is pretty far up on the nightmare scale though.

Anyways, the past two weeks have been rough, and I’ve gotten absolutely nothing done as well. No editing, no writing really, no nothing. I’m kicking myself. I’ve started a couple of the flash fictions, but I just lack the motivation and will power to keep going without a computer and a deadline of midnight to get them written and posted.

(See? This blog really has kept me on track then.)

And let me just say that blog hopping snippets using a Kindle is a royal pain in the ass.

I’m hoping things are now going to be picking back up a little and won’t be such a…shoot-me-now kind of mood. And that’s partly due to the fact I have gone back to horseback riding. Also, I need to get my camping journal up and ready by next week now that that is starting back up. Maybe that’ll be the motivation I need to get my butt moving again.

Maybe. Hopefully…

And here’s hoping I have a working computer within the next couple weeks, again. This whole lost feeling is getting old quick. You know it’s bad when you find yourself literally wandering in circles in the middle of your room because you feel like you have nothing to do without your computer.

Something Eerie (Snippet Sunday 5.22.16)

Welcome to Snippet Sunday on Darkling Dreams!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the FB group that does all three.

I am going to continue sharing from my first ever novel Breaking Point for the rest of May and through June. Breaking Point is an adventure novel that for once has no elements of fantasy.

Previously on Sunday Snippets: Our main character, who has yet to be named, has taken a ride through the forest on her horse Midnight, and has found herself racing a buck through the foliage. Midnight and his rider have veered off the path somewhere and have now found themselves in a uncharted part of the forest they have never seen before.

Picking up right where I left off from last week’s snippet.

(Some sentences may have been creatively edited and punctuated to try to fit the ten sentence limit. I’m over, again. Can we just agree that my snippets will always be a little longer but not too long?)

~*~*~*~

Somewhere along the way we had taken a new path, and I wasn’t quite sure where we had veered off from. I wasn’t at all familiar with where we were, and I wasn’t at all sure I knew how to make it back to the small trail that lead home. The forest around us had taken on an eerie setting, putting both me and my horse on edge.

Midnight slowed down to a nervous walk. Every so often he would prance and bob his head up and down, a sure sign that he knew something was amiss around us. I did the best I could with soothing gestures to try to calm him, while my own mind wandered down the path of all possible bad outcomes. My imagination was running wild, causing me to panic. Midnight could feel that through our bond and it wasn’t helping matters. I could try to calm my horse down as much as I wished, but it wouldn’t do a smidge of good unless I was calm myself.

And that wasn’t going to happen until we were somewhere familiar again.

For more than ten minutes we walked on cautiously. My eyes darted to every little sound, afraid that something was going to pop out. Midnight’s ears flickered back and forth as he caught the noises too, his tail swishing from side to side. My heart was beating in my chest like a racehorse, fear making my hands sweat causing me to lose my grip on the reins.

A lone owl hooting overhead made me jump and gasp. Midnight stopped in his tracks, throwing his head up and chewing his bit. I nearly fell out of the saddle at the sudden noise. The eeriness of the woods seemed to close in on us. There was no other sounds in the forest but that of the hooting owl.

 Suddenly we seemed all too exposed and unaware. I wanted to get the hell out of there. Fast.

~*~*~*~

Spooky, spooky.

Cover made by @writethelove on Wattpad

 

This story is not yet on Wattpad either as it is another unfinished work and unedited as well. I refuse to put up anything that is unedited. One day I hope to finish this book, but my focus this year is Fated to Darkness.

However! If you wish to read anything else that I do have finished, you can hop on over to  my profile on Wattpad and check out what I have to offer. I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,
hop on over to Facebook and check out Snippet Sunday!

Unexpected Trail (Snippet Sunday 5.15.16)

Welcome to Snippet Sunday on Darkling Dreams!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the FB group that does all three.

I am going to continue sharing from my first ever novel Breaking Point for the rest of May and through June. Breaking Point is an adventure novel that for once has no elements of fantasy.

Previously on Sunday Snippets: Our main character, who has yet to be named, has taken a ride through the forest on her horse Midnight, and has found herself racing a buck through the foliage.

Picking up right where I left off my snippet two week’s ago. (After an unexpected computer crash that screwed me for a week as my post Friday explains.)

(Some sentences may have been creatively edited and punctuated to try to fit the ten sentence limit. I’m over, again. Can we just agree that my snippets will always be a little longer but not too long?)

~*~*~*~

We passed tree after tree in our run, the buck following us the whole time. It stayed with us for what seemed like a good ten minutes. Until a sudden crashing sound made the deer spook and bolt away into the woods.

Midnight balked at the loud noise, shying away to the side and throwing his head up. He slowed down to a nervous trot and pranced, wary of what had caused the sound. I looked around in puzzlement, searching for the source, but could see no visible signs of what cause the sound. My best guess was that a large tree branch fell, or an older tree finally met its demise. I just didn’t see anything to back that theory up.

A crash as loud as it was couldn’t have been too far from our position. But from what I could see, there was no disturbance of animals or trees in the vicinity. I couldn’t possibly imagine what made the sound.

After several minutes, and numerous soothing words to Midnight, he finally calmed down enough to stop prancing around and chewing his bit. Gently, I stroked his neck, shushing him into a steady walk once more.

We continued on, walking for awhile to catch our breath from our long journey. Eventually, we were well rested enough to start our regular pace back up. I urged Midnight into a slow canter once more and watched as the trees passed by in a blur. We’d been out riding for over an hour, yet neither of us wished to return home. I took another glance around the trail, finally noting the differences in the surroundings. The path we were on now wasn’t familiar anymore, the trees to close together and blocking out the sunlight. Moss grew everywhere and thick lichen covered the forest floor.

Somewhere along the way we had taken a new path, and I wasn’t quite sure where we had veered off from. I wasn’t at all familiar with where we were, and I wasn’t at all sure I knew how to make it back to the small trail that lead home. The forest around us had taken on an eerie setting, putting both me and my horse on edge.

~*~*~*~

What could she possibly have stumbled onto out in the woods?

Cover made by @writethelove on Wattpad

 

This story is not yet on Wattpad either as it is another unfinished work and unedited as well. I refuse to put up anything that is unedited. One day I hope to finish this book, but my focus this year is Fated to Darkness.

However! If you wish to read anything else that I do have finished, you can hop on over to  my profile on Wattpad and check out what I have to offer. I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,
hop on over to Facebook and check out Snippet Sunday!

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

I know, I know, I haven’t had a post in a week now. I can only blame that on that fact I had another unexpected computer crash, same as what happened last November that left me computer-less for two months. I’m also blaming Mercury’s Retrograde, because, well, I can.

I’m not a happy camper.

However, I refuse to let it fully stop me this time around. Of course, I can’t actually make my blog posts for Tuesday or Friday’s now. (This is only posting because I’m scheduling it from the library. Scheduling is a major lifesaver let me tell you that, so are libraries.) And I cannot do my flash fiction pieces on Wednesday now without any computer to actually write them out, or post them. However, the one thing I can do is my Snippet Sunday posts.

I took a trip to the library on Wednesday and have scheduled the rest of the posts through May. Once the end of May hits, and if I still have no computer, I will take another trip out to schedule June’s snippets. So I’m not fully off the grid this time around.

Though my snippets will be the only thing posting until I either get a new computer or I manage to fix this one again. At this point, I’m not sure which it’s going to be.

Anyways, the computer crash threw a host of issues into my face. Can’t blog, can’t blog hop for Sunday Snippets, can’t write, can’t do much of anything.

I was going to be literal lost puppy when everything I do revolves around writing and needing a computer. (Funny how you never actually realize how dependent you are on a piece of technology as an author until this happens.) And I was a literal lost puppy staring at a wall bored out of my mind for five days.

Then I started to have a few epiphanies, thanks to a couple good friends.

Yes, I can’t do my normal blog posts, but I can still journal of course. This is why I have a journal. Yes, I can’t do my flash fiction pieces here or post them to Wattpad, but I can still view the prompts from the Wordpress app on my phone which means I can still longhand write them. (I won’t be able to post them here ever, but I can still post them to Wattpad and make a blog post when I have access to a computer again giving an overview of the new ones added and such. Which is what I plan to do.)

Yes, I can’t write my novel without a computer when I didn’t know where I left off, but I can view the Word doc from my Kindle to find where I left off (I email them to myself for extra back up safety) and then I can keep writing longhand. Though it will be major pain in the arse to type everything over to the Word doc later. Yes, I can’t blog hop, but then I was told I can do it from my Kindle, as painstakingly slow as it is that way. Yes, I can’t update Rivers of Black on Wattpad or my Word doc now when I was going to edit it this month, but I can still do the paper edits and work things out. I’m super glad I had all this printed before April now.

So, in reality, almost everything I do on a daily, weekly basis for writing, I can still do with a few short cuts or changes. I’ll have a lot of catching up to do via novel writing and Shards of Imagination for Wattpad once I get a working computer again, but I’m not totally screwed.

And therefore, there is hope.

Things were looking quite down, but now there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. I can make this work. And until I get that computer, you’ll at least see something of me in my Sunday Snippet posts.

 

(Oh, and happy Friday the 13th! May the odds be ever in your favor when it’s a Full Moon too. *Snickers*)

A Beltane Dance (Wednesday Words 5.4.16)

Welcome to a piece of Wednesday Word’s flash fiction on Darkling Dreams!

A good friend of mine, P.T. Wyant, is doing a blog post every Wednesday called Wednesday Words with a new prompt for a bit of flash fiction writing, just to get in the habit of writing something, anything. (Even if said flash fiction is complete garbage at the time. Garbage is better than nothing though, right?) If you’re looking for some inspiration yourself or just something to aimlessly write, then go check out her blog for this week’s prompt!

With that being said, I am going to share what I came up with for this week’s flash fiction prompt based off a three word combination prompt. So here is my very rough around the edges minute of inspiration based off her prompt. I’d love to hear what you guys think of it!

(Please excuse any errors you may see, I said it was rough around the edges.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A Beltane Dance

Sapphire sat Indian style in the mouth of the cave, clapping her hands along to the beat of the drums as she swayed side to side slightly. The other young children were gathered around her, all giggling and smiling, trying to sing along to the tune in completely off pitches. The string instruments and the pipes were playing along to the drums, the music filling the dawning air as the sun rose over the horizon and painted the land in bright tones of spring and liveliness.

The ribbons of the May Pole were sparkling in the morning light as they weaved in and out and around with the dance. The grownups and older children perfectly in sync as they wove the ribbons and danced around with bright eyes and smiles, their hearts raised in welcoming and love. The woman’s skirts fluttered in the warm breeze, the earthy tones of their clothes matching in sync to the awakening earth around them. Flowers and ribbons adorned their hair in braided styles and crowns atop their heads.

A sense of tight togetherness hung among the group as they danced barefoot in the lilac strewn field, and Sapphire watched them wistfully, wishing she was old enough to join in the celebration yet. Of course, she was old enough to join in on some of the activities, but the dance was too confusing for her yet, and her legs too short to keep up with the others.

One day though. One day she would be dancing with the rest of them around the May Pole, raising her heart and voice to the sky.

The birds were joining in with their dawn chorus now, nearly sending a chill of delight and excitement down her spine. The mingling sounds of nature and the humans’ voices were beautiful and harmonious, accompanied by the crackling bonfire to the side.

“Come on, Sapphire,” another child giggled happily.

She felt the tap on her shoulder then looked up as the chubby young girl grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet, spinning and bouncing around in a circle together. All the other children started gathering and grabbing partners and trios, dancing around just as they while their laughter filled the cave walls, bouncing and echoing with their voices. Eventually the children held hand in hand with one another, forming two large circles, one inside the other, dancing in opposite directions to each other.

Dancing to the new beginnings under a Beltane sun, celebrating the life and vitality of the awakening earth; this was how she wished every day would start, with dance and song.

---

Now you can find this flash fiction work and others on my profile on Wattpad! Click here for my profile and go dive into a sea of Shards of Imagination!

Cover made by @_teenagers on Wattpad

What’s Next?

I feel lost…

Camp NaNo has officially ended for April and now I’m not quite sure what I’m doing with myself. It always feels this way after one of these months; like I’m supposed to be doing something but I can’t quite figure out what. I feel like I should still be making a mad dash in writing, but now I don’t have to mad dash it.

I’m lost.

It’s like coming down from an addicted high and bottoming out until you figure out which direction you’re going again, stumbling around blindly in a daze while you feel like you’re missing something.

Which, in truth, you are. You’re missing the frenzied writing that has taken up every waking, and non-waking, moment of your life in the past month.

Anywho…

I finally copy and pasted over everything I wrote for Camp into the original Word doc for Fated to Darkness. Any guesses on what that grand total is now? Any? No? Well, before the start of NaNo, I was sitting just under 200 pages and I was roughly 10k below hitting 100k for the whole novel.

Drum roll please!

The grand total now is that I’m sitting at 319 pages and 152.7k words.

Those numbers are blowing my mind.

Not so much the word count number, I knew how many words I wrote, and I knew this novel was going to be long. But the number of pages I jumped is really blowing my mind. I feel like I didn’t even see the 200’s at all. I just passed by them in a blink of an eye, collected 200 dollars around Go, and now I’m suddenly seeing the number 319. Like…shit. I can’t even wrap my head around that yet.

I went from page 189 (roughly when I do the math) to page 319 in a month. A month, people.

My head is spinning. I’m half in shock at that and half internally giggling and smiling.

So now what? What’s next now that Camp NaNo’s first session of 2016 is over?

I’m…not too sure just yet.

I know I need to keep myself on track and not fall off the horse again in writing. Even if it’s not every day, I at least need to be writing something every week. I don’t just mean my flash fiction Shards either. I’m still sticking to them, but I’m saying I need to keep on with Fated to Darkness as well. Not fall off the horse as I normally do.

Yes, July’s Camp is only two months away now. And yes, I am already thinking about it. Depending how these two months go in writing, I know I’ll be working on Fated to Darkness for July as well. (My goal is to finish this novel this year, after all. First draft at least.) The only difference is how far I’ll be in the novel by then and if, by some excited chance, I’ll finish it in July.

Now of course there’s other things I need to be doing again that I’ve neglected all through April. (Seriously though, what writer doesn’t push everything else to the back burner during NaNo months?)

I think I’ve come up with a tentative plan for the month of May. I think.

Since I didn’t do it in March like I wanted, I need to re-edit Rivers of Black and get that re-released into the Wattpad realm so that — I’m hoping — it draws a little more attention. I also have another book I have to beta read this month again. Then there’s the other menial chores around the house like cleaning a bathroom and all that fun stuff.

Other than my flash fiction Shards, I want to keep writing, so I’ll be juggling editing, writing, and beta reading all in one month. Plus work. Plus getting ready for the camping season starting the beginning of next month. Plus…

Yeah… And I thought NaNo months were crazy…

Well I know my “what’s next?” now. Only, here’s the better question to that answer:

Which one do I start with first?

Snippet Sunday: May 1, 2016

Welcome to Snippet Sunday on Darkling Dreams!

Where writers come together to share a few sentences (8-10) of their current project — whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the FB group that does all three.

Welcome to May! And Blessed Beltane, everyone! Hopefully those April showers have begun to bring you beautiful May flowers.

New month means I am finally moving away from sharing snippets of Fated to Darkness. I am moving on to the first ever book I started in the NaNoWriMo months. It was the first novel I ever began to write, before the Dark Heir Chronicles began. (Though that series was always in my mind long before this story came along.) For this month, and maybe June as well, I am going to be sharing snippets from my adventure novel, Breaking Point.

Previously on Sunday Snippets: Well, I have nothing to put here since nothing has happened with this novel just yet.

This snippet starts from a couple pages into the story.

~*~*~*~

This was where I was home: out here in the woods, flying across the ground with my horse as the sun warmed my back and riding healed my soul. There was no other place out there that I was this happy. Nothing could beat the joy riding with Midnight brought me. Just being around my horse did me wonders for the mind, body, and soul.

Midnight’s neigh and my laugh rang out through the trees, joining with the sounds of nature in a chorus of joy.

A snort to the right of us brought my attention back to my surroundings. Running parallel to us was through the thicket of trees was a large buck.

Excitement rang through me at the sight of the buck. Never before had another animal come this close to us as we clopped through the forest at a steady trot. The buck seemed to be keeping pace with us at the moment, occasionally snorting in what sounded like amusement. It almost seemed as if it was challenging us.

With a new thought, I sat back into the saddle and gathered up the reins again. I leaned in close to Midnight and whispered, “let’s show him what we got.”

Midnight bobbed his head and did a small hop, pulling forward on the reins. A gesture that said let me run free. A smile lit up my face as I pressed my heels into his sides and glanced towards the buck. Midnight leaped forward at my touch, picking up distance between the buck and ourselves. Seconds passed by, the distance between us growing greater and greater. We were quickly leaving the buck behind.

I looked back over my shoulder, searching for the buck but saw no sign of it. Looking forward again I caught a flash of brown to my left this time, I glanced over and caught sight of the buck. At some point from the time we had taken off, it had crossed behind us and come up on our left.

The buck kept steady pace with us, racing at the same speed we were. It was a test to see who would wear out first.

I pressed my heels into Midnight more, sending us even faster. He responded easily, his ears flicking towards the sound of the buck running through the brush. Slowly, we gained a little ground over the buck but it wasn’t long before the buck caught back up to us.

I stared over at it in amazement, completely awed by the sight of the buck running with us. It brought a whole new feeling of freedom to see a creature that lived by its own rules run alongside those that could not. It was almost like we were as free as the deer now, a part of a whole other world that laid just beyond our backyards.

A world that lived by its freedom.

~*~*~*~

Well? I know I’ve switched back to first person POV writing with this novel, and there’s no elements of fantasy to this one. It’s strictly modern adventure.

Cover made by @writethelove on Wattpad

 

This story is not yet on Wattpad either as it is another unfinished work and unedited as well. I refuse to put up anything that is unedited. One day I hope to finish this book, but my focus this year is Fated to Darkness.

However! If you wish to read anything else that I do have finished, you can hop on over to  my profile on Wattpad and check out what I have to offer. I love to hear any and all feedback on my work as well. Comments are greatly appreciated, as are the reads.

And if you’re looking for some other great snippets of fellow authors,
hop on over to Facebook and check out Snippet Sunday!