Social With Me

The impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic has officially reached me since my last post. Minimally, I’m getting a fifteen day vacation but it’s panning out like that fifteen days might be extended at least a little longer. I’m not complaining. A long vacation is actually really soulfully and mentally healing. I can focus on other things without worrying about work. Not that I’ve done too much in the last seven days thus far…

Anyways, amidst this time of “social distancing” I thought I would give a quick share of all the ways you can still follow me socially among the big ‘ole internet. Let’s stay social, six feet apart and behind screens!

This blog is my first stop for social. You can find snippets of my work, get in touch with me, and see what’s up in a slightly more formal manner. I try to post once a week. If you have WordPress account you can follow me via the sidebar prompt. If you don’t have a WordPress account you can enter an email address on the sidebar instead and get an email every time I post.

Look to the right sidebar!

Secondly, you can find me on Facebook under my author page. Most of what goes on with Facebook is chatting among writing groups and sharing of these blog posts, with the occasional other post thrown in there. I don’t utilize it as much as I probably should, but Facebook’s algorithms are a pain in the ass.

https://www.facebook.com/DarklingDreams

Like Facebook, you can now also find me on Twitter! I made the account last year and have meant to announce that in a more public way instead of just my sidebar announcing it, but never quite got around to it. With Twitter you can find me sharing weekly flash fiction challenges and other writing related tidbits from fellow authors, editors, and many others, a few more updates than what Facebook gets, and some other chatting. Currently, I’m doing a #StayHome #QuarantineLife adventures update each night because I gotta fill up these hours of the day somehow without the evil day job.

https://www.twitter.com/DaelynMorgana

Lastly, and least interactive of all, you can still find me on Wattpad. Most of my free reads are now unpublished thanks to growing concerns about Wattpad’s security for authors’ rights and their stories. (See my old, old blog post for details.) But a few that I know will never go anywhere beyond where they are now are still available to read. Not that I recommend it. There’s a reason they were left on the “yeah, no, not happening” pile.

https://www.wattpad.com/user/DarkMistress13

So that’s it! Those are the four places you can currently find me on the big ‘ole internet right now. Be sure to give me a follow if you feel so inclined to follow along the life of a sporadic, forgetful, dark fiction author with an evil day job that one day will find a way to make her writing her full time job.

Winner, Winner! #LoveBites2020

Life has been hard the last couple weeks. The world has gone crazy over the COVID-19 virus and stress is high. Amongst it though there are still moments of brightness, calm, and smiles. Like last week — which I definitely meant to blog about last week — when the winners of the #LoveBites2020 flash fiction blog hop challenge were released.

I woke up last Tuesday, during a glorious three day weekend for the first time in months, to an announcement that put a smile on my face for the rest of the day. I’m very much a dark writer, and Valentine’s Day is very much a light and happy holiday. So when I turned my chosen prompt of the Love Bites challenge into something darker that kills the mood I had no expectations of winning anything.

As it turned out, the judges loved my twist on the prompt and I took second place with a prize of a $5 Amazon gift card! If you want to reread my entry tale “Masks and Kisses” you can find it in my last blog post. Here’s what the judges said about my second place win, courtesy of Katheryn J. Avila’s (the host of Love Bites) blog…

Cara says: This is another entry that took the prompt and gave it a twist, though a much darker one. The public face created to endure abuse is the heartbreaking core of this “fake relationship,” and you root for the MC to find her way free. She does… bringing me to my only disappointment in this story. Though vague understanding that something has happened is there, the ending just doesn’t quite pack the punch of the rest of the story. Guess that just means you have to write more!

Siobhan says: This story was well crafted and gave all the warnings from the beginning, but how often do we ignore them in order to fit in and make others happy? A chilling tale with a rather final solution at the end that left me satisfied if not happy. Great story.

Ever says: You took the Fake Relationship trope and ran into a dark alley with it. I was blown away by how much you packed into the snapshots of time you showed us. And I genuinely cheered when what I thought was Amanda’s last moments turned out to be her Fight For Freedom! W00t w00t!

Miranda says: I loved Daelyn’s maybe due to it being closer to home for me (I witnessed that stuff as a child). I liked how she worked up to the ending, slow and steady making you read faster and faster. Great execution and never saying too much, just enough for you to know and pique your interest until the end.

Katheryn says: A great take on the prompt. The story was tense and kept me on edge until the very end. You can really feel for the narrator – her pain, her stress, and her dread. For such a brief piece, its intensity lingers long after you’ve finished reading it.

It feels a bit like a small win being as there were only five eligible tales in the running, but it is still a confidence boost for my writing. It tells me that despite my prolonged hiatus for more than a year now I haven’t completely destroyed my writing muscles. I consider that something to smile about, and something to help rekindle that fire before the Camp NaNoWriMo madness of April comes screaming around the corner.

If you want to check out who took first place you can see the winning tale and the judges’ feedback here. Quite the sweet, innocent tale took first place. A welcome change from the true love and lust of Valentine’s Day.

Many thanks to Katheryn for hosting the blog hop challenge, as well as to Cara Michaels, Siobhan Muir, Miranda Kate, and Ever Addams for their judgery! I can’t wait for the next seasonal challenge. Until then I’m going to go use that five dollars to buy myself a book and start focusing on the current contest before me.