Least I Could Do: the Comic

I hope my boys don’t read this before they get old enough to realize that it isn’t a good idea. I am not cleaning that up.

 

Least I Could Do: the Comic.

The hits just keep on coming

Well, my first round of queries went out. I submitted to ten agents, and now I get to wait for a while as they review the submission. I have already received one rejection, which I thought was fast.

I have also submitted a couple of poems on Persephone to Pantheon magazine. They were also rejected.

Like I said, the hits just keep on coming.

Oh well, the other thing that is coming is Halloween. This year looks like it is going to be more fun than usual, and we are hoping to celebrate in new ways. I can’t wait.

L. E. White

By The Way – This post went up early because I hit publish rather than schedule. I didn’t change the time on purpose. I will try to get it right next week.

Reminders

Tammy walked down the street, stumbling as she tried to balance on her heels after both bottles of wine. The wind was cold, whipping around her bare legs as the stretchy skirt worked its way higher.

“Do you see that,” John asked. He nudged Mark to get the tall, thin man to turn and look down the street.

“Yes I do,” Mark said. He stood up from the wall and stretched, his spine popping as he did so. “I believe she may be in need of some assistance getting home tonight.”

“I do believe you are right brother.” John shifted his jacket as he started toward the little brunette. “I do believe you are right.”

***

She could remember them walking up beside her, one on either side. They had asked if she was okay. They had asked if she needed help. The men had each offered to help her, and she had thrown one arm over each of their shoulders.

“My heros.” Tammy could remember giggling as she let them lead her down the street and into and alley.

“Where are we?” They hadn’t answered her question. The men had started grabbing and rubbing. They had started pulling her cloths and the whole world started to spin.

When she lost her balance, they helped her lie down on the pavement. She could remember the little rocks poking into her back as one of them had crawled on top of her. She had looked up past his shoulder at the moon.

The full moon.

Tammy thought she had said stop, but she wasn’t sure.

Now, her dress was shredded. The stretchy black fabric was split in places. The dress now showed enough skin to get her arrested.

At least the black hid the blood. There was red from her finger tips to her elbows and she was sure her face was covered. Judging from the pieces of thug that were splattered around the alley, she wouldn’t be surprised if every inch of skin was red.

“I hate it when I roll around afterwards,” she said as she stood up.

Tammy took one last look around. Seeing the skull with the lower jaw ripped off and the boot with an ankle still sticking out of it. She sighed, and started making her way down the alley. “I really need to set a phone reminder about the moon.”

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No guts, no glory

I did it. I pulled the trigger and started sending out query letters. Wish me luck, I will take all of it I can get.
I have also started working on my next novel. It isn’t part of the series that I want to produce, it seems like it makes more sense to write something different for the next piece in case I have trouble selling the first book in the series. I am currently working on a story about shape-shifting, predatory nature spirits. The working title is Oak, Ash and Thorn.

I am also working on a poetry submission for Popcorn Press. This year, they are producing another collection of holiday poetry for Halloween. The kick-starter for Halloween Haiku II just started and is a great project to get behind. Check it out. I have been a part of the last two Cthulhu collections and I hope they accept some of this year’s work as well.

In the meantime, I hope you are gearing up for Halloween. It is the greatest time of the year and for my family, our favorite holiday.

L. E. White

Growl

Jack hunkered by the fence. He tried to control his breathing and make less noise, hoping to hide from the creature.

He heard the soft crunch of gravel as a paw settled onto the road. Jack held his breath, wishing that he could quiet his heart as well. He fought not to gasp as he listened to a few more crunching steps before the road went silent.

Jack struggled to stay still and listen rather than just running down the road and hoping that he didn’t run into it again.

His eyes widened when he heard it growl above him.

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Dork Tower | The Place for All Things Dork.

Learning Curve

Learning from your mistakes is one of the things that we all really need to focus on doing more of. I came very close to FUBAR-ing my first agent queries. You would think I would learn, and in this case, I might have.

I said last week that if things went well, I would be sending out queries when the post went live. Things were going well until I did a quick web search about how to write a good synopsis.

The one that I wrote was horrible. It needs a lot of work. I almost started sending this out without having done that research. I would have ruined my chances with my top choice agents and I wouldn’t have known why.

I have made this sort of mistake before, many times in fact. At least this time, I did learn something. The queries are being worked on, the synopsis is being whipped into shape and I haven’t sent anyone anything yet.

Whew.

L. E. White

Making a Connection

Nadine knelt on the floor, dragging a piece of chalk back and forth as she drew a thick, white line on the ground. She hummed an old lull-a-bye, repeating the tune over and over as he worked.

There was a metal rod in the center of the floor with a string leading from it to the chalk. Whenever she felt the line was full enough, Nadine would slip to the side, and resume her work an arm’s length further around the room.

The sounds coming from the cages beside the door were soft. The animals would click as they drank water from the bottles hung on their doors, but otherwise, they were quiet. They rested on their blankets, chins resting on front paws, watching the woman work.

Nadine used a compass to find the proper starting point for the symbols. She drew strange, squiggling lines in little groups around the circle. Each one marked one of the twelve places from North to North again. Then, she drew another circle around the whole.

She sat small towers with extension cords coming out of the bottom in eight positions around the outer most circle. Once they were plugged in, Nadine walked around the room. She checked and re-checked that everything was in its proper place.

She pressed a few of the buttons on her phone before flipping it over in her hand and lifting it up. “Trial run number 23, Brotherhood scenario,” she said.

“To increase the power available for the reaction, I have added in a modified Jacob’s ladder. This allows for eight points of activation around the circle. By placing the central focus in the circle with extended strike surfaces facing the powered poles, I believe I can add energy to the reaction without breaking the boundary of the circle.”

She stepped to the cages and brought out two animals. The tiny monkey went inside the circle to the north while a parrot went in the south. Each of the animals were asleep, drugs making sure that they would not disturb the process by moving.

Nadine took her place inside another small circle outside the ring of lightning rods and knelt back down. She placed her hands on two crystals, pieces of each lay scattered around the animals. She took a deep breath and focused her mind on the idea of bonding the animals into a single creature. After a minute of deep breathing, she pressed a button on the remote in her pocket.

The lights in the room dimmed as the power diverted to the circle. Electricity cracked through the air and a miniature lightning storm began to fire from rod to rod.

With her eyes closed so that the sight would not distract her, Nadine envisioned both animals. She imagined them shifting into a collection of slow moving globes of light. The motes of energy began to swirl around inside the circle. The center of the swirl moved to a point at the top of a triangle connecting the two bodies. It hovered there and the little balls of light began to funnel down. As the lights bumped into each other, they joined; leaving a single, larger globe to continue towards the axis. When there was only a single light left, it hovered a few inches above the floor, spinning like a top.

Nadine envisioned her hands shaping that last ball of energy, molding it into the shape of a mouse with wings.

She smiled and relaxed when she thought the image in her head was perfect. She started to put her hand in her pocket to turn off the array, but a loud popping noise startled her. Nadine’s eyes snapped open, and she stared at the black spots on the floor.

Scorch marks covered the spots where each animal had lain. Black smears on the concrete floor were all that remained of her test subjects, but she did not look at those marks long.

What held her attention was the third mark. That one was distinct, with crisp edges like someone had spray painted the shape onto the floor with a stencil. Nadine leaned over, her nose inches away from it, and began to cry.

It looked like a monkey with wings.

That was more difficult that I expected.

August is over and I am going to allow myself to go back to including monsters and the supernatural in my stories. I enjoy these elements. Having that kind of thing in my work makes it more fun to write.

It is time to have fun again. 🙂

Also, the latest issue of The Siren’s Call is available. Pick it up here and get a collection of apocalyptic fiction as well as another one of my stories.

On a related note, I have finished my novel. I have written a one page synopsis and a query letter. I have also decided to re-write the ending based on a conversation with a far more successful author and teacher. I plan to do that on Tuesday night, so if things work out, I am already looking for an agent when this post is published.

The working title is “Double Occupancy”. It is the story of a wizard who makes a mistake and binds the spirit of another wizard to himself. Two souls in one body. After four years together, the pair is trying to find another body to host the spirit so that they can finally have some alone time.

With any luck, I will be publishing Double Occupancy soon. As of now, it is time to start on my third novel. I wrote the second last year, but I trunked it because I don’t believe it is good enough for publication. I may look into it again in the future, but not right now. The story of a demonically possessed, life sized, sex doll doesn’t seem like one that will go well. I could be wrong, but, I just don’t have faith in it.

So, on to the next novel. I have a lot of ideas but I don’t know which one to start on.

I have an idea that crosses science with spiritualism where people can see and interact with their spirit guides. A different take on vampirism, making them more of the monsters that they used to be. A shape-shifting nature spirit that is looking for love and revenge, or, a historical piece where a father and soldier tries to secure a place for his dying little girl in a mythology that he isn’t a part of.

And that is just the top of the list.

Do any of you have an opinion? Just curious what you think. Leave me a comment and let me know.

L.E. White

(Quick Note – I am going to go ahead and publish the flash piece that I was talking about last week. I enjoyed it, and I still want to share it, even if it was rejected. I liked it, I hope you will too. The difference is that I am not doing it to get out of writing a new piece due to writer’s block. I think that difference is important.)

 

Voyeur

By L. E. White

 

Jenny pushed one errant strand of bottle blonde hair behind her ear as she glanced up at the boy beside her. “Are you sure about this?”

Roger nodded and aimed a wide smile at her. “Yeah, it’s gonna be great.”

“It just seems wrong.”

“If they didn’t want anyone to see them then they wouldn’t do it here.”

She licked her lips and opened her mouth, but snapped it shut with a tiny smack when she heard the door at the bottom of the stairway open.

“Shhhhh.” Roger held his finger to his lips before peeking over the railing toward the bottom.

Jenny did the same, leaning out over the rail as little as possible. Hoping that the couple would not see her.

At the bottom of the stairs a skinny, dark haired young man was shrugging off his backpack. Beside him, a tiny girl with purple and red hair pressed against the wall to see if anyone had noticed them ducking through the door.

“Coast clear?”

The boys whispered his words to the girl, but they carried up the stairwell to Roger and Jenny.

“Yeah,” she said. “I think we’re good. You ready?”

The voyeurs watched as the boy answered the question by kissing her.

Jenny’s eyes widened as she watched them. They broke apart after a second, and she felt her heart racing in anticipation. “Wow.” Excitement filled the whispered word.

“Yeah,” Roger answered. He leaned over and spoke into Jenny’s ear, his voice no louder than a breath. “But just wait, there’s more.”

A chill chased goose bumps down her spine, and Jenny shivered.

The couple at the bottom of the stairs separated, and the boy went to his pack. He took something and walked over to the wall.

Jenny’s smile faded, replaced by a look of mild confusion. With the girl keeping a lookout through the doors little window, the boy was rubbing something on the wall. “What is he doing?”

“Just wait. You’ll see.”

After a minute, the boy went back to his bag. A quick clicking noise that reminded Jenny of a child shaking a toy , drifted up the to them. After a second, the clicking stopped, replaced by a hiss.

“What are they doing?”

Jenny’s question was too loud. The sound carried up and down the stairwell, causing Roger to lean back from the edge. The couple at the bottom of the stairs both looked up at the same time that Roger grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away from the railing. He held her and waited until the hissing started again.

“That was close,” Roger said. “Just be patient.”

Jenny frowned, but nodded anyway.

The pair on the third floor leaned back over and watched as the couple on the ground floor did their thing. The smell of paint wafted up to Jenny and she wrinkled her nose before covering the lower half of her face with her hand.

She leaned back, moving away from the stench, until she heard the bottom door open again.

“Come on,” Roger said, using his normal voice. “Let’s go see it.”

He took her hand, and Jenny felt the heat flow from his body into hers. She ignored the odor and the insanity of what he had wanted to do so that she would remain welcome explore with him. She almost stumbled as they descended. Roger’s excitement over the creation of the graffiti causing him to rush.

They stopped at the bottom to look at the wall. Jenny had planned to say something polite, but sarcastic. She intended to try not to offend Roger, figuring that he was enamored by the thrill of petty crime.

“Oh,”

“I know,” he said.

The image on the wall wasn’t what she expected. There were no swear words outlined in different colors. It wasn’t an insult to someone by suggesting that you call their number for a good time.

“Oh,” Jenny said again.

Broken black lines formed the outlines of flowers, and splashes of color sat inside those black lines. The artist had left wide, bare places so that the original white of the wall added to the picture without looking forgotten. They were lilies, three different kinds, each at least four feet across.

Jenny looked over at the trash can and saw the stencils shoved into it. The people had not trashed the building. That pair had risked getting in trouble to share their art with everyone else that passed through this door.

Roger had brought her here so that she could be the first to see it.

“What do you think?”

Jenny reached out and took Roger’s hand. She squeezed it and leaned against him. “It’s beautiful.”