Welcome to Day #2 of the WordCrafter Lingering Spirit Whispers Book Blog Tour, where we are celebrating the December 1st release of the Lingering Spirit Whispers paranormal anthology set. This unique collection of ghosties galore is a must read for all lovers of paranormal fiction. Available for pre-order now.
Lingering Spirit Whispers
We’re hanging out over at Un dawnted, where D.L. Mullen is interviewing contributing authors from the anthologies included in this set, and today’s author guest is… um… me! Kaye Lynne Booth. I have one story featured in each anthology. Un dawnted has no commenting capabilities, so please leave any comments you might have about the interview here, on Writing to be Read.
Kaye Lynne Booth lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Colorado. With a dual emphasis M.F.A. in Creative Writing, writing is more than a passion. It’s a way of life. She’s a multi-genre author, who finds inspiration from the nature around her, and her love of the old west, and other odd and quirky things which might surprise you.
She has short stories featured in the following anthologies: The Collapsar Directive (“If You’re Happy and You Know It”); Relationship Add Vice (“The Devil Made Her Do It”); Nightmareland (“The Haunting in Carol’s Woods”); Whispers of the Past (“The Woman in the Water”); Spirits of the West (“Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”) and Where Spirits Linger (“The People Upstairs”). Her western, Delilah, her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets, and her short story collection, Last Call, are all available in both digital and print editions.
In her spare time, she keeps up her author’s blog, Writing to be Read, where she posts reflections on her own writing, author interviews and book reviews, along with writing tips and inspirational posts from fellow writers. She’s also the founder of WordCrafterEnterprises. In addition to creating her own imprint in WordCrafter Press, she offers quality author services, such as editing, social media & book promotion.
In Whispers of the Past, my story is “The Woman in the Water”.
In Spirits of the West, my story is “Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”.
In Where Spirits Linger, my story is “The People Upstairs”.
Thank you for joining us for Day #1 of the WordCrafter Lingering Spirit Whispers Book Blog Tour. This tour celebrates not one, but three different anthologies offered together in one anthology set. This unique paranormal set combines three paranormal anthologies into a single set for ghosties galore. A must have for lovers of paranormal fiction.
Whispers of the Past
As you may know, every year WordCrafter Press runs a short fiction contest, and each year there is a resulting anthology. For 2019, it was Whispers of the Past, with paranormal stories from contributing authors including myself, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Stevie Turner, Laurel McHargue, Julie Goodswen and author of the winning story, Jeff Bowles.
Spirits of the West
For 2020, it was Spirits of the West, with western paranormal stories from contributing authors including myself, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Jeff Bowles, Arthur Rosch, Tom Johnson, and author of the winning story, Enid Holden.
Where Spirits Linger
For 2021, it was Where Spirits Linger, with paranormal tales from contributing authors including myself, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Stevie Turner, Enid Holden, S.L. Kretschmer, and author of the winning story, Christa Planko.
You can get all three in one anthology set, Linger Spirit Whispers, to be released on December 1 and available for pre-order now.
Lingering Spirit Whispers
And join us for the tour to learn more about the stories contained within these three paranormal anthologies and their authors. D.L. Mullen will be doing interviews on her Un dawnted blog site Monday through Thursday and we will finish up her with a guest post from 2021 contest winner, Christa Planko discussing the inspiration behind her winning story, “Olde-Tyme Village”, featured in Where Spirits Linger. Un dawnted does not have comments enabled, but feel free to post any comments you have on the interviews here. Interviews with authors Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Kaye Lynne Booth, Stevie Turner and Jeff Bowles will be featured. I hope you will join us today and follow us through the rest of the tour.
Today’s author guest is contributing author Stevie Turner, who has stories in two out of three anthologies included in this set.
Stevie Turner is a British author of suspense, paranormal, women’s fiction family dramas and darkly humorous novels, and likes to find subjects to write about that are not often covered. Stevie is married and lives in the wilds of East Anglia, England, and enjoys cycling about the countryside when she is not busy writing.
Her story “Partners in Time” is featured in Whispers of the Past – a paranormal romance where past and present cross.
And her story “David’s Revenge” is featured in Where Spirits Linger – a tale of revenge from the grave.
I grew up believing that John F. Kennedy was an upstanding and respectable man, a positive role model for America’s youth. He was assassinated before I was born, but I was the unseen listener to the conversations of the adults in my life, which often made no sense to me at the time. Between the opinions of my mother and my grandparents, and the way in which J.F.K. has always been portrayed in the media, I always thought that the Kennedys were part of the good guys. But after reading Collateral Damage, by Mark Shaw, my view of American history has changed. The evidence laid out by Shaw in this book, laid out through diligent research, paints a picture of a different story.
Not that John F. Kennedy didn’t do good in the office of President of the United States of America. Shaw makes no such claim, but he does tell a very different tale about J.F.K. the man and the rest of the Kennedy family. John F. Kennedy isn’t the main villain in this story, but one of the victims, an inadvertent casualty of one man’s drive for power. His investigative reporting skills have long been hard at work t bring this true life tale into the public eye. It’s a tale of connections and conspiracies, a true life drama of power and greed and the story of those who inadvertently got in the way.
Shaw presents compelling evidence to connect the assassination of John F. Kennedy, with the death of actress Marilyn Monroe and that of journalist and media icon Dorothy Kilgallen in an attempt to give them all the justice they were denied at the time of their deaths and ever after. His research is well-documented and much of the evidence is available for visual examination on his site for those who want to decide for themselves. The connections which Shaw reveals have always been there had anyone cared to seek out the facts, but no one did until Mark Shaw delved into the facts, presenting them a book at a time with each volume presenting more pieces of a puzzle, filling in the whole story gradually, in stages.
The edges of the puzzle were presented in The Reporter Who Knew Too Much, giving us the mysterious facts surrounding Dorothy Kilgallen’s life and death and some of the inside pieces connecting it with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In Denial of Justice, Shaw presents more of the facts tying Kilgallen and J.F.K. together, filling in more inner areas of the puzzle, but Collateral Damage presents new evidence delving into the death of Marilyn Monroe, filling in the gaps to complete the picture.
Collateral Damage is a well researched investigation into events which occurred in an era of mob rule and power politics, where corruption ran deep, deeper than I had ever realized. Shaw reveals a tale of intrigue, deceit and murder as he delves into three of the greatest mysteries in history. I give it five quills.
Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.
Robbie Cheadle was kind enough to throw up a post letting you know why you weren’t seeing any regular content from me recently. Thank you Robbie.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I carry my life around in my laptop. It goes everywhere with me and all the stories and ideas that make it out of my head and onto the virtual page are contained within it. The files for each book I’ve published and some which I haven’t yet and and marketing images I’ve created can only be accessed through its keyboard.
But it’s true. My laptop malfunctioned and will no longer charge, so when the battery ran down, it went into hibernation and it won’t talk to me or respond to my loving touch anymore. So, much of my life has been put on hold while I wait for a new laptop and try to do my online functioning on my phone. Fortunately, I was forced to get a smart phone two months ago, something I had stubbornly been avoiding, when my good old flip-phone died. Without that, I wouldn’t even be able to keep up with my course work, which I have been able to do to an extent. Thank goodness. But I have not had access to any of my own sites or social media sites, so I wasn’t able to post here or interact for more than a week.
I’m typing this on a brand new laptop with Windows 11, so that is good news. However, I’m going to be without access once again while my son retrieves my files from the old laptop and transfers them over to this one for me. If I had taken time to back everything up, I could have saved the necessity of retrieval, I know. A lesson learned first hand. But I didn’t and it is what it is.
I’m making preparations for this and scheduling some posts ahead of time, so hopefully the content will keep rolling smoothly here and you won’t even notice my absence. But if you do, you will now know why.
I thank all of you for bearing with me through the rough patches. Hang in there with me and I plan good things for Writing to be Read in the coming year. More on that later in the holiday season. So don’t go away.
Some beginning writers may have delusions of overnight success, but any seasoned writer will tell you that it usually doesn’t happen that way. There are instances where it has, of course, but in most cases, launching a career in writing requires time, money and a lot of hard work to be successful. Writers who have realistic expectations may start out writing part time and get a solid book marketing plan under them, through trial and error and lots of A/B testing to figure out what works and what doesn’t, before trying to take their writing career to a full-time level.
I’ve been working to get my writing career off the ground for over a decade, but I’m a D.I.Y. girl and most things that I try to do, I started out doing things backward. I started my writing career right here, on Writing to be Read in 2009. At the time, I had no idea what I wanted to write, but write I did. In 2012, when I didn’t have the huge following I had hoped for and undertaking a book length work seemed an insermountable hurdle, I decided I needed some help, so I enrolled in the graduate program at Western State Colorado University and by 2016, I had my M.F.A. in Creative Writing with a dual emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting.
The Six Figure Authors Podcastoffers the general advice for aspiring writers to pick a genre you’ve had some success with and stick with it until you are firmly established. Then if you feel the need to cross genres, you can probably venture into a new territory without risking everything. Because that’s what you’re doing when you cross over to a genre other than the one in which you already have established a fan base.
But here I am. To date, I have published a Western, Delilah; a collection of short stories, Last Call and Other Short Fiction, which is a mish-mash of genres: time-travel, vampire, origins, satire, etc…; and a paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets. I also have published a number of short stories. My flash fiction horror story, “The Haunting of Carol’s Woods”, is featured in Dan Alatorre’s Nightmareland, and my futuristic science fiction story, “If You’re Happy and You Know It”, and my crime fiction love story, “The Devil Made Her Do It”, are each featured in The Collapsar Directive and Relationship Add Vice anthologies respectively, both published by Zombie Pirate Publishing, as well as a paranormal story in each of the three WordCrafter paranormal anthologies, Whispers of the Past, Spirits of the West, and our newest release, Where Spirits Linger. I even have published a nonfiction author’s reference, Ask the Authors, which arose from a blog series I ran right here on Writing to be Read.
I am ecclectic in my tastes, including music and reading, and thus the stories that percolate in my brain are also rather ecclectic. I don’t listen or read in any one genre. Why would I think up stories in only one? I don’t think I could write to market and be successful. And I’ve tried the writer for hire thing, too, but didn’t care for it. No one is saying you can’t be successful as a multi-genre author, but what all of this means is that my books are more difficult to market, because my target audience are splintered into multiple reader groups, so I have to be more creative in reaching an audience who will actually read what I write. And I have to research and know what I’m doing, because book marketing and advertising can get expensive, especially if you do all the A/B testing and stuff that you they say we need to do. Since it’s not feasible for me to stick with only one genre, I think figuring out how to attract readers for each of the genres that I write from a wider audience will be my biggest challenge.
I’m an author who listens to my characters and let’s the story unfold naturally. (I’m not really a pantser, although at one time I thought that I was. Now I find that I need to have a general idea of where my story is going and how it gets there, and a basic outline does that for me.) But the stories don’t all unfold in a single genre, and so I’ve become a multi-genre author, although that probably isn’t the fastest way to build a full-time writing career.
Readers here, followers of this blog, are the fan base that I have built over twelve years of blogging and I appreciate your support, in whatever fashion you choose to demonstrate it. I’m not sure what genre any of you read, or if any of you actually read my books, but you pop over and read my posts, regardless of the subject matter, and occasionally, some of you even comment. I really do appreciate that.
As you can see, I’m the kind of gal who decides what I want to do and plunges ahead, learning as I go. I’ve reached a point in my life where I not only want to write full-time, but I need to be a full-time writer. My love for the written word can be seen in everything I do. In addition to this blog, I’ve reported on local writing communities, attended and participated in writing fairs and conferences, hosted online writing events, created my own small press, and gone into student debt in order to become an expert on my craft. For me, writing truly is a passion and I need to do this as a career for my own mental health and well-being. In order to do that, I need to make some changes.
But, I write for the love of writing. It’s the reason that I put so much energy into this blog. I write to be read, and I’ve not monetized my blog, although I have recently had inquiries for advertising. I’ll need to research more before I make a decision on that front, but I don’t really want to monetize Writing to be Read. I like what I’ve built this site into, with the help of my wonderful Writing to be Read team members: Robbie Cheadle, Art Rosch and Jeff Bowles. I’m afraid if I monetize it, it will become something different, and perhaps unintended. I don’t want that.
That’s why I’m only making one small addition on this site and leaving the rest as is, to develop naturally into what it will become. I’m developing a plan that I can follow to transition into a full-time writer and continue this very slow launch of a writing career. I’ll keep you apprised of other upcoming changes, but for now, the only change here is a new “Buy me a tasty beverage” button in the sites top right-hand corner, where you can make a donation if you should choose to show your support for Writing to be Read in this manner.
If you do make a donation, know that it will be greatly appreciated. I’m glad that you enjoy the content here or find it helpful. Thank you all for being my readers.
Kaye Lynne Booth lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Colorado. With a dual emphasis M.F.A. in Creative Writing, writing is more than a passion. It’s a way of life. She’s a multi-genre author, who finds inspiration from the nature around her, and her love of the old west, and other odd and quirky things which might surprise you. She has short stories featured in the following anthologies: The Collapsar Directive (“If You’re Happy and You Know It”); Relationship Add Vice (“The Devil Made Her Do It”); Nightmareland (“The Haunting in Carol’s Woods”); Whispers of the Past (“The Woman in the Water”); and Spirits of the West (“Don’t Eat the Pickled Eggs”). Her western, Delilah, her paranormal mystery novella and her short story collection, Last Call, are all available in both digital and print editions.
On her authors’ blog, Writing to be Read, she posts reflections on her own writing, author interviews and book reviews, along with writing tips and inspirational posts from fellow writers. She’s also the founder of WordCrafter. In addition to creating her own imprint in WordCrafter Press, she offers quality author services, such as editing, social media & book promotion, and online writing courses through WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services. When not writing or editing, she is bird watching, or hiking, or just soaking up some of that Colorado sunshine.
Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.
Covid 19 brought changes to the way we do many things, including how we celebrate Halloween. Many folks may not be comfortable being exposed to children in costume coming to their door. Many parents may not be comfortable letting their children go door-to-door this year. I know of neighborhood residents who have gotten together to allow trick-or-treating only within a close-knit group, where everyone knows everyone else and they are all vacinated, and I’ve seen more haunted houses this year than ever before.
One thing that hasn’t changed though, is the love of a good ghost story or two on Halloween night. That’s why this weekend only, you can get a digital copy of Where Spirits Linger, this year’s WordCrafter paranormal anthology, to draw your ghost stories from. You’ll be captivated with the lingering spirits in these short stories, including the winning story from the 2021 WordCrafter Paranormal Short Fiction Contest, “Olde-Tyme Village”, by Christa Planko. Work from other authors which is also included in this short fiction collection: Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s ghost with an agenda in “Listen to Instructions”, my own ghosts who want to care and be cared for in “The People Upstairs”, S.L. Kretsmer’s ghost who wants to be remembered in a positive light in “The Final Portrait”, Stevie Turner’s ghost who wants revenge in “David’s Revenge”, and you’re sure to get a chuckle from Enid Holden’s ghosts in “The Chosen Few”.
Don’t miss out on these great ghost stories this Halloween. Only .99 cents starting today through Halloween. Celebrate your Halloween Where Spirits Linger. Click the link below to have your digital copy delivered right to your reading device of choice.
Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.
I’ve recently been working on two different anthologies for my classes, as well as planning two, or possibly three different anthologies, that I want to put out through WordCrafter Press next year, so it’s not surprising that I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the writing of short fiction. While writing short fiction presents many of the same challenges as writing book length fiction presents, such as avoiding passive voice, using the correct tense and the right POV, and avoiding repetitive language, it also seems to present challenges for the writer, which are more prominent and more noticable in a short story.
Below is a list of what I see as the top four challenges of writing short fiction. A short story in which these challenges are met and mastered can be a delight to read, but when the writer misses the mark or doesn’t tackle these challenges skillfully, the result can be a story that doesn’t feel complete, leaving readers feeling unsatisfied.
Top 4 Challenges in Short Fiction and How to Handle Them
Abrupt ending: I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve read recently that start out wonderfully, promising a killer story all the way to the end and then drop the ball, leaving me wondering where the story went wrong. I think many times authors are at a loss as to how to wrap things up, and with short fiction, where word counts must be taken into consideration, they try to end too quickly, instead of taking a little more time to tie up the details of the story. – To avoid this, take the time you need to wrap things up in your story in a way that will be satisfying to the reader who has stuck with you this far. If you can’t give your story a satisfying ending within the required word count, perhaps it should become a longer work, because there is nothing more frustrating than to read an engaging story that you are really into, only to be disappointed at the end, so this is a biggie.
Shallow, underdeveloped characters: In short fiction, you have a limited space in which to introduce your characters and make your reader care about what happens to them, so it is important to come out of the gate with a good strong voice that grabs the reader’s attention at the very beginning and continue with that all the way through. Making your characters interesting is something you need to do with fiction of any length, but with short fiction, you need a strong voice to bring character traits to the forefront in a succint way. Passive voice in a short story can result in a lack of interest in the reader, causing them to put the story down without taking time to get to know your characters or get into the story.
Head hopping: This is always a problem when it occurs in any length work of fiction, because it tends to pull readers out of the story when they realize that the viewpoint they thought they were in, is really that of a different character. Short fiction isn’t really long enough to use multiple POVs, so it’s difficult to figure out how this even happens, but it does. The author needs to pay close attention to who the narrator is and be sure to not wander into the view point of a different character.
Excessive wording: It’s important to realize that a short story is just that – short. Don’t waste space with unnecessary wording that isn’t needed. Write succintly. Say what you have to say in as few words as possible. While it’s important to paint a vivid visual image for the reader, don’t include details which are not relevant to the story in some way. World building, character development, and plot must all come together in a short amount of space, so choose your words carefully.
I love a well-written short story, and I read a lot of short fiction. When it’s done right, a short story can be every bit as engaging as a good novel. Don’t you think?
Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.
This week I thought it might be fun to throw out a challenge to my readers and author friends. When I was earning my M.F.A. in Creative Writing, we were given various writing exercises, of course. To demonstrate an interesting way to develop a character, one of many, by creating a character from the characteristics of an inanimate object. It might sound strange, but honestly I can remember having a lot of fun with this particular exercise. The object I was assigned was a butter knife.
First, we were ask to do a free write about the object, associating it with characteristics which came to mind. Next, we were asked to create a character who possessed some or all ofthose characteristics, using a Proust questionaire, which is a really good tool, but any means of creating a character profile so that you really know your character would work. As always, the more you know about your character, the easier it is to write them in a scene or a story, or maybe even a series. Lastly, we were asked to write a scene that introduces the character.
You’ll find the scene that resulted from this exercise back in 2013, and I’d love to see the results of any of you who would like to accept my challenge and create their own character and scene. I had a lot of fun with this exercise and I think you will, too. My inanimate object was assigned, but you can pick one from the following list or choose one of your own: butter knife, salad bowl, spoon, fork, spatula, plate, frying pan, wine glass, corkscrew, turkey baster, tea cup, coffee pot, dish towel, broom, feather duster, brillo pad. I chose a bar scene for my introduction, but yours can take place anywhere you like. Explore the possibilities for setting as you work through this exercise in character development.
If you are up to the challenge, pick an object and do a free write about it. Then, create a character and get to know them well. You can even make your own questionaire. What are your character’s favorites: food, color, song, etc…? What do they do for fun? Occupation? You get the idea.
Then write a scene that introduces your character and send it to me at kayebooth@yahoo.com. Don’t forget to tell me what your object was. If I like it, I may ask for permission to share it here. Yours doesn’t have to be as long as mine, just keep it to a single scene that tells us who your character is.
My Introduction to Betty Lou (Butter Knife)
“Come on. Don’t be such a stick in the mud!” Christa said, urging her friend to live it up a little. “One drink is not going to kill you. I swear.”
Betty Lou sat on the bar stool with her legs crossed, hands folded in her lap. Her back was as straight and upright as if she were practicing the principles outlined in Debrett’s Etiquette and Modern Manners, with a book perched atop her head. “Oh, all right,” she said. “But, just one. You’re sure it won’t make me look foolish?”
“I’m sure,” Christa said, waving the bartender over. As he approached them, she said, “Two long island iced teas, please.”
“Iced tea?” Betty Lou asked, with a discernible sigh, thinking anything with iced tea couldn’t be too bad.
The bartender placed two tall glasses of tea colored liquid on the bar in front of them. Christa placed some bills in his hand and picked up her glass. “Come on. Drink up,” she said, talking a long swallow.
Betty Lou picked up her glass, sniffing the pungent aroma of liquor in the glass. “It doesn’t smell like iced tea,” she said, wrinkling her nose.
“You said one drink,” said Christa, placing a hand on top of Betty Lou’s, gently pushing up toward her lips, “Now drink up. Go on.”
Betty Lou took a small sip.
“No…, drink,” urged Christa, tilting her friend’s hand up with her own, gently forcing her to take more of the liquor in her mouth.
Betty Lou choked down a swallow, making her eyes water. “That sure doesn’t taste like iced tea,” she said when she had regained her composure. “Yuck!”
“You get used to it,” said Christa, working on her own drink. “Oh good, the band’s getting ready to start.”
Betty Lou took another small sip, wrinkling her nose once more. She doubted Christa’s statement. How could anyone get used to the taste? She watched attentively as the band members came out onto the stage and began tuning instruments. “Remember,” she said, turning to her friend, who perched a cigarette on her lips and was lighting it, “I’m only staying until ten o’clock.”
“Loosen up,” said Christa, offering her a smoke from her pack. “Tonight could be a whole new beginning for you. Relax and finish your drink.”
“Couldn’t I just have a seven-up?” Betty Lou asked, plucking the offered cigarette from the pack. “I just had a rocky ending. I don’t think I’m ready for another beginning.”
“No way,” Christa said, offering her a light. “You agreed to live it up a little, remember? No taking the straight and narrow tonight. Besides, you know every time one door closes… ”
Betty Lou bent slightly to light her cigarette as Christa flicked her Bic. “Okay. Okay,” Betty Lou said. “But, only until ten. I have to debug a new program tomorrow. I want to be alert. I need a good night’s sleep.”
“Finish that drink and you’ll sleep good, I promise,” Christa said with a wink.
A man stepped onto the stage to introduce the band, as the house lights lowered. He was short and stocky, with shoulder length hair pulled back in a ponytail. The black leather pants and vest that he wore made him look like a throwback from a seventies biker gang.
“Good evening ladies and gentleman,” he said. “Thank you all for coming out.” Whistles drifted up from the audience, as he addressed them from the stage. “We have a great show for you tonight. Please allow me to introduce to you, The Ripe Melons!”
As the band began to play, Christa downed the last of her drink and signaled the bartender for another. She began to sway on her bar stool to the beat of Lynard Skynard’s, Gimme Three Steps, which The Ripe Melons managed to do a fairly good job of cranking out. Wisps of bleach blond hair fell over her eyes and she absently brushed them away.
Betty Lou took another careful sip. Maybe Christa was right. It didn’t seem so bad now. She could feel the vibrations from the music in the floor beneath her. “Do they have to play so loud?” she asked, raising her voice to be heard over the music.
Christa smiled at Betty Lou and shook her head. “Lighten up, girl,” she said. “Let your hair down.” She reached up behind her friend and yanked a pin from the tight bun on top of her head.
“Hey!” said Betty Lou, as her bun unwound and her long black ponytail unrolled and hung straight down her back.
“Come on,” Christa said. “You look so uptight.” She reached up behind her friend and pulled the hair tie out, letting her onyx hair fall loosely, softening her high cheekbones and angular jaw. “There,” she said. “Now you don’t look like you’re waiting for your last rites. You have pretty features when you just ease up a bit. You always pull your hair back tight from your face and it makes you look like your spring is wound a bit tight.”
Betty Lou was stunned by her friend’s boldness. Would she be undressing her next? She took another sip of her drink and smiled just a little, as the image of Christa reaching over and unbuttoning the top buttons of her blouse flitted through her head.
But, Christa’s hands stayed to herself as she downed her second drink and crushed out her cigarette in the ashtray. “Let’s dance,” she said, sliding down from her barstool.
Betty Lou shook her head adamantly. “No, you go ahead,” she said. “I’ll wait here and finish my drink.” She looked down at it, noticing to her own surprise, that it was almost half gone.
“Oh, come on!” said Christa, grabbing ahold of Betty Lou’s hand. “You need to get laid. Let yourself go a little.”
It took effort to stay upright on the barstool with Christa pulling on her like that, but she managed to pull her hand away. “No, really, I’m fine,” said Betty Lou. “I’ll just watch you.” She took a rather large swig from her glass as if that might convince her friend to go without her.
“Suit yourself,” said Christa, heading for the dance floor.
Sipping her drink, Betty Lou watched Christa as she approached a handsome guy with blonde, feathered hair, sitting in the second row of tables. She bent down and said something to him, then he stood and walked out onto the dance floor with her. Betty Lou couldn’t believe how bold Christa was. She could never be that forward. Even when she’d been with Matt, Betty Lou had always let him take the initiative. She had always followed his lead. They had been the perfect pair. That seemed like another life now.
A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her reverie. She turned to find herself face to face with the most gorgeous man she had ever seen. He was tall, maybe even taller than her own 6’3’’, with a muscular build that said he didn’t sit behind a desk all day. His brown hair matched the brown eyes that she found herself staring into.
“Would you like to dance?” he asked, smiling a smile that would melt any girl’s heart.
She straightened her back. Her heel began tapping on the rung of the barstool, making her knees bounce. “Uh—me?” she asked.
“Well, yes,” he replied, glancing to either side of her. “You’re the only pretty girl I see in the immediate vicinity.”
“Um…, I couldn’t,” she stammered, “I mean, um, well…”
“You don’t dance?” he asked.
“No,” she said, feeling her face flush. “At least,… not very well.”
“May I buy you a drink then?” he asked, raising a brow.
“Oh,… thank you, but I have one,” she said, holding out her glass, only to realize that it was empty.
He smiled at her again. “Looks like you need another,” he said. “May I?”
How could she refuse? “Uh,… sure,” she replied. How wishy-washy that sounded. She did her best to save face, adding, “That would be nice.” At least, it didn’t sound quite as lame as her stammering all over herself, like a school girl who’s never talked to a good looking man before.
He flagged the waitress over and ordered them each another round. Betty Lou was surprised at how at ease she felt as she sipped her new drink while they talked. Normally, when talking to members of the opposite sex, especially good looking ones, she could feel the tension build inside of her, materializing on the outside as sweaty palms and stiffened muscles through her back and neck, but she felt none of those things now. It must be the alcohol. Up until tonight, the strongest thing she’d had to drink was a wine cooler. She wasn’t used to the strong effects of hard liquor, even in a mixed drink.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to dance?” Kyle, which is what his name had turned out to be, said. “You can step all over my toes, if you like. I walk on them all day anyway.”
Betty Lou started to decline once more, but then his corny joke registered and she burst out laughing instead, the most recent sip of her drink spraying out over his pants. “Oh, fiddlesticks! I’m so sorry,” she said, grabbing her cocktail napkin off the table and dabbing at his pant leg. “This is not a good beginning, is it?”
Kyle chuckled and took it all good naturedly. “It’s okay,” he said, taking her hand in his own and looking into her eyes. “But, now you have to dance with me, even if you have two left feet.”
feltBetty Lou gazed into those big brown eyes of his, noticing a few flecks of gold in them. She’d never seen eyes like that before and now, she never wanted to look away. He offered her his hand, and she took it, letting him lead her out onto the dance floor. He pulled her in close to him and held her there as they began to sway to music. Betty Lou laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, allowing him to lead her. It felt good to be held against him so firm, heat flushing through her body, as she felt his stiffened member pressed against her leg. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad beginning after all.
For those of you that don’t know, I am currently embarked on a journey to earn my masters degree in publishing at Western State Colorado University. Some of you may know this because I mentioned it when I posted the submission guidelines for the Mirror, Mirror anthology that we are putting together for our class thesis project. I was really excited about sharing this paid writing opportunity with all of you and I hope many of you will craft out a story that fits the guidelines and submit it. I was recently reminded that the submission deadline is just two weeks away, so get those stories in.
With work and school and trying to write, I’ve been struggling just to get my Monday blog post out. I’ve been blogging here on Writing to be Read since 2010 and it is important to me and hopefully to my readers, so I can justify feeling a need not to drop the ball here even though I’m extremely busy. My solution, which I thought was rather smart, was to create a new blog series, “Review in Practice”, where you can join me through book reviews that reflect lessons taken from books I read as I work to improve my craft and learn the publishing industry. In this way, the books I need to read in order to learn and improve will do double duty as I share them with you here. These reviews will offer my opinion of the book, and also tell you about my experience with it and share what I have learned. I do hope you will join me.
My Review
Reading Slush Pile Memories: How Not to Get Rejected, by New York Times Bestselling author, Kevin J. Anderson helped to prepare me for the onslaught that is already flooding the submissions box, because it offered me a better idea of what lay ahead. But, this book was written for authors, to give them an idea of what editors are looking for and improve the chances that your submission will read and accepted. It is a brief book, which doesn’t take long to read and the lessons contained within could prove invaluable. As I have begun working my own way through this year’s slush pile, I’ve already learned that the experiences contained within Slush Pile Memories: How Not to Get Rejected is spot on.
Of course there’s never any guarantees of acceptance, but there are ways to increase the odds. Kevin J. Anderson relates his own experiences from the last two anthologies the graduate publishing program at Western put together. (Yes, he is really my professor. How cool is that?) If you are thinking of submitting a story to Mirror, Mirror or any other anthology, Slush Pile Memories: How Not to Get Rejected is a must read. I give it five quills.
Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.
Last week saw the release of the 2021 WordCrafter paranormal anthology, Where Spirits Linger. I was pleased with he stories that are featured in this anthology. I had worked with three of the contributing authors in past anthologies, but two were new to me, including the winner of the 2021 Short Fiction Contest, Christa Planko, who sent in a wonderfully eerie piece of flash fiction, “Olde-Tyme Village”, which gives me goosebumps.
For the release, we ran a book blog tour and giveaway, which I feel was a success, resulting in a few more book sales. The winner of the WordCrafter “Where Spirits Linger” Book Blog Tour giveaway was Cindy Georgakas, who commented on Miriam Hurdle’s blog stop The Many Showers of Blessings. Cindy, if you will contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com to let me know your format preference, (epub, mobi, or pdf), I’ll be pleased to send you your free digital copy of Where Spirits Linger. Congratulations!
If you didn’t win this time, I hope you’ll drop in on our next WordCrafter Book Blog Tour. For now, you can purchase your copy of this original anthology here:
Now that Where Spirits Linger has been released, it’s time to gear up for next year’s contest. There were only six contributing authors in this year’s anthology, but next year I’m hoping to be able to include more, so I am planning to broaden the scope of the theme for 2022. In the past, WordCrafter anthologies have had paranormal themes because I’m a sucker for a good ghost story, but for 2022, I plan to broaden that out to include the fantasy, science fiction and horror genres. For Visions, your story can still have a ghost if you like, but it won’t be required. I’m announcing this ahead of time because I want you to have time to limber up your fingers and your minds, and send me your very best stories. What I’m looking for in the 2022 WordCrafter anthology are thought provoking stories that will stay with readers long after they close the book.
WordCrafter will be open for submissions beginning on January 1 through the submission deadline of May 31, 2022. The winner will receive a $25.00 Amazon gift card and their story will be featured in Visions. All finalists will also receive an invitation to be included in the anthology, which offers a small royalty share for your story contribution. My submission guidelines are pretty simple, but they are different from last year, so be sure to read and follow them carefully. Submit your story with a cover letter to KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com with “Submission: [Your Title] in the subject line and pay the $5 entry fee in the PayPal box on the submissions page, which will go up January 1st, 2022, when submissions open.
Visions: Submission Guidelines
Submission Dates: January 1st, 2022 to May 31st, 2022
Rights: First Anthology Rights and audio rights as part of the anthology; rights revert to author one month after publication; publisher retains non-exclusive right to include in the anthology as a whole.
Like this post? Let me know in the comments. You can be sure not to miss any of Writing to be Read’s great content by subscribing to e-mail or following on WordPress. If you found this content helpful or entertaining, please share.
