I’ve been quiet because not much has been happening. I’ve been busy deep cleaning the house and tossing stuff in prelude to either moving or at least inspection by my new landlords and trying to keep my head above water with the new class.
But I did get the final edits on my steampunk Christmas story. I felt SO bad because somehow there was a problem with the file. I think having to convert it (using libreoffice) from Docx to the old doc file because my parents’ computer still has the 2003 Word on it caused issues that forced the publisher to redo ALL the formatting. I know it’s not exactly my fault but it still made me feel like an ass.
Hopefully though the next you hear of this I’ll have the cover and the pre-order links.
How is it Saturday again? This year is in hyperdrive. And since it’s an insanely busy weekend where I should be saying I’m going on a steampunk train ride (but I’m not because a) too freaking hot, 90+ in Sept in Ohio??? and b) too busy), I’ll get right down to it.
Continuing with These Haunted Hills and you finally get to learn what terrified Brendan in the woods (if Josh can stop chuckling at him that is). It’s longer than it should be just so I can close out the reveal.
“Man, now I just want to come to your place at night.” Joshua bounced in his chair, and then – as Brendan sputtered into his coffee – went redder than the morning’s sunrise. “God! I didn’t mean it like that. Why can’t I talk around you? I swear I don’t normally blurt out inappropriate shit.”
Brendan snorted. “Are you sure?”
“Mostly.” Joshua thrust out the phone. “That’s what I study, that’s a fox cry.”
“That’s what a fox sounds like? You’re kidding. I had no idea.”
“They don’t sound like that idiotic song.”
Brendan rolled his eyes. “Thank god. Keep listening. There’s more weirdness.”
Joshua hit the next recording. The howls gave way to rapid fire yipping. “That’s gekkering. You have at least two foxes out there. Could be a territorial dispute though they sound youngish. Could be pups at play. I wonder if they’re any of mine.
If you want to hear what Brendan heard, here you go, fox howls and gekkering are both on here.
If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!
It’s been such a hellish week that I’m not even sure if I did or didn’t finish everyone’s post last week. If I missed you, I apologize.
Today was good. I met friends at the Mothman Festival. Had fun as always but this festival is getting huge. I did get to talk to Rosemary Ellen Guilley as usual. Her talk was packed but probably because one of the dudes from TAPS was following her.
Maybe Josh should take Brendan out to the TNT site (I went today). Speaking of These Haunted Hills I’ll be continuing with them. Last week Brendan was spooked by something screaming in the woods. This picks up the next day. He’s met Josh in a diner and Josh has asked why Brendan looks so exhausted and that’s where we’re at (and six sentences means you still don’t get to learn exactly what happened yet).
“Okay I was outside last night on the porch having a beer when I heard this sound. Scared the hell out of me!” Brendan shuddered and then noticed the amusement in Joshua’s eyes. He could practically pick the words ‘city boy’ out of Joshua’s mind. “It keep crying out and I managed to record some of it. Here, listen.”
He handed it to Joshua before picking up his coffee. Joshua tapped the screen, making the haunting cry echo in the diner. An old couple looked at them from their table across the way. Joshua chuckled.
“You promised not to laugh!”
If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!
I don’t have a lot to say but I thought it would be good to share the freebie I wrote last week for Chuck Wendig’s flash fic challenge. It’s the most I’ve wrote in a week in forever (almost 1,900). It’s also my first foray into lesbian fiction. It is very mild, just the very beginning of the relationship. Obviously I work better with a deadline. I used to love that in myself. I’m beginning to hate it.
I’m waiting on a bit more from my beta on Blood Red but I know she’s busy so I’m probably just going to label it as done as it’s getting and resubmit before I lose my nerve.
I started editing Cassadaga but with the hurricane in Florida (where this is set) I’m struggling. I need to set it aside until I know my friends and family are okay.
I am going to be writing Josh and Brendan’s story for nano in theory. I might be writing under my other pen name for the next few weeks for a middle grade reader open call.
I feel guilty about how beautiful it is here knowing how bad both coasts are. Still don’t know what’s happening to family members in FL (they don’t communicate nearly as well as my friends who are still safe but the worst is yet to come).
I’m still working on These Haunted Hills. This is over 6 lines but I wanted to capture the moment. At this point Brendan is standing in the clearing in the woods around his cabin, looking at the stars after his conversation with his ex-wife who gave him a gentle nudge to not just look at Joshua as a tour guide to ghosts but rather as an available man. Next week they’ll be back together (and dammit, I want to write more but I have 4 exams I have to write. Sigh).
“Beautiful,” he murmured, thinking this needed worked into his story somehow along with how noisy the woods were. It hummed with insects and something that sounded bigger than that. He had no idea. He pulled out his phone and tried to take a picture of the full moon.
A strange cry split the air catapulting him from the chair which spilled over. His heart pounded. More strange cries followed the first. Brendan thumbed on the recorder, jogging toward the house. If whatever screamed in the woods didn’t kill him, maybe Joshua would know what the hell it was. Brendan raced inside and bolted the door. He shut the windows he’d opened. He’d use a fan if he got too hot.
Shaking, he turned off the recorder then eyed the loft. He wasn’t going to sleep after that. He grabbed his computer and turned on the TV. He’d write the night away and maybe the creature in the night would leave him be.
If you’d like to play along, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook community where we post up 6 sentences of one of our LGBT stories every Saturday. It’s been fun and you can find it here. Be sure to check out all the offers! It’s been a great supportive group!
Jana Denardo 