Zombie Bedtime Stories: Locked In Cover Art and Sneak Peek.

Edit 07/25/2011: Here are links to the store pages for Locked In:

Amazon.com

Smashwords

Original Post:

You heard it here. I think it’s done. I’m going to do the “read it out loud” test tomorrow evening.

So, here is the story cover my boyfriend created for me. The arms are mine, and I made the fake (bright pink) blood. The rest of the effort is all his. I know I’ve posted it before, but it’s changed and improved.

Book Cover

I did promise a sneak peak, didn’t I?

            Haley threw up her arms as he made a lunge for her face. His unimaginable strength pitched them both to the ground. The blow winded her. Her eyes widened in alarm as she squirmed under his wizened form to keep his decaying teeth away from her flesh. His fetid breath was tinged with the scent of blood, the overwhelming stench burning into her lungs. Haley thought she was going to vomit. The three officers and Frank shouted as they struggled to gain control of the crazed man. Deafened by Buddy’s shrieks, the terror of the cacophony threatened to paralyze her. A Taser was drawn, but its discharge barely seemed to jolt Buddy, prompting a renewed flurry of attacks. Haley felt a discernible electric tingle pass through her own body, so she knew the device had worked, but on the wrong person. With this realization her thoughts became frantic and incoherent. As she felt her arms weaken from the exertion, she couldn’t help wondering if Buddy was drugged.

That’s all for now. Sleep tight. If you want a more animated version of today’s events, featuring overuse of the word “crap”  and a Fedora, then check out today’s vlog.

I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Story reception, writing therapy and making people cry

After posting some short story non-fiction, I was surprised at how well it was received. 43 reads in a little over 24 hours, and two votes.

To be honest, all that story is was me writing down old, horrible memories in a deep fit of depression.

Now, people want more. Of course I have the autobiographical subject matter to continue with the series, but that last story was incredibly painful to write.

Another thing is that somebody left a comment that they cried. That’s a little steep, knowing that just my words alone can evoke that kind of emotion.

I am exhausted. First re-write of short story done, supposedly vastly improved. At least it’s not at the “who wrote this crap?!” stage. I hate that stage. At the risk of repeating myself, I’m my worst critic, and I’m also my favorite bullying target.

I’ve come to notice that most of the premises of my stories are profoundly morose and messed up. Sometimes I wonder if writing is like a mirror into your subconscious, and it really is you, just the parts hidden from prying eyes. The parts from the nightmares.

I finally heard back from that internship, seems like I’ll be reviewing local events in the July and October issues, plus online. Work is stressful due to a deadline for a sizable government business grant coming up. While I’m pleased that somebody has enough confidence in me to trust me with generating the required documentation for that kind of endeavor, I really hope I don’t mess it up, either.

A short story emerges!

On a lark, I remembered that I had a mostly completed non-fiction piece languishing on my hard drive. After completing my work for the morning, I opened it up, wrote the few remaining paragraphs and uploaded it to Wattpad.

For your reading pleasure: How I lost my dad

This has been sitting around for a few years, I started writing it in university. I avoided finishing it due to the uncomfortable subject matter.

But hey, it’s out there now. Maybe it will help some poor kid out there realize that they aren’t alone.

For May’s real short story, the red pen of doom is making an impression. During my re-read, I thought who wrote this crap? Red pen time indeed.

I’m looking forward to when it survives my edits and I can feel good about posting it.

Work wise, big project done, business website should be finished by this afternoon, then I get to write some content and worry about SEO/work blogs/social media and other wonderful crap.

I beat writer’s block! (This time)I have a plan, and a review is live, too!

I managed to gain some momentum and made good progress on my first story.

Now, for the plan. I did promise a plan in the title. And Team Thea delivers!

Once this short story is “done”, and by this I mean that I can read it over without cringing, my proofreaders like it and it has survived the rigors of editing by those with objective eyes, I’m going to put it on Wattpad.

It’s like YouTube, but for ebooks. I want to see if it will stand up to anonymous scrutiny. If it’s a hit, great. If not, then I learn and can re-write the story, or do better with the next one.

So many possibilities.

In other news, it’s Earth Day, and my review of African Cats is now live on Orcasound. It was very enjoyable, and the proceeds are for a good cause. It was nice to see a documentary for a change.

Enjoy your long weekend, world!