The Winning Letter

So Monday I set up a poll asking you guys to help me to choose what I should do this week in preparation of launch day, based on what sounded like the most fun. Your choices were:

a). Hold a 3 Day Giveaway (8/19 Wed-8/21 Fri)
b). Hold a 1 Day Giveaway the day of Launch (8/24)
c). Create a Contest with one grand prize winner announced on Launch Day
d). A and C

And the winning letter is (drum roll please):

C. Create a Contest with one grand prize winner announced on Launch Day.

I thought sure A would win!

To spice this up a bit, I have decided to do a Trivia Day instead of a contest to give more people a chance to win lots of FREE prizes. This gotta be fun!

Thanks guys! Stella will see you all Launch Day with the Grand Trivia Event.

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Its the countdown! 5 Days to Go!

Writer’s Quote Wednesday – The Short Story

My Writer’s Quote Wednesday for this week is in honor of the Short Story. Wendell Harris says:

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“…the short story is a ….presentation of a moment whose intensity makes it seem outside the ordinary stream of time, or the significance is outside the ordinary range of experience.” —Wendell Harris

I really like how Harris spoke about, “the presentation of a moment” because it is what I think about when I think of short stories. It’s like a sampling of the authors writing, pulling as much life from the story as is possible and then storing it into as few pages as possible, which is my goal for my current short story trilogy. To fit as much information as possible in just a few pages, while simultaneously providing for that bit of mystery that I think is important for the short story. I think Stella relates to this quote because it is the presentation of a single moment in history. It tackles the ongoing racial intensity of the past and brings it into our present day so that we are experiencing, in a unique way, the co-existing of past, present, and future.

I wanted to include an Author Bio from the quote but I read this as part of a list of short story quotes and saved them to my drive awhile back so I’m not sure who this particular Wendell Harris is, but what a great quote!

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And that’s it for this week’s episode of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, as hosted by Colleen of Silver Threading.

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Ten Seconds to Stand

Painting Copyright ©Tim Okamura
Painting Copyright ©Tim Okamura

You stand an awkward 5’3, and barely 140lbs to this 10ft over 300 lb. monster of a circumstance. Your back is against the rope. Body leaning, and tumbling over an agonizing blow to the face, body, and jaw until finally you topple. Come crashing down a lifeless breath of humiliation and shame. Through bloody and blurred eyes you see the referee coming, a glint of mercy. Here comes the slow count. You have fallen down. You have been defeated. You have been humiliated and you’ve got 10 seconds to stand back on your feet. Yes, only 10. You have been knocked out cold by life and mercy isn’t as tall nor does he appear to be as strong as this circumstance, and yet here he is. This tiny stature of a man, who doesn’t seem to know the taste of the ground or the enticing sound of “Give Up” but he is here. Approaching your situation with iron style arms and a dove for a face. What will be your decision? There’s only ten seconds to make one. Will you stand?

Pen to Paper

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Recently, I’ve started handwriting again. After the wave of technology, which covered my writing like thick smoke, I’ve stopped for awhile. But I remember a time where I would write whole books in notebooks. Carrying them around like an extra limb, and holding pencil to pad close to my chest like a scarlet letter. Now that I’ve started drafting posts on paper again, I’ve noticed a slight boost in the creative juices, racing easily from my brain and spilling black ink on the page. I forgot how fun this was, scribbling my heart into tangible form, and counting words by hand. Makes me wonder about the difference between the written and typed word. Why do I feel more accomplished having written this down first? Even if but a sentence? I like this and I think I’ll make it a habit again. Alas! The rebirth of pen to paper.