"She chewed slowly, trying to remember every texture and flavor of her food and quietly watched the far wall, waiting for the moment that the last rays of sunset would hit the French doors leading to the dining room and shatter into a hundred rainbows. "
-last line of first chapter of my Wizard of Oz-inspired Novel.
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“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” - Leonard Bernstein
"You are joining the proud ranks of People Who Write When They Are Supposed To Be Doing Other Things (PWWWTASTBDOT)." -Maureen Johnson
26,860 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 11 47
From my chick-lit-in-disguise-as-a-spy-thriller novel, from one of the opening scenes. Emily is my FMC, Chris is her no-good-dirty-rotten cheater of an EX-boyfriend.
----------Michelle
ML for Chicago, IL
Moderator, "Character & Plot Realism" forum
ml-michelle AT chiwrimo.org
31,782 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 12 57
The day Norman Hunt tortured and killed his wife and son dawned clear and warm.
Opening line of the second section of my prologue.
----------Must.....Keep....Writing!
41,535 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 18 05
"I shot straight up in bed. I had that odd moment of not being sure where I really was, back in my dream of staring at the night sky growing bigger and bigger or in my room lit by the gray light of just before dawn. Before anything else could register I heard something else.
“I gotta ramble on. I gotta find the queen of all my dreams.”
Opening line of my YA Paranormal Romance that has no sparkly vampire, werewolves or faeries. Working at a disadvantage I know.
----------Amanda M.
What is essential is invisible to the eye. - Saint Exupery
6,337 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 19 53
“I’m so sorry for little Marie, Ferny was such a good dog…”
The words floated through the air and into her room, like little insects come to inflict more misery upon the child. She lay curled upon the bed, Edgar the bear trapped within a grasp that threatened to tear loose the threads barely holding him together. Red eyes and a tear streaked face bore deep into the tortured fur of the brown creature, his fur soaked and matted with tears. She had long since exhausted her store of sobs, and now only shivers ran through her little body.
Opening paragraph of my... dark fantasy novel, I guess?
13,730 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 19 57
“Jack,” Pegeen tried again, resting her chin on her crossed arms. “Please, tell me another story. Tell me about your life in the workhouses.”
Jack shook his head, looking up at Pegeen, and resting his hands over the top of the pitchfork’s handle. “Now why would you want to hear about that, hmm? Besides, shouldn’t you be tending to your studies with Marjorie?”
Pegeen scrunched her nose in disgust. “I’m dreadfully bored with all of that nonsense. ‘A lady sits with her ankles crossed, and her hands folded daintily in her lap,’” she said; her normally soft tones rising in pitch to imitate Marjorie’s shrill voice to perfection. “What do I need that stuff and nonsense for anyway? I like being up here, reading. And listening to your stories,” she hinted, a twinkle sparkling in her bright, blue eyes.
*****
Mine's not as good as all of yours, but I do struggle with description. Something that I'm working on in my writing classes. Anyway, this is a line or two from my semi-steampunk novel, inspired by the lovely ladies of the D.B.C.A. Thank you for introducing me to Steampunk, gals!
----------___________________________
Here's to hoping I don't flop at this!
37,025 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 21 05
The small man with the small hands and large head woke up on June 10 the way he always did – crying like a baby.
3,729 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 21 23
"Well, I hope no one expects me to share a room with my French professor. Because they don’t shave, and I don’t think I could stand it."
Reaction of one of my characters to learning that faculty and students live in the same building of her new school.
----------Paranoia is just another word for longevity.
~Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
70,060 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 21 45
Her father always said that she shouldn’t tell them when she was going to do it. That way, they anticipated—they knew and they reacted worse. She sought out his eyes.
“What’s your son’s name?” she asked, rubbing at the tendons and ligaments. In the hands, there were so many. They were intricate and delicate, like spider webs.
“A name? He’s only a baby. We don’t know who he is yet,” the man said, staring back at her hard. He seemed determined not to look.
She twisted.
----------"We must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy us." -- Ray Bradbury
2008: Bona na Croin -- 96,566 words
2009: Gone the Dove
32,000 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 21 55
"So really, back to the question at hand - how do you survive? And why? Why aren’t you running into the woods, eating every mushroom you can find -- just to eat, or trip crazily, or die? Why do you allow yourself to crawl over to the little boy’s room to run your fingers across the faded mural of little cars toot tooting along a hopeful little road through the playful little buildings, tilted whimsically this way and that. You let yourself pretend, like him, to drive in the red car, past the construction site, not remembering how the buildings really tilted, and some of them eventually fell, failing to evoke the further memory of the construction site, and how the excavator was actually pulling up huge chunks of concrete and steel in the desperate attempt to reach half-crushed bodies, half out of this world already, in the hope that we’d find our humanity again somewhere among them."
From my post-apocalyptic celebration of humanity (!!!).
27,174 / 50,000
Nov 2, 2009 - 22 41
Tess is a campaign adviser to one of my main characters. She used to run a dating service, and was working off an old debt for the main character. He was a third party candidate who won unexpectedly when the two main characters were embroiled in scandal.
----------2008 Fourth Down
2007 Darker Than My Shades (30,215)
2006 I.T. (50,275)
2005 Babes With Blades (51,387)
3,321 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 02 20
"Cut!" The director's yell drew her out of her reverie. This wasn't real, this was a movie. She was on a movie set. The reminder was brief, long enough to hear Joe's comments, then back into character; even if lunch had just been called.
----------"No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise." -the Mock Turtle
38,230 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 04 11
“That has been brought down into acceptable margins.”
From my teen drama disguised as an alien abduction, kids with paranormal abilities science fiction story. ;-)
37,928 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 05 30
I had him. He was just about to yield, I know it. I kept the pressure on against his windpipe. Not as effective on him as it would have been on a human since his need for air was almost not existent, but it was still painful. The grimace on his face told me so. Just as his hand rose to tap my arm in surrender, my shoulder twisted with bone crunching pain as if someone were trying to tear it off my body. Except, here’s the thing, my shoulder hadn’t moved. As I lost my hold on Joshua and cradled my tortured shoulder, I knew what had happened and I glared at the one responsible. Kia actually grinned at me though she was clearly in pain as Ruben held her in an arm lock. She was projecting her pain to me. Devious witch.
Paragragh from my Paranormal Erotic Romance. POV is the heroine's, a real tough chick!
----------Cheers,
Angela Daniels
Sensual Tales To Ignite Your Soul
www.angeladanielsromance.com
30,517 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 06 00
Marcy looked at the two tickets, turning them over in her hands. The first was a plane ticket for a flight out of O’Hare International Airport at 5:40 the following morning and scheduled to arrive at Miami International Airport at 9:45. The second ticket had the words 'Mousa Cruises' printed in a bright, flowing script. Below that was something etched in gold. It looked like Greek. There was an address on the other side, and while Marcy was unfamiliar with Miami, she assumed a cab driver would be able to get her there. No barcodes. No confirmation number or anything like it. It didn’t look like any ticket she had ever seen.
Hehehe, mysterious tickets from mysterious strangers. From my modern fantasy. Bonus points to anyone who knows what the word "mousa" means!
----------2009: Paper in the Water
28,448 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 14 55
Politics! Jacelin let out a small sulfuric puff of smoke in irritation. No other species could wade so deeply and thoroughly into the minutia and triviality of politics as did dragons. Jacelin certainly had no interest in the politics.
And yet here he was, at council. It’s not like other dragons didn’t show. Many refused the summons – but it was noticed who shirked the summons. It was noticed and Jace figured it wasn’t that onerous to show up as to incur the notice of the elder’s council.
The first day’s covenanting rituals were nearly done; the ancient blue dragon – so old he was almost coal black – was completing the seventh chant. Jacelin heard a flutter of wing behind him. A clump of young greens had flown down from the heights. Oh, what a nuisance!
“Greeting old smoke-belcher,” one of the young dragons alighted beside him. Clearly it was trying to show off to its friends.
-----
Obviously I am writing fantasy novel. Currently the title I'm using is 'The Ceteri Prophesy.' This excerpt is from the beginning of chapter four (although the first chapter in which Jace appears)
-douglas
22,518 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 16 20
Jacqueline gasped as the life flooded back into her body. She tried to sit up and found herself twisting as she came to the realization that she was dangling from chains, cuffed to the wall of…
"Where am I?" she croaked aloud, her voice still recovering from the latest in a long line of deaths. This one had included strangulation, but the rest of what happened immediately prior to waking up in this musty place was a blank.
"Oh, Jackie, don't you even recognize your own basement?" came a familiar voice.
Jacqueline looked up, straining her neck to look out of what she now realized was one of the cells in the lowest levels of the Hub. Standing on the other side of the impermeable glass wall was someone Jacqueline had hoped never to see again.
"Joanna, how did you get out of jail?" Jacqueline gasped. "UNIT didn't tell me they released you!"
"Oh please, Jackie, dear, do you really think I was going to wait until they released me?" Joanna cooed. "Those silly little soldiers just don't know how to handle a fifty-first century woman. I had them molded into putty in my hands."
Not sure exactly where in my story this scene will fit in, somewhere near the end possibly, but I kind of like it :) Joanna is a former partner of Jacqueline's who caused some chaos in my TARDIS Big Bang novel and I left her locked up by UNIT at the end of it. Guess she got out ;)
I'm enjoying everyone's excerpts, they all sound so intriguing! :D Keep up the great work everyone!!
~MJ~
----------http://knitchick1979.livejournal.com
41,802 / 50,000
Nov 3, 2009 - 17 46
From early in the first chapter(?) of my gritty urban romance about two drug-dealing hustlers who are finding their way in the world, in spite of their dysfunctional families.
39,169 / 50,000
Nov 4, 2009 - 21 35
“To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.” - Leonard Bernstein
"You are joining the proud ranks of People Who Write When They Are Supposed To Be Doing Other Things (PWWWTASTBDOT)." -Maureen Johnson
72,000 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 15 38
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!“ I screamed out loud, tugging at my hair. “Nothing makes remote sense anymore! What do I do?!” I exclaimed, looking at Harmony with tear-filled eyes. Yeah, that's right. I wasn't some tough boy you saw in movies; the lead protagonist in stories who are always telling their men to never let anyone see them cry.
If I wanted to cry, I was going to cry, and didn't care who saw me. This was all too much for me to handle. “...What do I do, Harmony?! I don't belong here!” I collapsed onto the ground and kept my gaze fixated on it. It was all starting to sink in. I really was dead. I couldn't go to school anymore, I couldn't talk to my friends, I couldn't smile and laugh at my mom while she took me to basketball practice... My whole life was ruined, and the worst part was that I didn't even know how I died! How was I suppose to explain that to all of the other ghosts? Oh hey, I died from an unknown cause? It sounded weird, but they'd laugh at me for that!
---
It's about a 16-year-old boy who dies saving millions at the cost of his own life. And he doesn't even know how he died.
But he was murdered.
By someone in the Afterlife.
It's confusing. XD
591,023 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 15 55
"Well, I do not know what in the bloody hell to do," Geroge said, ready to chuck the peices at John.
John shrugged. "Easy: we make another time warp, we go back to 1863 and we forget that this all even happened. Better yet, I think we should tell ourselves that this is a dream. Maybe we will wake up."
"...for a scientist, you are not very scientific."
----------2005: 50.7K
2006: 100.2K
2007: 326.5K
2008: 686.4K
11,084 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 16 57
“God, I just want five minutes on the phone with her. Just another text message. Instead, all I’ve got is this robotic piece of garbage,” she said, holding to the obituary.
+++
This particular chapter is about someone dying from swine flu.
12,552 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 19 12
“It hurts doesn’t it?” he smirked. He stood up, and pointed the gun straight at my head. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt for long.”
Black.
This is just before the bad guy kidnaps my main character
12,552 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2009 - 19 12
“It hurts doesn’t it?” he smirked. He stood up, and pointed the gun straight at my head. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt for long.”
Black.
This is just before the bad guy kidnaps my main character
13,730 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 01 07
When Elizabeth wasn’t looking, Jenny glanced over briefly at Pegeen and stuck out her tongue, feeling quite smug at her advantage over having their mother’s affection while Pegeen only received the woman’s wrath.
‘Keep that up you spoiled little [w]itch, and I’ll cut out your tongue with one of the steak knives that are sitting on the dining room table, and I’ll eat it with relish,’ Pegeen thought as she moved to her father’s side by the fireplace.
-------
----------Well, that last bit came out without my intending it too, lol. I guess my MFC has quite a bit of pent up anger at her little sister.
___________________________
Here's to hoping I don't flop at this!
31,106 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 08 45
“Hello, ladies,” she said grimly, surprising herself with the hoarseness of her voice.
One of the white ‘ladies’ fluffed her feathers; another one coughed feebly. Maayan came in, picked up from the already-poopy straw the ‘chicken god’ – a sea-polished stone with a natural hole down the middle that has been failing to live up to its folk expectation of protecting poultry from diseases, predators and various evil eyes – hung it back on its nail, and checked the nests. There was nothing in them. Or at least nothing edible.
Maayan looked at the chickens with reproach.
40,241 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 00
Todd shook his head. He knew his parents would do this to him… make him sit through a sermon one last time if it was over their dead bodies - and in this case, it was.
----------Tim
Municipal Liaison for Illinois::Chicago
ml-tim at chiwrimo.org
13,151 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 22
Cezar rose to return to his troops and looked down at the little flower standing at his knee. With one swift movement he scooped her into his arms. This blood diamond was leaving with him. The little girl nestled close to his chest and even closer to his heart. Where she would remain for eternity.
----------C...do you really want to live forever?
"Writing is the key to enlightenment." ~ Anonymous
591,023 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 09 24
From second novel...
It was nothing more than a whim that I ended up on the beach house for the summer.
----------2005: 50.7K
2006: 100.2K
2007: 326.5K
2008: 686.4K
34,530 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 10 10
12,462 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2009 - 14 36
My hair is too long and too hot, even damp, and I start to think that if I pull on it hard enough, the egg will come right out with it, through the scalp, perfectly intact and I won't have to bother with the normal course of things, just frisbee it out the window for the hungry, it was wasted on me.