Rain

It started raining last week.  Not heavy but endless.  Cold, constant, November rain. 

There aren't any animals.  If there are any left, they're in hiding, curled up under a tree somewhere, waiting for the rain to stop.  You can see faces, too, in the windows of other houses, staring out at you, watching the rain and wondering the same thing you've been wondering all along: is this it?

Of course it's not it.  You tell yourself that over and over again.  Of course it's not.  But you don't know, not for sure.

The world will end on a Tuesday, there isn't any question.  The only uncertain thing is which Tuesday it will choose - and where all the calenders have gone.

That's my flashy thing for the writing prompt I put up on Monday.  I had the idea for it during heavy rain yesterday, and wrote it just now - the sky is a crisp blue and cloudless, the sun is shining - we definitely are not having apocalyptic type rains here.

So I'm gearing up for NaNo, and working like a nut to finish my All Hallow's Read poster.  I only found out about the contest last week, so creating something worthy of AHR in that time is not going to be easy - that being said, I am at the finishing touches stage, so I should have it in by the end of the weekend, and I'll definitely post a link to it when I have.

I also finally got myself another day job, which is good (yay!) but is also a minimum of 45 hours per week (also yay!) - which means NaNoWriMo is going to be CRAZY this year, especially since I'm also going to Prague for four days at the end of next week (super yay!) - I'm going to have to write at least 2,000 words per day at the end of a 9 hour shift - but I was reading through my (now 16 page) outline a couple of days ago, and I really do think this story is going to be good.

At Night

An albino Father Christmas stood on the end table and at night, it came to life. It jumped down, plastic censer swinging from a cardboard-present clutching hand, and moved around the lobby. It went on the computer and changed the reservations, it looked at Internet porn. It chased the mice.

In the morning, it went back, replaced its taffeta hat and waited for the guests. When they touched it, reaching for a dining guide or filling out a comment card, or because its beard looked so soft, it took a piece of their soul and at night, it ate it.


By the way, I wrote the soul-stealing bit before I read Rhiannon's story, which just proves that we're a) very alike and b) very crazy. I would have posted it earlier, but in keeping with the brand new DevCo tradition of posting terrifying holiday art, I wanted to find a picture to go with it.

I'm not sure if this counts as a prompt

I was thinking, as a kind of Christmas challenge, it would be cool if we each tried to write a 100 word Xmas story before midnight on Christmas. Neil Gaiman's Nicholas Was is proof that it can be done, but I know everyone is busy around the holidays, so no worries if you've got other things on the go. 'Twas just a thought.

If you wanted to make yours a horror story, I found some inspiration for you. Good lord, that guy is horrifying. Combined with the semi-scary classical Xmas music I'm obliged to listen to at work, I may just have nightmares tonight (or tomorrow, or whenever I sleep next).

Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Solstice and a Merry Christmas /Winter Holiday of Your Choosing and a Happy New Year. Joys of the season to you :)

Everything or A Really Big Shameless Plug

So, after 5 months with craptastic internet access, I'm back in the land of the technologically-sane! First, I'd like to recomend that anyone who is able to take a few months, head off to some remote location and work on whatever his/her current baby is, because it really is refreshing. I finished Aigaion Girl and now I'm just waiting to see if my proof copy has arrived (if it isn't there by tomorrow, I'm going to be calling CreateSpace and giving them what for, since I paid an extra $18 to have it shipped within 7-11 days and that was 27 days ago)

And now I'm interrupting myself, because my computer is mildly possesed; as I was talking about Aigaion Girl, the old cover art file opened itself, with absolutely no imput from me.

Anywhom, I'm fairly pleased with where I am, and what I managed to accomplish with my writing, and also fairly pleased to be back in a place that has libraries and reference material and internet access, etc.

Now that I'm back, I'd like to see if we can't get Devereaux Court hopping again, so any and all ideas in that area are more than welcome. I like Rhiannon's Prompt idea a lot. Also, I don't know if you're all as (visually) artistically challanged as I am or not, but random artwork pertaining to writing wouldn't go amiss. I'd also like to remind everyone that inviting people to join DC is always a good idea.

NaNoWriMo 2009!

Hey! Look at that - I'm still alive ;)

Right. National Novel Writer's Month. It starts in about half a month, give or take.

Anyone participating? If so, care to share?

Also, feel free to add me on the NaNoWriMo site. My username is Elvish Kitty. I can't say that I'll actually write anything this year, but I want to give it a go.

Anyway, my working title so far is Self Indulgent Nonsense, which - while perfectly describing my story - probably doesn't send the right message. When I have the synopsis actually worked out (and a better title) I shall tell you what it is. In the mean time, its one of the sequels for The Story That Rainbow Brite Spawned, or, rather, the fantasy stories I wrote for my cousin when I was 13 or so.

This one's a little bit different. I hope.

I also hope that everyone else is participating too. If so, I strongly suggest beginning your preliminary research and outlines soon - unless, of course, you're one of those lucky people who can come up with an idea merely by sitting down in front of the computer/at the writing desk. If not, keep in mind that you need to write 1666.7 words a day to make the 50,000 word deadline - and an outline might just come in handy for that.

And, if you haven't even gotten an idea yet...feel free to brainstorm here! That is, of course, what this site's ultimately for (even if we all vanish from time to time ;)

Prompts - Rules and Prompt Number 1

Since there was a favorable reaction to the idea of prompts, I figured I should go ahead and post the first one.

The Rules...uuummmmm....

- So we know what it is when you post, the title of the post should include which prompt it was.

E.g: Snazzy Story Title - Prompt 1.

And tags/labels - each prompt should have it's own numeral (this one's prompt 1), so when you post, you should include the label/tag for the original prompt in case anyone forgets what it is. And, of course, if you post a prompt of your own, keep track of which one it is in the sequence...

- Time...take what you need. We can have some prompts that are time sensitive, but - especially because Athena's internet access is sporadic - I think the majority of them should be a 'complete as you will' sort of thing. If anyone does post one with a time limit, of course, please mention it in the post.

- As for what...write whatever you want! Poems, short stories, long stories, scripts... Like with the time limits, I won't squash anyone's inspirations. Again, if you want to have a specific limit put on your prompt, mention it when you post it.

I'm fairly certain that's all of it...rating etc. This probably won't be a problem at all, though I should mention if, for any reason, there's überly* graphic anythings, you might want to point that out lest it come as an unwanted surprise to anyone.

If you do have a rating, please include it in the title of whatever your response is.

E.g: Snazzy Story Title - PG-13 - Prompt 1

I figure sticking with the Fictionpress ratings is a good idea, since everyone here knows what they are. I hope. >:)

Other than that...here's the first prompt:



Go nuts!

* yes, I know "überly" is not a word

Here's A Thought...

How would people feel about having a series of prompts for short stories/long stories/novellas/whatever?

For instance, I (or whoever) would post a picture or a phrase or a link to a song, and whoever wants to can write something to go with it...any length, any genre, any rating, all that. And, when the stories/whatever are complete, whoever finishes first posts the next prompt...

Or we can do it another way, if you'd rather. Or not, if you rather that too.

Just a thought...

Oooo...and the prompts can be used for pre-existing stories too, if you have a WIP and are stuck on a scene. I won't limit your creativity ;)