Newbie Author Challenge: Currently Reading

I am currently reading three books, The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, Bad People by Craig Wallwork, and Solitude by Dean M. Cole. (Amazon Associate Links) SPOILERS AHEAD. The Witching Hour is an immense undertaking, and I am not even half-way through. It is a slow unfolding of the story of a family of witches,

Catching up with the Newbie Author Challenge!

I finished writing my first novel, While Sleeping, in 2019. It is a thriller that includes art it its many forms, female friendship and empowerment, a hidden room with an unknown occupant, horrendous crimes of rape and sex trafficking, and a serial killer. While not a police procedural, the law enforcement officers engaged with the

Throw it on the pile

Where does inspiration come from? It’s funny how a single line of something you hear can spark an idea for a story. For my first novel, I had been watching Colony, a sci-fi series with that blond-headed guy from Lost. You know which one I’m talking about. At some point one character is asked if

Beating

Be not deceived by the steady beating of the heart in my chestFor although blood rushes in and rushes outMy heart lies sleepingSleeping as if enchantedProtected by magic wallsEncased in thornsLying dormantLying in wait But do not think it lies in wait for youListen closelyIt is beating

Inside this Box

Inside this boxA lifeOf false starts and shattered hopes Of empty promises And loneliness so thick that cardboard edges weep with it So close to a fulfilled dreamDo you even want it anymore Do you wantAnything Not the cold want of consumerismBut the want of lifeOf greenness exploding from soft earthOf human feet on distant

Body

body it could have been any bodythat lie beneath youshortsweetsassy it could have been any handthat held you while youcheeredcoughedcried my bodymy hand my body that gave birthmy eyes that shed tearsmy heart that bled for youmy voice that sang for you her body beneath yousilkysmoothsnake

Parched

parched white parchedearth reflection of my soul barrendiseasedheart one lonely yellow bloom stronguncultivatedweed deep rooted twisted core darkinvasivethorn

Plenum

I wrote this for my husband on November 30, 2014, back when we were involved in a long-distance relationship.But my mom thought it could apply to my brother, who died when I was a girl. Plenum The spaces between atomsBetween placesWhere you and I have never metThe spaces created just for youWith memories of times

Brutal zombie scene

Trigger warnings: rape and violence This is from a book that I started previously. Perhaps one day I’ll finish it. 🙂 I came across a horrifying video earlier. The camera pans in on a group of men in a circle, all armed to the teeth. They are laughing, patting each other on the backs, guffawing,

How I feel about teaching

Near the end of my second field experience, during the long commute to Lake Shore Middle School from my home, I started to compose a letter to my future urban students. I composed the letter in my mind, spoke the words to myself as I drove, and wrote them down when I arrived in the