by Mayumi-H | Aug 1, 2012 | Short Stories
For week 51 of the 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups, the prompt is, simply:
…together the flames…
We have 100 words to produce a creative piece from the prompt. It doesn’t say we have to use those words exactly, but I did, as you’ll see.
“Fire Dancers”
They’d danced what felt a slow forever: circling, stepping, narrowly avoiding, their movements never too close…nor too far. Just enough distance to stay safe, to stay mellow, to stay simply teasing and contained.
But even embers, left alone, will glow, and crackle, and burn.
That’s what they did, at last, one night. Flared fiercely in the dim dark as they met for the first time, feeding and devouring each other both, with each kiss and lick growing stronger, brighter, until they burst, together, the flames forming a consuming conflagration.
His wife fled.
Her husband wept.
And the fire raged on.
“The Lovers’ Boat” by Albert Pinkham Ryder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
What kind of flames did you stoke for this week’s prompt?
by Mayumi-H | Jul 30, 2012 | Excerpts, Fearless, Process
A friend of mine asked to read my latest project, which happens to be Fearless. I don’t usually share my work with people I trust so early in the game, but I offered him the first two (draft) chapters, mostly just to shut him up.
It didn’t.
What I got back was an earful. He made some good points, but this had to be my favorite critique: The best friend is more likable than the hero. To quote: “Your hero’s a jerk.”
That one actually made me grin. Because yes, he is. But, that’s a big part of the story.
One of the things I love about my main characters is that they’re flawed. Some more than others, of course, but I try to help them all grow. That’s the beautiful thing about heroes and heroines. They’re like you and me (sometimes scarily so), but, over the course of the story, they push themselves to be better people. They don’t always get what they want, but they’re stronger men and women for the effort.
Which is why it’s so much fun to write them as jerks in the beginning:
Ross felt a grin creep to his face. Then he raised his free arm and called out, “Mornin’, Beth!”
Neville clicked his tongue, muttering, “Grow up.”
Ross ignored him, swinging his board up as he approached both fruit and filly. He bent his head, offering the Crispins’ youngest daughter a leering smile. “You look as scrumptious as those apples!” he told her.
Beth laughed and blushed bright red under her kerchief. “Thank you,” she said, her voice mostly squeal.
It took some effort for Ross to keep his smile in place; hopefully, that voice would one day mature as nicely as her tits had already done. Still, he wasn’t interested in her, just the apples, so he offered her a charming flare of his nostrils and asked, “Think you could let us have a taste?”
What do you like best about your main character(s)? Are they the ones who grow over the story, or do they spur the growth in others?
by Mayumi-H | Jul 11, 2012 | Short Stories
Week 49’s 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups is another text prompt:
….Murray was just about to serve for the Championship when…
As Julia says, you have 100 words plus those in the prompt making 110 altogether. The prompt must be in the piece and not split.
Okay, then! I revisited an earlier vignette for this one, inspired as I was by that trailing “when…”
“Sad to Belong”
(With apologies to England Dan and John Ford Coley.)
They left the hotel television on, simply for the noise: noisy rooms were less likely to be disturbed. And they couldn’t be disturbed. Not now. Not after all the cooped-up days they’d already wasted, yearning for each other’s touch.
Robb’s arms were around her, but, still, Emma had to ask: “You’re certain about this?”
He nodded, nearly desperate. “I can’t go another minute without you,” he said, before crushing his mouth to hers.
They tumbled to the bed then, the television’s chatter covering their moans, and the snap of buttons and belts. Apparently, Murray was just about to serve for the Championship, when Robb’s mobile rang.
It was his wife.
I’m likely alone on this, but I don’t see Emma or Robb as bad people. Perhaps because I see their situation as a case of Right Love, Wrong Life.
What glimpse into another life did you take, with this week’s prompt?
by Mayumi-H | Jul 9, 2012 | Excerpts, Fearless, From Hell (A Love Story), Persona 4 Fan Fiction, Process
Warning: I’ve tried to keep it clean, but discussion of mature themes to follow.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Venus guessed. “Since you two have…been together?”
Ross paused, hand hovering over the electric kettle. “A bit,” he admitted.
She offered him a slow nod, glancing down at the edge of the counter space, where there was a stash of pens and a flip-pad scribbled with future meal notes. “Well, sex shouldn’t be the most important thing in a relationship.”
He shook his head as he filled the kettle with water. “I know that-”
“But it is important,” she said, and here Ross raised his head in quiet surprise.
I’ve never shied away from sexual situations in my stories. I don’t consider a sex scene in and of itself pornographic, though it can certainly be used for that purpose. In most of my stories (as in life), sex is a way for two people to communicate beyond the use of words; the intense intimacy forged by being sexual with another person creates all sorts of interesting conflicts and realizations.
Venus, here, is stating my own opinion: Sex should not be the most important aspect of a relationship. But it is important.
Sexual compatibility can mean different things for different people. A couple with low libidos may have sex once a month…and it will be wonderful every single time. A couple with strong libidos may have sex once a day…and that can be beautiful every single time, too. Relationships are as unique as the people in them, and it’s the part of stories I really enjoy examining.
I like a sex scene to mean something, though. A conflict of interests. A learning experience. A personal enlightenment. Even a casual or detached sex scene can have important meaning for a character, at that moment in the story. I like using all of these approaches to sex in my stories.
What I’ve been enjoying with this latest endeavor, though, is the fade-to-black, or glossing, technique. Sex for its own sake doesn’t do anything for a story; I’ve always agreed with that. But sex also doesn’t have to happen “on-screen” for it to be worthwhile to a character’s or relationship’s development.
For Fearless, let’s say there are four sex scenes that are important for the development of the plot. Does that mean the characters have sex only four times in the story? Hell, no! But, I can show in a paragraph – or a sentence – what’s happening between them, without going into detail. I know what’s going on; the reader knows what’s going on. And I can get to the really important part – the ramifications or repercussions of that sex scene – that much more quickly, than if I delved into the detail.
Some writers and readers don’t like sex in their stories. That’s fine. I do like sex, though, when it means something. Just like in real life.
How do you feel about sex in stories?
by Mayumi-H | Jul 4, 2012 | Persona 4 Fan Fiction, Short Stories
I had quite a bit of fun with last week’s picture prompt; my head certainly went in a new direction from where I’d been before!
But the 100-Word Challenge for Grown-Ups this week (week 48) is a phrase prompt:
… I blamed it on the dog…
Julia says: “Your pieces should be 106 words long (the prompt plus 100).” Without further ado, here’s what I’m offering, this week:
“Blame the Hound”
“That girl definitely knows what she’s doing, let me tell you…!”
“Who? Anna?”
“No. Juliet.”
“Juliet? I thought you were out with Anna, last night?”
“Canceled.”
“She canceled?”
“No, I canceled. Keep up, would you, mate?”
“Why’d you cancel?”
“Have you seen Juliet?”
“So, what? Anna’s history, then?”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because you went out with another girl last night, that’s why!”
“It’s not like I told her I was going out with another bird, moron.”
“So, then, what was your excuse for not taking her out last night?”
“I blamed it on the dog.”
“You don’t have a dog.”
“She doesn’t know that!”
Another dialogue-only piece; sorry about that. Again, I didn’t see the need for any description; I think the words speak for themselves.
Personally, I appreciate a man who is faithful, kindly, sweet…all that good stuff. Yet, it’s fun to imagine the life of a hound. (You know, just so long as it’s all in my imagination!)
![By kallerna (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](https://mayumi.amorphous.press/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2012/08/256px-pharaoh_hound1.jpg "256px-Pharaoh_Hound")
What did you blame on the dog, this week?
![Brocken Inaglory [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFalling_surfer.jpg)
![By kallerna (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](http://mayumi.amorphous.press/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2012/08/256px-pharaoh_hound1.jpg "256px-Pharaoh_Hound")
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