An Alien Birthday- Flash Fiction

I've decided to take a crack at this month's 15 to 50 Flash fiction challenge. I'm still not sure if I am doing these right but, I'm writing, so it's a good thing either way!

 I wanted to throw a science fiction spin on it and write something with some brand new characters. but this month's combo just had me stuck for now. So instead I talked with some old characters. Happy reading ;)

Photo Copyright: Shailaja V

February's Word prompt: Eternal

Phrase Prompt: Circle of life

Picture Prompt: Cake->

 “Whats the point of a birthday?” Rivi levitated a lit candle above her hand, staring at the flickering flame.

“Its a circle of life thing, you made it through another year.” Dan reasoned.

“I don’t know when I was born.”

“What about the day you started life with the Aunantet?”

 Linking this to the Fiction Challenge ‘From 15 to 50′

Would you like to try your hand at writing a story or poem in 15-50 words? You can either click on The Moving Quill above and submit your link OR post your short right into the comments here. I don't mind. I'd love to read them!



***

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

The Portal

photo credit: darkday. via photopin cc

Today I thought I would try something different on my blog. I'm going to post a picture and the first sentence and we are going to write a story together! All you need to do is watch the comments thread down below and add the next sentence in the story in a comment of your own. With each person replying with the next sentence in the story I am sure this will get really interesting fast!

So... lets start with:




Enriel had lived in the town of Lanta all of her life, this was the first time she knew of that anything like this had ever happened here.


What's the next sentence?

What Advancement Do You Want To See In The Future?

photo credit: Mr Wabu via photopin cc

Time to give you a chance to speculate among the stars!

So... you've been given a time machine to use- just to peek into the future once and then come home.

New things are being invented every day! New ideas are coming to life which will change the future we are headed for.

What advancement would you most like the future to have?

A cure for something?

Warp Drives?

Colonies on other planets?


While you are at it... check out this article about the worlds first truly heartless man who has no pulse yet lives! The Wonders of Technology!

Just Finished The Final Season Of Star Trek Voyager

Loved this crew!

My husband, my kids, and I have all been watching Star Trek Voyager over dinner on most nights, thank you Netflix for having them all send to our house by disk! So far we have watched the Original Series (Capt. Kirk), Next Generation (Picard), and now Voyager (Janeway). When I was a teen I watched all of the 'Enterprise' (Capt. Archer) episodes as well. I can't say yet with honesty that I enjoy any of the editions over the others yet but I do have one confession to make...

I think the final episode of Voyager season 7 truly takes the prize for best finale ever!

One of my favorite things about watching the Star Trek series' is watching the crews grow, and learn, and discover their own potential. Seven went from being a Borg drone to being completely free of the collective and learned what it means to be human again. The Doctor explored what it means to be a sentient life form in holographic form, and even asked himself whether he would ever want to become human given the chance. Tom grew out of his rebellious ways, and even Tuvok learned to make friends even with the illogical Neelix.

Season 7 wrapped up all the stories from all the main crew members and in the end every story ended in a satisfactory way.  Seven of Nine found someone to have a relationship with. Tuvok got his cure. B'lana and Tom got to have the doctor birth their baby. We find out that Harry Kim may eventually become a captain of his own ship, and the Doctor may eventually pick a name for himself and perhaps even get married; all of this being up in the air of course since they rewrote time again but... check it out and you'll see!

Yeah its all a bit Timey Wimey but we've also been keeping up with all the Doctor Who episodes so we are totally used to all that.

I'd have to say the only thing I was disappointed by is the fact that 7of 9 didn't finish her codiscot game (or however you spell that) with Neelix, AND the fact that they left him behind. I am glad that he found the rest of his people and a family, and I guess if Star Fleet can communicate with voyager on the rare occasion than they can still keep in touch with Neelix too.

So overall, unlike the series finale of 'Enterprise', I was very satisfied with the way Voyager ended.

And I'm not the only one who loves Voyager! Author Travis Simmons has even gone against the typical geek grain and professed his love for Capt. Janeway on his blog along with a pretty well thought out list as to why he enjoys Captain Janeway over the other Star Trek captains!

We've been dipping back into re-watching the episodes of Smallville from the beginning, and Breaking Bad (though the kids don't watch Breaking Bad with us of course). We are also anxiously awaiting the new season of Doctor Who, Green Arrow, and Walking Dead.

Its a great time to be a geek! :P

Review of Star Trek TNG and Doctor Who story Assimilation 2

Assimilation 2 Vol 1 Image from Amazon.com

Assimilation 2 Vol 2 Image from Amazon.com

My hubby gave me books for Christmas! Not just any books, graphic novels! (- funny story, I once had someone ask me if 'graphic novels' were too 'adult' for children.... umm- unless otherwise stated, graphic novels are just comics made into book form.)

 These particular graphic novels are part one and two of Assimilation 2 (not quite sure what assimilation 1 entailed, but that is neither here nor there). Assimilation 2 is a mashup of the characters from Star Trek Next Generation (for those non Trekkies out there.... that's Captain Picard's timeline) and the characters from Doctor Who during 12's (bowtie doctor) regeneration. Also found in this story line are the 4th Doctor (long scarf doctor) along with Captain Kirk and crew. In this story line the Cybermen team up with the Borg to attack and attempt to assimilate Captain Picard's universe.

For the Trekkie and Whovian that I am I absolutely LOVED this story! It felt just like every other Doctor Who episode. Complete with a few jumps back and forward in time and the Enterprise crew getting a peek into the Tardis- "Yep, its bigger on the inside!" It was also hilarious to find that both The Doctor and the Cybermen were impressed by Data who even manages to save the Tardis from the Borg!

I won't go into further detail here as it would spoil the story but it really was an entertaining read!

 If you'd like to check it out for yourself you can find it on amazon.com in both e-book and paperback- I'd personally recommend the paperback copy! http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Next-Generation-Doctor-ebook/dp/B009H8LUZ0

Hubby also gave me a book of Sherlock Holmes puzzles- when I finish that one I'll be sure to let you know how it was! It's intriguing so far!

Rounding Up 150 Children With Math

Children chart

Who's up for another fan extra?
I'm working on a sequel to The Alien Mind, but in order to do so I needed to back track some math to try to figure out how many kids are on the scene, how many are needing to be found, and which ones are available to be rounded up from other scenes. This got so complicated I needed two sheets of notes and three tally mark charts; talk about some writer problems! It was so confusing pulling this all together that I thought you all might enjoy a bit of a peek!


In The Alien Mind an alien group called the Aruk kidnap 150 children originally. During the original captivity and before the Aunantet rescue the children a girl is killed during when her and Rivi are trying to escape, leaving 149 children (including Rivi). At the beginning of the book we find that these 149 children are now being raised by the Aunantet. (You can find out more about the book as well as some fan extras here!)

When Aun is attacked the Children are sent off to safety in 10 ships each with a 20 person capacity. 50 Aunantet join them.

 Because Rivi and Ankh stay behind on Aun to make sure the children's ships get off the planet safely  that leaves 148 children to be divided among the 10 ships with two seats empty.

8 of the ships  are filled with 15 Kids and 5 Aunantet

2 of the ships are filled with 14 kids and 5 Aunantet

One of the ships of 14 kids and 5 Aunantet ends up destroyed (any more information here would be a *spoiler*) 

                           

 Which leaves 127 kids and 45 Aunantet

Later the book says the children and Aunantet decide to split up into 45 smaller groups to better evade the Aruk.

20 of those groups are found and Rivi  is put in charge of relocating 15 of those groups- 30 children of which decide to join some of Earth's new planetary colonies. Rivi then takes 15 of the youngest to the mars colony. However the book never really states how many kids (exactly) are found and how many decide to stay on Aun . (Which is important to me if they are going to be in the second book.)

It does say 75 of the kids are left to be found.

So in order to get a better picture... I ended up breaking out the old pen and paper and drew out the above chart. Separated evenly into 45 groups you get:

12 of the groups have 3 kids to 1 Aunantet
8 of the groups have 2 kids to 1 Aunantet

So working backwards... if you take the 75 kids out of the picture first and leave the 20 groups that end up found you get 52 kids. Rivi is put in charge of relocating 15 of those groups (so 42 kids out of the 52) and we are also told that 30 of her children decide to go to the other colonies. I'm assuming here that the Aunantet took charge of relocating most of the youngest ones thereby deciding to send them to Mars. So with 30 of Rivi's group gone to the other colonies that leaves 5 that were Rivi's (out of those youngest 15) that go to mars and 7 of Rivi's end up staying on Aun!

So... what trouble can I get these children into now?
If you'd like to see me finish this second book so you can find out what happens next, comment in the blog comments with #finishthatstory !

Have any questions? You can ask those in the comments too ;)

Rivi Sets Up Her First Christmas Tree- Short Story.

V.L. Jennings' Christmas Tree Angel

Well, it took some doing but I finally got Rivi all untangled from the Christmas light disaster. I rolled the lights up neatly around a piece of cardboard, thanks to the idea sent to us by Honi Drown, and went to fetch a chair from the kitchen so I could hang them.

"V.L. do you want me to put your tree together while you are climbing over that mountain of junk?" Rivi called from the living room.

I groaned inwardly, my dining room is stuffed with the contents from our old house's shed and it is begging to be emptied. I'd already missed Thanksgiving dinner with my in-laws because we didn't have room for everyone, and I felt terrible! I resolved then to get the new shed cleaned out and to make room for all this stuff before Christmas.

"Sure Rivi, don't bother with connecting the lights though, I'll do that when I put the angel on top."

I made my way over the mountain of shed stuff with my folding chairs and entered the living room to find Rivi levitating the middle section of the tree very carefully over the lower section. She also managed to hold all the branches into their folded position so she could set the section pole down into the pole from the first section without the branches blocking her view. The third and final part of the tree went up just as easily.

Rivi made a few motions with her hands then held them wide and I watched in amazement as the whole tree unfolded itself and the branches reached out gracefully! She'd managed to fluff the whole tree in mere seconds!

"Ok, that was awesome! Fluffing the tree alone would have taken me a bit over an hour or so!" I exclaimed.

"That's what its called! Fluffing!" Rivi laughed. "Now what do we do?"

"I'll climb up there and connect the angel and all the light strands together. Now where's that angel box?" I said.

"Here you go," Rivi answered passing the angel box over to me.

For those of you who haven't heard about my angel, she was passed down to me from my parents. For years she sat neglected on the mantel (I say neglected, but only because I really wanted to see her on the tree). When they sent her to me she was in need of a good washing and my grandmother recommended vinegar which did the trick in no time! She looks white and new once more! Now, every year I wrap her inside a plastic trash bag and then place her carefully in her own box to keep the moths from infesting her and the dust from yellowing her again. Pulling her out of her plastic bag is always a bitter sweet moment for me. I sat there for a moment remembering Christmases gone past before I reached up to put the angel on the tree.

Rivi noticed the reminiscing vibe and quietly set to work finding space on the shelf across my living room for the various snowmen I seem to have accumulated somehow. I had just found the last light connection in the tree and caused the whole tree to light up when my three year old squealed in delight over the sight. I laughed.

"Just wait till you see what it looks like decorated!" I said to my son before looking over to see what Rivi was doing over at my bookshelf.

"Wow, there's more? I thought the tree looks nice as it is." Rivi said moving to block my view of what she was working on.

"Just wait! You'll see!" I answered.

Just then we heard a knock at the door. My cats hurried over to entangle themselves around my feet as I tried to let our new visitor in. 

"Daddy's home?" My youngest called out.

"No, shouldn't be." I answered.

Feeling suddenly shy he hid behind Rivi's skirt. Rivi picked him up and tickled him instead.

I laughed at their antics but gasped as I opened the door to find none other than Laurie Kingston on my doorstep!

***

Question for you all... should Laurie be afraid of cats or would she like cats? (The thought goes through my mind every time I have a new visitor at the door simply because I have had some visitors freak out pretty badly.) Answer in blog comments section please :)

Also... if you would be interested in reading a sequel to The Alien Mind , please comment write #finishthatstory in the blog comments... I'm trying to decide whether I should give this up and try something new or continue writing the second book ;) 

***

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

Rivi- Tangled in Christmas Lights- Short Story

photo credit: bloomgal via photopin cc

A Christmas Mini Story
Featuring the characters from The Alien Mind

Every year I set up our family Christmas decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving. I had just climbed into my attic to drag down the Christmas boxes when I heard the familiar chime of our door alarm. My heart stopped. The door was supposed to be locked, I'd checked it just moments ago!

Thoughts raced through my mind of my three yr old playing Tron on the Wii in his room. I looked around for something in the attic I could snatch up to use as a weapon.

Plastic driveway candy cane? Eh, seems decently hard enough.

"V.L.? Why are you in your ceiling?"
Ugh, I'm still not quite used to the name change! But wait! What's SHE doing here?! She's not even supposed to exist!
"Um- Rivi, is that you? How did you get in here?" I ask, hanging my head through the open attic door.
"I can manipulate matter remember? I just flipped the inside of the lock. I did try ringing your doorbell first." Rivi answered quickly.
By this point I had recovered sufficiently enough from the shock that I was ready to play along with whatever delusion was playing out in my head.
"Oh yeah, I forgot- we still don't have that fixed yet." I grabbed one of the smaller boxes from the top of the decoration boxes stack and dropped it through the attic door, "Catch!"
Rivi caught the box by levitating it mid air and lowered it carefully to the ground.
"Weren't you afraid of breaking the ornaments in there?" Rivi asked. "I mean, I caught them, but what if I hadn't?"
I shrugged before I realized she couldn't see me from down there.
"That one is just a bunch of tangled Christmas lights." I answered.
"Christmas lights?"
"You've never seen Christmas lights? Hold on! You'll love this!" I answered while crawling back over to the attic ladder.
Once I made it down I pulled out the wad of Christmas lights and stuck the outlet end into the wall.

"Oh WOW neat!" Rivi exclaimed as the wad of wire and tiny bulbs lit up in multiple colors. "Want me to untangle them for you?"
"You can try if you'd like. I'll go get the rest of the boxes."
Rivi held her hands over the tangled ball of lights and levitated them off the floor. Back and forth she waved her hands around the ball loosening it little by little. I climbed down the ladder with the second box and looked around for Rivi... she wasn't in the hallway any longer.

Now, my house isn't very big so I didn't have to look far to see her standing in the middle of the living room with a ginormous moving web of lights over her head. She'd loosened the ball, that's for sure but now it was just an even larger unmanageable mess!

"Rivi- Wait!"
"I've got this," She said, "Um, wait, no, Oh NO!"
Rivi lost control of just a few pieces of the unwieldy web and suddenly it came crashing down all around her entangling her in the middle. Lights were everywhere, both of my cats freaked out. One cat darted off down the hallway and the other arched its back and hissed like Rivi was something that now needed to be pounced on.

I couldn't help it, I laughed and laughed and laughed.

"Not funny," Rivi said glumly blowing her hair out of her face from under the tangled web of lights.

"Next time it might help to unplug the strand before trying to unravel them!" I said still laughing.

"I'm sure your system of storing lights could use some improvement too!" Rivi said with a motion toward the box the lights had been unceremoniously shoved into the year before.

She has a point...

***

Hope you enjoyed this little holiday scene- I plan on inviting more of my other characters over for my holiday party this year so don't be afraid to come on over and join the fun!

While we are at it- what is your favorite way of storing those strands of Christmas lights... does your method keep them from getting tangled?

***

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

Traveling With An Alien

photo credit: EricMagnuson via photopin cc

“From this point on, Dan, it is imperative that you think of nothing but Mars,” Rivi said. Dan nodded in acknowledgment.

Rivi folded the ship into hyperspace and then, thinking about Mars, she brought the ship back out again.

~ The Alien Mind- Order yours today on Amazon! www.Amazon.com/author/vljennings

So... Yeah- I thought by now we would have more interesting forms of travel besides planes, cars, and trains...
Rivi (yes my main character) would either hyper space travel or walk everywhere if I let her -.-
But anyhow. Out of the three how do you prefer to travel?

The Mirror- Five Sentence Fiction

photo credit: Send me adrift. via photopin cc

Originally started by Lillie McFerrin, this week I have picked my own picture and word to challenge myself with.

The challenge word for this one is Mirror. Use the word and the picture as inspiration and write your own 5 sentence fiction. If you write it on your own blog I would LOVE to see it- or you could share it in the comments if you don't blog. I’d LOVE to see yours! Leave me the link to your 5 Sentence Fiction blog post in the comments!

She was tired of running, tired of trying to make him remember; she wanted to give up. Everyone else suggested that he was lost for good, but giving up would mean that their connection wasn't real, so instead she fought on. She stood in the darkness of her room and feeling his emotions pouring into hers from the abyss, the fear, the pain, the loneliness; even from this far away. Somehow she had to tear him away from the ones that tormented him, if only she could get close enough to him when they attacked tomorrow!

Earth's very future rested on her plan succeeding- she might not get another chance.


This picture and 5 sentence piece isn't exactly out of the second book to The Alien Mind, but these projects do help me explore the feelings I am trying to portray. The second book isn't anywhere near done yet- but you can check out The Alien Mind on amazon! It has recently been newly released by PDMI Publishing LLC. and is doing really well on the amazon charts!

Does this picture inspire you? Feel free to write your own 5 sentence story about it and either leave it in the comments here or leave me a link to where you posted yours on your blog! I'd love to check it out!

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

Heights- 5 Sentence Fiction.

photo credit: kevin dooley via photopin cc

 Originally started by Lillie McFerrin, this week I have picked my own picture and word to challenge myself with.

The challenge word for this one is Heights. Use the word and the picture as inspiration and write your own 5 sentence fiction. If you write it on your own blog I would LOVE to see it- or you could share it in the comments if you don't blog. I’d LOVE to see yours! Leave me the link to your 5 Sentence Fiction blog post in the comments!







The wind rushed past her, vibrating the strap from her toolbag across her chest, giving her the shivers and causing her to cling to the metal support beams that much tighter. I wouldn't be so cold if I hadn't been forced to leave my space suit at the midway point.
But that couldn't be helped, the suit would be too heavy for her to climb in this far down the transfer ladder.
Foolproof, they called it, would never break down they said!
Yet here she was clinging to the support beams of a transfer ladder, water droplets dripping down her arms and back, halfway between the space station and the ground; all because this seemingly foolproof transfer system had broken down.


***So what do you think? Are you afraid of heights? Could you stomach a climb down from a space station?***

Tonight's Meteor Shower Party!

RELEASE DAY! 

Click the picture to head to Amazon!

Well- actually it was released yesterday but I found out about it too late. Anyhow, you can now get your copy on Amazon at your earliest convenience!  This book also features illustrations by PDMI Publishing LLC's illustrator Matt Ostrum!

The release date was chosen for this week because November 5- 6 is the annual peak of the Taurids Meteor Shower. It is said to average about 5-10 meteors per hour. While you can catch a glimpse of this shower anytime from September to December the peak is the best time to see the most meteors.

Unfortunately, the moon will be full this week so you may have trouble seeing many of the smaller ones. The best viewing time will be just after midnight.


If you check out Myrtle Beach's WBTW's news website you can see that many people have reported seeing some pretty big meteors shooting across the sky from this shower!


*Who wants to sit outside with me tonight? I know you might not be able to make the trip to my own back yard but let me know in the comments if you will be watching, and then come back later and tell me how long you stayed out, and many you saw tonight! I'll do the same!*

When Squirrels Go Nuts

Caption This - A Game!

photo credit: Jim Bauer via photopin cc

Today on my blog- JUST for the fun of it, I am going to try a caption this game! You are all welcome to join in the fun!

Rules: Keep it clean please.

1. Post your caption in the comments on this post.

2. Remember to click the Squirrels Go Nuts entry in the rafflecopter 

While you are pondering your caption entry, I have an excerpt from Visionary From The Stars to share with you! In this one, the main characters find themselves in a very serious, and yet slightly funny situation. Enjoy! (and DON'T forget to post your caption in the comments!)

Later, in the afternoon, the team passed over one of the many grassy hills and could see, further ahead, the edge of what appeared to be marshlands. It was quiet--too quiet-- almost as if something were waiting for them there; expecting them as they approached. As the group slowly began to follow the edge of the marshlands, Laurie started to feel quite uneasy. Young Chris Hagan looked over his shoulder and into the marshland trees repeatedly, soon finding himself becoming increasingly worried about…well he didn’t quite know.

 As if out of nowhere, a downpour of stones and arrows came launching out of the trees and rained down upon the unprotected EOE team. The group barely had time to cover their heads with their arms when a large band of squirrels jumped out of the trees yelling war cries, and surrounded the team. Realizing that the group had no weapons ready, the squirrels took the team hostage. 

As the squirrels herded the EOE Team into the marshlands, a rather burly squirrel handcuffed and chained the team together. Mr. Kingston looked around for his daughter and Chris— they were nowhere to be seen. 

“Captain Mitchell, the children aren't here!” He whispered urgently. “Do you think they escaped?” 

“They could get lost out oomf!” Mr. Kingston managed before being butted in the ribs with a stick by a fierce looking squirrel.

Available for pre-order on Amazon! - RELEASES WEDNESDAY!  

About The Book: 

For millenia, humans thought they were the only life in the galaxy-- until the day an alien species claiming to have humanity's best interests in mind forces its way onto an unsuspecting exploration craft. In another part of space, the Star Traveler's crew sets out on a camping trip to the surface of the moon. There, they stumble upon an object covered in alien writing revealing the first piece of a galactic map that will lead them into an intergalactic controversy--all while the Platonian race strives to sabotage their every move.

What Critics are calling:

“An excellent job & impressive cast...”~ Pamela Valerio

“Agreat story for young readers...”~ Author Bruce Goldwell

“Cleverly entertaining!” ~ Author Geri Ahearn

The Poisoned Dagger- Five Sentence Fiction

Five Sentence Fiction - Potions -photo by Lillie McFerrin

This week's five sentence fiction IS directly from Lillie McFerrin's blog.

The challenge word for this one is Potions. Use the word and the picture as inspiration and write your own 5 sentence fiction. If you write it on your own blog I would LOVE to see it- or you could share it in the comments if you don't blog. I’d LOVE to see yours! Leave me the link to your 5 Sentence Fiction blog post in the comments!



Angela woke up in a strange bed, the smell of lavender and other various herbs surrounded her in a calming atmosphere just as every part of her body remembered that it wanted nothing more than to run from the pain that had taken over her body. She remembered Alexander's look of concern and then the cold indifference that swept across his face when she was forced to reveal her true identity to Grissom and his troops. She remembered the searing pain as Grissom's icy dagger had found its mark, and the burning as the poison leached from the blade into her blood.

She didn't know if Alexander would forgive her for hiding her identity from him, and that, she realized, would hurt her more than this poison ever would.

"I have to leave, its not safe for any of you while I am still here," Angela protested weakly while a lady firmly held her down with one hand and cauterized her wound with a fire blade.


This is a scene was inspired by my work in progress with The Sword Of The White Knight- this scene may not make it in but I figured I would share it anyhow.

Life Finds A Way- Five Sentence Fiction

Green Plant On The Iron Fence by George Hodan

 I'm getting back to doing some more 5 Sentence Fiction. Originally started by Lillie McFerrin, occasionally I find my own picture and am hit with inspiration to make it into a post on my own.

This is an older post from before my old website bit the dust. The challenge word for this one is Visitors. Use the word and the picture as inspiration and write your own 5 sentence fiction. If you write it on your own blog I would LOVE to see it- or you could share it in the comments if you don't blog. I’d LOVE to see yours! Leave me the link to your 5 Sentence Fiction blog post in the comments!

It had been a while since she’d been back to the place she once called home. Solemnly she stared at the deserted town where the herboviromenters could no longer coax plant life to grow; her people had all moved on. The Aruk had destroyed the very fabric of life on this planet; without plants, the Aunantet could no longer draw their energy from the life growing around them. Thinking about the lives, the traditions, and the way of life now lost brought tears to her eyes, and all because the Aruk couldn’t be satisfied. 

Pausing at the gate of what was once her Eni’s garden she was given a reason to smile again, hope had feebly woven its way up through the gate into the sunlight.

(Brought to you out of the future of The Alien Mind’s story line- this sequel has not yet been completed. Does that make me a Futurity Histographer? Ankh would be proud lol.)

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

If you'd prefer an autographed copy straight from the author you can buy one here as well!
Autographed Copy:$13.00 + Shipping

 

Rivi's Pain- Five Sentence Fiction

Image by Coconino National Forest on Flickr

   I'm getting back to doing some more 5 Sentence Fiction. Originally started by Lillie McFerrin, occasionally I find my own picture and am hit with inspiration.

This week I found this picture on Flickr and am challenging you with the word Fog. Use the word and the picture as inspiration and write your own 5 sentence fiction. If you write it on your own blog I would LOVE to see it- or you could share it in the comments if you don't blog.

Rivi's breath caught in her throat, a scream being stifled by the overwhelming horror she saw all around her. As the Aunantet fled their planet, every living plant and being that was touched by the fog shriveled and died. 

"I don't know what the Aruk did to your friend, Rivi, but he is no longer his old self, we have to leave him!"

"I can't," Rivi replied, "I know he's still in there, I can feel that much."

Rivi put up her electrostatic shield and centered her sights on the one her heart called to.

I hope you enjoyed this- this piece is a work in progress from the sequel to The Alien Mind. It may not make it into the second book, but my muse finds it helpful to get these scraps of scenes written down until I get to that point in the story.

*In my last post I told you that the overcoat that I am making for Rivi's outfit was ready for trim. Well, It's done now and I'm beginning work on the main piece of the outfit. The overcoat was quite a bit of work all by itself! Whew! Check back later and I will post some pictures here on my blog!

In more news- the brand new edition of The Alien Mind is soon to be re-released by PDMI Publishing LLC. and their imprint Rara Avis. It is freshly edited, brand new formatting, as well as illustrations by Matt Ostrum and myself.

The book tour for both the second edition of Visionary From The Stars as well as The Alien Mind begins on the 13th. If you would like to help me spread the word please click on the book tour page and let me know!

Find The Alien Mind on Amazon!

Did you like this post? If so you might enjoy my book!

For adults and teens alike, it is truly a science fiction adventure for the whole family!

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A Rejected Begining

This piece is a beginning I was hashing out for The White Knight. I rejected it because it started in the present, walked into a flashback and then ended right before the present. Just confusing. Anyhow, while I'm not keeping it for publication I thought you might find it interesting at the very least.

photo credit: Simon & His Camera via photopin cc

     Andrew sat down on a boulder along the side of the road blinking back tears. He hadn't made it in time to warn his brother. Now his brother and his brother's wife were both dead, and their daughter was nowhere to be found!
  Andrew sat down on a boulder along the side of the road blinking back tears. He hadn't made it in time to warn his brother. Now his brother and his brother's wife were both dead, and their daughter was nowhere to be found.

     He hadn't spoken to his brother in 5 years. When he saw the troupe of Grissom's army marching along the outskirts of Aglasia's border he knew he needed to let go of the past and headed out towards his brother's manor. Grissom's army would destroy all in their path if they were not stopped.

   But he had gotten there too late, Grissom's army had reached his brother's manor first. They executed the adults, killed the livestock and burned everything else. Andrew ran among in and out of the smoldering remains of the farm calling out for his brother's daughter. Fearing that she had been taken prisoner he had taken off down the dusty dirt road vowing to chase Grissom's army to the ends of the earth!

Mapping The White Knight

The Set Up: 

The Prince is used to ordering people around and getting what he wants but he has no direction in his life. Trying to inspire him the king puts his son in charge of the entire castle- instead of inspiring him, the prince resorts to barking unnecessary orders just to maintain an illusion of power. Angela is a slave being sold as a servant to the highest bidder. She gets sold to the king where she gets put to work in the palace grounds. She spends her few moments of free time in the evening watching the knights practice sword fighting out on the castle grounds. She doesn’t know why but for some reason their movements fascinate her and she finds herself trying to imitate them.

Plot point 1:

 Angela gets asked one day to bring some swords to the great hall. When she gets there she realizes that there is a dueling lesson being held for the Prince in the great hall. As one of the pages trips she accidentally laughs. The prince sarcastically offers for her to try her hand at it and she beats him in the duel. When the prince gets over being embarrassed that she beat him he asks her if she would practice with him to help him get better and the two become friends.

Two different groups of invaders start attacking the country side led by two men who want to lay claim to the king’s throne. Knowing the knights could use all the help they can get the prince convinces Angela to have her teacher join the knights. He does not know that Angela has no teacher so Angela disguises herself as a masked man and is daubed the White Knight. However when she gets knocked unconscious by a bad wound in one of the battles her secret identity is almost found out. One of the knights who happened to know who her father was figures out who she is and comes up with a distraction so she is not found out.

Turning point:

The prince creates the secret identity of the black knight so he can go against his father’s wishes and continue to fight with the knights in the battles. Angela starts to realize that she is beginning to have feelings for both the Black Knight and the Prince but she knows that the prince does not realize she is a knight nor does the Black Knight know she is a servant. She finds herself equally torn in worry between the two as all the other knights including the Prince are ordered to help defend one of the closest outposts. When she receives news that the invaders may have the Prince as their captive, she rushes to his aid.

Plot point 2:

Angela and the other knights invade the enemy’s camp and free the prince. When they are discovered she unveils her secret identity to throw the leader of the invaders off his element and using her skills as a duelist she manages to win their right to walk free. After they get back to the camp the prince reveals to her that he does not care that she had a secret identity it still would not change anything… However he leaves it at that and she is left wondering what that “anything” is to begin with- after all she still has feelings for two different men or so she thinks.

Turning point:

 Hoping to try to put an end to all the battles, the king announces that the prince must choose who he will marry by his birthday. The king apologizes to the prince saying that he had arranged for an easier choice by having made an arranged marriage with one of his knights daughters who then disappeared when her family was killed… when the same knight that knew Angela’s father reveals to Angela that the knight that the king is talking about was her own father Angela begs him not to tell anyone.

Resolution:

Despite not knowing who the arranged marriage was supposed to be with, the prince asks Angela to come to the celebration held in honor of his birthday. He instructs her to come as herself not as the White Lady. At the celebration when he tries to ask her to marry him she hesitates and admits to him that she can’t because she has feelings for another as well. He reveals to her that he and the Black Knight is the same person. The king objects to the prince’s choice in marriage but not after the Prince reveals all that Angela has done under the secret guise of the White Lady.

(This is just one possible mapping- I haven't quite decided which route I will take yet)

Brainstorming The White Knight

Brainstorming The White Knight 

My story idea is about a young servant girl that has a secret past and a current dual identity as a masked Knight. It would be a obstacles to love type story as she finds herself falling for the ill tempered prince of the castle who is also supposed to have an arranged marriage before his 21st birthday or his cousin will take over his father's throne. There is also a neighboring warlord that has connections to the servant girl's past that is also trying to take over the kingdom for himself.

I began looking into this story idea because I have always been facilitated with medieval times stories, and wondered if there could have been any women that fought as knights (if there were any more like Joan of Ark) and what might their stories have been like.

Loglines

1. Angela has always wanted to be a knight; will she be willing to give all that up for a chance at quenching a forbidden love?

2. She has tamed a forgotten garden, her alter ego has defeated many foes with a sword but can she win the Prince’s heart?

3. Destiny entwines a Prince and a servant girl; will love cast a light to reveal their secret identities and help them to find each other?

Pitching The White Knight (Act 3)

Pitching The White Knight- College Assignment

Act 3 (Go To Act 1.... or Act 2)

The King tells his son that he had tried to make the decision easier on him years ago by arranging his marriage to the then new born daughter of one of his knights when the prince was only three. Sir Roberts interjects by asking what happened to the girl and the king told them that she was never found… her family was killed a few years back- the same day the queen was mortally injured during a surprise attack on the palace. Sir Henry Steinbach was a great Knight the king told his audience; hearing the last name Steinbeck made Angela realize that she had forgotten part of her name in her amnesia and the last bit of her lost memories came flooding back to her as she muttered her father’s name under her breath. Overcome with emotion Angela quietly excused herself from the room and retreated back to the gardens.

As memories of her father teaching her how to use a sword just like he did came flooding back to her, as well as memories of all the happy times they had, she sat under a willow tree in the garden with her knees tucked under her chin. Sir Roberts soon came out to the garden and sat next to her. Angela made to get up and hide her feelings but Sir Roberts caught her elbow and asked her to sit. He told her that he knows she knows she is the one the King was talking about and so do the rest of the knights excluding the prince. He tells her that none of them will say anything but he knows that she has feelings for the Prince and does not understand why she won’t tell him. Angela looks away and Sir Roberts stands up once more and walks back inside the palace.

The prince later comes out to the garden and tells her that she is his greatest friend and that it would make him feel better if she was there when he had to give his announcement. He asks her to come as herself, not disguised as the White Lady. With a confused and sinking feeling taking over inside her she nods in reply. He asks her if anything is wrong and after she replies that there is nothing wrong he leaves with a new smile on his face.

A week later, at the celebration among all the dancing, music, merriment and food, Angela stands off to one side talking with Sir Roberts who is quietly and diligently trying to persuade her to tell the prince how she feels. He quiets though as they notice the prince approaching them. The prince asks if Angela would come with him and she follows him through the crowd up to the platform on which the King sat on a thrown. Angela stays where she is as the Prince jumps on the platform and motions the orchestra to stop playing.

The Prince announces to his father and all who are watching that he has decided who he will marry. Feeling like a spectator at an event she does not want to witness Angela turns to try to make her way through the gathering crowd. Realizing that she must not understand, the prince jumps down off the platform and grabs her hand, pulling her back. The crowd parts a little and as Angela realizes what he is doing he asks her if she would agree to marry him. She replies in a desperate whisper as tears form in her eyes that she can not agree to marry him while having the same feelings for him as she does…

Prince Daniel completes her sentence for her by taking the Black Knight’s mask out of his own sleeve and discreetly hands it to her (so as not to reveal it to his father). Angela is both relieved and shocked, but before she can answer the king stands to his feet and asks the prince what he means by deciding to marry a common servant. Defiantly, Prince Daniel informs the king that Angela is not only a hard worker; she is a dedicated and loyal friend, not to mention that she has protected his kingdom on numerous occasions. Confused the King asks Angela to explain. Bowing her head

Angela pulls the White Lady’s mask out of her sleeve and after putting it on she puts her hand through a fold in her dress to pull her sword from her skirt. Raising her head she announces to the King that she is the White Lady…

As comprehension dawns on the king he smiles and steps down from the platform to shake her hand. He then tells her that if she would agree to demonstrate some of her skill for him here than he would be happy to accept. She smiles and replies that the knights actually had a big demonstration prepared to entertain his majesty with all of their talents. The audience separates to allow the Knights some room. As their demonstration comes to an end it closes with a one on one duel with Prince Daniel and Angela. For the first time in ages the prince gets the best of her and after holding her at sword point for a second and hearing his father clap in approval the prince pulls her close to him and kisses her.

The end

(Go To Act 1   Go to Act 2)