Sunday, March 29, 2015

The Burning Emblem- Flash Fiction

lanterns
photo credit: lanterns via photopin (license)
Angela’s hands slapped against the cold steel wall as she ran headlong into cobblestone alleyway. Shoving away from the wall, she barely managed to evade the light from her pursuers lanterns.

Just a little farther!

She turned down another alleyway to her right just to be met with total darkness.

Wait, what?

Angela’s breath froze in her throat as she peered into the inky blackness in front of her.

A dead end!

She whirled around. Two men illuminated by a single lantern now blocked her only means of escape.

“This’ll teach you to run!” A voice behind her jeered.

Angela heard the swish of the rope seconds before it coiled itself around her legs and pulled taunt sending her sprawling to the ground. Rough hands surrounded and restrained her despite her best efforts to yank herself free.

“Check her ankle for the mark!” A venomous voice commanded from the darkness.

The lantern bobbed closer, allowing Angela to recognize the rough twisted faces of the very men who had burned her parents’ estate to the ground just weeks ago. A bearded man snatched back the cuff of her stocking revealing the royal shield and burning arrow emblem branded into the side of her ankle. Angela tried to twist her foot free from his grasp only to be met with pain in her arms as the men at her sides tightened their grip further.

“Don’t let the criminal escape!” The venomous voice spat.

“It’s her, Argyle.” The bearded man announced.

“Congratulations men! This flailing cur has a price on her head that outweighs any of the traitors we have caught this month! Bag her up, we’ll deliver this one back to Urshelon tonight!”

Urshelon? The platforms must be active again if they’re taking me off planet! Angela’s mind wheeled in alarm.

“I’m no traitor! I’ve lived on Erasted all my life!” Angela shouted.

One of the brute’s slapped a film across her mouth sealing in her protests while they pulled a scratchy burlap bag over her entire body. A hiss and sting in her arm told her that she wouldn’t be conscious for the trip.


Angela woke on the floor of a dimly lit room. The man with the beard shredding the last of the ropes around her legs with a sharp dagger. Angela eyed the dagger warily.

“Good, you’re awake!” The man whispered.

His trembling hands hurried to cut through the ropes binding her ankles and wrists.

“You don’t have long. The clothes on the chair may not be in fashion for a lady of your station, but they will help hide your identity well enough. Leave through the window, hurry and you won’t be noticed!”


The bearded man yanked Angela to her feet and pushed her in the direction of a chair on which a mans tunic and pants lay. The man left quickly and a key clicked in the lock. Angela looked back at the pants and beyond those, the cracked open window beyond which lay her freedom.

500 word Flash Fiction
In the world of Sword Of The White Knight

Friday, March 27, 2015

Do Aliens Exist?- Flash Fiction

PhoTones Works #2996
photo credit: PhoTones Works #2996 via photopin (license)
“How can you be a Christian and not believe that aliens could exist!”

Crystal remembered rolling her eyes at her brother’s sermon. He was a man of great faith, the leader of the Jupiter station congregation. She, well she just knew that she believed that God existed and didn’t really want to think very much further about it all.

She stepped closer to the inhuman drawings carved into, and covering the entire length of the cave wall, every step sending tiny billows of lunar dust rippling away from her.

How come?” She remembered demanding in defiance. “The bible doesn’t say anything about aliens!”

The bible doesn’t say anything about airplanes either, or space ships, now does it!” Jacob had argued back.

He knew she would just see that as him deflecting from her comment.

You know what I mean Jacob! Be serious. If God created aliens why have we not seen them?”

Crystal, we aren’t supposed to know why God does what he does. Perhaps the aliens are so far out there that they can’t reach us. Perhaps God wants them to develop without us influencing them. Perhaps he doesn’t think we are ready yet.”

Huh! That’s a lot of perhaps’ Jacob! More fact and less speculation! Our scientists have been hunting for signs of intelligent life out here for eons and still nothing!”

Her triumphant yet combative tone from that comment rung in her memory and left a bitter taste in her mouth now. Crystal reached out and touched a portion of the cave image that seemed to be carved in a much harsher method than the rest.

Suddenly the walls lit up around her, and the dust blew away to reveal a perfectly smooth glassy black floor. The hair on her arms tingled as though she was covered by static electricity. Terror coursed through her as she realized that she couldn’t move.

The last words from her brother’s sermon echoed in her mind, “If God created us, who are we to say that he didn’t create other beings on some other far away planet?”

Footsteps echoing from somewhere deeper in the cave sent Crystal’s mind whirling and her heart pounding.

What do I say?
What could I say!
There’s no possible way they could know earth standard! You just HAD to go exploring on your own didn't you Crystal!

Crystal gasped for air.

Come on Crystal! Get a grip! You know your space suit still has oxygen. Breathe! 

The approaching footsteps suddenly sounded so close and they changed from dull thuds to clinks from the newcomer’s feet touching the now smooth floor. Crystal’s lungs finally gave up when the newcomer placed a blue four fingered hand on the shoulder of her suit. She static field released her before she was ready. She crumpled to the ground...

Perhaps Jacob was right, we aren’t ready yet. Was Crystal’s last thought before she fell unconscious.




This post is part of the 52 week flash fiction challenge on facebook
Week 2 word prompt: Sermon
Word Limit: 20- 500
This one tops out right at 487 words.

Readers: How do you think you would react if you were suddenly faced with real life aliens? Would you be shocked? Scared? Would you panic? How would you communicate with them?

Monday, March 23, 2015

Trying out Disqus

Hey guys, I WAS trying out Disqus comments on my blog (which is what this test post was for). Long story short... I've taken it down. I much prefer to allow bloggers that don't want to sign in a way to comment using their name/e-mail ALONG WITH their url.


  • This helps because I like to go check out and follow their blogs too!
  • That added url ability is also a way for google to see that you, the commentor, are trusted because I am allowing you to post your link to your site on my blog. Just another way I like to share the love!

 Disqus, so far, only lets guest commentors (those who don't want to sign in) comment with just their name and e-mail. (Buzz kill)


On an added note: I also just realized that if you are viewing this post on the main blog thread it isn't very clear how you can add your own comments to the post.  You will need to click on the blog title to bring up the stand alone blog post page in order to find the comments.

For those that visit my main blog thread instead of getting here through a direct post link, perhaps it would be better for me to go ahead and drop the direct post link at the end of the post:

  Click to comment.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Conventions In The Carolinas

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Annual Wine And Sign Arts and Literary Festival Set up
I am putting together a list of conventions that I would love to travel to. As I live in the Carolina Area, many of these will be from GA up to NC. Because I am looking at places to attend as an author I will be listing the table fees beside it for my own future reference (and for that of my fellow author friends). We'd love to see you there though! Write down these dates in your calender, pull up the websites and pre-order your tickets! I have visited many of these as 'just a civilian' (not promoting my books) and have found them to be great fun with something for even the youngest of family members!



Convention List:



Other Events:





If you know of  an event that you would like me to consider adding to my list please drop it in the comments section! I am always looking for new places to check out!

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

V.L. Jennings at Wizard World Raleigh NC 2015

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Wizard World in Raleigh NC this past weekend was my second Comic Con I had ever been to. I actually got to meet John Schneider (Pa Kent from Smallville) and William Shatner this past weekend. Both guys were really down to earth and pretty cool. We didn't have time to meet her but the actress that plays Laurie on The Walking Dead was also there. David Tennant was too- but my husband and I only saw him in passing.  
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Laurie From Walking Dead
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John Schneider
We also sat through William Shatner, and John Schneider's panels. Both men were really funny and entertaining.  The Panel for David Tennant was for VIP ticket holders only but they did live stream the panel out in the registration hall for everyone else to go watch. It was sorta hard to hear him though. They kept the overhead music running, add everyone talking in the main con room behind us, as well as David's British accent- it just made understanding and hearing him a bit hard.

I'm totally not bashing his accent here. Just, because we aren't used to it, trying to understand him in a crowded noisy room was really rather difficult. We only made it half way through his panel before we gave up.
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David Tennant's Panel
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John Schneider at Panel
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William Shatner's Panel
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Shatner's panel was standing room only by the way!
Right after Shatner's panel there was a band of bag pipe players that came out to do a tribute to Spock in the hall. I'll admit, I got a bit misty eyed at this surprise.

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Cosplayers at the comic con!



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These last two men earn bonus cosplay points in my book! 


This guy built his own ghostbusters gear from scratch! He even enabled the ghost catcher box to emit vapor smoke! That was the coolest thing I had seen at a con... until the last guy!


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K-9!!!!
Introducing... K-9! He rolled right up to me and had a zero turn radius and flashing lights just like the original K-9! And who was the man behind the controls?


The Fourth Doctor of course!!!


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Comic Con's are great places to meet celebrities, authors, and artists... but they are also a great place to buy stuff too. I bought a few Superman comics for my collection, and I also bought a pair of Doctor Who Tardis earrings!  Made by www.facebook.com/kitschandcrossbones

Looking for her etsy store? Check out kitschandcrossbones.etsy.com


This Comic Con was a little impromptu for us. But it did give me the opportunity to check out a few panels and get a feel for how they work.

In May, if you are in the Charlotte NC area, you will also find me at Con Carolinas where I will be a guest artist and panelist. If I'm brave enough... I may even show up in Rivi's costume a