#AtoZChallenge D is for Doors #flashfiction Drabble

The team's theme of the April Blogging from A to Z Challenge this year is:
ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS, AND THE DUALITY OF 22

The WEP team has accepted the challenge to write for the A – Z. This time we’re playing tag with the letter “D”. We’ve decided D is for Door/s. As we’re lovers of #flashfiction, we’re writing in the form of “Drabble” = flash fiction of exactly 100 words. (Yolanda Renee is on hiatus).

 

Behind the Door

 

I’ll be lighthearted some time and peer in -

behind the door will be the ball you forgot,

neat hooks to hang things, walls that look too clean -

except a backpack-shaped amorphous spot

where that hung for years. A square rim of grime

will mark out a photoframe and passing time.

 

I’ll be lighthearted someday again between

your coming and going, growing, nothing caught

on the wardrobe shutters, bedclothes pristine.

Just some odd scraps of poems I once wrote

for some vanished milestone, in half-slant rhyme

will claw at my days and at passing time.

 

Nilanjana is a bi-lingual writer, blogger and market researcher. She specialises in poetry, panic and tinkering with bucket lists. Her physical address keeps changing now and then but thankfully her online home is constant at Madly-in-Verse.

 

They Told Her

She sat in front of the hedge where everyone told her there wasn’t a door. It didn’t lead to anywhere other than the neighbour’s yard. And Mr. and Mrs. Harrison wouldn’t appreciate either a hole in their hedge or a girl’s footprints on their perfect grass.

They told her the hedge was made only of leaves and branches. They told her there wasn’t a land full of wonder and magic beyond. They rolled their eyes and laughed. There definitely wasn’t a door in the hedge.

She pushed to her feet and opened the door anyway.

Jemi Fraser writes small-town romantic suspense stories filled with heart and humour.

Behind the Basement Door

 

Mine is inspired by this photo. https://pixabay.com/photos/fantasy-storm-surreal-door-2880028/

It's also inspired by real life tornados that went through my state recently.

 

 

Huddled under the table, Mable cuddled into her mama’s side. The basement door rattled 

on its hinges. The wind howled.

 

Mama stroked her hair. “It’ll be okay, baby girl. The storm will pass soon.”

 

Mable knew what a tornado was. She’d seen pictures of them and the damage they could do. 

She never dreamed she would have to hide from one.

 

She covered her ears as the roar outside grew louder. She couldn’t block it out no 

matter how hard she tried.

 

The storm would pass soon, she hoped, but what would await them when 

they opened that basement door?

 

L.G. Keltner writes many things, though primarily sci-fi, while also caring for 

her energetic children. She lives in a small town in Iowa.

Romi Ran

Romi ran. If the enemies caught her, they would shoot her. Their boots trampled behind the corner, loud in the silence of the night. The houses stood dark, afraid. She didn’t dare knock on doors. Nobody would let her in, not against the occupants’ orders. Suddenly, stairs to a basement yawned in a narrow lane between two houses. At the bottom of the short staircase, choked with garbage, a half-door was ajar. Romi stumbled down and crawled in. She pushed the door shut, leaned on it. The enemies’ boots slapped past, their barrage receding. Safe for now. She started shaking.

Olga Godim is a speculative fiction writer from Vancouver, Canada. 

When she doesn’t write, she reads and makes book covers.

Vampire Hunter

The crumbling bricks of the castle behind me, I happen upon a twisting stone path below street level. I follow its twists and turns, sheltered by branches above which shake and whisper in the evening breeze. I imagine they warn: beware. The moon gives enough light for me to see. Around the curve, a door appears.  I stop. Look. See no one. See no thing. Where does this door lead? The hairs on my arms raise. To the subterranean tunnels beneath the surface where the vampires live? I feel the heft of steel in my hand. I push open the door.

Denise Covey is an Australian author of contemporary and paranormal romance. When she’s not dreaming up stories based on her travels, she loses herself in the pages of books.

Do you ever write flash fiction?

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From Challenge Theme to Profession – A Challenge Participant’s Unique Opportunity!

Today I have the honor of interviewing a man of many talents and an awesome friends, Michael Di Gesu! His theme for last year’s Challenge was introducing fellow bloggers’ novels in his own, original way – through flash fiction. What began as something fun morphed into an opportunity though, as he is now doing them professionally.

Your theme became more than just a fun thing to do, didn’t it?

Yes. For over a year I had witnessed cover reveals and thought they lacked imagination. A cover reveal should be special, exciting. Something EVERYONE will remember. When yours had come up I decided to have a bit of fun with it. Create a FlASH FICTION intro to make it special. That’s how it all began. After those first few, blogger buddies approached me. That is when I decided to use my “intros” for the A-Z theme.

What was the response of the authors you featured?

When I “announced” my theme and asked for books to feature, the response was OVERWHELMING. After the featured authors' intros were published, their responses where almost one in the same … they were excited. Many even wrote me and told they had wished the scene I had created was part of their books. I was very humbled and touched by their gratitude.

How difficult was it to find books to fit all of the letters?

As I had mentioned before, the response was “OVERWHELMING.” I received many requests for the same letters, so I picked those who had contacted me first for their choice. Only two letters I had no books, so I had created a “Joker’s wild” pick. The two authors I had featured were picked randomly from those who wished to be featured whose letters were already taken.

Which book was the most challenging?

That is hard to say. Each intro created had to be in the style of the author, so it would be believable. But one particular book’s subject matter was a tough challenge. Kittie Howard’s, RINGS OF TRUST. The subject matter catapults the reader into a world which sadly is still part of our society. White supremacy.

Which book was your favorite?

Oh, man, Alex …. you are sooo bad. You really want me to choose only ONE! Well, if I must … I’d have to say Nicki Elson’s “D” Double header. Since I had the exclusive for her cover reveal with DIVINE TEMPTATION before the A=Z Challenge, I had created an intro for her first book, THREE DAVES. This book brought me back to the 80’s which was a very special time in my life. The music. The fashion. The people. It was the most fun intro I wrote for the challenge.

How long did it take to prepare each post?

As most of my blogger friends know, I usually escape to Florida in March and April. Once I arrived to my usual destination, there was NO INTERNET SERVICE. So, for the first time I HAD to write many of the posts in March and schedule them. I am usually a pantser, so this almost killed me. I HAD to PLAN ahead. LOL. Something I rarely do. Each post took several hours. First I had to read each author’s blurb/synopsis and study the cover. I take my intros very seriously and each must be unique and special. I don’t just rush through them. On average, I would say about four - five hours to research and write, then another hour to post to blogger. Many I had used special fonts and colors which took additional time.

Where did you get the idea to introduce novels?

As I had said in my answer. I was bored with the usual cover reveals. I totally understand the time restraints of writers, but if a an author asks me to reveal their cover, I couldn’t just slap up the cover and the author’s blurb and info. Many of the reveals I feature are the author’s first books. This is a VERY exciting time for an author, so a reveal has to be memorable!.

If you do the Challenge again this year, what theme will you tackle next?

If I decide to do this year’s challenge, my fourth … I honestly don’t know. I know my theme was very successful, but since the challenge, I now offer intros as part of my author services for hire. So I would have to come up with another unique and exiting theme. If I commit, I want to give 150 percent to the challenge. We’ll just have to see where my life is in April. I am currently working on rewriting my second novel with an editor from a publisher. But I hope to have that all wrapped up before April 1st.

Thank you so much Alex for the interview. This challenge in all honesty changed my life. It opened up new opportunities for me.

Thank YOU for doing the interview, Michael. You rock!!

Co-host Ninja Captain Alex is the author of Amazon Best Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, and CassaStorm. He is the founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and his blog can be found HERE

Special Challenge Participant Feature - Michael Di Gesu

Today is a very special feature! I have the honor of interviewing a writer I admire very much and have enjoyed getting to know over the past two years. Michael Di Gesu is an incredibly talented writer, one who will hit it big time in the very near future. His theme for the Challenge was flash fiction mysteries, and since today is also the post day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, I thought it would tie in very well. So please welcome once of the most amazing people you will ever meeting in the blogging world, Michael!


Your theme was a series of flash fiction/riddle pieces – what made you chose that theme?

I just love to write Flash Fiction. To be able to tell a whole story in 3-500 words is quite the challenge, THEN, to add a riddle on top of it .... we are talking MAJOR challenge. And isn’t that one of the focus points of the A-Z challenge? To stretch or writing skills and to do it daily? And let me say that I had to be a rubber band for this feat.

Did any of them completely stump your followers?

Yes, several did. Many of my posts needed research, so that enabled me to really come up with some difficult ones.

Did you write these in advance or fly by the seat of your pants?

Man, did I fly by the seat! I had actually began the research the afternoon before I had to post. Some took almost 8-10 hours to put together. By midnight I usually had them ready for the 6:00am scheduled time.

Did you select a word and then write the prose, like it was a word prompt?

Yes, I tailored each post to the specific word I wished to focus on. Many of the posts had a fantasy element, so I would think of a wonderful mystical/magical character to focus on. One of my favorites was my “P” post for PAN.

Which one was your favorite piece? (My favorite was the letter Q. And ironically I got it wrong!)

Now Alex, that’s a tough one. But, if I have to choose, I would say my “S” post. The Salamander. I loved writing this particular piece because I wrote it in the Salamander’s POV. And what an attitude this little guy has. Geez. Too funny.

Harry Potter figured into your writing as well. You’re a big fan, aren’t you?

A HUGE fan. I must have read the series at least ten times. J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter came into my life the year my father died from pancreatic cancer. I had spent three LONG months taking care of him and literally watching him disappear. It was a very stressful time, and by December of 2001 the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’’s Stone, had just hit the theaters. It was the day after my father’s service my brother and I went to see it.

For the first time in months I had escaped the sadness and forgot for over two glorious hours of magic. The film was the ultimate escape and started me on my passion for the books. I still go back to read them on occasion when I need an escape. The world J.K. Rowling created is very special to me. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, in my opinion, have the best chemistry of all the literary characters I have read.

J. K. Rowling also influenced me greatly as a writer. From her I learned how to create lush, vivid, and descriptive scenes. And I tried and hopefully succeeded in creating wonderful chemistry between my three mc’s in my first m/g fantasy novel.

Your birthday was in April – what did you do that day? Did you write?

The “Y” post was on my birthday. First, I wrote my post ... early. I am usually in Florida for this month, and I reserve my time share in Orlando my birthday week. This year I had spent it at Epcot. I am a HUGE Disney fan as well, not surprising since I love fantasy and magic so much. I had decided to do something I had never done before and that was to have my picture taken with every Disney character that happen to be there that day. Not easy to do believe me. The lines and all the kids.... Of course, I was the BIGGEST kid and did get a few strange looks, but I didn’t care, it was my birthday after all.

Do you have a theme in mind for next year’s A to Z Challenge?

Well, I hadn’t really thought about it yet, we do have some time before April. But, for the last two challenges I did the Flash Fiction/riddle theme and everyone seem to really enjoy it. So, I might just have to stick with it again, unless, something else more incredible comes to mind. Anything is possible with me, especially when it comes to my writing.

Thank you Alex for featuring me today. I am honored to be here and I’m definitely looking forward to the next A-Z. If last year is any indication, you might just peak at three thousand bloggers this year. Anything is possible in the A-Z Challenge.

Thank YOU, Michael!!

Co-host Ninja Captain Alex is the author of CassaStar and CassaFire and his blog can be found HERE

#AtoZchallenge Fiction and Call for Writing Prompts

 All A to Z participants have  some or the other plan for how they're going to meet the challenge. Like last year, I'll be doing fiction, based on prompts left by commenters.

Since this year I'll have hosting duties, I hope to pre-schedule at least some of the posts. 

So I'm requesting you, our blogging audience, to challenge me with an interesting picture that you would like me to write on, and drop me story starters, each sentence/phrase beginning with a different letter (i.e. the first word of the starter must start with a different letter from A to Z).  Last year this brought me to A to Z Stories of Life and Death. I hope I write enough stories this year to do another collection.

You can drop me the prompts in the comments on this post. Of course, when I post each prompt during April, I'll link to you and explain why I chose it. You may also mail me the pictures and story prompts at atozstories at gmail dot com.You need not be participating in the A to Z Challenge to challenge me with either a story starter, or a picture, or both. The more the merrier! Last year I had asked for word prompts, and I got loads to choose from! This year, I'm taking it a step further.

As a sort of warm-up and illustration of what I hope to do, I'm pasting below a picture, a story starter( both randomly chosen) and the resulting story.

Story starter: I can no longer... 

Picture:

Story:

I can no longer fit in small corner spaces. 

My body lurches as I run up the stairs, my joints have not been oiled in years, and my feet make thumping noises in tune with my overwrought heart. My breath wheezes, and I'm sure you can hear it from downstairs, where you count up to hundred, your face to the wall. I try hiding behind a cupboard, but my belly and my behind jiggle this way and that, and I know you would spot one or the other. I try hiding under the bed, but can only go in as far as my shoulder. I sneak behind the curtains, but they billow around me, calling to you. 

In the end, I stand amongst the clothes hanging in the changing room. As I hear the patter of your feet, your squealed warnings, and whispered threats, I squeeze my eyes tight shut and breathe the paint on the wall, rubbing the softness of my old cotton dress between my thumbs.

I think of yesterday, when you could have fit anywhere at all, but instead chose to hide your face against the wall. 'How can you see me Granny,' you said when I got you, your pigtails flying, your eyes trembling with unshed tears, 'when I can see nothing at all?'

I'll let you teach me, I decide, as I relax my grip on my dress. You walk past me in my search. 

Between you and me there's only the cloak of a few years, a hundred wrinkles, and a few dozen pounds. Wearing these, I hide from you in plain sight, and as it turns out, from my self.

-------

By Damyanti Biswas, co-host #atozchallenge

New Year--New A to Z Challenge! -- so says Li Vooght

       One year ends and a new one begins.  Li Vooght of Flash Fiction has offered to usher out 2011 as we head into the year of a new Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.  Let's make 2012 the best ever!  Now let's let Li do what she does so well--tell us her story.

New Year – New A to Z Challenge!

January marks the one year anniversary of my blog, Flash Fiction; and the April A to Z Challenge of 2011 is at least partly responsible for my still being here to celebrate. (In a virtual sense, of course. The Challenge didn't keep me from dying of Woompah disease or leaping from a high-rise.)

Starting a blog is never easy, and when I began I had no online “presence” whatsoever; no Facebook page, no Twitter account, and no blogger friends with whom to commiserate. It was a lonely place at first, although I somehow picked up a handful of followers who offered support and encouragement right from the start. I can't thank them enough.

One day I stumbled on a mention of the A to Z challenge while randomly surfing blogs. I had no idea what a blogfest entailed, but it seemed like a good way to both meet people and to shift my writing into high gear. Although a few people mentioned outlining or writing posts ahead of time, or choosing a theme, I wanted to up the ante for myself. (I really do like to make things difficult.) I wouldn't just post something everyday, it had to be an original fiction or poetry piece. And I wouldn't auto-post or write anything ahead of time; nope, I had to climb out of bed and come up with something that morning.

Then I did a dumb thing. I put it in writing. People took note. And it dawned on me that I couldn't possibly go through with it. And yet...perfect strangers told me that I could. Others expressed the same feeling of “sign-up remorse”. I discovered that by linking up for the challenge, I had joined a community of warm, funny, talented writers/bloggers who were just as interested in reading and helping others as they were in promoting their own blogs. Maybe more so.

I completed the challenge by posting each day with the proper letter, although I failed my own rules at least twice by posting pics with a few words instead of stories. I often generated ideas by randomly opening books and choosing a word or phrase, or by looking around the house for an object or picture. Some days I had a cold hard knot in my stomach, wondering if I'd ever think of something. But it was a tremendous exercise in writing under pressure, and I slowly built up my confidence. In the meantime, I invariably read at least a dozen challenge posts a day that made me laugh out loud – or realize that I'm not the only person in the world with strange habits.

Since then I've polished a few stories and hope to have them included in an upcoming collection, along with some new works. I've made lots of great friends, learned a lot about writing, and figured out how to install those darn widget thingies. I've even co-hosted a blogfest, The Rule Of Three, which opened my eyes to the amount of time, effort and sheer stamina that goes into planning these challenges; I can't imagine how much goes into executing (and reading) something as massive as the A to Z challenge. And so my hat is off to our intrepid hosts!

If you ask me if I'll participate in the 2012 A to Z, I'll say “probably not”. I'll think about it, vacillate, waver, shake my head and dig in my heels. Then the linky will go up, and my finger will hover over the ominous “you're next!”. Chances are I'll press it and sign up. Then I'll second-guess myself, moan, wring my hands, get excited, slip into despair, and finally decide that maybe I can do it, and if not, well it won't be the end of the world.

I wonder if there are 26 Ways That The World Might End. Hmmmm. Now there's an idea.

Happy New Year, everyone, and see you at the 2012 brand spankin' new A to Z Challenge!

Thank you to Arlee Bird , creator of the A to Z Challenge, for hosting me today, for beginning this awesome blogfest, and for being one of my earliest followers. You rock, Lee, you really do. Thanks for sticking by me and supporting me.

  

        And thank you Li for inspiring, entertaining, or scaring us.  It's like some of those stories she tells.  If you haven't read Li's stories make haste and read your New Year's Eve away.  Now that's one heck of a way to celebrate the New Year!

        

Related articles

• A Matter of Life and Death: Another A to Z Story (tossingitout.blogspot.com)
• Welcome to the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Blog (a-to-zchallenge.com)
• A to Z Stories of Life and Death, Author-friends, Interviews, Blogfests Galore (damyantiwrites.wordpress.com)
• In Which Arlee Bird Explains Why Blogfests Are a Big Deal (damyantiwrites.wordpress.com)