Short novel entry

There he was again, anxiously springing through the front door; announcing his arrival with tremendous glee. Henry gave his grandma a gentle hug, and then playfully flipped his shoes off by the front door. Henry loved spending his summer days at Grandma Elsa's country home; though he didn't spend much time indoors while he was there. As the warm summer days started to wind down, and the prospect of starting sixth grade became an ever greater realization, Henry did not want to waste a single moment of his summer vacation. With increasing thoughts of sitting at a cold metal desk, agonizingly watching the second hand's torturously slow ticks, Henry knew he had to have one last adventure before school started.

Crystal Clear Chapter one / Dinner Time

Crystal stared at her mother across the dinner table, searching for a sign that she was conscious of what was going on in the bathroom down the hall. A grimace, perhaps a single tear, anything to indicate her awareness; but there was nothing. Her mother continued to carry the food from her plate to her mouth as if oblivious to the chaos around them.

Crystal silently pleaded. "Where are you mom? I know you hear them. Make it stop. Please make him stop."

Again, nothing, only the scrape of utensil on plate and her own sobs bubbling up from her throat.

She could hear her sister, Amy's, pitiful cries as she struggled to breathe, while swallowing the water their father forced down her throat. Only when she vomited was she allowed to stop drinking long enough to catch a breath. Then once again made to drink and drink and drink. She'd been locked in the bathroom with him for twenty long cruel minutes as he drilled her on proper dinner etiquette. Her crime had been gulping her milk too loudly at the dinner table. In her mind, Crystal could not see how such an indiscretion could warrant so cruel a punishment. Dad had dragged Amy by the hair, jerking her from the dinner table, sloshing a pitcher of water and headed for the bathroom. He'd been forcing her to drink ever since. All the while Crystal and her mother continued to sit before their dinner plates acting as if this were a normal family meal.

In some ways it was. Amy was not the only one who occasionally needed correction. Crystal carried her own scars from a lesson in table manners . Dad had taught her never, to use her fingers to push food onto a fork. His method of teaching had meant a quick trip to the stove where gravy bubbled in the frying pan. Crystal's hand had been shoved down into the brown sauce and held there until her screams assured him she would never make the same mistake again. As painful as that lesson had been, it was nothing compared to this; hearing Amy's cries and being unable to rescue her.

At last her fathers rage subsided and he stopped the torment as quickly as he'd started. Without saying a word, he and Amy headed back to the dinner table, sat down quietly, and continued their meal as if nothing had taken place.

Crystal's mother glanced up at her husband and said, " For dessert I made peach cobbler. Won't that be nice girls?"

November Novel Excerpt.....

He had his back to her. She looked at his coarse flannel shirt tucked into his overalls that were snug around his flat, square bottom. She wondered how she could stay with him for another minute. He turned around after flipping an egg, the wooden spatula in his hand, and smiled and her. Cigarette stained teeth. Or maybe it was just the putty-like plaque on top of them that was stained. If only he'd brush them, she could really know.
The eggs smelled burnt and her stomach turned. It smelled like her childhood neighbor's house where she'd pass every morning before school to fetch her classmate Veronushka who was never outside waiting for her as she ought to have been.
She wondered if being with Benji was actually better than living back in Russia. Yes, she'd married Benji. "Benji," she said to herself,"my husband's name is Benji!" The whole situation suddenly seemed ridiculous. She pulled off her heels and put her feet up on a wicker kitchen chair.
She'd lost her true love anyway years ago. Life after that had been one large joke. Oh yes, a real man's love was glorious and golden, mythic and silent. She had been enmeshed in a scintillating net of warps of love from him, love for him, love for herself, and wafts of love from the world, love for the world. But then he left her. But he was still with her. He still walked beside her, she felt his gallant stride. She asked him in whispers for his advice and he blew warm truth in her ears. There was a thick cord connecting his heart to hers, pumping a constant halo around them both. But, he wasn't for her, anyway, she thought. Men like that belong to no woman but to all women.
She stared at Benji, the eggs hissing, as he let salt fall on them from his dirty fingernails and she threw her head back and laughed.

Time to be a critic.

Go to i swear i'm not like bob crane and follow instructions. You're all ar-tists - I need your opinion. Either comment on that blog or email me. Thanks.

November Topic

Inspired by Katie's November National Novel Writing Month post, this month's topic is to 'novel write!' Come on, Ditalini Pressers, let's join in on the fun!

Origami No. 24. "autumn".

A birch grove in Whitnall Park, Greendale, Wisconsin.

November is WHAT??!

November is here again! And that means NOVELS! November is National Novel Writing Month for those of you who aren't already aware. Thousands of participants create an online account on Nanowrimo.org where you can track your daily writing progress and feel a sense of community and support from the other participants. This is not a contest with one grand prize. Nanowrimo is a fun celebration of the writer and his/her world and process. The challenge gives you a chance to find out how disciplined you really are, and just how creative you can be. The Nanowrimo goal to set is to write 50,000 words by November 30th. I didn't succeed last year, so I'm going to give it another go this November! Hope to see you all there! (cuz that much writing is sure to be lonely).

Here is a video that gives you some tips on the month and what to expect!

November Topic?

Imprimatur was signed up for the November topic. She is the 27 year old daughter of my boyfriend and she is currently fighting for her life with advanced , acute, aggressive T-Cell Leukemia Lymphoma. Makes all of my little aches and pains seem pretty frivolous. Are there any volunteers out there willing to fill in for Imprimatur this month?

"Shipshit."

My compound word. I always thought this would make a great freight company name. What does it mean? Means 'we ship anything'. Am I doing this correctly? How 'bout, the opposite of "shipshape"? "Shipshit".

OK - subtopic to this subtopic. If you have a better definition for "shipshit", offer it up now.

Compund Creations

1.) ImageGlider
2.) bookshift
3.) giftshift