AtoZ Challenge Reflections

Oy! This month has been a blast. I realize now though, that writing a new short story every day for a year (was my original goal- I just used AtoZ to get me started) is just not on the books for me. I've got so much going on that taking the time out to pull together an original story every day has had me going to bed at midnight most nights this past month.

• So- My first reflection is that I will probably scale it back down to writing one MAYBE two original short sci-fi posts a week. I also blog along with the twice yearly 52 week short story challengers on facebook so I will have at least one sci-fi story to show you a week!
• I've found some really interesting bloggers- and found that I am certainly not alone among bloggers who have chosen blogger.com as their blog host over wordpress. For a while there I was starting to feel lonely. Wordpress has always given me problems, whether it was posing comments or munching my posts. -.- I have been SO much happier with blogger. It's free, and I can use my own url for free too! No regrets!
• My next observation is that my visitors doubled, dare I say almost tripled during the challenge! Where I would typically see 30 views, I was reaching almost a hundred on most days! Thank you, EVERY SINGLE one of you for coming to check out my blog! I hope I have entertained you a little. That's what I'm here for ;)
• Google also really rather enjoyed my posting every day. When googling my name, my website now shows up third rather than 7th on the list! (under both of my book's goodreads links)
• I gained some new followers- and I completely appreciate every single one of you! I hope to get to know you more!
• I realized about two or three posts in that writing short stories won't get you many comments because the readers don't have anything much to say except for "good job" or "interesting". So I started trying to make my posts more interactive by asking a reflection question at the end of every story. So far, everyone seems to be enjoying commenting on those!
• For all those who commented on my posts, every single one of you are angels! You guys are the ones who kept me going when I was fresh out of ideas, when it was pushing 11pm and I still didn't have my post up. THANK YOU!

 It was awesome getting to meet you and hanging out with you on my blog!

I also wanted to come back and add some reflections on the challenge itself... real quick I promise:

A) Wordpress users- it can be sorta difficult to comment on your blogs unless you allow guest comments - otherwise the guest MUST make a wordpress account. Not everyone wants to do that (I already have one from when I used to use wordpress, so it was no biggie)

B) The lack of ways to subscribe was also apparent on many blogs. I don't always want subscriptions filling up my e-mail box... its filled with too much spam I can't find anything I want anyhow lol. Networked Blogs is a great app to add to any website so you can always keep your followers with you. For readers- Digg.com is really easy to add rss feeds to. Unfortunately that is just another site to have to log into just to follow your blogs.

C) I LOVED visiting everyone's blogs lol ;)

XYZ: Dietary Needs During Intergalactic Travel- Flash Fiction

 Pam spotted her friend as soon as she walked through the mess hall doors.

 “When did you come aboard!” Pam asked.

 “Just a few hours ago. I had to get some things set up in my quarters first.” Gail replied.

 “Oh no worries! Where are you headed this time?”

 “Mmm, I’m thinking I’d like to be let off someplace warm and unindustrialized.”

 “Eros perhaps?” Pam suggested.

 “Yeah, Eros might do the trick. I dunno, I’ll know the planet when I see it.” Gail answered while signaling the ship’s concierge.

 “Yes, ma’am, what would you care for this evening?” The concierge asked politely.

 Gail shook her head, taken aback.

 “Evening?” She said with a sigh, “Great now I’ll have to readjust my sleep cycles again.”

 “Water please,” she added, remembering the concierge who promptly headed off to fetch her water. 

“Aren’t you the least bit hungry? Here try one of these apples, we just got in a shipment of them from the colonies!” Pam suggested as she grabbed a yellow apple from the basket on the table behind her. “Just smell the zestfulness of it!”

 Gail took the apple, and sniffed it hesitantly. Pam eyed her curiously.

 “What are you doing?” She asked.

 “Does this apple have xylitol in it? I’m highly allergic to xylitol.” Gail said.

 “What? What’s that?” Pam asked confused.

 “From the colonies huh; I’m assuming its host plant was genetically modified to survive in different environments. Ugh, nope, that means it does have xylitol in it.” Gail answered.

Pam laughed.

“Gail, almost all of the food we eat nowadays has been genetically modified! How do you survive if you can’t eat it?”

 “Your water ma’am,” The concierge said, offering Gail the glass of water which she promptly drank.

 “I am sorta hungry though, come on Pam, I’ll show you how I eat!”

 Pam followed Gail out of the mess hall and down to her quarters.

 “The captain was a little reluctant to allow me to bring my entourage but I told her that I would set it all up myself so the crew wouldn’t have to.”

Gail explained to Pam before opening the door into her quarters. The door swished open to reveal the fact that half of Gails room had been taken over by a plastic sheet room of some sort. Pam looked at her friend as though she was considering referring her to the ship’s doctor for a mental examination.

 Gail walked into the room and unzipped the door into the plastic tent and Pam followed her. Out of habit Pam fluffed her hair as the humidity rose once she stepped through the second doorway. She gasped once she saw what was on the other side!

 Trees and plants of all kinds! Carefully grown and manicured to produce just enough food for one person.

 “Now THAT’s zest!” Gail said, tossing a fragrant yellow apple from a nearby mini tree over to Pam. “No additives, no genetic tampering, and no xylitol!”

 photo credit: Greenhouse via photopin (license)

 ###

I am terribly sorry, I got behind on two days of stories this week and JUST realized that today is the last day for the Blogging From AtoZ challenge!

So, today's post was inspired by X Y and  Z!  X is for: Zylitol, Y is for Yellow Apple, and Z is for zipper   all part of the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 challenge! Click on the letters to join on in the fun!

Every day this past month (excluding Sundays- and the past two days I also missed) I wrote a post about something that begins with the letter for that day. Most of the time it was a sci-fi flash fiction piece and the occasional 5 sentence fiction.
* I've really enjoyed this challenge- but I've discovered that blogging every day may not be for me. I will certainly continue to bring you new flash fiction but I think I may be scaling it back to 2-3 times a week tops. WHEW!


For Readers: What is your favorite fruit? If you could bring its plant along with you on a space ship, would you?

W: Everyone Needs Water- Flash Fiction

“You are weak and worse yet, you do not even realize you are weak!” The Aruk named 12 hissed at a group of children as he marched them along a grueling sandy terrain.

 Back inside the station the Aruk leader, called 1, glared through the window as he watched the children’s progress. 

“Why haven’t they given up by now?” 1 asked his 2nd in command beside him.

 “They’ve only been here for just a short time sir, but we do need to figure out how to break the human species’ spirit soon if we are going to have a chance at winning the war in the future.” 2 replied, his body flickering and never gaining solid form.

 1 huffed. 1 knew, being a temporal histographer, 2 could see how much longer they had if they had any hopes of changing their future.

 “This species gaining our powers is NOT in our best interest. If they fight this hard now to keep going, they would have been an unstoppable foe if they had been allowed to develop to their full potential on their home planet.” 1 said, his voice dark and brooding.

 Outside, the children were growing tired and thirsty. The sun high in the sky burned on their exposed skin. Still the Aruk guards shoved them on.

 A young boy by the name of Nathan stumbled a little in the sand. His guard shoved him and ordered him to keep up. His mind felt like jello, his stomach churned in the heat, his muscled weak from dehydration and yet he continued on.

 I won’t be the one to cause my friends pain because I failed the test, Nathan thought about the rest of his friends still back in the cells.

 If only I had some water!

 Spreading his arms out beside him, being careful not to disturb his fellow runners, he wished for a breeze to take away the heat.

 Or maybe even some rain! 

There was no rain or even the slightest breeze on this desolate planet the Aruk lived on though. Nathan’s eye was suddenly drawn to the forehead of the Aruk guard running beside them where sweat beaded on his purple skin. The guard wiped his three fingered hand across the red and black tattoo’s and flicked the sweat to the ground.

 Water! Nathan’s mind reeled.

He stopped running and held his hands out toward the guard in desperation.

 1 leaned closer to the window and watched in horror as the purple skin of one of his guards faded with almost instant dehydration. The guard stumbled back horrified. 1 waved his hand over the window to open it and called out to his guards.

 “Dispose of him quickly!” He ordered, The children mustn't be allowed to develop those powers!

The guards circled around the children and two guards pulled the kicking and screaming boy from their midst.

 “How, in the midst of all this, did he manage to develop the ability of a healer?” 1 demanded of 2 after he closed the window once more.

 2 didn’t answer. His form flickered even more feverishly now as he scanned the timeline.

 “Don’t dispose of him just yet,” 2 told the guards as they dragged the terrified boy past them. “Sir, the timeline has changed. If we can develop these humans’ abilities we can use them to fight FOR us in the coming war!”

This flash fiction piece takes place before the events of The Alien Mind. Just something I am working on to help me analyze my antagonists motivations and frame of mind. Bear in mind that none of this is edited or finalized- just me doing some free range writing ;)



photo credit: When nothing will do via photopin (license)

Today's post was also inspired by the letter W. W is for:   as part of the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 challenge! Click on the letter to join on in the fun!

Every day (excluding sundays) I will be writing a post about something that begins with the letter for that day. Most of the time you will find a sci-fi flash fiction piece here.


For Readers: I leave you with this quote: The best weapon is your mind. Without it you are defenseless. Without it you are weak and worse yet you do not even realize you are weak.

Tell us about a time that some fast thinking got you out of trouble...

V: The Vision Of A Futurity Histographer- Flash Fiction

It starts with a vision. A youngling thrashes in his bed. A nightmare encroaching on his sleep. His nightmares usually involved getting lost, falling down a hole, or being stuck in a burning building. Things every normal youngling would be afraid of. This nightmare is different.

 A species he didn’t recognize, Two legs, two arms, and pale skin, stood with other members of his kind. They had defaced their head tattoo’s, committing sacrilege, to mark themselves as outcasts. Here they stood with this pale faced boy encouraging him to burn their world. The pale faced boy raises his hands and the air around the youngling tingles. Death spreads out from the pale faced boy like a plague. Trees and plants all wither and crumble. Friends fall and turn to dust. The youngling runs. The pale one advances towards him.

 The youngling trips and falls, cringing as he knows that this faulty step may have just cost him his life. A pale skinned hand reaches down to help him up. He looks up at the young girl and is shocked to find her dressed just like his sister would. Her brown hair flutters in the breeze and her eyes glisten with sadness as she grabs his hand. She thrusts him behind her skirt and holds up her hands to push back the death the young boy is spreading.

 She’s winning! He’s backing off! She’s winning!

 In his excitement, the youngling jolted himself awake. It was all just a dream.

 Young Ankh got up from his bead and headed toward his family’s common room. He found his family sitting in chairs around a small fire floating in the center of the room.

 “Good morning my youngling,” Ruet said with a warm smile. “Sleep well?”

 Ankh shook his head no and Ruet put down the screen she was holding and opened her arms to welcome him into her lap. Ankh headed over to her and curled up in her lap, finding comfort in her embrace. Drolin peered at him over the floating fire.

 “Little one, did you have another dream?” Drolin watched his youngling carefully.

 “Yes sir, it was awful.” Ankh answered. “There were beings in it that I didn’t know. The Aruk were telling them to destroy our world.” 

“Can you tell me more about these beings you saw?” Drolin prodded.

 Young Ankh recounted the dream to his family. He described the pale skinned strangers to them, including the one dressed like his sister.

 Ruet looked up at Drolin. Drolin nodded.

 “Youngling, go get your shoes. It’s high time we take you to start your training.” Drolin said.

 “What? But I don’t haven’t taken the test yet.” Ankh argued.

 “Only a futurity histographer could dream about people they’ve never met little one,” Ruet said, pushing him from her lap and giving him a quick hug. “Now run along and do as Drolin asks. The elder futurity histographers will want to meet you right away!”

(This flash fiction is actually a precursor to The Alien Mind- me exploring some of the characters' back stories as I plan for the second book. Enjoy!)   photo credit: Brown Fern via photopin (license)

Today's post was also inspired by the letter V. V is for: Vision   as part of the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 challenge! Click on the letter to join on in the fun!

Every day (excluding sundays) I will be writing a post about something that begins with the letter for that day. Most of the time you will find a sci-fi flash fiction piece here.



For Readers: Have you ever had a dream that seemed real? Have you ever had a dream that came true (I have these all the time! It's really rather freaky)

Tell us about your most disturbing dream.

***

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

 

U: What is an Umbilical Cord- Flash Fiction

Christy sat on the cool rock under the shade of a strange tree. Her friend’s spaceship burning in the distance. The crash had done it, she knew it had. Far away from any birthing center and on an uninhabited planet no less.

 The tightening pains were every 4 minutes or so. Her friend dragged a piece of metal piled with everything she could salvage from the wreck.

 “Janice do you think the baby will be ok?” Christy mumbled through gritted teeth.

 “He should be old enough to survive birth, yeah,” Janice answered.

 “Did it hurt this much when you had Daren? What was it like?” Christy asked, begging Janice to distract her.

 Janice looked worriedly at their surroundings, at their meager pile of equipment, and then to Christy’s swollen tummy hidden under the floral print of Christy’s dress.

 “I didn’t have any pain at all, I checked in at the birthing center. They took care of all that. I lay down and mostly just daydreamed... watched a few vids... a few hours later looked up to see my little Daren in the nurse’s arms.”

 Christy gulped and gritted her teeth again as another particularly strong wave of pain cascaded over her.

 “Do you think something is wrong? Is it supposed to feel like this?”

 “I dunno, we were just told to go to the birthing center at a certain number of days.” Janice knelt down beside Christy and felt her tummy, “My grandmother told me that birthing used to be different but she never explained it.”

 Janice unlaced Christy’s boots and invited her to put her feet in the sand to help keep her cool. A gentle breeze blew the soft sand and the hem of her dress soothingly around her ankles. Christy let her mind wander through the swaying of the leaves in the tree above her as she rode through each new wave of pain.

 Suddenly Christy’s watch beeped at her shaking her from her zone. Irritated she unclasped it and threw it out from under the tree and into the sand before heading back into the solace of the swaying branches. Janice jumped up and chased after the watch, brushing off the sand.

 “Hello! Hello!” She cried. “Yes, Kipling 1 we heard your distress call. Do you need assistance?” A voice called over the watch through the static.

 “Janice!!!” Christy cried out loudly, arching her back with a particularly large contraction.

 “Yes, I need to get my friend to a birthing center immediately!” Janice answered in a panic.

 “Ma’am, from the sounds of things it is a bit too late for that. The baby is coming already. You have two things to remember:

•  Keep momma comfortable 
• And tie off the umbilical cord so the baby doesn’t bleed to death."

 Janice looked at her friend in fear. Why oh WHY didn’t they teach you how to do this in parenting classes! What in the universe is an umbilical cord!


->photo credit: Mui ne - Sanddüne - Vietnam via photopin (license) <-

Today's post was also inspired by the letter U. U is for: Umbilical   as part of the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 challenge! Click on the letter to join on in the fun!

Every day (excluding sundays) I will be writing a post about something that begins with the letter for that day. Most of the time you will find a sci-fi flash fiction piece here.

This post is ALSO part of the 52 week flash fiction challenge on facebook
Week 5 word prompt: Bleed
Word Limit: 20- 500
This one tops out right at  491 words.

For Readers: I was trying to capture a moment in time where certain things we learn today might be missed as our technology advances if we don't continue to pass down the "old ways".  What are some things now that we have "forgotten" how to do because we have technology? Do you think we can do without those lessons or do you think they are still important?

T: Out Of Time- Mini Flash Fiction

I got very little sleep last night. School meetings, birthday parties, and grocery shopping today... I just don't have the time or energy to write you up a story today.

I DO have one planned though. And tomorrow is my birthday (28 yrs old O.o) so I plan on coming back to this page to make up today's T post as well as write Friday's U post that must also utilize the 52 week flash fiction challenge word "bleed".

Come back to this link tomorrow... eh probably by the afternoon, and I will have this story ready for you!

Until then... See you later alligators! I'm heading to the land of nod! I've got a meeting with Rivi that I need to keep before I fall asleep.

###

Thursday' Story
5 Sentence Fiction
This 5 sentence fiction is inspired by a scene I am working on in the sequel to The Alien Mind. The story won't stay exactly like this- five sentence fiction just helps me storyboard the scenes.

"I've been given permission to alter his timeline, say Goodbye Rivi," the Aruk futurity histographer said rather smugly on her computer screen.

Their previous argument no longer on her mind she jumped up and threw her arms around Dan as if her embrace could keep him there with her. Dan returned her embrace but only for a few seconds before his timeline was erased and his body started to disappear. Rivi cried; hot tears running down her face as her arms collapsed though his disappearing form. Once he was completely gone, her computer screen darkened and she was left with one single thought: why did she still remember him?

Today's post was also inspired by the letter T. T is for: Time   as part of the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 challenge! Click on the letter to join on in the fun!

Every day (excluding sundays) I will be writing a post about something that begins with the letter for that day. Most of the time you will find a sci-fi flash fiction piece here.

For Readers:  Time travel and time alteration- practical or a mess waiting to happen? ;)

S: Rhonda The Schlemiel- Flash Fiction

Today I find myself wrapped up in School Meetings, 4k registration paperwork, and now IV therapy with my oldest. A bit busy today... it's late, and the laptop lights up the hospital room enough so that my eldest can't sleep so I have to hurry. Instead of science fiction... how about some character exercise today.

Today's S word was a challenge given to me by yesterday's blog visitor. I'd never heard of the word so bare with me as I try to pull together a story around it.

---

Rhonda dealt in absolutes. Things were "always this, or always that". Nothing was ever half way or only sometimes.

"I always have nightmares." She would complain to her mom. "All the kids at school pick on me."

In the early years, her mom was genuinely worried. Who always has nightmares? Who goes to school and can't find at least one friendly person? 

It wasn't until Rhonda came home complaining that she never gets desert at school that her mom really started to dig deeper.

"Why didn't you get desert today?" 

"Because they were all out."

"But didn't you tell me yesterday that you had a brownie?"

"Yeah."

"Well then you are not a total schlemiel are you?" Mom said.

"A What?" Rhonda asked in confusion as her mom laughed.

Rhonda's mom gasped for breath between her laughter.

"A schlemiel is someone who is totally unlucky and nothing ever goes right for them." Rhonda's mom explained.

"Yeah, I guess so." Rhonda agreed.

"Would you like a popsicle?" Mom asked.

"YEAH!" Rhonda jumped up and down with excitement.

Today's post was also inspired by the letter S. S is for: schlemiel    as part of the Blogging from A to Z April 2015 challenge! Click on the letter to join on in the fun!

Every day (excluding sundays) I will be writing a post about something that begins with the letter for that day. Most of the time you will find a sci-fi flash fiction piece here.



For Readers: Have you ever felt completely unlucky? Tell us about something someone did that helped you feel better?

***

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