Tom, Dick and Harry - International writing contest! #amwriting

My alter ego is reading and reviewing entries for this international writing competition. However, this is not a venue for erotica:
Violence and sexuality in the language, if found in the opinion of the judges, will result in disqualification.

I'm sure there are those among you who have an idea for story involving three main characters. The word limit is 5000 words, so it doesn't need to be epic in scope, a love triangle, a set of three siblings, Cinderella story (just make sure the step-sisters get equal billing!).

This contest comes from the Fishbowl Network, who publish Furore magazine, where the winning entries will appear

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Flasher Fiction Friday

So, it is really tempting to finish the week by pointing you straight back at the blog and all the great pieces there. After all, they have this fantastic picture to work with and only 100 words to do it justice.

But that does feel a bit like cheating at this point. So, here goes. 100 words:

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With a flick of his wrist the ace disappeared from sight. A bare sliver of white showed between his fingers. How had it gotten there? Before she could ask, the entire deck was whirling past her eyes.

“Think of your card,” the magician urged her, his eyes hidden behind the rim of his hat. “Concentrate.” The cards continued to flow from one hand to the other and back again. What had her card been?

“Concentrate,” he urged, teeth tightly clenched. The cards moved faster. “I can’t do it otherwise.”

“Oh!” The cards fell. The ace of hearts, every last one.

Tantalizing Tuesday

So, in the past I have used Tantalizing Tuesday to tempt you with pieces of WIP or published work. That's not what most of the crew do. Most of them find photos and write new work. So that's what I will try to do. Next time. This time, I just want to point out all the great contributions made this week! Please, read them all.

The Stomach-turning return

I'm still a little shaky, so bear with me. It's been a full year since I've posted for this blog, and well over a years since I have written anything for it. However, I do need to remedy that. I have works in progress. I am working with my publisher. I also have a few things out there for you to read now. All that adds up to me needing to get on the horse and get my name out there.

If you're an author and an introvert like me, you know how difficult that last sentence is. I'd like nothing better than to continue to hide in my room and write only for myself and never see the light of day again. But the fact is, I haven't been writing for myself. I haven't been writing for anyone. If I don't have input from outside, I'm not going to get anywhere.

My stomach is literally tossing while I write this (not a good thing when I had a stomach flu on Wednesday). It is really hard for me. My twitter is going to be a mess and I don't know how active I'm going to be on there. My Facebook activity has been (and will likely continue to be) a lot of Farmville2. However, there should be some blog sharing and shouts out on both.

Bear with me. This is a big scary world you all live in and I'm liking the dark corner I've made for myself. Forgive me if I only peek out once in a while, okay?

And for the first while, I'll be plugging OTHER people's writing. Doesn't that sound good? I thought so too.