An Age Old Meeting

My short story An Age Old Meeting is on display at the OCA Student Association website.

Horror Poetry - Sand Man by Katy Bennett

Sand Man

I watch you lying on the beach,

We are alone together with the endless sea.

I stroke your damp hair beneath a moonlit sky.

Your tattoo of a serpent points out to sea,

As if yearning to escape beneath the black waves.

You are perfection. My obsession.

My strength and my weakness.

I sprinkle a handful of sand over your torso.

They sit like crumbs in your navel,

Your gentle rise and fall of breath

Sheds the grains back onto the beach.

I sprinkle more sand over you.

They fall in your hair and cling to the wet strands.

You are mine. I won’t let anyone else have you.

I bury you up to your knees.

I made you, shaped you, gave you a reason to live

But you tried to leave me while the stars watched.

I work tirelessly. Afraid

The sleeping pills will lose their effect.

I kiss your serpent one last time

And then smother it in yellow grains.

I caress your stomach and pecks

Before saying goodbye.

There will be no pain for you,

I hold enough for both of us.

Only your head is visible now,

I remember how your lips moved over my body.

How I drowned in your blue eyes.

Angry, I throw sand at your sleeping lids.

Soon my work is done,

I have said my final goodbye.

I love you, my sand man.

Starting 2011 with A Round Of Words In 80 Days

I stumbled upon this writing challenge via the Indie Book Collective blog and handily just as I'm getting to the writing stage of a novella. It asks you to commit to a writing project for at least 80 days setting and revising goals as necessary. I tried Nanowrimo three times without much success finding the pace too fast and inflexible but it offered that much needed motivation.

The A Round Of Words In 80 Days approach feels more workable to me. The fun begins on the 3rd of January and sign ups are here.

My Goal is to write the 1st draft of Shroud Of Death in 80 days. I'm loosely aiming for an overall word count of 30000 words which gives me a daily word count of 375 and a weekly word count of 2625. I think this will allow me to keep productive without becoming bogged down and still allowing time in my day to keep up with my current poetry studies and producing Dark Metre.

Review - Shredder by Garry Charles

Synopsis - Ex-Soldier is persuaded to take part in a secret operation and ends up fighting for survival.

Review - Shredder is just the right length to sustain the fast paced bloody action without becoming over the top. A no-nonsense writing style balances the action with character development and description.

Rating - 4/5

Download for free at smashwords

Review - Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

Synopsis: A nightwatchman and an American woman discover the terrifying history and secrets inside an abandoned apartment.

Review: Apartment 16 revolves around a London apartment building. It follows the separate but interlinked stories of two characters. Firstly, Seth a nightwatchman and wannabe artist who becomes aware of disturbances in Apartment 16, and secondly Apryl staying at the apartment building to finalise her recently deceased Great-Aunts affairs. 

Apartment 16 has a steadily building plot, good character development and plenty of twists and surprises. The theme of being trapped in place and time was well-developed. It held me in its grip from page one and it’s the best damn thing I’ve read in a long time. 

Rating: 5/5

The Friday 56 - Shredder by Garry Charles

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

Getting to this earlier than usual as I'm off work. This ones on the waiting to read list along with most of my books it's Shredder by Garry Charles and is available as a free ebook over on smashwords and the teaser line is:

"Fuck me," Keene sees the display at the far end of the room and staggers back.

The Friday 56 - Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Link it here.

It's that simple.

Todays selection is going to be my next read. I'm holding off until next month when PAD will be finished but I'm itching to get going. I read the sample of this on iBooks and it's great to see a return to paranormal horror. It's Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill and the teaser line is:

"It's not often you see a woman wearing a hat these days. With a veil."

The Friday 56 - The Green Mile by Stephen King

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find a teaser sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Story Time With Tonya.

This weeks selection is The Green Mile by Stephen King - a fantastic read.

The restraint room had soft walls, for people whose brains had softened a little.

Poetry - Howl

Howl

Lovelorn werewolves howl
As a comet glides unhindered
Across the moon.

Resource - How To Write A Horror Cinquain

I stumbled upon the following article on suite101.com How To Write A Horror Cinquain by Terrie Leigh Relf. It's a good introduction to the form with some great examples.

As for Suite101, I will be checking out more of their articles, I'd recommend my readers to search for poetry and horror.