Story 8/52: 13 Heros

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not home
13 Heros: © 2018 RD Girvan

 

What he doesn’t want is to get caught. Last Halloween he had almost been caught – that had been no fun, no fun at all. It was supposed to be “trick or treat,” not “trick, treat and trial.”

He tapped powder into the last of the tubes and added it to the bouquet of pixie sticks that bristled out of the grinning plastic pumpkin. He cleaned up, careful not to breathe in any of the residue.

Dominic worked through his departure checklist, wiping down the last few surfaces he may have touched, loading his gear, crossing through the garage/kitchen door repeatedly, the heavy whump-sigh of the pneumatic door punctuating his work. He triple-checked the house for personal belongings, then peeled off the plastic gloves that had come in the box of hair dye.

He looked around one last time. He would miss this house, he thought.  It had been a good 12 months, living here.  The neighbourhood met his requirements perfectly: a nice little suburb with nice little houses full of tame, nice little “sheeple.” All with easy access to a major Interstate Highway, so within 8 minutes, Dominic could be heading anywhere. Unless he was caught, of course.

Hello, Gang of Glorious Readers, Rhea here.

I am entering stories into contests, some of which do not allow any publication of any kind, even on a baby blog like mine. So if you would like to read the entire story, send me your email address and I will forward it to you.

Best always, RDG

 

 

We’ve Got the Whole World, In Our Hands…

I really am starting to like facebook, twitter, et al.  Well, I liked them before, but now I LIKE-like them.  In fact, if there were a “love” button for those apps, I would probably click on that.

The power of social media to draw us all together, introducing disparate people from across the World, is staggering. Mass media is about making news; social media is about making connections.  Yesterday, something happened that brought that point home to me.

I had written a (previously posted here) book review on ‘Call Me Princess’ by Sara Blædel, and I decided to send her information on it.  Remember that she is DENMARK’s “Queen of Crime”—and I reside in Alberta.  Canada.  On the opposite side of the Earth from where she holds Court.

I searched facebook, and hadn’t finished typing ‘Blædel’ when her profile popped up.  I “liked” her page, sent the link to my blog, and thought, “Well, that’s that.”

But that was NOT that; she responded to me (see below)!  And she did so kindly, graciously, and personably.  Thank you so much, Ms. Blædel.  Making that connection absolutely made my day.

Sara Blædel

Hi R.D Girvan! Oh, what a fab review! Thank you SO much. I am so very, very happy you liked my book. And so grateful for your words. Big thanks Sara

  • Wednesday
  • R.d. Girvan

    Sara, you are so welcome.  Would you mind terribly if I added your above reply onto my blog post?  (Sorry to be so star-struck, but.. 🙂  Rd

  • Today
  • Sara Blædel

    HA! 😉 NO not at all – I will be very pleased to have my comment on your blog ;-)And big thanks again!

Balance, Schmalance

I so admire the traits of moderation and balance.   I aim for them constantly.  I plan, schedule, research, limit, design, check and re-check my life and activities with those ideals held firmly in my mind.  “All things in moderation.”  And, “Balance.  Ba-lance.  Baaaaaa-lance.”

For most of the year, I diligently aim for balance and moderation.  For example, balancing work and health (or, at least, attempting to) is the only way I can manage several projects at once.  I take time to exercise, etc, giving myself energy to work fast enough to have time left over for exercising, thereby giving myself energy to work… it’s a nice cycle.

However, half-way through the month of November (otherwise known as “National Novel Writing Month”), I start to change my tune.  As the days dwindle and the EXPECTED word count outdistances my ACTUAL word count, I start to not even care about balance.  Let alone, moderation.

In fact, by now, November 20th, I am figuratively wadding up my revered ideals and tossing them out the window, because I’ve arrived at my favourite part of NaNoWriMo.  Now, eyes fixed on my word count and deadline, I am allowed, encouraged, even expected to forget about balance for a bit.  For the last 10 days of this wonderful, flat-out busy, tumultuously creative, “no, I can’t do the dishes, I’m writing” month, I get to tip the scales towards an excess of two of my favourite things:  writing and coffee.

So, until December 1st, I take time to drink coffee, giving myself energy to work fast enough to have time left over to drink coffee, thereby giving myself energy to work… it’s a nice NaNoWriMo cycle.  As Mark Twain said, “All things in moderation… including moderation.”

Stubborn as the Day is Long

A 2012 Participant, R.D. Girvan hopes to bat 1000, earning her 4th NaNoWriMo win.

My friend Natasha Deen is a terrific writer who is also participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  This is an annual contest where over 300,000 writers from around the World must write a 50,000 words novel within the 30 days of November.  It’s like a marathon:  cross the 50,000 word finish line and you win.

This morning, Natasha posted:   Day seven of NaNoWriMo and in order to reach my 1667 words/day, I’m tempted to start writing sentences like: She was sad, depressed really. Actually, she was despondent, very, very, very, very, very, very, very despondent…

I replied:  That’s a really, really, really, really, good idea. In fact, I am tempted to say that again… that’s a really, really, really… 🙂

Holy Hannah, is 50,000 words in 30 days ever a LOT!  I am so behind…

If you’ve experienced me NaNoWriMo-ing before, this will sound familiar.  Even the kids have heard this so often about NaNo that when I say, “I am so behind…” they are not alarmed or distressed.  They just smile and nod.

One year, I still had about 10,000 words to go and only 2 days left to do it.  That’s the year I got my scar:  I slipped on a front walk and cracked my chin open on a concrete step.  In the process, I sprained both wrists while trying to break my fall.   After returning home from the hospital (6 surface stitches and 2 deep tissue), I noticed that my wrists were starting to stiffen up.   I figured that if I went to bed, they would seize up entirely and I wouldn’t be able to type the next day.  So I stayed up until I was done, hitting 50,002 words at about noon on the 30th.

This is a good indicator of how determined/persistent (perhaps “stubborn”) I am, but it’s still no guarantee, so I repeat:  I’m so behind…really, really, really behind.  🙂 Rd