Bwah ha ha! Though personally, I’d like her to be in the chair, and him at the stove…
Flash Friday Fiction: Autobiography
Autobiography
101 words
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
But what if you don’t wanna take it? What if every inch of you screams out, “Stay still, avoid discomfort?” Avoid change.
What if temptation surrounds you, luring you into stuffing your face, into adorning the couch, at all hours. What then?
Inertia is the ultimate pull. Ironic, that, the drive to do nothing. Movement requires energy, energy requires calories, calories equal donuts. Or something.
I put on the walking shoes anyway. I don’t want to. But I do. One small step for this woman, one giant step for health.
Here were Rebekah’s instructions:
Writing is a journey, as is life. In keeping with that, as we also wind down our Year Three novel prompts, today it’s my great privilege to present for your dining/writing pleasure the dark, triumphant, terrifying, heart-pounding, spirit-lifting novel that is preacher John Bunyan‘s powerful allegory Pilgrim’s Progress. Progress follows the adventures of eager, oft-stumbling but good-hearted Christian as he leaves his doomed native land in a quest to reach the glorious golden shores of the Celestial City.
Story elements (base your story on any TWO of these elements; be sure to tell us which two you chose. Reminder: please remember the Flash! Friday guidelines with regard to content; and remember please do not use copyrighted characters).
* Conflict: man v man, man v self (not gender specific)
* Character (choose at least one): a pilgrim; Beelzebub; a man whose mission is to help others; someone who talks too much; someone who loses his/her life for standing up for what is right; a corrupt mayor; someone whose primary purpose in life is avoiding hardship; a cheat
* Theme (choose one): salvation; good v evil; the value of true friendship; the dangers of temptation
* Setting (choose one): a doomed city; a corrupt and wealthy city; a long road; a palace guarded by lions
We had 100 words (+/- 1) in which to craft a tiny tale using two of the elements listed above (the two I chose are in bold italics). What do you think? Autobiography crammed into less than a page? Well, why not? Now if only I’d written this while walking on the desk treadmill…
Head on over to Flash Friday to see other people’s takes, and maybe to leave a comment or two, or craft a story of your own!
Writer Wednesday: Meet Foy Iver!
2-4-6-8, what do we appreciate? Wednesday! Wednesday! W-r-r-r-iter Wednesday!
And I doubly appreciate it today, because my good friend and deliciously fabulous writer Foy Iver is with me. Foy’s way with words steals my breath every time, folks – if you haven’t read her flash fiction in the places listed below, go seek it out. You won’t be sorry.
I recently enticed her to come share a little about herself, a quick bite, flash-esque interview, as it were, so I hope you read a little and comment a lot. Let’s show Foy some writerly love!
What inspires you to write?
Writing doesn’t come easily for me. Usually my best stories or poems are born out of painful experiences that I need to process: a miscarriage, the death of a friend, my own failings. Through writing, I pull out those emotions, flip them upside down and around, study them, understand them, and then imprison them on the page.
Name one interesting thing you learned in researching/writing your last book.
Research is my enchanted fruit. I could spend years digging up useless gems of information while the meat of my story lies rotting in my brain. Semi-useless fact #19203742893: Comfrey (also known as Knitbone [is that not the coolest name ever]), was used to promote healing in broken bones in the early days of medicine.
Name two things people don’t know about you.
1) I recently left my job to be a full-time writer. This is the first in seven years that I haven’t been employed or seeking employment. Yes, it feels odd.
2) I struggled with reading until about the age of twelve when letters just fell into place. After that you couldn’t get my nose out of a book.
What one piece of advice do you wish you’d had when first starting out?
So your inner editor sees a rhinosaurus? Let others have a peek. They might spy a prize-winning unicorn in the making.
Bio:
Foy S. Iver is a flash fiction author and fantasy writer. Her stories have found homes at several online sites, including Flash! Friday, Micro Bookends, Three Line Thursday, Angry Hourglass, Paragraph Planet, & Visual Verse. She chases after the FlashDogs and has a few pieces in their solstice Light & Dark Anthologies.
Find her on Twitter @fs_iver or drop by her site, www.foyiver.com. In the non-virtual universe, she lives with her husband and Blue Heeler in the mountains of Northern Virgina.
Wahoo! Thanks so much, Foy – such an honor to host you here. 🙂
Tea Days with Margaret: Ginger Pear Tea
I don’t drink coffee. I don’t drink wine. I don’t even drink soda. And until now, yes, you guessed it: I don’t drink tea. But how can I be a self-proclaimed new Anglophile if I don’t embrace that most quintessential of British things, tea?
So I decided several times a week I would try a new type of tea, until I either a) found one I liked, or b) got used to drinking it and just kept doing so out of habit (hey, it worked for 
my years on caffeine-free Diet Coke). Luckily for me, my cousin Joy and childhood friend Heather were wholly supportive of this endeavor, and sent me tea samples. Like, LOTS of tea samples. I might be set for tea for the next six months. We shall see.
Each week, I shall report in on my adventures with tea. Week One’s choice? Trader Joe’s Ginger Pear White Tea. I like ginger. I like pear. And someone told me white tea was among the mildest of teas.
First thing learned: do not drink the tea too quickly after heating up the water. You will burn your lip (ouch). Second thing learned: tea still tastes like tea. Only this time, I’m appreciating the ginger/pear undertones, and also realizing
the warmth of the tea, as well as its taste, means I’m sipping it slowly. I have to savor it, in other words, whether I want to or not.
So I’d say Tea Day, Week 1 is a success. Sure, I’ve only tried one type, but I’m still drinking it!
How about you? Are you a tea fanatic? What are your favorite – and least favorite – types? Any tricks of the trade?
Monday Funnies: My Kind of People
Hey, I write romance. I’m *supposed* to have a raunchy mind. Right?