Monthly Archives: April 2017

SWF: Writing Exercise & “Contest”

So I’ve started a new online course over at FutureLearn called Start Writing Fiction. I know, I know. Given how long I’ve been writing fiction, this sort of course should be beneath me, right? But I don’t mind taking it. It lets me try a few new things and get my work in front of new eyes around the world.

So the first week’s lesson includes a writing exercise wherein one writes two different paragraphs, one with three truths and a lie, the other with three lies and a truth. Below are my two paragraphs.

The first person to correctly guess my lies in either paragraph will get a piece of writing from me.

3 facts, 1 fiction

Spring in Puget Sound can be erratic at best. It isn’t even a matter of becoming attuned to it with time; in fact, that usually makes it worse. Even with tornadoes, the weather was never this erratic back home in Wisconsin. But nothing can beat the time she saw snow in San Antonio on the first day of May.

3 fictions, 1 fact

The year was 1975. I hadn’t turned four yet, but would as spring set in. My sister was just two and smallish for her age, able to fit comfortably in the windowsill near the television. Luckily the one day she wasn’t sitting in the windowsill was the day that the dump truck was blown across the street and into the front of our house, breaking said window.

[30DoL] Day 1: Top 10 places you wish to visit in your lifetime

The top 10 places I wish to visit in my lifetime? Okay, let’s see what we have here. And please note that this list will be pretty much the first 10 that come to mind, as there are lots of places I’d love to visit. And yes, if there’s a way to collect a bottle of water from any of them for my juju collection, I will make sure it happens.

Therra, aka Santorini
I have wanted to visit this place for as long as I can remember. For me, this is the location of Atlantis, and I have long wanted to go there for very personal and spiritual reasons.
The Oracle at Delphi
If I get to Santorini, I’ll also get to the location of the Oracle at Delphi. These two really are very closely tied for me on a spiritual level.
Chalice Well & Glastonbury Tor
Oh yes, this site is VERY high on my “must visit” list. Again, this is for spiritual reasons. And no, I won’t deny that it’s partially because of Mists of Avalon.
Stonehenge
If I’m in the UK for Chalice Well and Glastonbury Tor, I’m going to Stonehenge, too. This is just a given, y’all…
Hatley Castle, Victoria, BC, Canada
To be fair, I’ve been to Hatley Castle before. I just really want to go there again. Not only has it been used in a bunch of movies & TV shows, including my beloved Poltergeist: the Legacy, but it’s also just a gorgeous location.
Hawaii
Yeah, I’ve wanted to visit Hawaii for years now. I want to swim with the dolphins and the sea turtles, among other things. Plus? I want to see the volcanoes, okay?
Australia & New Zealand
Oh yes, please! I don’t care that there are more things there that could kill me than I want to think about. I just really want to go see how beautiful it is.
Victoria Falls
I will admit that, as a child, my first connection to this waterfall was an obsession with Victoria Principal and anything that bore her name. I was like 8yo and she was one of my first big celeb obsessions, okay? But I also want to see it because I have a strong connection to waterfalls in general.
Niagara Falls
Another major waterfall that I’d love to see. I seriously have a thing for waterfalls, and this is one of the biggies that I’ve always been fascinated by.
Cahokia Mounds State Historical Site
The mounds at Cahokia fascinate me endlessly. The novels written by Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear about them and the people who lived there are some of my favorites to read.

This is part of the 30 Days of Lists meme.

30 Days of Lists

Yep, we’re going to give this whole posting regularly thing a try again. Hopefully this time, it’s better than the last time we tried ~~and I’ll just recycle that last attempt in November again~~.

So this time, it’s a bunch of lists. Nice and simple to ease back into blogging daily again. And who knows? I might get some ideas for actual blog posts…

There will be a few days that I prepare ahead of time this month, because I’ll be out of town and won’t necessarily have access to a computer to post it in a timely manner.

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