A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- LOIRA DO BANHEIRO

You were dared by your friend to perform the ritual.  You think it's stupid.  Flush three times, kick three times.  Yeah, like that's going to do anything.

You leave the stall and turn on the tap and curse three time.

You swear this is the last time you take a dare from your friends.

A flick in the mirror has you turning around.  You gasp, startled by the girl.  Blonde hair streams down her back.  You apologize.

She says nothing.  Then she turns and attacks.


The Blonde in the Bathroom or Loira do Banheiro is Brazillan.  She is the urban legend that is similar to Bloody Mary and Hanako-san.

She is said to be either a deliquent girl that slipped, a teacher murdered by her husband for betraying him with a student, or she was a viscount's daughter that died after being forced to marry and then dying of pnemonia after running off to Europe with her lover.  Some versions have the girl raped.

No matter what version, Loria do Banheiro will terrify a person with her bloodied appearance.  She has no eyes and is cut up.

She may or may not attack the summoner.  

A TO Z CHALLENGE 2016 -- KEE-WAKW

The stew fills the air with its delicious odor.  You dish some into an eating vessel. 

Your eyes flick the person far across the clearing. Sadness and pity are in the eyes as he watches you partake your meal.

He is weak from starvation.  Barely alive.  A smirk turns your lips cruel as he looks to what's left of his wife.  Horror fills his gaze in realization as you continue to eat the stew.

You watch as the the breaths become shallower.  The eyes grow dim as the spirit leaves the body.

You laugh.  The frigid coldness grows in your chest as you contemplate your next meal.


This is one of the ways that a Kee-wakw are created.  They are creatures that were once human that have committed some terrible crime, especially of the taboo act of cannibalism or allowing a person to starve.  Another way to turn into these horrible creatures is to have been possessed.

Their hearts turn to ice and they become cannabilistic ice giants.  These creatures are from the North Eastern tribes like  Abenaki, Penobscot, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy

They have many names including Giwakwa. Its pronounced gee-wock-wah (in Abenaki-Penobscot) and keh-wah-kwoo (in Maliseet-Passamaquoddy.)

They are related to these others creatures Chenoos (Micmac), Windigos (Anishinabe), Witikos (Cree), Stonecoats (Iroquois) because of their similar characteristics.

OF MIST AND MAGIC -- THE EBOOK AND ALBUM

Cover design by Daniel Pennystone

I entered a writing contest on Writerlysam's blog.  I did an earlier post about it.

It was to take the song Eternal Rest For a Ronin from Of Mist and Magic album and retell a fairy tale.  The winners of the competition would be published in the Of Mist and Magic ebook.

GUESS WHAT!?  My flash fiction is published in it!

Okay, okay.  That is not the most worthwhile thing about it.  I had to gush . . . just a smidge.

Nope, the best thing about this book that it will support Elevate Life and Art studios, a youth organization in Asheville, NC through full donation of all proceeds.

What is so amazing about this collaborative book besides some awesome authors? There are stories from the kids from Elevate Life and Art!

So clicky clicky the links or the pretty pretty book cover on the side panel and get an awesome book as well as helping others achieve their dreams!

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #5 -- BOOK WITH A ONE WORD TITLE

Infinity

I've read a couple of books by Sherrilyn Kenyon under her pseudonym of Kinley MacGregor.  I have not read anything of her Dark Hunters series.

This is a spin-off of that series.  It has characters from the main, romance series showing up in this first book, including Kyrian from Night Pleasures and Acheron from -- well, Acheron.  Heh heh.

It had some great LOL moments.

I liked it enough that I'm going to read the second book, which you will probably see here as a different Challenge entry.  That is, if I don't find something different to fill the category.

BOOK CHALLENGE 2015 #3 -- A BOOK FROM AN AUTHOR YOU LOVE THAT YOU HAVEN'T READ YET

Snow Kisses

Okay, I admit I really like her books.  There are more hits than misses with this author for me, which is a miracle.  

The two novels in this book are Snow Kisses and Lionhearted.  I've read Lionhearted before but Snow Kisses was new.  They are reprints of some of her older works.  I love reprints because I can read older works without having to scrounge for them.  

Abby and Cade are at odds with each other.  She left for New York at eighteen after he rejected her.  Four years have passed, yet they haven't figured out how to tell each other about their feelings and the misunderstanding it caused in the past and present.  All the drama and angst is there as they fumble around trying figure out what each other wants instead of just talking.  

Gotta love romance novels.  

REUTSWAY MYTHOLOGICAL CULTURES

Today Reuts has revealed the cultures for their projects.

They are:

–Egyptian

–Celtic

–Asian

–Eastern European

I'm a little sad to see that Native American, South American, and Oceanic ones are missing.  

I had some awesome creatures from a tribe in the Native American culture.  Sadly, I can't use it as a main story, but I will slip it in because I can and will.

REUTSWAY: THE RETURN!

Reuts

That's right Peeps!  Reuts is unfurling the red carpet on the second round of crazy madness for NaNo.

Not only that they have a sign up for the the cover reveal and blitz for the release of last year's project!

So if you have trouble with NaNo (Like Me!) then this will be a great opportunity for prompt writing under pressure!  Stress and coffee and coffee and coffee . . . and that brick wall staring you in the face called --DU DU DUN! -- The Deadline!!

Muhahahaha!!

Come join the fun!  

A STORY ABOUT A VIDEO GAME . . . TOO MANY TO CHOOSE!

Figment is having a new monthly contest where we can choose your favorite video game and write a 1000 word story.

I'm having such a hard time choosing.  There are so many awesome ones that I can't decide.  There's Batman, Final Fantsy VII, Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts, even Goonies!  (Okay, that one ages my behind for those who remember the first Nintendo.)

Sigh.

So now I have the difficult decision of which one and what character!   Argh!!

NEW WRITING CONTEST!!

There is a new writing contest as well as a slew of other awesome contests on Sam'sblog.

There is a new contest on Sam's blog.  It has a piece of music to inspire you.

Not only that there are three other contests too!  The first is an audiomachine one where you design a t-shirt using the logos and tags.  The second is creating a book trailer for the book Colin Frake.  The third is cover art for an album for Really Slow Motion.

The writing one is blipping epic.  Steampunk Vikings!!!  I know.  Too cool, huh?  All ya have to do is write a 500 word flash fiction and post it to the page.

The due date is August 9th, peeps.  So get on the ball and let that imagination shine!

SUMMER AND WRITING PART 2 -- THE WHINING EDITION

So here I am trying to get the 17.5k word minimum for the Tor submission.  I've only reached the lofty (ha ha!) word count of 1500 words in the last two weeks.

Between work and time management, I don't seem to find a lot of computer time.  I usually start writings with pen and paper, but I tried that this time.  It failed miserably. 

Anyway, I only have 15,928 more words to go!  Yay!

Steampunk is a new genre for me.  Of course, I had to add fantasy to it because it adds froufrou bits to an otherwise gritty (IMO) genre.  I don't do gritty well.  I need to work on gritty and dirty (Ah ah ah! Keep it clean, peeps!) scenes. 

It's fun to write, but it's a pain to keep notes for it.  Every time I make up a new spell or new object, I need to add it to the **cough cough** glossary.  there are over twenty items on the thing already, including ship terms, magic, terms used, place names, people, and technologies.

It's only going to grow larger. 

Of course, I'm sick and twisted enough to own a dictionary for sailing/ship terms as well as one that lists words related to each other.  So they have British officers titles together, Victorian clothes listed, and so many more things.  My Geek-dar goes off whenever I flip through all those pages.

But considering I love etymology and random, weird factoids, y'all shouldn't be surprised.

Some of the problem is that my usual writing spot, (right hand corner of the couch) is used each morning.  It's one of my favorite writing times.  So I'm using the dining room table and my feng shui is off because of it.  I also like writing late at night when everyone is in bed.  Only sometimes I'm so tired I can't keep my eyes open.  Le sigh.

See.  I did say it's the whining edition.

Now that it's all off my chest.  I will try to get another ten words out.  woo!

As they do in Korean dramas: Fighting!

SUMMER AND WRITING

Well, I've learned that Tor is opening for unsolicited novella manuscripts for their new imprint, which is entitled Tor Imprint.

Tor is one of the major publishers that focus mainly on sci-fi and fantasy.

So dust off those short stories and polish them all nice and shiny.  You have until the end of August.

Here is the blog post announcing it:  Tor Post

The submission guidelines link is:  Imprint Guidelines

WRiTE CLUB

Well, I just found this the other day when I received a blog post.

I checked it out and thought it was neat so I entered.

Here is the link to the the details that I would mangle horribly.

http://www.dlhammons.com/p/write-club-2014.html

REFLECTING

This odyssey began last year when I found out about the challenge.  I declined that year.  This year I took up the challenge and entered in February and decided that I would do a story.  Crazy, huh?

How crazy was I?  Let me tell you: Pretty blipping crazy!

I thought I would do maybe a page for each entry, but the story took over.  Luckily I had up to M done by the end of March.  April was a scramble to keep up with my posts.  I started with a two week lead.  By the end of the month, I had only two days to finish Y.

On top of that, I got a head cold.  Woot!  10% alcohol chugged at 6 hr. intervals.  Let's just say I was a little high as a kite when writing Y.

Heck, Z was written and scheduled back when I was supposed to be writing S.  Heh heh heh.  In hindsight, that was a good thing.  Non-linear writing.  My forte.  Know what happens afterward and you can write what happens before that.

And then I chapter!  Insert Expletives and Curse Words here!  Oh my giddy goodness!  This chapter had me.  I could not figure out how to write it.  It was crap-tastic the three other times I tried.  I was ready to bang my head against a brick wall.  (I have access to one, and I would have done it too!)  Then Lo and Behold!  I HAD A DREAM!  No, I mean that literally.  I had a dream about it.  And there it was.  Completely change the p.o.v. and tense. Who the heck cares how random it is!  It worked. 

So thinking on it, I don't write A to Z.  What the hell was I doing when I signed up for a challenge that required it!

On to the mushy and heart-wrenching stuff.

As I look back on the last month, I have to grin.  I found some wonderful new blogs and learned so many new things that didn't know about mythology, monsters, fairy tales, morbidity, and grammar.

I have to thank the PTBs that make the annual Blogging from A to Z Challenge possible.  THANK YOU! 

I also want to thank the wonderful peeps that popped up on my blog every day and commented.  I felt the love!

First off, to the lovely lady that pointed out this awesome challenge to me, Sam.  Thank you for believing me so much. 

Sara, you were my first comment on the first day.  Not only that you were with me the entire way.  Yggdrasil will never be forgotten!  Your posts were fantastic.

Patricia, I have to say wow!  You kept me entertained with your fantastic flash fictions with those terrifying words!  Thanks for sticking with me!

Li, I had fun with all those neat posts about character development and all those links to the tests.  The results were kinda scary . . . 

Mina, those posts on monsters were fantastic.  I had a blast reliving some of them from childhood and reading about ones I never saw.  Btw, love the monster links for the social websites.  Where did you get those? 

S. L. Hennessy, those fairy tale posts were dark and loved every minute of the creepyness.  The pics of the zombies . . . LOVE THEM!  

Natasha,  I had an amazing journey with all those different vampires.  I didn't know that there were so many species of them.  Talk about terrifying.  


Marlene, those grammar lessons came in handy.  I realize I need to have remedial grammar lessons! =D

Then there are all those fantastic blogs I found that also had stories, recipes, ghosts, fictional characters.  I had a great time reading each day.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by during the challenge.

A to Z Challenge. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX -- TIME

           The zephyr blew her thick hair back as she stood on the balcony of their bedroom. The sun painted the jagged sky a gorgeous palette of crimsons and oranges. She breathed in the cool air in contentment.    

           The rugged fortress home appealed to her. It reminded her of the Aerie in that was cradled in a valley of those same rugged mountains. The forest was tame here, but it was still a breathtaking sight.

           Below her, in the main hall, she knew that the zakuski were being plated and the zitherist was giving her instrument the last bit of tuning. Tonight was the anniversary celebration of their marriage. The jubilation would commence the moon’s zenith.   

            Two years. She said a prayer to thank the Zeitgeist for giving them such zephyrean benevolence. Only the minor conflicts between lords and petty disputes between neighbors had plagued them. The diplomatic relations between the bordering countries were strong.

            A knock sounded on the door. “Enter.”

            The door opened and a loving rogue strode into the room. His eyes lit up as he saw her come into the room, closing the balcony doors behind her. A scar curved over his left eye, a permanent reminder of Phaeris. 

            “How is my zaftig woman?” he asked as he touched the obvious bump with a gentle hand.

            A snort escaped her as a second person entered the room. “My wife would much better off if you would quit manhandling her with such zeal all the time.”

            “But, coz, she doesn’t mind it. Do you, Ruya?” Garrick asked with a pathetic puppy look.

            “No, I don’t mind,” she answered as she gave his hand a tender squeeze before approaching Nándor.

            Nándor pressed a kiss to Ruya’s temple. “Don’t encourage him. It only makes him worse.”

            “Still jealous?”

            Nándor gave Garrick a speaking look. “Don’t push your luck, coz, or you’ll find yourself on the training fields with the first years.”

            Horror washed over Garrick’s face. He raised his hands in supplication and backed toward the door. “Oh no! Anything but that!” he groaned. “Will you let your husband torture me?”

            Ruya giggled. “Why not? They could not ask for a better teacher. The story of your scar is legendary. They will flock all over you in worship.”

            Garrick made a disgusted sound and said, “You’re as bad as he is.”

            They watched as he hastened out of the room; their laughter ringing out into the corridor.



©djinnia 2014

A to Z Challenge. CHAPTER-TWENTY-FIVE -- HEARTSTONE {PG-13 for gore and violence}

           Garrick’s yawp echoed.  His sword fell from slack fingers, clanking harshly on the stone.  His knees buckled.  He toppled to the ground and did not move.  
 

            Ahriman spat on the downed man, kicking him in the side.  “I knew you would show your true loyalties.  Did you really think that I would trust you?  You stupid fool.”

            His head snapped up, his dark gaze burning.  “And now for you, brother,” he said, a smile creeping up his face.  “I knew you would try to stop me, but you’re too late.”

Strange whirring noises came followed by chains clanking.  The earth hummed in vibration.  Ahriman’s arrogance vanished as his eyes widened in reverence at something behind Nándor.  “Behold Erra.  The great metal beast from the sky.”  

The yen in his brother’s voice shook Nandor.  Erra, the monster of legend.  The thing that destroyed Phaeris. Was he too late?  Was there time to stop it?

Nándor stepped to the side to see a monstrous metal creature rising from the ground.  Vaguely shaped like a man, where the eyes should be was glowing violet glass.  Light seeped from streaks along its face, shoulders, and chest.  

Erra’s metallic face stood a man’s height taller than Nándor.  The width of the chest was the size of a small building.  Pockmarks and scrapes marred the armor plating. 

A hissing sound had him shuffling away.  He watched as the chest opened to reveal a cavity.  Blinking lights flashed as they let Nándor see the interior.  Alien magic surrounded a lone throne.  Above the throne, there was an orbital hole, and Nándor assumed it was where the sacred object rested.   

“Magnificent.”

“No, Ahriman.  You’ve resurrected something evil.  It wants to destroy our world.”  

Ahriman eyes sharpened as if returning to the real world.  “You know nothing, brother.  You will not stop me,” he hissed, raising his sword to attack. 

Nándor blocked the downward strike.  He clenched his teeth as his arm almost gave way.  Ahriman’s unrelenting strikes sent shockwaves of pain with every parry, and he mentally cursed as sweat sprouted all over his body.  

Ahriman laughed, watching his brother tire.  In a yare volley of moves, he trapped Nándor’s sword with his own.  A forearm stopped the fist aimed for his face.  He rammed his own fist into Nándor’s ribcage. 

Nándor’s yielding knees hit the ground hard.  Muscle spasms ripped down his side.  His eyes rose to see Ahriman’s gloating expression.  “And now you die.” 

                                                                 *****

            The sword weighed the world as it scraped across the stone.  They had not noticed in their fight.  

Nándor was losing.  His arm seemed weak.  Had he been injured?  Did he have the strength to hold out long enough?

Worry threatened, but it was pushed aside for the job ahead.  The object needed to be destroyed.  Without it, the monster was powerless.  Without it, the world was safe.

You don’t want to do this.  We can rule this pathetic planet.  Join me.

Ignoring the hollow voice, trembling arms raised the sword and brought it down upon the podium.  It missed the stone but hit where the violet power still poured.  The strange protrusion cracked and tiny bolts of energy shot out causing a shock. 

You will regret this!  I will not allow you to destroy me.  I’m more powerful than you can imagine.  

The sword rose again.  This time it skittered off the stone and lanced the same spot.  Power surged.  Sparks shot forth.  The thrumming warped to a sick jangle.  

“And now you die.”  

The words burned like terrible acid then were shoved far away.  The sword lifted for the third time.

AHRIMAN!

*****

            The sword was poised to fall when he folded in on himself.  His eye veered to Erra.  “What have you done?”

            His steel grip bruised her arms.  He shook her hard before flinging her away.  

            Ruya slammed into the ground.  A cry escaped as pain exploded in her hip and arm.  She watched as the Ahriman raged.

            Purple fire crawled over the broken conduit oozed across the podium.  It spread like lava down to the ground, where it breached the other conduit tubes.  It poured into the deep crevasse where Erra had rose.  

            Retrieve the Heartstone!  Do it now, Ahriman!

 

            She heard the words.  Her chest clenched in horror.  

Foot-tall flames encompassed the podium.  Ahriman plunged his hands into the fire without fear.  It was as if he did not feel the blisters and cracked skin oozing.  It had no impact on him.  He only laughed as his ruined appendages withdrew from the blaze with the stone.  

He moved toward Erra.  “We will kill them all, Erra.  We won’t let anyone stop us,” he said as he took the first step into chest.

           He grunted as Nandor threw himself onto Ahriman’s back.  He used his body weight to yank Ahriman back onto the outcropping.  Nándor wrapped his hand around Ahriman’s ruined arm and jerked it toward him. 

            The blackened fingers released the object.  It flew behind them, bouncing then rolling toward Garrick’s prone body. 

 

            The men brawled.  This was her chance.  She scrambled to reach the object.  Her heart lurched at Garrick’s death, but then, she took the dagger from his belt sheath.  

            An ominous creak echoed.  The shriek of twisting metal squealed from below. 

            Ahriman threw Nándor off with a groan, watching his brother hit the ground and roll once.  Purple fire raged as Ahriman whirled to face Ruya.  “Give me the stone.”

            Ruya shook her head, raising the dagger.  As he rushed forward, she brought the dagger down with all her strength.  A sharp cracking, almost too quiet to hear, sounded.  The cacophonous thrumming stuttered, pulsed, and then stopped altogether.  

            NOO-oo-o-o . . .

            Ahriman roared.  His oozing fingers readied to strangle her.  Without warning, a blade flew passed her peripheral vision, followed by a hand, and then an arm.  

            The blade pierced Ahriman just under the ribcage.  He staggered back and fell.

            Ruya turned to see Garrick’s blood covered face.  “Garrick!”

           

            Groaning, he fell back on his haunches.  “Hello, princess.  Can we leave now?”

            They helped each other to their feet, tottering toward Nándor.  He had risen and was shaking his head to clear it.  His eyes widened in astonishment when he saw them.  

            Screeching metal had all their gazes flying toward Erra.  It yawed left then right.  The fissures of light along its body ignited.  Flares shot out before the inferno exploded. 

            The outcrop platform shook.  “We need to leave now!” Nándor shouted.

            “Nándor!  Hurry!” Tién yelled as warriors rushed up to them.  Then in a flurry, arms clamped around each of them and ferried them down the stairs.  Next thing they knew, they were far from the firestorm, far from the city. 

            As Tién took care of their wounds, Ruya shivered.  The legendary city burned purple, and with it, the twisted evil that had fallen from the sky.  

A warm hand cupped her side, and she pressed her cheek against him.  “It’s over,” she whispered.

Nándor hugged her closer.  “Yes.  It’s finally over.”

©djinnia 2014