My Books For Your Reading Pleasure

My Books For Your Reading Pleasure
Proud Indie Author

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Moose Road - Final Editing Stage ..........

I feel good knowing that I have now reached the final editing stage with my current work in progress, a novel titled Moose Road - a Canadian Tragedy.

Susan Ruby K. of Yuneekpix.com will soon begin the illustrations.  She has done an amazing job with the cover design.

Copyright registration in hand; ISBN number acquired; just one more read-through remaining before I will click send and put my manuscript into the publisher's hands.

The date is not set yet but the book launch will be taking place in the fall of this year.

Moose Road - a Canadian Tragedy is filled with drama.  In my own mind I see it in five segments: The Accident; The Investigation; The Inquiry; The Aftermath; and then, as always, Life Goes On.

This story had its beginning as a NanoWrimo project and I have enjoyed the writing adventure.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

The monthly challenge of the WynLit 24 Writing Competitions

Today I wrote my entry for the WynLit 24 writing competition. This was my first story marking the commencement of my sixth year entering this monthly event hosted by Wynterblue Publishing Canada.

My story today is titled Running On Empty

This story is a fictional fantasy fiction.  Because I'm hoping it may find its way to the short list in the judging I don't want to publish the entire short story on my blog but I will share an excerpt from the story and hope it will pique your interest so that you will want to read more

Once the judging is completed I will post Running On Empty in its entirety for your enjoyment.

So here is a short excerpt from the story I wrote and submitted today.

excerpt from Running On Empty

Gerry had become my best mate and it broke my heart when he passed.  That night, after hauling the logs to the mill, I drove my old truck home to the small townhouse where I lived with my wife, Laura.  I was two weeks away from pay day and my old truck was running on fumes.  It seemed to me that my whole life was running on empty.

            We were luckier than some to live in an end unit which meant we had a private driveway. I backed the truck into the dirt drive and parked.  Laura was a stickler for clean floors.  She had me better trained than our old dog, Max, used to be so I knew enough to always come into the house using the back door.  I missed Max.  He was a faithful and a loving pet but the day came when Laura insisted he had to go.  “I can’t stand the dog hair all over the place and his muddy paw prints are driving me up the wall.”

It hurt to let the good fellow go.  I found consolation when another good friend offered to take him in.  I missed living with Max but appreciated the evenings when I could drive to my friend’s place and visit Max for a while.

From the day of our wedding twenty-four years ago Laura kept a tidy house.  From the word go she made it her life’s passion to break me of all my bad and messy habits.  Boots off before I come in the back door; cigarette smoking outside in the back yard no matter what the weather; and if I make a mess I better be quick to grab the broom, the cloth, the vacuum cleaner or whatever it took to clean up that mess.

            Laura had always been the same way with the kids. Together we raised two boys, Raymond and Reuben, who couldn’t wait to get away from home when they started college in the nearest big centre.  Today their dorm rooms are a pig sty and they are ecstatic in their sloppiness as they study subjects they will never, in my opinion, be able to use in real life.   In spite of their sloth both boys have somehow developed an air about them; almost an arrogance.  They look down on me and Laura because we have no college diplomas hanging on the wall.

            Laura and me, we didn’t have the money and we couldn’t afford to pay the boys’ way through school.  I figure by the time they are both ready to haul wood they will be snowed under by student loans.  Both boys say they will never drive truck.  Ray has his mind set on working as an accountant for the government and Reuben tells us he plans to teach literature.  Good luck to them with their highfalutin dreams and goals.  I used to have some dreams myself but that was a long time ago. 
I always enjoy the challenge of the WynLit 24's.   To learn more about this you may want to check out the website of Wynterblue Publishing Canada at http://www.wynter.ca