Novel – Page 126

I’ve chosen for today’s graphic a soft pastel I drew of Shania Twain a couple of years ago.

: A little bit of ‘country’ …

It wasn’t intentional but I’ve finished two of my three ongoing short stories within 24 hours of each other. At first glance that might sound simple but one of them has been on the go for three months. Continual editing, then leaving for a few days has I hope produced something reasonable.

‘Windows of Opportunity’ is set in modern times. A young man watches his attractive girlfriend head off to work then he remembers he has the day to himself. His day off work doesn’t go as planned.

‘Pawnee Express’ is set in North America during the 18 month period that young men glorified mail delivery. My main character is Jim Cooper who at 16 is at an average age for a rider employed in the dangerous task. One summer day his lust for adventure and excitement comes to fruitition when he has a life and death choice to make.

My intention was to send one of these to a magazine and post the other online but I’ve decided to take my chances and send them both to Writer’s Forum. At least that way if they fail to make the grade I can still post them somewhere else. Whatever happens I hope to have them both posted on here in a few weeks.

I like to think I’ve managed to gain control of that urge to just get my writing out there quickly. I found that having three stories on the go at once worked well for me so at some point today I’ll do some work on Chapter Two of my novel, ‘A Life of Choice’ then I’ll read through some of my poetry in an effort to inspire two more short stories.

On the Apollo Blessed site I now have several poems posted and I have a good assortment of artwork shown in my ‘photo’ albums. I’ve requested to become a member of the ‘Red Room’ group so that I can post a couple of my erotic short story efforts. Should anyone reading this feel they’d like to check out Apollo Blessed it’s FREE to join but you must join to gain access. As you complete the simple entry screen you add the name of the member who directed you to the site. Easy.

I have several of my favourite ladies featured on my customised screen saver so I may well draw one of them over the next couple of days. When I relax whilst drawing or painting I invariably come up with an idea for a story.

My graphic for today is a drawing I completed of Linda Lusardi, ex-glamour model. For a few years in the 1980’s she adorned the pages of tabloid

: Ex-model, still glamorous …

newspapers. Back then she was stunning and I was reminded of her looks today when I saw her briefly on a celebrity cookery programme. Since finishing her modelling career Linda became a ‘personality’ and has made regular appearances to ensure she isn’t forgotten too quickly.

On the subject of forgetting things, instead of finishing off the two short stories I’ve been working on for a few weeks I’ve added a third to the mix. I know there are those that would prefer to get one done at a time but I feel more comfortable being able to move between different tales. I’ve found that I may write something in a particular story that prompts an idea or a twist for one of the others.

The three stories are all totally different which I’m also pleased about. I’ve already decided that when I ‘ve completed one of them I’ll begin another straight away to see if I can maintain three on the go. In the background I’m still working on the rewriting of Chapter 2 of my novel.

As much as I try, I’ve found that I am still writing a regular poem. I’ve written three recently, ‘Believe in Yourself’, ‘Welcome To My World’ and ‘My Garage’. Strange I know, but the third of them was an exercise in ‘word painting’ to meet a challenge in The Starlite Cafe site.

I’ve posted a few more pieces of my artwork on the Apollo Blessed site as well as some more poetry. It’s a friendly place and it’s nice to have more than one place to go. Checking the sort of things other folk are posting can be quite inspirational.