It’s Weekend Writing Prompt time. Sammi does specify that we can do variations on the word and, while I feel I am totally cheating in doing so, I’m still doing so!
There was a sense of déjà vu for this one since last Monday, the dVerse Quadrille challenge was “gasp” which one can do when something is breathtaking, no? Of course, this time, I have 30 less words to play with and have gone a whole ‘nother route 🙂
I had the pleasure of beta reading this wonderful story and enjoyed it so it was a no-brainer for me to participate in any way I could to help launch it into orbit. This story has a little bit of everything but rather than me repeating it all, please check out below. Take it away, John.
New Book Launch – Eternal Road – The final stop.
Thank you so much for having me on your blog, Dale, and thank you for helping me launch this book. I know with work, kids, Zeke, and your blogging schedule, time can be a precious commodity. I appreciate you taking the time to help with the launch. Speaking of the book, let me describe it. Eternal Road is the story of two people finding their way through the selection process leading to the place where one will spend eternity. Yes, it is true. They both have passed away. James Wainwright just died in an auto accident. Samantha Tourneau died seventeen years before. Sam is James’s guide to help him decide where to spend eternity. This is not your usual thriller or paranormal romance. It is a piece of fiction that is a combination of inspiration, adventure, time travel, sci-fi, a touch of erotica, and a dash of spiritual. In short, it is a lot of things, but hopefully, a story that will make you happy to have read it.
It is now available on Amazon in paper and Kindle. The Kindle edition is introductory priced at 99¢ until October 15th
James Wainwright picks up a hitchhiker and discovers two things 1. The woman he picks up is his childhood sweetheart, only Seventeen years older. 2. He is no longer of this world.
James began a road trip alone in his 1956 Oldsmobile. He stops for a hitchhiker only to discover she is his childhood sweetheart, Sam, who disappeared seventeen years before. James learns from Sam falling asleep miles back caused him to perish in a one-car accident. He also comes to understand that Sam was taken and murdered all those years ago, and now she has come back to help him find his eternal home.
The pair visit a number of times and places and are witness to a number of historical events. The rules dictate that they do no harm to the time continuum. Trying to be careful, they inadvertently come to the attention of Lucifer, who would love to have their souls as his subjects. They also find a threat to human survival and desperately need to put in place the fix necessary to save humankind.
The question becomes, will James find his eternal home in grace or lose the battle with Satan for his immortal soul and the future of human life with it? If you like time-travel, adventure, mystery, justice, and the supernatural, this story is for you.
An Excerpt
The pair go back to the cell area, and each chooses a bed. James takes one close to Sam’s and looks for a spot to place his candle. He spies the rough bedpost—nothing more than a two-by-four timber. After he makes sure to drip some wax, James sets the stick in the hot gloop so that the candle won’t tip over after the wax hardens. Once rid of the open flame, he props his long rifle on the wall, drops the pouch, and sits on the bed. He sighs with relief at getting off his feet.
Sam smiles. “That sigh comes from memory.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That feeling of contentment comes from memory. You could stand for a hundred years and not feel it.”
“Well, recollection or not, it feels good to sit down. What will we do about Attila?”
Sam sits up. “What do you mean by ‘do?’”
“Should we take his advice and call up old Lucifer?”
Sam places her hands behind her torso and leans backward. “I can’t see an upside to phoning the Devil. Can you?”
James shrugs. “Well, is there a downside to not calling?”
“I suppose he could get pissed off.”
“And do what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe poke us with a pitchfork.”
James lays back on the bed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Of course. I’ve never run across this kind of thing before.”
“Isn’t there a helpline you could call?”
“Sorry, James. No helpline.”
“It still worries me why we ended up here.”
“Me too. It’s odd to think of one place and go to another.”
James rubs his chin and then stretches out on the hard bunk. He wishes he could come up with a quick answer. On the other bed, Sam sits cross-legged. James wants to know, “Doesn’t that hard cot bother you?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“Right now, it feels good.”
“Another memory.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Because I don’t have an answer.”
James raises his hand. “Let’s call him, then. After all, he won’t talk on the phone. According to Attila, it has to happen in person.”
Sam rests her hand on her forehead. “Yeah, an in-person appointment with Lucifer. You know how nuts that sounds?”
James waves his hand in dismissal. “More nuts than a couple of spirits sitting in a jail cell in the middle of the Alamo in 1836?”
“Okay. I give. You’re right. Make the call.”
The trailer
John’s bio
John is an award-winning author who, after an extensive business career, began writing full time in 2012. His specialty is thriller fiction novels, but John also writes poetry and short stories. He has written five other books that are on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. The paperback versions are also available in the Indie Lector store
John lives in Lakeway, Texas, with his wife and their spoiled rescue pets.
A word prompt to get your creativity flowing this weekend. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in the comments.
Thank you, Sammi, for this fun weekly challenge. Should you want to play along, leave your link here.
A week away and I feel like it’s been ages! It’s Wednesday and time for Friday Fictioneers. This week Rochelle has chosen a photo from ceayr. Thanks to you both for your hand in this week’s party. I was inspired by one of my favourite movies “Under the Tuscan Sun”. Click on the frog below to add your own 100-word story inspired by this image… or simply check out the other submissions. There is a whole lotta imagination going on!
Click me!
Where’s the Romance?
What are you doing?
I’m Katherine, playing Sylvia, dancing in the Fountain of Trevi. Remember the scene? “No matter what happens…always keep your childish innocence. It’s the most important thing.” As her beloved ‘Fe-Fe’ told her.
You’re nuts. This is not Tuscany nor Rome and the fountain’s too small.
Oh, for heaven’s sake! Use your imagination, would you?
Well, I’m telling you right now, I am no Martini, playing Marcello, coming to help you out of it.
No, you definitely are not. There is not a romantic bone in that body of yours.
“See me for who I am, and then you’ll see the real me.”
― Anthony T. Hincks
I have had many adjectives assigned (allotted? thrown?) to/at me over the years. Most, I believe, are positive: athletic, strong, caring, generous, beautiful, smart, intelligent, cultured, interesting, resilient (why do I cringe with this one?), open, accepting, helpful, talented, optimistic, realistic, honest, funny. Some, I know, are negative: bitchy, cold, heartless, naive, disorganized, lazy, delusional, ridiculous, foolish, sarcastic (on the fence on where this one belongs) – there are surely more but why focus on the negative? And some fall somewhere in-between; or rather, I know they are not necessarily negative per se, but when they were thrown at me, were not meant to be complimentary: eccentric, weird, different. Many, as you can see, are contradictory because perception is, well, what you perceive.
One day I will get to the point in my life where I can say this is my philosophy as well. I am working on it. I like to think I’m a good 75% there.
What has this got to do with my title? Everything. And nothing, to tell the truth. I am, and have been, at various times in my life, every single one of the adjectives above – and more. And will again in the future. Because that is who I am. What you see, is what you get. No one is all good, all the time, no matter what people say or think (ridiculously optimistic)? Nor are they all bad, all the time either (foolishly delusional)?
I’m blathering.
Because I have been thinking lately about friendships and romance. And won’t lie. Have been rather frustrated and kinda lonely at times. Maybe I’ve been thinking too much!
We are dying from overthinking. We are slowly killing ourselves by thinking about everything. Think. Think. Think. You can never trust the human mind anyway. It’s a death trap.
And, much as I say I have no expectations, it’s really hard not to have at least a little…
Friendships: We form all sorts of friendships with people. Some are surface-type and of lesser import and others go much deeper. With the deeper ones, we like to think (and can’t help but expect) the other feels the same way about us as we do, them. It is heartbreaking when you realise that no, you are not on the same wavelength at all. Sometimes the other plays along to your tune to make you happy until they finally admit to themselves that this is not what they wanted in the first place and slowly drift away or immediately cut ties. You are left standing wondering what the hell you did wrong and why the music stopped. The truth is, you did nothing wrong. And neither did they. The other had different lyrics in mind. To be fair, it goes both ways. And to be even more honest, there rarely is malicious intent (this may be naive of me but I’ll keep that trait, thank you very much). Of course, it would be wonderful if each communicated to the other their desires from the get-go…
“When you part from your friend, you grieve not; For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Romance/Sex/Love: This one is a hard one. I can say all sorts of things but losing Mick put me in a position I was frankly not that interested in finding myself. I remember telling him once that I would prefer to keep the devil I knew then to find myself out there on the “market” again. Thanks a lot, Mick. What’s a woman to do? 51, working in her own kitchen, all her friends (mostly) are coupled… How are you supposed to meet people guys? So I signed up for a couple dating Apps. Yes, those ones. And I won’t lie. I had a lot of fun. And a lot of headaches. I was not looking to become part of a full-time couple – not permanently, anyway and not at that particular time 😉 I wanted to go out, do stuff with someone, date. Not that I have a problem with taking myself to the movies and such; but let’s face it, it is much more enjoyable à deux. This dating shit is not for the faint of heart, lemme tell you. I could write a book. Point is, I go off and on these stupid sites every time I get fed up of being alone and in the hope of meeting someone who wants to do more than have a one-night-stand. That old optimism thing. Which I quit again. Was exhausting.
“…sometimes I get tired. Sometimes I get bored. And sometimes all I want, more than anything else in the world, is to go on a freaking date.”
― Kiersten White, Paranormalcy
I shall call this my little rant. It shall pass. It always does.
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A Dalectable Life 