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Sunday, March 23, 2014

Weekend Quickie 28! Never missed one :-)

So far, I've never missed a TIW Weekend Quickie...now it's on its 28th!
Here's the place to go and see mine and the other TIWs' 200 worders...http://theironwriter.com/weekend-quickie-28/
But to make it easy for ya, here's my take :-)

Big Chief "He ya ho"


The arrowhead sticking out above the number 16 announced trouble. Detective Brad Shaw eased the motel room door open and creeped into the darkness, carpet wet underfoot. No movement but the bathroom light flickering, door closed. He made out two bodies, one splayed out on the floor, the other hanging over the bed, motionless.
"We n'de ya ho, We n'de ya ho, We n'de ya, We n'de ya ho ho ho ho…"
Brad moved closer to the light, taking up a position behind a chair, gun pointing towards what he recognised as singing.
"Police! Come on out with your hands up!" Where was his backup, Lance?
"He ya ho, He ya ho, Ya ya ya!"
Brad's lumbering partner walked in with a burrito from the El Rancho's restaurant in one hand and his gun limp in the other.
"Whatta we got, partner?"
The bathroom door flew open, hinges splintering, light filling the room to reveal a large Native American, war paint and all, string taut and bow loaded.
"You gotta heap big angry chief!"
An arrow cut through Lance like butter and he fell, the burrito rolling over to the chair where Brad hid.
"Oh, what serendipity!" he exclaimed. "Chorizo!"





The arrowhead sticking out above the number 16 announced trouble. Detective Brad Shaw eased the motel room door open and creeped into the darkness, carpet wet underfoot. No movement but the bathroom light flickering, door closed. He made out two bodies, one splayed out on the floor, the other hanging over the bed, motionless.
“We n’de ya ho, We n’de ya ho, We n’de ya, We n’de ya ho ho ho ho…”
Brad moved closer to the light, taking up a position behind a chair, gun pointing towards what he recognised as singing.
“Police! Come on out with your hands up!” Where was his backup, Lance?
“He ya ho, He ya ho, Ya ya ya!”
Brad’s lumbering partner walked in with a burrito from the El Rancho’s restaurant in one hand and his gun limp in the other.
“Whatta we got, partner?”
The bathroom door flew open, hinges splintering, light filling the room to reveal a large Native American, war paint and all, string taut and bow loaded.
“You gotta heap big angry chief!”
An arrow cut through Lance like butter and he fell, the burrito rolling over to the chair where Brad hid.
“Oh, what serendipity!” he exclaimed. “Chorizo!” - See more at: http://theironwriter.com/weekend-quickie-28/#sthash.5cOe7Y3T.dpuf

Saturday, March 22, 2014

With this kind of integrity, I'll never get anywhere...

Well, that last review of 'Manna-X' has gone. I'll tell ya why.
A 'writer' contacted me and wanted to 'swap' reviews when 'Manna-X' was free for a day. I said, "Sure, but don't spoil my 4s and 5s". I then tried to get his book but it wasn't free...a few messages to him and he says "Oh, yes, well, he'll make it free soon." So, that gave him time to read my book because his was only 36 pages long, a few hours for me.
A few days ago, he posted his review without warning and sent me a link to his book, now free. I downloaded it and read the review he'd posted on Amazon. 2 lines and full of typos. Okay, I put it up on here and corrected it. Then I read his book. I asked him to take down his review straight away.
With this kind of integrity, I'll never make it :-)

UPDATE: TIW Flash in the Pans

2014/03/20 : A 6 word story about crows...

Mindless murder annoying scantily clad scarecrows.

2014/03/21 : A tiny story about 2 Shakespearean insults ("Ye eater of broken meats" and "Have fun, you embossed carbuncles!")

Time for the kids' choice, where to spend the last few hours.
"McDonalds!" they said in unison.
"Great. Am I doing this one?" asked the ex.
"It's all yours."



Thursday, March 20, 2014

New interview! And new Review!

Yes! I have a new interview hosted by lovely Cinta de la Rose! Here it is...(http://authorsyouwanttoread.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/meet-the-author-dani-j-caile/)
There are some great answers, honest. Please go and read :-)
For example...
3. What is your favourite day of the week?
Tomorrow. It has to be better than today.


I also received a new review of 'Manna-X' today, a short one, with some grammatical errors...but it was a 5 star!
Here it is (I've corrected the typos)
If you have anything (good) to say, please post it :-) Really need the reviews, thanks!

5.0 out of 5 stars Manna-X, March 20, 2014
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Manna-X (Kindle Edition)
"I'm dying. Shut up, Listen to me and listen to me good..." Wow, I love Rihat's strength. The way he dug the hole almost all night.
Manna-x is great for those who love thrilling stories. When you start reading it, you just keep going and enjoying. The only time you will put the book down is when you come to the end of it. You surely should try this book. It is quite amazing.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

My Amazon Recommendations?

Even though I'm the author and I have a copy, Amazon keeps recommending 'Manna-X'!
Crazy, huh?
Edit 2 of 'How to' is going well, the cat is getting all the good lines!

Recommendations

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

'How to' Edit 2 - the cat...!?!

Yes, onto the second edit of 'How to', and it's the cat that's the driver of this one. Perhaps the book will need a map to show its 'journey' throughout the story. 5 days of walking around, searching for food, being chased by a dog, being petted to death, escaping the clutches of cannibals, etc.
Won't take too long, but then I'd like to read it all through, adding a little more detail here and there...
And then I'll submit it! Oh, happy days...the cloud of doubt hangs heavy....
Tried this website, it's meant to show you who you write like...http://iwl.me/
Paste a text in and it compares your writing style to famous authors.
So far, the list is long...
Stephen King....Stephanie Meyer...Jack London...Mark Twain...Margaret Mitchell...Edgar Allan Poe...Neil Gaiman...Lewis Carroll....8 different pieces of writing, 8 different styles...:-)
I'll keep trying, maybe one day I'll get Woolf or Adams... :-)

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Yesterday (or today, depending on where you live) was (is) Michael D. Pitman's birthday!
Happy Birthday, Michael!
Who is Michael? A reporter and fellow TIW participant. He partnered me in the TIW Grduge Match which got me into the Winter Equinox Final..which I finally won...to become a finalist for the TIW Autumn Open. We have also shared many chats and laughed at many TIW jokes together...yes, there's a small 'Closed' TIW world out there, growing daily, where we just have fun!
So, in celebration of Michael's birthday, Weekend Quickie 27 (found here) was in his honour...here's my take :-)

Michael's Omission


( 200 words : image - woman sitting on bed with a bear, element - a handsome newspaperman’s birthday, emotion - a feeling of anxiety brought on by the omission of a comma)

"Another job well done," smiled the handsome newspaperman as he stood up to get his coat. It was his birthday and all was well with the world. It had been a productive day, sharing out muffins in the morning to his colleagues, interviewing a famous local artist with the paper's smelly photographer Ted who'd almost got attacked by said artist's pet 6 foot grizzly bear when he'd bent over at an inopportune moment, handing the story in on time for the evening's print, sorting out the backlog of emails he'd amassed from neglect, and finally getting rid of that awful coffee stain from the edge of his computer's monitor. Now he could go home to his loving wife and fabulous children to celebrate with a slice of cake.
"Happy Birthday, Mike!" said Ted, handing him the paper's evening front broadsheet and laughing.
"Thanks, Ted." Mike's smile wavered as he noticed that the whole office was watching him, laughing. Turning the broadsheet over, he saw the wonderful photograph of the interviewed artist sitting on a bed with her bear, but his joy turned to anxiety once he read the headline. 'Local artist finds inspiration in stewing her bear and other pets'.



Friday, March 14, 2014

'How to' Edit 1 finished

I'm celebrating. It's taken a long time and a lot of effort to get 'How to' this far. Now I need to read it through, make sure everyone is in character, and everything happens accordingly.
I have surprised myself with this one. I think I should have a go at a new cover...but then again, maybe not. I'm submitting it to a publishing company in the USA who has shown a little interest in my work...they can surely reach a larger audience than I can by self-publishing. Fingers crossed that they accept it.
Anyway, there's still a little time to go before I'll let it 'out', there's the POV edit, the cat & dog edit, the 'weather' and smell edit, the 'final' edit and then the 'beta' readers. Fancy a go? Drop me a line!.