by Naomi L. | October 18, 2013 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
They say I’m different.
They say I’m unusual.
They say that I’m beautiful,
That I’m intelligent,
That I’m talented.
But they think I’m unhappy.
They look at me and wonder,
“Why doesn’t she smile?
Why doesn’t she laugh?
Why doesn’t she talk?”
They don’t know me.
I am smiling.
I do laugh.
And I have no need to talk.
Why should I bother?
No one really listens to me anyway,
At least, not here.
But I’m not here.
I’m far away,
Drifting in my own thoughts,
In my own world,
Where no one can catch me
Or pin me down.
They go about their own boring lives.
They follow the same routine every day.
Not me.
That life is not mine.
I never had it,
And I never want it.
My days shall be free
Of dreadful, boring routine
For as long as I live.
I am smiling.
I do laugh.
And I don’t bother talking.
They don’t know me.
They don’t hear me.
They don’t see me.
And I don’t care.
Because I’m free.
by Naomi L. | October 18, 2013 | Blog, Indie Writer Spotlight |
Hello, dear readers! Today I’m sharing a special post, as it marks the beginning of a new segment on my blog: the Indie Writer Spotlight! Though it won’t be a regular segment, posts will be up on Fridays and will feature independent authors and their books in the world of self-publishing. With so many writers trying to get their work out there, it’s great when we can support each other!
Kicking off the Indie Writer Spotlight is an interview with Jennifer M. Zeiger, one of the authors of the upcoming short story anthology Midnight Abyss. Jennifer and I have been in touch for the past few weeks, and I sent her some questions about the new book. Here’s what she could tell me about Midnight Abyss. Enjoy!
About Jennifer M. Zeiger
Jennifer M. Zeiger lives in the beautiful state of Colorado with her husband, dog and two cats. She graduated with her Bachelors in English in 2008 with minors in Accounting and Recreation. She loves writing fantasy in particular but will read just about anything.
Interview with Jennifer
Me: What can you tell me about the book itself?
Jennifer: The book’s titled Midnight Abyss. It’s a mix of horror and dark fantasy short stories with a few poems thrown in too (It’s Midnight in the Abyss. Do you know where your Darklings are?). If you can’t tell, we’re having a lot of fun with this. =)
Me: Who are the collaborating authors, and where are you all from?
Jennifer: Okay, this one’s going to take a minute. There are nine authors all told. We have Anisa A. Claire in Vancouver and Kelleigh in Seattle who are the masterminds of all of this.
Then there’s Doug Langille in Nova Scotia who, thankfully, knows the techie stuff.
Gregory K Shipman’s up in Alaska. He keeps us all laughing when we start taking things too seriously.
Shaun Adams charms us all with his British accent since he’s from the Isle of Wight in England.
Raymond Tabaygo’s a hero of mine. He’s in New Jersey and he’s 66 years old and still writing. I love it.
Matthew X. Gomez is in Maryland. Although we’ve all helped with the editing, he’s definitely the one willing to cut your writing to pieces. It’s great.
Then, to finish this all off, there’s Theresa Briscoe Tschetter and I in the old west. She’s in Wyoming and I’m in Colorado. Theresa, even though she’s had some trouble with internet since we’ve started working on this, has made a massive effort to stay involved and upbeat. As for myself, I feel like I’m along for the ride and it’s a great adventure. =)
Me: How did you all meet?
Jennifer: Except for Anisa and Kelleigh, I think all of us met on Writer’s Carnival, which is a workshop site for writers. We’ve never met face to face. It boggles my mind how, in this day and age, such collaboration can happen without actually meeting.
Me: What made you decide to write a short story anthology together?
Jennifer: I received a message from Anisa asking if I wanted to take part in writing this anthology. I think the idea came about because we were all familiar with each other’s writing off of Writer’s Carnival and we all liked what we saw.
Me: And why did you decide to write in the horror and dark fantasy genres?
Jennifer: Those are the two genres we all like to write in. Well, fantasy for me is the genre I prefer, so dark fantasy was a bit of a challenge, which was great. Plus, we decided to launch the book on Halloween, so those two genres fit the theme.
Me: How long did it take you all to put the book together?
Jennifer: I received the email at the end of July asking if I wanted to be a part of this. Honestly, we lagged during August. Then about mid September, we realized, ‘oh dear, our deadline’s fast approaching!’ So we all kicked it in gear and have been working furiously since the last couple weeks of September. So when all is said and done, we put in about six weeks to finalize the stories and put the book together, which is wicked fast but we’ve managed to come up with a book we all love.
Me: Was it difficult coordinating your efforts, since most of you live so far apart?
Jennifer: Yes and no. Sorry, that’s an awkward answer.
Yes, because we’re working through messages and the occasional Google Hangout. There’s a lot of information getting thrown around: slogans, covers, order of stories, editing details… I could go on for a very long time. Let me just say, Dropbox is awesome.
But when I really look at how much we’ve figured out in a very short period of time, I have to say the group’s fantastic. There could be a lot of bickering but there hasn’t been. We all want this book to be the best set of short stories that we can produce and we’ve worked really hard to make that happen.
Me: How did you feel while working on this book?
Jennifer: Oh Lordy, that’s a loaded question. Personally, I’ve never been published before, so I’m thrilled-out-of-my-mind excited, I’m scared so bad my hands shake if I think about it too long and I’m breathless trying to keep up with all the details. But overall, I’m blessed to be working with such great people and following my dream at the same time.
Me: And how do you feel now that it’s all done?
Jennifer: Wow, that was a wild ride! And still is. Unlike with traditional publishing, we don’t have a marketing team working with us, so we’re still working on getting the word out. That work won’t be done for a while, but having a finished product feels amazing. Holding a hard copy book with my name on it, indescribable.
Me: When can we expect a full release of the book?
Jennifer: Oct. 31st to coincide with Halloween.
Me: Where can we find out more about the book?
Jennifer: Facebook: Midnight Abyss
Twitter: @AbyssMidnight
Goodreads: Midnight Abyss (I believe we’re going to do some giveaways for reviews here, so that’s definitely something to look forward to.)
Tumblr: TheMidnightAbyss.tumblr.com
My blog: Jennifer M Zeiger
We’ve set the book up with Amazon’s CreateSpace. So if you’re looking for a copy, you can find it there after the 31st.
Thanks so much for the interview, Jennifer! And thanks to you readers for joining us in the Indie Writer Spotlight!
Midnight Abyss comes out October 31st. Be sure to check it out this Halloween! Thanks for reading!
by Naomi L. | October 16, 2013 | Blog, Creative Writing |
It’s that time again: time for another round of Writers Reveal! This week’s topic was sent to me by the host of the event, Emily Morgan, who suggested the prompt “the eyes of my enemy”. From that idea, I decided to write a short piece about an issue that many young people face at some point in their lives. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for the topic, Emily!
The Eyes of My Enemy
(Image used with permission from @angellastrucci. Check out her Instagram page for more amazing drawings!)
“You suck.”
“Shut up.”
“I mean it. That’s total crap. You think anyone’s gonna like that?”
“I said shut up.”
Every day was the same. I had to put up with an endless torrent of abuse from her, my worst enemy, with no ammunition to fight back. She had a power over me that I couldn’t overcome, that I hadn’t been able to overcome for years. She was the only one I couldn’t stand looking at. And I had to see her every single day.
“Good luck.” Her sarcasm burned like acid in my fragile mind. I wanted to punch her, but I would only hurt myself. She was invincible.
“Bite me.” I put down the brush and walked out the door.
The rest of the day wasn’t usually so bad. After each of our encounters, I would simply try to forget about her and go on living my life. But lately I had been finding it harder to push her from my thoughts. The more she tried to bring me down, the more confidence I lost in myself. And the more confidence I lost, the more she managed to bring me down. It was a vicious cycle, and I couldn’t take it much longer…
By the end of that day, I had somehow ended up in tears. Having finally reached my breaking point, I was ready to confront her for dragging me down to this level. I stormed into the room where I knew I’d find that girl always waiting to tear me down.
But she wasn’t there.
Instead, I found a different girl looking back at me, a girl I had never seen before. She looked vulnerable, nothing like the empowered enemy I had known for so long. In fact, I wouldn’t have recognized her…
…were it not for her eyes.
Something in those dark brown eyes spoke to me, telling me I wasn’t alone, that she had always been just as sad and scared as I was. And suddenly I realized what I should have done right from the start. I smiled at her and whispered…
“You are beautiful.”
For it was the first time that I saw myself in those eyes. The real me, not the girl who disapproved of herself and wished she had more to offer the world. All she wanted was to be loved. I took a step forward and pressed my hand against the glass. She pressed her hand against mine.
“This is ridiculous!” I laughed. “You’re beautiful! You’re smart! You’re a good person! And you deserve love.”
Her smile warmed my heart. I saw her bitter persona fade away to reveal the good soul underneath. The girl I couldn’t stand was gone, and in her place stood a girl who I would be happy to see every single day for as long as I lived.
With a newfound confidence, I turned and walked away with my head held high. She turned in perfect unison with me and disappeared into the void.
I would never see my enemy again. From that point on, I would look into the mirror, straight into those beautiful eyes, and see only myself.
She used to be my worst enemy. But now, as she’ll be for the rest of my life, she is my best friend.
This has been a special topic post in Emily Morgan’s Writers Reveal. To learn more, just follow the button below to her site, and be sure to check out the other blogs participating in the event. Thanks for reading!
Other bloggers in the Writers Reveal
Melissa Khalinsky: Melissa Writes
Jodi Gibson: JFGibson
Becky Fyfe: Imagine! Create! Write!
Josefa: Always Josefa
Rhianna: A Parenting Life
Ashley Howland: Ghostnapped
Emily Hawker: You Learn Something New Every Day
by Naomi L. | October 14, 2013 | Blog, Word of the Week |
Word: numinous
Pronunciation: N(Y)OO-mə-nəs
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: having a strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating or suggesting the presence of a divinity
Source: Oxford Dictionaries
Today’s Word of the Week was suggested by HD of No Vinyl Mind, who recommended it after reading it in a book (and again online). I admit that I myself was not familiar with this word, for as hard as I thought about it, I couldn’t recall a single instance in which I had ever heard something described as “numinous”. I did like the sound of it, though, so I jumped at the chance to research it and add another word to my vocabulary list. Thanks for the suggestion, HD!
When something is defined as “numinous”, it’s implied that it has some sort of spiritual quality or religious undertone to it. That’s because the word comes from the Latin noun numen (also used as a word in English), meaning “divine power” or “god”. This word arose in the mid 17th century and is supposedly derived from the verb nuere “to nod”, suggesting an original definition along the lines of “divine approval expressed by nodding”.
Now, according to the research I did, “numinous” can also be used to describe what is awe-inspiring, as in what evokes a mystical or sublime sense (as noted on this interesting vocabulary blog, also recommended by HD). Based on this, I’d suggest using the word to describe something so overwhelmingly magnificent that it gives the sense of having a spiritual presence (e.g. “numinous beauty of ancient landmarks”). “Numinous” itself is a fascinating word, so have fun working it into your writing. See what you can find in your own worlds with such divine character!
What are your thoughts on this word? Any suggestions for future “Word of the Week” featured words?
by Naomi L. | October 11, 2013 | J.C. Wolfe's Writing, Poetry |
I’m lying in his arms.
The world is gone.
It’s just the two of us.
As I lay with my head to his chest,
I feel his heartbeat.
Mine grows faster.
I hear his slow breathing.
My breathing quickens.
I sense him drifting off to sleep.
And I smile as I let him.
Such passion…
Such pleasure…
How did I come to be here?
Even now, I can’t recall
How fortune delivered me
Into his arms.
Fate has smiled kindly at me.
I sense his heartbeat growing calm.
His breathing is slow and steady.
His eyes are closed.
With a racing heart,
Rapid breathing,
And a bright smile,
I turn to face him.
I lean forth
And softly kiss his chest.
I raise my head
And gently kiss his neck.
I raise myself a little higher
And sweetly kiss his cheek.
Then I lean in close to his ear,
And while he dreams peacefully,
I whisper my confession,
My reality, to him…
“I love you.”
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