Flash Fiction

It's FLASHWORDS time! I didn't think it was going to happen this year, but I got the e-mail about 15 minutes ago. Contestants have to write a compelling crime story in 150 words or fewer, using at least ten of the title words from novels and stories by our guests of honor at Crimebake this year, Nancy Pickard and Barry Eisler. The top three stories will be read at Crimebake. I'd LOVE to be one of them. So, I'm on a writing frenzy.

I'm still under the weather. Actually, I feel worse than I did last week. I'll have to call the doc tomorrow. I know I can take something for this, I've had it before. Hate to say it, but I think it takes longer for us to fight these things with every passing year. Nice way to spend my birthday week. Sigh.

Almost time to pack for my week-end with Lisa. Ahh... North Conway is so beautiful this time of year. After that I'll have two days to pack for Key West. Oh. My. God. Beaches, bikes and Key Lime pie. Yippee! Back to Hemingway's Key West house I go. It was thrilling to peek into his writing studio. Naturally, we'll be on bikes. As you can tell, I am not even enterTAINING the idea that it could rain and wash out our biking plans. I'll need some cute biking clothes and little Keds.

The only bad thing about a Kindle, I've discovered, is that I can no longer read in the bathtub. I used to do a lot of reading in the bubbles. Now, I'm too afraid to drop it. Wahh…

Hmm...I wonder if I could use these cute flip-flops in a crime?

That's the way my brain works, folks. Are ya scared yet?

My new bike!

Kenny and I went to L.L. Bean the other day to check out the sales. I love their sweaters and was hoping to get a couple more of the ones I LOVE in different colors. We walked in the door and I spotted a gorgeous bike. I HAD to have it! It's sort of a creamy, light aqua color - just beautiful. It's a hybrid, so I won't be riding over grass to pass people. Anyway, I took it for a test ride, had them put an odeometer on it and now I'm shopping for a helmet. We've gone out to Salem, twice. We had to walk the bikes down Essex street, because of the crowds. It IS October, after all. But we rode on to Salem Willows for our chop suey sandwiches and egg-rolls and our popcorn. No more ice cream, as I'm Vegan, but Kenny doesn't get any, either. Ah, yes. Summer on the North Shore, or, should say, Autumn It doesn't get any better than this.

I wore white capris (formerly known as pedal pushers), a cobalt blue linen shirt with 3/4 sleeves and my black flats with the silver beading.
LOVE these shoes! Kenny would prefer that I wear sneakers, as I've broken 4 bones in the last few years, but I put my foot down. hee! I do draw the line at flip-flops, though.

Next week I'll be away with Lisa. Yay! We'll be up in North Conway eating, reading, shopping, walking and, did I mention eating? Yeah, Bellini's!

Two days after that, Kenny and I will be back where I broke my left wrist - Key West. Yippee! We've already rented our bikes. They'll be at our hotel when we get there. No beach bikes this time. I don't do well with those. Hence, the broken left wrist. We'll rent kayaks and just relax. Can't wait to ride up and down Duval St again. Too bad we have to fly to get there. Waah...

Just completed a Christmas story. That was fun. I love typing The End. I've been anxious to get this story out of me. I'm pretty happy with it. Onward...

My Sister's Bike!

My sister bought a bicycle the other day. A cruiser. Yeahh... She was going to cruise around her little town of Marblehead on it - until she fell off trying to get out of the way of a poor guy just trying to get out of the parking lot. The poor guy felt so bad! Because she's a woman of a certain age, she thought she could just buy a bike and ride it - uh uh... You need to LEARN HOW, first.

All kidding aside, I'm so happy she has a bike. Now, we can ride to Salem Willows together and eat chop suey sandwiches, ride along the beach AND get our excercise at the same time. We'll get cute clothes to ride in and we'll search far and wide for cute helmets. (Is there such a thing)? I'm sure there is.

We'll be Biker Chicks!

My Write Way

So, now that I've committed myself to Seascape and secured a friend to ride shotgun, I guess I gotta write! Like any other skill, we have to practice to get better and I haven't been practicing much lately. Now that I work only three days a week one would think I'd have plenty of time to write. Well, my time is spent on the porch thinking about writing, thinking about what my characters might be up to and thinking about that long line of people holding hardcover editions of my awesome story in their hands waiting for me to autograph them. Which begs the question, what is the real motive here? Is it that long line of fans? Is it the table stacked with my books, bookmarks and chapsticks? I thought long and hard about this and came to the conclusion that it's the women I write about. They're real women. Their names are fictional, but they're real. They walk among us, most hiding their trouble, just trying to fit in. I admire the women who choose to not take the easy way out. To go for the gusto. To make their own lives happen.

You go, girls!

Friends

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I’ve heard that if we want to be happy we should surround ourselves with like-minded people. I believe that to be true, so I said yes to an invitation to meet for coffee from a woman I would have met at a writing retreat in a few weeks. Happily, we hit it off. We have so much in common that neither of us can get it all out fast enough! I think that’s pretty funny. I have to make a conscious effort to not interrupt and say, “Me too, me too,” every five minutes, which, at my age means, I may lose the thought forever.

As I wrote in an earlier post, it has never really been easy for me to make friends but I see this friendship lasting a long time. Well, given that I’m old, at least until I croak.

Yes, I'm BUSY, but it's all good!

I went ahead and signed up for everything I could think of - and it all costs money so I can't back out! Well, some things didn't exactly cost me anything. For instance, the cruise to Bermuda, coming up on June 17th or the trip to Key West, coming up at the end of October. Those are treats from Kenny, my sweetie.

To get out of my non-writing slump, I signed up for this year's Seascape Writers Retreat in CT, led by Hallie Ephron, Roberta Isleib and S.W.Hubbard. I attended in 2009 and had a wonderful time. I learned so much and met so many terrific "sisters." I'll be work-shopping my WIP, The Seduction of Intent. I'll also be busy reading and critiquing portions of five manuscripts submitted from the women in my group.

I've registered for Crime Bake and will be submitting my short story, Listen and You Shall Hear for a professional critique (eek), and have registered to pitch my WIP to an agent. OMG And there you have it. I think I'm already behind.

Oh, and yes, I've become accustomed to eating, so I must go to work.

Better get writing.

~Dianne