333/365 Birds
They kept us company for several minutes, flying down the the path then back into the trees, always a few yards behind us until some cyclists came through and scared them off.
13 Flashers
There are some seriously cool people doing Flash Fiction these days. By Flash I mean the really short stuff people post on their blogs. Here are 13 I swiped from:
Ah Maria, How Can He Measure Up?
Sometimes history hands us the unhappy combination of a juvenile and selfish mind full of arrogance in a position of power. Woe betide the fool who challenges the worth of such an individual. Witness Marie Antoinette’s brother in action.
Joseph considered the reputations of some of his peers in the “running an empire” business, and was not happy when he compared his own to theirs. What did they do to be considered “Great?” Catherine in Russia. Great Scot, the woman wasn’t even Russian! And she got the job by murdering her dim-witted husband. (Not that anyone in Russia got terribly upset over that.)
There was Frederick, in Prussia. Yes, he had many battlefield victories. But was he the only man who could do those things? No! Joseph was convinced that the time was ripe for someone else to be the next “Great.” Someone like…himself.
Battlefield victories. That was the sort of thing that made an emperor’s reputation. His mother was appalled. It was bad enough that he was thinking like Frederick, but he was thinking like Frederick without actually possessing the capacity to win the battles he was so anxious to start. This was exactly the sort of thing she didn’t want Austria involved in.
Joseph’s brother-in-law, Maximilian, elector of Bavaria, died without a male heir. Joseph may have had no use for his wife while she was alive, but now the marriage itself would come in handy for laying claim to choice parcels of Bavarian real estate.
Jack stopped cold. Where had that come from?
Welcome, Karen Nutt
Behind the Scenes of a Goddess’ Tale.
For my story, Heart of the Warrior, I wanted a goddess who was both strong and passionate. Scáthach was the perfect choice. She was once mortal and was touched by the Tuantha de Dannan, giving her the status of goddess. She searches the battlefields for the souls of the slain and guides them to Tir Nan Og, the land of eternal youth and beauty. The warrior goddess also ran a school for young warriors. The school is located in Scotland in the Isle of Skye. She initiates the young men into the arts of war, as well as giving them the friendship of her thighs. (I wonder if any of the young men refused to sleep with a goddess? Hmm…probably not.)
Now that I had my strong warrior heroine for my story, I needed a hero. I wanted to try something different. Instead of a macho, strong alpha man for the lead, my hero, Trey is a man battling cancer. He’s dying, but Scáthach takes him to the mystical Isle of Skye. In this world, she teaches him to be a warrior and of course she comforts him after a long day on the field. She is a passionate goddess after all and Trey could do with a little loving.
If Trey is able to defeat the enemy on the Isle of Skye, he will also have the chance of winning the battle against the disease that is killing him in his realm.
For your enjoyment, here’s a short excerpt from Heart of a Warrior. (Trey believes he is still lying in a hospital bed and this is all a dream, but decides to play along and let the goddess train him. He had his first lesson on the field and is soaking in the healing spring.)
He waded toward the steps intent on retrieving his towel and heading back to his quarters, but his gaze locked onto a vision walking toward him, a sacred beauty draped in a transparent garment. “Scáthach.” His voice came out in breathless wonderment. He wanted to cross the chasm that separated them and take her into his arms, feel the softness of her flesh as his hands caressed her. Damn, he would sell his soul for just one kiss.
The seductive smile she threw at him made his body heat to a boiling point and he feared he’d melt into the bubbling froth of the spring.
“Were you expecting someone else, Trey Brennan?”
He loved the way his name rolled off her tongue as if she were a siren calling him home. “No. I didn’t think you’d…” He cleared his throat. To hell with what he thought. She was here and it looked like she planned on joining him. If she did, it would be at her own risk. She may be the master on the field, but this was his battleground and his skills of seduction would make her surrender to his will. He would win her over until a throbbing desire rolled into one slow roll of want.
To find more about Karen Michelle Nutt, please visit her at:
Website: http://www.kmnbooks.com
Blog: http://kmnbooks.blogspot.com/
The Best Answer
“Does my butt look fat in this?” She asked
“No, no, not at all.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
“I love your butt.” He grinned.
Monkey Man hosts the 160 Character Challenge. See what you can write in 160 characters or less, spaces included.
329/365 Hotel
All the detail shots you’ve been looking at come from this one building. It was an old hotel, now apartments. You really can’t tell how funky it is until you get close.
So Many Bubbles
Jill: What is this doing here? And all these bubbles! It must have been Jack. He always forgets that the hip bath has a leak.
Jill: Mom?!
Today’s theme is bubbles
This one is directly related to what came previously in Jack and Jill: Beauty Queen
The rules for Photohunt can be found here.
Be sure to visit the home page.
Suzie’s House 168: A Rare Bird
She looked like a parrot with her hair streaked four different colors on top of blonde, including hot pink. It fluffed out all over the place because she was hanging upside down. Her foot had to be hurting from the rope tied around it. No wait. Was that a rope? Or a garden hose?
The scary part was the way she didn’t seem to notice how bad she had it, just hung there with her arms folded across her chest and a pissed look on her face.
“Need some help?” Ben went down the steps off the back porch before she answered. Gene kind of wished he’d done it first.
Testing
“Do you love me? How much? Will you come and see me even when I never visit you? Will you do me favors when I don’t have time for you? Will you prove your love, shower me with devotion, give me everything I want? Don’t you love me? Hey! Where are you going? You don’t love me at all.”
The challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a story in exactly 55 words. Flash Fiction 55 is hosted by the G-man, a host with the most.
