A Little Bit about Broken Promises

On January 30, 2016 By HeidiIn Blog, Uncategorized2 Comments

Lately it seems that the story I have dubbed Broken Promises had been pushing at me to work on. It shows in the latest flash fiction and free writes I have been doing. Kara, Caius and Tanis keep speaking to me, (well yelling actually) asking me to pay attention to them. Aden has been silently waiting in the background, yet his presence it very much there. Out of the four, I would say Aden has the most patience. It’s probably because his presence is so powerful that he doesn’t have to say anything. You just know what he wants. The problem? I’m suppose to be working on Fated to Be! It’s very frustrating.

A little background I think is needed for this particular story. As I have said in my little excerpt about myself, my 8th grade teacher would put something on the board that we were to put in a journal and then write about. One day she put a small paragraph about a forbidden forest and a twig snapping in the quiet. I really wish I still had the original passage, but over the years I have modified it to the point the idea is there if not the exact words.

So I wrote this paragraph down and for some strange reason I could not stop writing. That early draft was all fan-fiction. I took my favorite TV shows from the 70’s (yes I am that old) and mixed them together in my own plotline. At the time it was easier to use characters and actors I knew and just write the plot, such as it was, because I had them firmly in my mind. So I would put into words the movie that was playing in my mind as best as a 14 year-old could up through high school. It was a story that never ended and anything could happen. There were no limits.

That particular rendition of Broken Promises ended up being over 700 HAND WRITTEN pages long. Unfortunately most of it was in pencil and so over time faded. I eventually had to recycle the papers because I could not read what was on them. I cried that day. I remember most of it, and let me tell you my teenage mind had some….. interesting ideas. Somewhere in there I started writing other stories with the first rendition of Obsession being in there, but that is another story for another day. With my memory probably one I have already talked about. lol

Broken Promises was a sort of Sci-Fi slash fantasy slash contemporary romance all rolled into one. When I found it in a cupboard and started to read what was left, I thought that there was a story in there somewhere that I could make all mine. I also thought with some of the scenes and they way they were written (remember I was 14 when I started), “OMG this is scary. What was I thinking! Gah! How embarrassing!” So I began rewriting, changing names of characters and places as I went. (Rewriting those scenes as an adult had much more experience in 😉 ) As per my usually way of writing, it has gone through many many rewrites and changes since then. I think I have something that might be publishable, but it’s not quite ready and I don’t have an ending I am satisfied with. The other problem I’m wrestling with is the storyline starts in the middle. I have tried to go back and rewrite the beginning, but I always get stuck. I think it’s because I am trying to update the time and place and end up going so far off what was originally written my characters balk.

So about Broken Promises. Well the Sci-Fi part is pretty self explanatory. Space, aliens, advance technology species, backwards planets, etc. The fantasy part is more that I have made up my own rendition of how the universe keeps spinning. I have another story called Angels and Demons that was started because of a free write I was participating in. As most writers have had happened, it was a picture or sentence that took on a life of its own. I have since renamed it Forever Lost, for obvious reasons. Angels and Demons was already taken in a big way. In some ways the basis for this story is the same. My version of how the universe started and how it remains still spinning today. A constant battle between good and evil (two males) over the glue (a female) that keeps everything together that has spanned time and space since the beginning. I’m starting to think that maybe the characters of Broken Promises were trying to find there footing in another way since I was ignoring them. Although the place and events are different. Both of these story are borderline horror. The atrocities the characters go through are events only immortals could survive, and sometimes not even then. A cycle that not even death can stop because they are reborn only to begin it again.

Maybe after I finally have Fated to Be published I will go back and look at Broken Promises again. Maybe finally finish it. Although I think this is a Kindle only book and my mom won’t be helping me edit it. I have scandalized her enough with the Destiny series. LOL

Have a wonderful weekend. 🙂

Heidi

Bits-N-Pieces: Broken Promises – Free Write #25

On January 28, 2016January 28, 2016 By HeidiIn Creative Writing, Flash Fiction, Free Write, Uncategorized13 Comments

Out there, somewhere, was my freedom. I didn’t know how it would come, or when, just that it would. How many years had I been trapped here, trying to escape a destiny I did not want. Too many. I wanted to leave in the worst way, but they would find me if I did. That was the last thing any of us wanted, because if they found me they would find them and then all the years of fighting, of searching for the answer that would free us would have been wasted. I had to wait here and be patient like I was asked me to.

So I sat here, night after night staring out into the dark sky that held my freedom and waited.

A voice whispered in the night at the edge of my conscious, begging me to listen. The harder I strained the more the words slipped away. A sudden foreboding consumed me. Something was not right. I stood, the blanket that I had wrapped around me to ward off the early spring chill pooled in the dirt at my feet. They had found me! How I had no idea because this planet was well protected with a strange anomaly that was part of the middle of the universe. A left over of the beginning of time, this planet was hidden from view from every known technology and from those that created it. A rare find in such a vast space.

Finally the words became clear, the voice so familiar, so much a part of me, that it made my knees week with longing. There was only one word and I heeded it without question.

“Run!”

This is for a Free Write I participate in called Writing Outside the Lines. Go have a look and see if any strike your fancy and give it a try. It’s a lot of fun and helps clear your mind of the words that are bouncing around your head so you maybe can focus a little better. 🙂

Best Laid Plans & Exciting News

On January 21, 2016 By HeidiIn Blog, Uncategorized9 Comments

I was reading through my blogs to see what it was I had written in my promise to myself that I would write everyday. What I found was, I was right. I really don’t have a lot to say. There were a few idea, a poem or two, little bit of creative writing, but for a day to day blog I don’t know how people do it. So I guess it’s back to when the feeling hits me whether it’s a blog or poem or short story I will post. And you know what? That’s okay. 🙂

I do have some exciting news. At least it is for me. I finally have the first proof in book form of my new novel! YEAH! Earlier I had posted on the Destiny series page a link to the prologue and part of the first chapter. As per my usual M.O., after posting what should have been set in stone, I have now decided that it will not work and have written a completely new one. As soon as I’m happy with it I will post it. As for now, all I have to give is the cover of my new book, Fated to Be. This is the second book of my series Destiny.

I’m not sure exactly when it will be published because as I am editing I am also working. Kind of cuts into my editing time. I also want to remind you that this is the FIRST proof. I’m sure there will be a couple more before I am happy with it. I will say it will be sometime this spring or summer. When I get closer I will let you know. Until then, here is the cover!

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Well, it is time for bed. Have a wonderful evening and a great rest of the week. It’s almost Friday!! 😀

The Beginning of the End – Broken Promises

On January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 By HeidiIn Creative Writing, Flash Fiction, Free Write, Uncategorized8 Comments

1608489-bigthumbnail — Desktop Nexus: Another Space and Time

Caius watched with mixed feelings as Kara lay over Tania’s broken body sobbing. On one hand this was his brother who lay on the cold hard earth covered in blood. On the other Kara was now free to be his. It sounded cold and uncaring, but their entire existence had been one cold and uncaring moment after the next. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There were some moments where there had been warmth and laughter. Moments when the light out weighted the dark and Kara loved him as much as she loved his brother. But even then it had ended in tragedy. Instead of Kara leaning over Tanis’s cooling dead corpse, it had been his, and it was Tanis who had comforted Kara.

The thought of Kara in his brother’s arms did not bring the wave of jealousy that usually followed. Instead it only brought a sort of sadness that seeped into Caius’s bones and settled deep inside. This was not the first time they were at this time and space, and the Gods help them, it would not be the last. In fact, it was the Gods that had cursed them with this life. Life and death. Birth and rebirth. Over and over until one life blurred into another and they had lost count how many centuries had passed since the beginning of their existence. All so the universe could stay in existence and the inhabitants could continue their evolution until time itself had no meaning.

They had come to the end of this lifetime. One of them no longer existed, and the two that were left only had a finite amount of time to do what needed to be done before the others found them and started the cycle all over again. The hardest deaths were when it was Kara lying there. Though that had only happened once, that Caius could remember, once was enough. The black lash of that catastrophe had sent them millenniums back in time. There were still worlds in the outer regions that were still reeling from it.

Kara was the glue that kept everything together. The reason Tanis and Caius fought to own her heart. And once that fight was ended, the unrelenting jealousy that spurned them on disappeared. Jealousy, hatred, love, all rolled into one confusing emotion. How can one hate their brother as much as they loved them?

That was a discussion for another time. Now they had no time. Not if they wanted to end this vicious cycle of live and death they were trapped in.

“Kara,” he called softly, kneeling down beside her and gently placing his hand on her back. “We need to leave or there won’t be enough time.”

Lifting her head, she turned her blue eyes to Caius. The anguish in them tore at his heart. Forever in the middle, Kara was the one who suffered the most. It was the reason Caius was desperate to get her away from here. If they stayed too long, there would only be more misery to heap onto what was already burying them.

Intricate braids held her long brown hair away from her face. The rest cascaded down her back in thick curls. Her leather battle gear was splattered with the blood of Caius’s army and Tanis’s. She had fought bravely, but the exhaustion from the battle and the weight of their burden made her frightfully pale.

“Why?” she asked, her voice hoarse with her tears. “They will only find us and it will be far worse than if we just stay and wait for the enviable.”

“That is not true and you know it,” Caius snapped in frustration.

“Isn’t it? We have battled for our very existence, for the universes existence since the beginning of time. I for one am tired. Let them come. Then maybe I can sleep.”

Her voice and expression were so defeated that it frightened Caius. This was not the brave warrior that Caius knew Kara to be. Had the elders finally broken her? If they had, Caius would reign down his own kind of hell upon their heads for daring to hurt what he loved.

“You don’t meant that….”

Kara jumped to there feet and backed away from him. Anger and the horror of their lives rolling off her in waves.

“I can’t do this anymore!” she yelled. “Let them have me! I won’t play their sick game any longer!” Raising her arms to her sides and turning in a slow circle, she screamed to the heavens, “You hear me you cowards! I won’t fight your battles anymore!”

The sky grew dark. Thunder shook the ground beneath them as lightening streaked through the sky. The gods apparently did not appreciate being called cowards.

Caius jumped up and wrapped his arms round Kara, holding her close. “Kara! Shush!” he hissed.

“No!” she screamed struggling to get free of him, but Caius would not let go. “I will not stay quiet any longer!”

Another clap of thunder as a bolt of lightening struck right beside them, sending Caius and Kara flying through the air.

The sudden silence was deafening.

When Caius came to, the skies were filled with dark clouds and a light rain was falling, beginning the cleaning of the battle field. The sound of carrion fighting over corpses in growls, yips, squawks and screams that all blended in his mind spurring the headache into something epic. Every part of his body ached, the smell of burnt flesh permeated his senses, and yet for some reason he was still alive. What the hell had happened?

Among all the chaos, one thought broke through the pain and agony and sent his heart racing. Where was Kara?

After searching what seemed like an eternity, he found her lying in the mud at the edge of the battle field. Her clothes and skin were burnt along her back where the lightening bolt had struck. It was then that Caius realized that she had taken the brunt of the strike. It was the only explanation as to why he was still alive and she stared lifelessly into the sky.

Tears streaming down his face, Caius closed Kara’s eyes then gently picked her lifeless body and carried her to where Tanis lay. Lying her down next to his brother, he brushed the hair from her face, memorizing every feature to hold him over for what was to come. Leaning down he kissed her forehead before resting his cheek against hers.

“I promise you I will fix this,” he whispered in her ear. “When I see you again, I will fix this.”

With one last kiss, Caius, step back and disappeared from the field to a cave on a small planet that those who controlled their lives could not find him. Here would begin a quest that would lead him to places he never thought he would travel so he could save the one woman who owned his heart and the brother that owned hers. What he did not expect was how long it would take, and the demon he would awaken that wanted to destroy them all.

I am not Afraid

On January 17, 2016 By HeidiIn Poetry, Uncategorized7 Comments

I know what you are.
You can’t hide from me anymore.
I know what you are
and I am not afraid.

You should be
for I am your salvation,
and damnation.
I am your life
and your death.

I still do not fear you.

I will destroy you without remorse.
I will relish your pain
as I send you into Hell.

No you will not.

Run, run
run while you can,
before it’s too late,
because once I sink my teeth
into your sweet
tantalizing
skin,
you will forever be
mine.

I am already a part of your soul.
You know this.
You will not hurt me.
You can’t.
I am not afraid!

I am.

Why?

On December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 By HeidiIn Creative Writing, Flash Fiction4 Comments

Can I help you?
I’m not sure. I don’t think anyone can help me.
Why do you say that?
Because, I am beyond help.
No one is beyond help.
I am….
The silence deepens.
Why don’t you tell me what is wrong.
You would not believe me.
Try me.
Sighing, I comply.
I have done something terrible. Something no decent person would ever do.
And that is?
I have lost faith.
In what?
Everything.
Again there is silence.
I don’t understand.
I have lost faith in the world, the universe, especially in mankind. There is so much pain, so much suffering, killing, and for what? Because we are different. We act, we believe, we see things differently therefore we should be exterminated. It does not make sense to me. Why? Why do others think they are better than me? Aren’t we all made the same? Are we not all made of flesh and blood and bones? So what if our skin is a different color, or our eyes or hair. So what if we believe in a different god or a way of living. Why does that mean I must be punished? What makes you better than me?
This time the silence drags on longer until I fear there is no answer.
Fear.
What?
It is fear that pushes people to do those things. Fear of the unknown, of the unexplainable. Fear of something different than what we are. That fear leads to anger of the fact they cannot change what is. So since they cannot change, they destroy. There is still good in people. Not everyone feels this need. It is the few that make it difficult for the many. Do not lose hope or faith. In the end justice will prevail.
And until then?
That is your choice. Live how you feel is right and love those who love you in return for they are who truly matter.
Do I turn the other cheek when someone hurts me and mine?
That is up to you. Only you can determine when it is time to retaliate. When the wrong done to you is enough that you must answer the call to avenge your loved ones, your beliefs, yourself. Just remember that it is you who will look in the mirror and judge the harshest. Make sure what ever it is you decide that, in the end, you can live with that decision. Until then, be safe, be strong, and above all, be happy.

A lot of the times it starts with one sentence and blooms into many words. I don’t always know where they come from. All I know is they must be written. I have not lost faith, but there are times I do wonder, why?

Pick a Color! Any Color! – FW Prompt #21

On December 31, 2015 By HeidiIn Creative Writing, Free Write4 Comments

Colors, colors, colors. So many pretty colors, and each one has a specific meaning. The question is… which one would you choose?

Blue you can fly. Being afraid of heights that might pose a problem. Although I do fly in my dreams and that is pretty cool.
Orange you can run at the speed of sound. Think of all the wonderful things you would miss.
Yellow is the one everyone thinks about but is not too sure if it’s a good idea. The ability to read minds. Do you really want to know what others are thinking? I wouldn’t want you to know where my mind wanders. It can be a very scary place at times. Even for me.
Pink gives the ability to heal. That would be cool. But think about it. If you could heal any non-fatal wound, and you were careful, couldn’t you live forever?
Grey. The ability to move objects with your mind. Now that would be cool. Especially on those nights when I’m exhausted, I just settle myself down on the couch under my favorite fluffy blankie to watch my favorite show and realize the remote is out of reach. Whaalaa! It’s suddenly in my hot little hands. *sigh* Heaven!
Purple. The ability to walk through walls. Well, you’d have to be careful with that one. What if you were ten stories up and you didn’t realize it was the outside wall and…. well, you get where this is going. Clean up on aisle 4!
Green allows you to shapeshift. That could be cool if not a little painful. I can see it now. I shift into a great big snake and sneak up on my husband who is afraid of snakes and tap him on the shoulder with my tail. When he turns around I say, “Hellosssss.” He he he. That might get me the $10,000 on Funniest Home Videos! (Yes, I have been told I am evil. Muuaahhhaa! 😉 )
Last but not least, Red. The ability to turn invisible. Think of all you could hear, all you could do and no one would be the wiser. You would be the most sought after secret agent ever!

But which one to pick? Better yet…. why?

I guess for me it would Indigo, the ability to jump into a story and live it. Granted, some of them are pretty scary and the heroine or hero don’t have it very easy mentally or physically. But think of the ability to escape, to really escape. Isn’t that why we read? To escape into someone else life if only for a moment in time?

Did I just cheat the question? Probably. And maybe one of the colors above suits you better. Then again, I tend to escape into my own mind quite a bit and play with my imaginary friends, and the thought of actually doing that has always been a dream of mine.

So, which color would you choose?

This is a free write prompt #21 from Writing Outside the Lines. Go give a look. Maybe you’ll find one to inspire you to write something.

It Never Ends – Gardening

On December 31, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog, Gardening2 Comments

Winter is upon us. Everything in the garden is asleep. Or at least they are suppose to be. Even though it has been cold here, the weeds are doing just fine. I finally had the chance to do my fall cleaning and ended up weeding. But I digress.

The one thing, at least for me, that is year round is cleaning out the gutters. I love fir, pine and cedar trees. They are beautiful and stay green all year round. I hate their needles. They get everywhere! On one side of our house they are close to the house, so the gutters fill up quite quickly. The way our gutters are set up is they drain down into corrugated tubing that hooks each drain into one tube that then takes the rain water out to the ditch by the street. About a year ago the corner drain clogged up so badly that I had to dig the tubing out and replace it because all 5ft of it was clogged. It wasn’t easy. That part of the yard was covered in years worth of gravel and is where we store our boat in the summer. So it was pretty compacted.

I now have another drain that is clogged. I was hoping all I had to do was clean out at the base of the drain pipe that goes into the tubing, but no such luck. So today I spent a couple of hours digging. Where this isn’t hard compact dirt, it does have a few obstacles. Like the very thick pad from the old heat-pump, a small privacy fence and the garage side door cement pad. It also has the roots of those damn trees. As of now I have it somewhat dug out. I have yet to find the end where it hooks into the main pipe and it worries me because the tube is going deeper and I am right next to the fence.

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As you can see there are a lot of roots. A couple of big ones run across the top of the tubing (which I swear it’s in there but the dirt keeps covering it up) and I’m hesitant to cut them. The tree I think they are attached to is rather big and I don’t want to compromise it. If it fell on my house it would hurt it. 😦

I have also been strongly reminded by my body that I am no long 20. That digging a trench is not something I can do in a couple of hours. So this is as far as I got today. Tomorrow, if I can move I will go back out and try again. I know I am close to where the connection is. I just want to get this one done and hope that the clog goes no further. Digging out the entire system is not something I really want to do.

As for the other… let’s see, 1,2,3….5, I hope they will wait until summer when it’s warmer outside and I have more time to spend playing in the yard.

Have a safe and Happy New Year. 🙂

Heidi

A New Year

On December 29, 2015December 29, 2015 By HeidiIn Blog6 Comments

For me the holidays end the day after Christmas. Two months of shopping, eating, parties and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Don’t get me wrong. I love the holidays! But as with eating turkey, at the end I am good until next November. Since the kids have grown we don’t do a whole lot for New Years. Usually sit in and watch it on T.V. and that is fine by me. I’m not big into freeze my patootie off for hours to see lights in the air. Now all that is left is putting the decorations and tree away. I’ll give it a couple of more days though.

So the new year begins and most everyone makes their new years resolution to have something done by the end of the year. I’ve done this many times, and not once have I manage to keep it. So now I all I want is a year full of happy memories with my family and friends. If I lose weight, yeah for me! Now for the one project I do need to work on and finish. My new novel Fated to Be book 2 of the Destiny series. Since I have this week off I am going to work on it as much as I can.

For those whose new year starts January 1st Happy New Year and may you have some semblance of peace and happiness. I know there is a lot of strife in this world of ours, but try and find something that makes you smile, no matter how small it is. It’s amazing how even the smallest spark of hope can make your day a much better day. Find it, hold onto for all its worth and maybe spread a little of it around to make someone else smile, even if it’s just for a moment in time.

Heidi

A Suzi Christmas – Pixie Adventures

On December 22, 2015December 22, 2015 By HeidiIn Creative Writing, Flash Fiction5 Comments

“Christmas time!” Sang Suzy!! “Can’t wait to visit Heidi and give her her presents!”

She changes into her new female Santa suit, a velvet red dress with white fuzzy stuff around the bottom of the short skirt and the wrists of the sleeves. And of course the red hat! Slinging her green sack over her shoulder she decides to go down the chimney. Bad idea! Not able to see, she kept bouncing off the soot covered bricks and landed with a thud on her tiny little behind with a poof of ash.

“Oh jeez!”

Stepping out of the fireplace she flutter her wings and leaves a cloud of ash all over the white rug. Before she had a chance to look at the mess she made she spotted the tree.

“Oooooo! Shiny!!”

Fluttering around the tree, Suzi ooo’s and aaahs! Going into shiny overload she flys closer to the tree, forgetting she still had her sack in her hand. As she turns to look at yet another sparkly ornament her bag gets stuck in the string of lights and she can’t move. Giving the bag a tug it wasn’t moving so with both her hands and grabs the bag pulling with all her might. Unfortunately the line of lights are on pretty tightly and the tree starts to lose balance.

“Oh no!!”

Suzi flew out of the way just in time to prevent being crushed by the tree as it came crashing down. Ornaments breaking, bulbs popping and the tree started to smoke. Little flames starting breaking out all over and Suzy felt a bit of panic set in.

“Heidi is going to kill me!”

Not knowing what else to do she conjures up a thunder clouds and makes it pour rain. Problem here is Suzy is still working on her controlling nature skills and the rain cloud that was just supposed the cover the tree covered the whole LR instead. Not only was there rain but there was lightning as well. Um.. Well at least the tree is no longer on fire. Realizing she is in big trouble Suzie flutters back into the fireplace and sits and waits for Heidi to come home…

In the kitchen, I quietly hum as I put together my favorite soup to ward off the chill. Thinking a fire would be nice, I start to taste the soup I freeze when I hear a resounding crash coming from deeper in the house. Frowning, I wonder what the cat got into when I smell smoke. Closing my eyes with a groan, hoping that I am wrong, I turn the soup down and quietly walk to the LR, taste the soup I freeze when I hear a resounding crash coming from deeper in the house. Frowning, I wonder what the cat got into when I smell smoke. Closing my eyes with a groan, hoping that I am wrong, I turn the soup down and quietly walk to the LR, silently praying I am wrong. Before I reach the doorway, water races towards me not unlike the waves on a lake shore. “What in the world?” There is a clap of what sounds like thunder inside the house. Now really worried I hurry forward and freeze in the doorway. Eyes wide in disbelief, jaw on the floor, I looked around at the destruction before me. Everything is completely drenched. The tree is on it’s side smoldering. Broken glass of different colors litter the floor.

“What in the name of…” Then I see a dejected drooping black figure huddled near the fireplace. “Suzi?”

I start into the room only to be stopped by a lighting bolt hitting at my feet. Glaring at the black clouds swirling in the ceiling, I banish the with a wave of my hand. Hurrying over to the Pixie I kneel down in front of her.

“Are you all right?”

“Oh.. Hi Heidi. Downcast eyes she glances up between her eyelashes. “Um… I ya…” Starting to speak rapidly she tries to explain. But it’s not making much sense. “I’m really sorry.” Handing Heidi her little green sack, “I have presents!! “Merry Christmas Heidi!! I guess I made a bit of a mess, but I’ll clean it up right now!! Ok?”

Pulling out her wand Suzy soon has the mess cleaned up. But feeling bad she decides to help get the car out of the LR. Wanting to see if it starts she waves her wand again and it starts right up. In her excitement she flicked her wand and.. CRASH!! The car drives through the LR and stops up against the big tree in the front yard. Hmmm. Good thing it’s sunny out!

This short Christmas story was originally on Twitter under @wlhealer7 and . I copy and pasted it to here with only minor editing. Because Twitter only allows a certain amount of characters, sometimes things like punctuation gets left out. If you want to see more of Suzanne’s stories, which I highly recommend, go to her website Suzanne Carey.

You never know when Suzi the Pixie will show up, so stay tune so stay tune!

UPDATE: I should also mention that this is completely unscripted. What you see is written on the fly and then posted,.