Picture it & Write! - Bygones

Picture it & Write

He'd arrived on a night much like this one; misty, whimsical clouds low in the sky, Lake Michigan lapping at the shore of her rented cottage. She had known he wasn't one to stay in one place for very long.

Two weeks ago, he'd glided down from heavens like a gift from God. His hot air balloon from a bygone era landed in the field behind her silver electro minivan.

Tonight, she stood there wondering where his adventure lies next. Would he remember her? Like she did, as his smell still lingered in the very air that surrounded her?

He'd changed her even with the few hours they had together. How would she explain those changes when questioned by well meaning friends and family?

Some would think she took their advice and paid Kurt back by sleeping with someone else. But they were wrong. Sex wouldn't fix what was wrong. 

She'd begun her own adventure to find peace after the scandal of Kurt's betrayal spread through their close knit community. Some would understand that she moved away from the pain of Kurt's affair. Others would claim she never cared in the first place and she had gotten what she deserved.

Hugging herself close, oh, she'd cared but now. . . watching the balloon float off into a different time and space. She knew she was going to be okay.

Hope you enjoyed,

Leann Holland

The World Is Going To The Dogs

The world is changing for man's best friend. As more people include dogs as their family members our society is changing, good and bad, depending on your point of view. I am not a dog lover. (sorry!) My mom says I was born afraid of dogs. She's probably right.

Nashville's City Council voted to allow patron's to bring their dog on restaurant's outside patios. Now, the city's Health Department has to find a way to regulate it. Each restaurant has a choice of participating or not.

I personally will avoid such restaurants. People struggle enough keeping their children under control. I don't want to hear yapping dogs during my meal.(again, not a dog lover, sorry!)

However, as a writer, I feel the need to recognize and acknowledge trends. Who knows when a character comes along that a restaurant serving dogs would be the perfect setting?


What will be the next doggie take over, one wonders? They now have cemeteries, parks of their own, holiday gifts and costumes. In fact, at the Pumpkinfest in Franklin, TN, as we were driving past, we saw more dogs dressed up in Halloween costumes than kids.

Will doggiepages be the place for computer savvy socially needy dogs of the future? I can see the ad now, ' Doggiepages: Just One Paw Click Away'. (Do I hear a story calling me? It would be kid's sci-fi, right? Ha, Ha)

Keep Panting,
Leann Holland

Struggling with Emotions

Last Rose of Summer - Class Reunion of '85 book series. The idea was filled with potential. Potential time bombs, I realized. Why do we like to torture ourselves with the past?

Unresolved issues with people we will never see again, unless you are a facebook fan. Two decades ago, my DH and I moved seven hundred miles away from our hometown leaving all those ghost and emotions behind. Or so we thought. Now with facebook, they can find you. Do you hear that eerie music?

LOL! No, not those creeps. Just the friends who didn't like your boyfriend during your senior year. The friends of friends who didn't want to share their friends. The list goes on and on.

Then there are the family members who made bad choices. They have made peace with the family in the hometown. But I'm stuck in a time machine where this all seems surreal.

Great stuff for writing if I can get my emotions channeled into the characters.

Tragedy Within My Community

Suicide has touched my community again. Last year, an older prominent businessman and pastor committed suicide after he was caught cheating. This year a young business man committed suicide. For me, this one is harder to understand. His reasons seem more vague. I like how a local poet expressed it.
Here’s the link to her poem:

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/HSstorymomma

Story ideas do not always come out of the nicest events. I like to get the bare bones for my stories from reality then form the details in my imagination, letting all the what if’s drift through my consciousness. As the story develops, I enjoy the creative process.


Blessings,

Leann Holland

I'm back

At first life's general rush got in the way. It was fun activities like my youngest child playing flag football, our anniversary, my in laws visiting from out of state, then my out of state family came for a visit.

Then the writing got in the way of updating the blog. I have submitted to Woman's World again, October. Then this week saw my first submission to True Romance. I have a submission about 95% ready for Country Woman, just need to do final edit. (yes, I thought you needed the attention first.) There are two first drafts of stories for True story and one Woman's World sitting on my desk. Of course, my young adult novel is screaming for another round of writing. I have written twenty five hundred words on it in the past month.

I have finally found my ability to write longer short stories. For the first time, I'm not doubting myself on writing the novel length stories floating around in my head.

Thank you Trues for challenging me.

Leann Holland

Received A Self Address Stamped Envelope Today

Good news or bad from Woman's World magazine? Take a guess.

It's hard to get mad when the rejection comes with phrases like "This is cute." This last rejection started with "This is a sweet story." The next word sums up the problem "but." She liked this last rejected story so much that she wrote, "but you might successfully submit this elsewhere." But where? I asked myself. I searched for a couple of hours, not finding other publishers of such short stories.

Back to the drawing board(or more accurately the keyboard.) Think I am going to focus on my contest writing for a while.

Leann Holland

Busy Week

School started for everyone around here. Since we homeschool year around, it is nothing new for us. But meetings for mom, program for the kids started this week.

My favorite this week was my writers group. It is totally selfish. And probably only thing I do strictly for me all month.

A fellow writer had gone to the Killer Nashville, a mystery writers conference, I understand. She brought back info on several ebook small presses. Most did seem to cater to the romance genres, which isn't a problem for me. About half of want I want to write is romance.

The one I liked the best was Wild Rose and their Christian counter part White Rose Publishing. White Rose is currently holding a contest.
http://www.whiterosepublishing.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/175-hearts-crossing-short-story-contest.html

I have decided to be crazy and try to write something. I need to write about 700 words a day to still have some time to edit. But I am already at least a 1000 words behind. I keep finding things that "need" to be done.

Blessings,

Leann Holland