Visual Dare – a first glimpse of Esther

When I surveyed the full range of inspirational images Angela had posted for the latest Visual Dare I was stunned to see beautiful young woman staring back at me who would make the perfect Esther in my NaNoWriMo story.

I have rigidly stuck to the 100 word limit for this exercise, hopefully there’s just enough to whet your appetite without giving away how I plan to unfold this rich story.

Cai watched his cousin with some pride.  She had adapted well to the strange ways of Exilia; rarely putting a foot wrong or arousing suspicion as to the secrets kept close to her heart.

When first placed in his care, she was a gentle, timid child, prone to nightmares. His constant shadow had grown into a beautiful young woman, with milky skin, emerald eyes and golden braided hair.

His obligations for her were ending; soon she would be graded and assigned. Another soul inside the Citadel could be useful but The Great Author’s plans for Esther were as yet unknown.

I hope to bring you a few more snippets of Esther’s story throughout November depending on how the NaNo adventure progresses. My ideas are coming thick and fast and I’m looking forward myself to exploring the land of Exilia and uncovering its secrets.

NaNoWriMo is shaping up to be a lot of fun!

The First Meeting of the Second Breakfast Club

Today I went to the inaugural meeting of The Second Breakfast Club, a new writing group starting up nearby.

However much I love my on-line writing buddies (and I really do love you all to bits) the idea of actually sharing real tea and cake while discussing writing is very appealing.

There were just six of us there today, each of us has our own ideas and strengths but we all want to develop our writing skills and learn from each other. 

The subject of critiquing was mentioned by all of us. This is serious writing territory, an area I’ve never really ventured into but know that I should to hone my craft.

My favourite quote of the morning was when one member said the coffee shops we frequent in town to write in should have plaques up and give us FREE cake WHEN we are published authors!

With that kind of positive attitude we should go far!

“A second breakfast?” Eyes widened like saucers at the very prospect.

“Yes” declared her companion, at the grand age of two months older she always took charge. “And at second breakfasts you always eat cake!”

So the two friends sat under the dining room tablecloth den, dropping crumbs and writing stories of princesses and fairies until inevitably a grown up called them out for lunch! 

found this pic on FB and wove a little tale from it!

Windows

Once upon a time when between “proper” jobs I signed up with an employment agency.

I was young and naïve but I had a piece of paper in my hand saying I had achieved a 2:2 in a Library and Information Studies degree. So my skills and talents were undisputed.

A job came up at a big chemical company nearby. The job description was “something” to do with windows.

Now what I am about to confess is probably the biggest blonde moment of my life and I can’t remember telling anyone this story in confidence let alone sharing on social media for the whole wide world to see!

I sat through most of interview looking at the window in the room unsure if the job require me to take an inventory of all the physical windows on the plant or Windows was some computer jargon!

Goodness knows what they thought of this bumbling idiot answering questions in a vague wishy washy manner. Obviously not sufficiently qualified in either building materials or computer science for the task at hand.

You have to remember this was half a lifetime ago and in technology terms this was practically the dark ages!

Needless to say I didn’t get the position.

Windows were in the news yesterday introducing their latest operating system Windows 8, see I am a lot more computer savvy now!

Actually I am far ahead of the game, having my very own windows update installed as I type!

Windows - six

Windows - eight

PLEASE NOTE: these windows are NOT touch screen, please do not leave sticky finger prints on the glass.