Insulating.

Ice and fog, like a frigid shroud.

Eerie or peaceful, depending on your perspective.

Huh. The key to life discovered on a morning jog, and isn’t that just the way of the world?

What does this have to do with my website? As you can see, there’s a long gap between this post and the last. Why? Well changes of course. So, you may be asking yourself, which way did I respond? Never one to do anything halfway, I decided to go for all the above. Not all at once, but in stages. This led to a long gap of non productivity while I tried to cope, not an approach I would recommend to anyone else.

So finally here I am, back to my website and my writing. Embracing the change in my life and funneling it into creativity. Sorry it took me so long

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming….

I used to visualize myself as on an island, safe and secure, allowing only those I wished onto my shore. The control was mine, who to let on, who to kick off, whether to swim to someone else’s island for a day or not etc.

It was a good outlook, if a bit lonely.

Recently I met someone with the same type of life philosophy, only their island had huge rock bluffs, impenetrable jungles, and a lava spewing volcano directly in the middle. A very exciting place but impossible to ever relax on. None of the beaches had sand, only rocks, the jungle had no trails and the water source was across the freshly spewed lava fields, which changed location every day.

Needless to say, after trying to navigate all that chaos I finally gave up and just swam back to my own little safe and sane island. Probably the latest in a long line of adventurers to do exactly the very same thing. Sad actually, because his island was of his own creation, his loneliness his own doing. A prison of his own making.

Wait. Prison.

I looked around at my island. Different but the same. A prison. My prison.

Okay, that was my epiphany. So now what you ask?

I’m out in the ocean swimming from island to island, yelling to everyone, “The water’s warm! Come join me.”

This morning I woke up thinking of freedom. Shocker right? Seeing as it’s July and all, but the type of freedom I’m referring to is personal freedom. Where does it come from? And who’s to say what it means to you, or to the neighbors across the street, or to that couple sitting on the park bench?

Look more closely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The woman gazed at the clothing laid out on the bed, designer fitted dress or leather and chain? What would she wear? Who would she be tonight? Her heart pounded, palms sweated.

Her fingers caressed the edge of the dress, black and elegant. It sang of upscale restaurants, limos, men with suits.

Her hand moved to the leather, subtle and soft but speaking of dominance and obedience. The riding crop laid out next to it spoke of… other things.

She placed her hands in the middle, just as he came into the room, the man who gave her the freedom to be both.

She picked up the riding crop…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He stood staring up the path

Unable to move

Frozen

Because he knew

Under the canopy of trees

Darkness fell early

And it waited around the bend

Always

Just

Around

That

Bend

A friend and fellow writer, Danita Cahill has tagged me in the Lucky Seven.

The challenge: Post seven lines from an unpublished work of fiction.

The Golden Rules:

Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
Go to line 7
Post on your blog or Facebook page the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are – no cheating
Tag 7 other authors to do the same.

Here’s the lines from my Urban Fantasy WIP

Tonight her mom drove into the darkness, down to the local tavern. “Stay here Jess.” She said, getting out, going inside. A few moments later, the van’s back doors opened. Her father hung limp, carried between two men. They heaved him up onto the mattress, before slamming the doors closed again. Her mom got in the front and started the engine to drive back home.

Here are my nominee’s:

M. Pax

Marie Harte

Rich at BrainSnorts

Karen Duvall

Madison Woods

Melania

Craig Towsley

And then there’s all those wonderful people out there nominating me for awards…a huge very tardy thank you to all. Here’s all my late acknowledgements.

Thank you Stacey over at Plowright for The Commentator Award

I know reading comments others, like yourself, leave on my blog is what makes my day. I’m glad to return the favor. And Stacey my dear, you deserve every positive comment I send your way.

Thank you Jeff Whelan for the Lovely Blog Award

Thanks Jeff! One can never have too many awards, and every gal wants to hear the word ‘lovely’ applied to something they do. Thanks for thinking my blog is lovely.

Kate Policani for the Sunshine Award

Any award comparing my blog to sunshine is greatly appreciated. Sometimes I don’t feel very sunny and my writing swings towards the dark naturally, so for me to be nominated for this award is truly something. Thank you Kate!

Okay, so here are some things about me:

1. My name is not Tes. It’s something much older and stranger.
2. I love trying new things. Change is exciting, embrace it.
3. I have two Weimaraners
4. Sometimes I get in my car and have this urge to just drive, head off in a random direction and never come back. No my life doesn’t suck that bad, but wow…the freedom. Until of course you couldn’t pay for gas, food, hotel… Yeah, that’s why I don’t do it.
5. I am a nerd. I love RPG’s. Yes I am a woman over the age of thirty…

Okay, considering that my life right now is one big time suck and I really, really do need to actually write to make money, I’m going to nominate just one blog for each award.

The Others1 for The Commentator Award. No one is more consistent on leaving comments on my blog! I love to see those flip-flops in my comments section. Thanks.

Mike over at MyShorts for the Lovely Blog award. His shorts may be…well, um…short, but man are they good!

Melania over at NWFantasyWriter gets the Sunshine Award, because a more sunny person I’ve never met.

Here’s the photo prompt for Friday Fictioneers courtesy of Madison Woods. Thanks Madison, for starting and continuing this wonderful writing prompt. Please visit her site and check out all the other Friday Fictioneers. This one gave me fits, but here’s what I finally came up with:

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Out of breath, he reached the summit. The trek had taken him over desolate rock fields with no visible life.

“Snow, at least I’ll have fresh water.”

Turning in a circle, he spied his surroundings, an island. Unfortunately, the other side showed more of the same.

No vegetation. No food. Perhaps the tide pools would contain some edible life forms? Although, without access to fire, he’d be doing sushi.

Curse his luck. First his ship malfunctions, next his life pod crashes in the ocean, now land with no food. Could it get any worse?

The ground shakes, the smell of sulfur stings his nose. “Well hell.”

Here’s the photo prompt for Friday Fictioneers courtesy of Madison Woods. Thanks Madison, for starting and continuing this wonderful writing prompt. Please visit her site and check out all the other Friday Fictioneers. Here’s my 100 word take on the photo:

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The scent of Big Macs and fries drew them, although only he was sentient. The years of training at the monastery having paid off, so to speak.

A moth, really? He flapped his brown wings, and guessed it could be worse. He could have come back as a germ or an amoeba. At least he’d been prepared. She however, not so much. Did she see this as heaven or hell? Or was she just a moth, drawn to the light of the window, totally unaware of having been more?

He remembered the suicide vest, trigger in her hand. Speaking about her god before sending them both into the great beyond.

Suddenly a bird swooped in, grabbing her in its beak before flying off.

Karma’s a bitch.

When it rains it pours, in a good way. I’ve received a second award, the Versatile Blogger, kindly bestowed on my by Jeff Whelan. Go check out his site.

This is a pass it on type of award, so the five blogs I’m awarding are in no particular order:

1. M. Pax 
2. Marie Harte
3. Karen Duvall
4. Madison Woods
5. Paty Jager