A to Z Challenge - A is for Amazing

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

It's time for another A to Z Challenge! This year, I want to tell you about a story that is currently a WIP (work in progress). It's the story I'm writing in honor of my baby lovebird, Robert. It's a fantasy story, but it's really a story about emotional healing. So let's examine it by going through the alphabet!

A is for Amazing.

Not that the story is amazing, but the location is. The Good Pirate, Robert takes place in a land called Locreya.

Locreya is a magical land filled with all kinds of creatures, colors, talking trees, and things beyond your wildest imagination. It is a land of endless possibilities. The inhabitants are just as amazing as the land itself. Everyone and everything is bright and beautiful. Dogs can talk. Sharks tap dance. A bird is a good pirate. A joker of a tree greets you every time you come into Locreya. There is love, there is magic, there is wonderment. This story has a lot of elements that are nothing short of amazing.

Come back tomorrow when we discover what the letter b has in store for us!

A to Z Theme Reveal

Okay kids. It's the day you've all been waiting for! It's time for my A to Z theme reveal!

This year's theme is...

The Good Pirate, Robert!

This is a current WIP (work in progress). It is my first shot at a fantasy-type story.

I want to give you a little background on this. Robert was the name of a bird we had. We have a few birds, including a pair of Lovebirds. They had had clutches (babies) in the past, but Mom (CJ) hadn't laid any eggs in a few years. That is until last summer.

She laid 7 eggs, 4 of which were viable. All 4 of those hatched. Unfortunately, we lost one pretty early on. The other 3, however, seemed to be thriving.

Robert was one of those babies. He had a brief encounter with one of our dogs. He survived, but there was obvious brain damage. Within hours, though, he showing us how tough and resilient he was.

One of the "symptoms" he showed was that he kept his right eye closed (he was able to open it after some time, but it seemed that he preferred to keep it closed). So I always said that he looked like a little pirate. That's where things kind of took off.

Daily, I shared pictures and videos of him and his siblings as they grew up. His siblings developed more quickly than he did. For example, when they were learning to fly, he was still learning to climb. Nothing kept him down, though. He was so determined; he seemed so bright and happy.

One night in September, I went to get him for his evening feeding, and he was dying. We're not sure what happened. We can only assume it is somehow related to the trauma and injuries. Perhaps he threw a blood clot, we don't know. It was a devastating loss.


Robert was such a happy guy, and when I announced his passing on Facebook, I was floored by the number of people who were saddened. People I had never met - people from around the globe who were touched by this little baby Lovebird. At that point, I knew his life wasn't in vain, and that there was something greater to him. That was when I began writing his story.


This book is not complete, in fact, it is very much still a rough draft. I want to use this month to honor Robert, to share his story, and to help this book improve.


So please join me in this fun and unique journey.

Trust me, you're gonna love it!

See you April 1!

Prepping

Hi kids!

I want to let you all know that I am prepping for this year's A to Z challenge, as I have done for the past few years. I'm also doing a second, independent one in May. In doing so, I will not be blogging during the month of March, so that I have time to get all of my posts perfect for the challenges. You will hear from me on the 21st when I reveal my theme for the official A to Z Challenge.

Until then, happy reading!

Valentine WeWriWa: Maria and Stephania

It's Saturday night, which can mean only one thing: WeWriWa! This month, to celebrate the Valentine's Day and love, we will be reading excerpts from my group of interwoven short stories, the Loving Her series. Each weekend, we will get a sneak peek into the love and lives of the four couples. So, without further ado, let's WeWriWa!

Click www.wewriwa.com for more information and to see other 8 Sentence Sunday posts.

This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight to ten sentences from a published work or even a WIP (work in progress). Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! It's a great way to meet readers, writers, and your next favorite book!  :)

Background on the excerpt: It's Maria and Stephania's first weekend away together as a couple. Maria is confused - struggling between the love of her deceased partner, and her new love with Steph.
Stephania has just come out of the bathroom of the hotel room wearing a beautiful nightgown. Maria is overcome, to say the least. Snippet in 10 sentences.

Maria’s jaw dropped and she lost her grip on the book. The air rushed out of her lungs.
Words – thoughts – escaped her. She was overwhelmed with emotion, and yet could not
understand what it was she was feeling. She was intrigued, she was afraid. She was exhilarated,
she was paralyzed. Her vision was blurred…from tears.
“Come here,” Stephania softly beckoned her.
Maria’s body felt heavier than lead. She could hardly breathe let alone move.

Loving Her Valentines: Maria and Stephania

Happy February, gang!

For this month, what I am doing is going to be discussing romances from the Loving Her series on my usual Thursday posts, and then treating you to a romantic excerpt from the story.

Who doesn't love love?

This week's couple is Maria and Stephania!

This is a rather unusual pair. If not for Stephania's persistence, they never would have gotten together.

They met at Linda's Super Bowl party, as Steph was friends with Linda, and Maria knew Liz and Jen, who invited her along with them.

Stephania was immediately taken with Maria. She was a writer. She was older. She was calm, serene, and wise. She was everything Stephania wasn't, and everything she needed. During the party Stephania hounded Maria. In order to gain some peace, Maria finally acquiesced, and they set up their first date.

Maria felt that she would just be playing along. She went out on the date because she had given Steph her word, but she didn't see anything coming of it. After a brief monologue by Stephania at the beginning of the first date, Maria's mind had changed. There was more to this young woman than she had given her credit for. Thus, the relationship blossomed.

There was one problem, though. Maria's first wife: Addy. Addy had passed away some years before, but Maria hadn't really moved on. She was still very much in love with her. As her relationship with Stephania developed, Maria found herself very confused. She loved Addy, but she was also falling in love with Stephania. Maria struggled greatly in finding a balance between her past and her present. Interestingly enough, Steph embraces Maria's past, and that all becomes a part of their present life.

Not everyone was happy for Maria's new found love. Her sister, Marisol, brought her the bad news that her family did not approve of their relationship. Maria was told that until she and Steph broke up and Maria was no longer gay, she needed to stay away from the family. That was until Maria's mother passed away.

While out in California spending time with her family during her mother's services, it comes to light that the only family member who had a problem with Stephania was Marisol. A heated confrontation arose, and Maria was welcomed back into the family, along with Steph.

Despite their age difference and personality differences, Maria and Stephania really make a wonderful pair. They loved and supported each other both through good times and bad. They remind us that love knows no boundaries with age, personality, background, etc. Love truly is blind, an that is a wonderful thing.