I entered the following into a writing contest. Spring break What could be more fun than Spring break in the Florida Keys, a day trip out on a boat with four of her friends, yeah right? A simple three hour tour Tommy had called it. It’d all sounded so simple, She’d agreed to join them even though she’d been the fifth wheel, thinking it would be a good diversion and might break her out of the dark mood she was slipping into, God, what she wouldn’t give to be back on dry land and obsessing about her love life again. They’d drifted for two days now, The Caribbean sun baking them into red cinder crisps. There’d been no sight of land since two hours into the trip, a few minutes before the motor had gone out. The radio didn’t work and they were only a few sips away from being without water. Things can’t get much worse, Jenny thought. She’d spent the time sitting in the bow, trying to save energy and quietly going over her twenty two years of life. Reliving the high points, examining the regrets, trying to figure out what she would have done differently. Her mind drifted to that boy from the other night, not a boy really, a young man. So different from the boys sheknew. Brown haired and blue eyed, with a scar over his left eye. He’d seemed so different, with a quiet confidence, as if he had seen it all and yet somehow found her interesting. She only had five minutes with him before Sissy pulled her away, but she wondered if she would be thinking of those blue eyes forty years from now and what might have been. “I hope I have forty years,” she mumbled to herself. I hope I have forty days, she thought and knew if she ever had a chance like that again, she’d do everything possible to make it happen. Wow, how pathetic was that? She thought, close to death and I’m thinking about some guy I met for five minutes. She looked at her companions, Tommy and Sissy were in the middle of the boat, Sissy looked like a wreck, her fair skin blistering and covered in salty sweat. John and Marla had the back end of the boat, after three years of college, inseparable and in each other’s back pocket; they were going to die not talking to each other. It was only about an hour before sunset which meant another night of fear and dread. Jenny wondered if they’d still be alive at this time tomorrow and who’d die first? The little boat began to rock in the gentle swell. It wasn’t fair, the wind was blowing somewhere else, sending them waves, but no relief from the heat. Bored, frustrated, and getting angrier with every lurch of the boat, Jenny twisted and pulled herself up onto the bow. She shielded her eyes as she scanned the horizon. The sparkling blue water was so tempting, her throat ached and her tongue felt like it’d swollen to the size of a loaf of bread. This was their last chance; she doubted they’d make it through the night. Her eyes swept back and forth, but there was nothing, no hope. Jenny dropped her head onto her hands, and would have cried if she’d been able to. Then looking one last time, a slight movement caught her attention, doubting what she saw, losing it, and then getting it back. A small orange speck, skimming over water, was it…, could it…, Yes! A Coast Guard Helicopter, the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. Standing up in the bow, bracing her knees on the gunnel, she started waving her hands, turning to make sure everyone else had seen it, needing confirmation that it wasn’t a figment of her imagination. The aircraft glided to hover forty feet up and slightly to the side, the thundering downwash raising a stinging mist that scoured her burnt skin. The beautiful machine hung there in the air for a moment and then a door slid back and a crewman stuck his head out. Wearing a helmet and darkened visor, the man looked down and smiled, giving them a quick thumbs up. Reaching out he attached a metal basket to a winch and lowered it to the water. Jenny could see him talking into a mouth piece, obviously giving directions to the pilot as the basket was dragged through the water to the edge of the boat. They decided Sissy should go up first, and the others soon followed, Tommy wanted to be last until Jenny convinced him that Sissy might need him. Finally it was Jenny’s turn. The trip up was thrilling, the sense of relief easily overpowering any trepidation. Finally she was at the doors edge and the crewman grabbed the basket and pulled her into the helicopter’s interior. Jenny watched the crewman slam the door shut as the aircraft tilted and turned for home. Jenny breathed an intense sigh of relief as she watched the crewman throw back his visor. A small wisp of brown hair fell across his forehead, almost hiding the scar above the gorgeous blue eyes. Jenny crumbled when he smiled and said, “I knew I’d get another chance.”

Bill Baker

I would like to spend a moment remembering Bill Baker, My step father, and my mother’s best friend. Bill passed away the other day after years fighting several disabling illnesses that would have taken a lesser man far sooner than now.

Bill was a good man from a hard background. He grew poor in a tough world. One of 5 in a single woman’s household. He was a bit wild in his early years.

When I met him he was managing a fence company, basically running everything, He was dating my mom and gave me a job for a few months building fences. I learned a lot, most of all; I learned that I didn’t want to use my back to make a living.

Even though he was dating my mom, Bill laid me off when business slowed up. He could have kept me on the books a little while and screwed the company owner. But he didn’t, I always admired him for that.
He and my mother eventually got married and moved to Arizona where he started a business and ran it for 20 years until his retirement.
It was an honorable life for an honorable man.

Best of all he treated my mom and sisters with respect, It allowed me to take off and explore the world. I knew Bill was there to take care of them.

You will be missed Bill, you made a positive difference in our lives.

Thanks

Just Read TruthSeeker by C. E. Murphy

I just finished reading TruthSeeker by C.E. Murphy.
This was a good book. Lara, the heroine, always knows a lie when she hears it. She is asked by an Elvin prince to travel to his world and help him find his brothers murderer. To find the person who is lying. The book is fast pasted, with strong characters. I liked the banter and I liked how the author kept bring in all of the little lies we tell everyday. Pointing out how metephores could be considered a lie. We are not really as fast as a rabbit, the night is rarely as dark as a tomb. Lara travels back and forth between the two worlds trying to help and trying keep herself and friends alive as they are pursued. This appears to be the first of a two book series. I will be getting the next one.

Different types of apocalyse novels.

Different types of Apocalypse Novels.

There are two basic types of apocalypse novels. One in which everyone is still alive, but we have lost the ability to keep everyone alive. The story ends up with everyone fighting over fewer and fewer resources. The second types are the books in which almost everyone is dead and the few remaining survivors must fight to restore some version of civilization.
Type one (everyone starts out alive)

- “End of Civilization” type novels. Everyone is still alive, but all of the accouterments of civilization such as Electricity, financial markets, respect for law and order have been eliminated. The resulting chaos and how people cope is the heart of the story. Examples include One Second After, Dies the Fire, Survivors
- Another example is the “Alien Invasion” version; we must struggle against the outsider. Usually very strange and otherworldly. Think “Day of the Triffids, Puppet Masters, Footfall, and War of the Worlds.
- Natural disaster destroys our world, again, everyone start out alive, the disaster kills some, but the loss of civilization kills more after the immediate effect. Examples include Lucifer’s Hammer, 2012,
- We destroy ourselves via atomic war, usually because of the evil Military Industrial complex. Such novels as; Alas Babylon, the Day After, and On the Beach.
- We destroy ourselves via a biological Germ, same premise but without the radiation hot spots. Examples include – The Stand, I am legend, the Earth Abides
- Zombie Books. The undead look upon us as their resource, we disagree.

Type Two
- Long after the event, People are trying to cope, examples include –The Road, The book of Eli, the Postman, Mad Max, the Eternal Road, and Time Traveler.
- Future worlds that have experienced a cut off from the past, such as Logan’s Run, The Eternal Road, Time Traveler.

The common item though out these books is that their world is different from ours. The conflict occurs when these people have to adjust to the new rules. They all seem to wish they could go back to the golden days of our world. That should tell you something about how good we have it.

books

Gary's books

Angels and Demons

by Dan Brown

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

by Mark Twain

East of Eden

by John Steinbeck

The Bourne Supremacy

by Robert Ludlum

writing group

Why would I put myself though this? I have decided to start blogging about my writing. To explore the why and how of my hobby. To share my thoughts and explore techniques.

I attended my first writers group meeting the other night. I didn’t know what to expect going in and had not submitted anything for critique. I just wanted to observe, to watch the process, and judge the participants. In all honesty, I wanted to determine just how much would I be risking by participating.

I was very impressed. While there was a very wide range of attendees. They all seemed very hardworking and very passionate about their writing. I didn’t know there were people out there like me. Writing and trying to find that voice that fills the page with meaning and emotion. That voice that can reach down into another person.
Eleven people had their works critiqued. The critics were fair and honest and very helpful. I will definitely submit my own writing next time.

Change in Seasons

Fall is here and quickly turning into winter. Cold, Blustery days. the last leaves have fallen.

Our lives are like the seasons. Spring of our youth, full of hope and wonder. Turn into the productive summers, passionate heat and long lazy days mirror our 20's and 30's. Fall is like our 40's and 50's. We get to enjoy life, the kids are gone like geese flying south. Finally the winter of our life, cold and lonely, we prepare for the end, and reflect on what was and what could have been.