Free Read: Contest Ficlet

This was my entry into a ficlet contest on the Torquere social mailing list. Rules: 100-250 words, must include the words chipmunk, squash, and clipboard. My entry, after much trimming and gnashing of teeth, clocked in at 243 words.

***

Dan paced the hallway, frantically consulting his clipboard. "I told them! How am I supposed to put on a play when my actors can't be bothered to show up!?"

Behind him, a door opened and a six-year-old in a chipmunk costume poked her head out. "Mr. Halston?" she called. "Tommy's zipper is stuck and Savannah's crying 'cause she doesn't want to be broccoli anymore."

Dan looked up at the ceiling. "Give me strength," he muttered, and raised his voice for a chipper, "Be right there!" He turned to attend to his miniature divas -- and found himself abruptly nose-to-nose with the most gorgeous pair of warm brown eyes he'd ever seen.

He stumbled back with an automatic, "Sorry," and his throat went dry as the promise of those eyes was realized in broad shoulders, trim waist and hips, and a mouth-wateringly tight pair of jeans. "Um."

Brown-Eyes had a bright, slightly nervous smile, and was holding the hand of a tiny cherub dressed as a squash. "Hey," he said. "Are you Mr. Halston? I'm really sorry -- Emmy's parents had a little emergency and I told them I'd bring her. They'll catch up soon, I promise. Oh; I'm Emmy's uncle. Rob Brown." He offered a hand.

Dan took Rob's hand and felt his pre-show jitters fade. "Call me Dan. I hope you'll stay."

"For the show?" Rob cocked his head adorably, his hand lingering in Dan's.

Dan smiled. "That's a good start, anyway."

Projected

It's been a good long while since I've done any kind of real status update, hasn't it? Let's take a peek into the WIP (Works In Progress) folder and see what's going on...

Succubus, Inc. - This is a short short story -- only 3000 words (6 pages) -- that I wrote to spec for an anthology submission call and have already tossed over the fence. Unlike most of my other stuff, it's neither m/m nor a romance. Instead, it's m/f erotica and while I wouldn't call it straight-up horror, it leans closer to that than to romance, certainly. Quite the departure for me, I know! I'll let you know if the anthology I wrote it for accepts it, but that won't be until late fall.


Foxfur - In theory, this is my current main project, though it keeps getting sidelined by other things. This is a fantasy story, set in the same world as Safe Harbor, but deals with all-new characters and a completely different culture. I'm about 30,000 words in right now and closing in on the end -- I have about four major scenes left to write before I can call the rough draft done -- so it's probably a longish novella, wrapping up around 40,000. Though part of me wants to come up with a secondary plot to thread through it that will expand it to 70,000 or so and call it a shortish novel, but we'll see if I'm inspired once I finish what's currently in the works. It's equally likely that when I read through the rough draft, I'll edit out a solid 15% of it.

Next Thursday Night - Another departure from the usual for me, this is a contemporary story, probably a longish short or a novelette -- 10-15,000 words or so. I've got most of the plot elements worked out already, but haven't actually started writing it yet. I'm thinking of folding in another plot element that would let me submit it to Torquere's newest (as-yet unreleased) line, which is centered around an online dating service. Which has the advantage of killing two plot bunnies with one story.

A State of Mind - The next (and possibly the last) in the "One Mind" series, this one will deal with the effects of the Awakening on certain religious elements, and is about the conflicts between family, duty, honor, and personal happiness. I've got the plot pretty well mapped out in my head, but I haven't started writing it, mostly because I'm hoping to come up with a better ending than I've currently got.

Sleep Cycle (working title, will probably change) - This one is a sci-fi story borne out of a discussion thread from TQ's LiveJournal a while back -- the host for the day dared us to come up with the strangest pairings we could imagine... So, yeah. It's about a 1950's beat poet and a Han Dynasty court philosopher. It's probably a short story, just because anything longer would require that I spend several months in research. Heh. Anyway, the plot is still a little vague, but I started writing last night, just because the scene where they first meet popped vividly into my head.

There are bunches of other stories on the back burner, and I have a whole notebook full of plot bunnies and ideas, but these are the things that are currently stewing. Which ones most tickle your fancy?

Welcome!

Hey there! You've found your way to my little authorial web presence -- please feel free to stick around! I'm here to talk about writing and publishing and other stuff related to those things.

If you're not sure who I am: Hi! I'm Elizabeth, and I write romances! If you're curious for more, I urge you to check out the About the Author link toward the top of the page. Also at the top of the page are links that enable you to check out my publications catalog, get some free samples of my writing, see what other people have said about my writing, and check out some other authors and links you might enjoy. Here in the News/Blog area, I'll fill you in on the status of my current projects, talk about my ridiculous stash of unfinished ideas, lament the trials and tribulations of being an author with a Day Job, explore other aspects of publishing (I'm also a proofreader/editor), and generally ramble on about anything and everything even tangentially related to these things.

If you've followed my in the past at my LiveJournal page, consider moving your bookmarks and RSS feed -- the LJ is not going away, but what goes up over there will almost exclusively be crossposts from this page. On the other hand, if you particularly like the LJ Friends page, I promise you won't miss anything important (or even anything unimportant) if that's the route you'd rather take.

In short: Welcome! Kick off your shoes and put your feet up.