Lovin' the Language Blogfest

This is all Jolene's idea from Been Writing. It's just an excuse to share some work as a writer, but I'm game, even if I don't really understand the point of a blogfest, per se.

The rules are simple. Pick any five lines or any five SHORT exerpts from one of your WIPs. If you're feeling shy, and don't want to share from your own work, share from something you LOVE.

I can do that.

I have a completed manuscript called Trendy Poseurs Go Home, about a high school graduate drifting toward nothing, and if you want to read more about that, you can click the link or the one to the right and visit my author site.

Instead, I will share some lines from my new work in progress that I am currently calling Something About Ghosts and Aliens.

A young boy named Marcus witnesses something extra-ordinary in the woods outside of his grandmother's house, and his older brother, Evan, is never the same. This leads to Marcus's discovery of the Ghost living in the attic of Grandma's house. The rest of the book is his search for more Ghosts, for answers to what happened to his brother. Aliens will show up somewhere. These excerpts are the buildup to Marcus's meetup with the first Ghost:


We weren’t allowed in the room at the top of the turret, but the rest of the house was a continual source of entertainment. Around every corner something new caught up to us. We would creep in and out of cubby holes and crawl spaces. We were explorers and astronauts and pirates and dinosaurs. 

We called it The Forbidden Forest, though it was anything but forbidden. Evan and I would roam out there for hours every day, every summer. Great ferns, rotten logs, rocks and entire trees covered in moss. It was so easy for a child to get lost. 

The universe collapsed around me. Branches snapped. Whole trees shattered. Individual leaves disintegrated with deafening, popping explosions.

I calculated where I thought the sky shimmer had happened and imagined I could still see the spot in the air hovering above the branches reaching up to touch it, to see if it were real. I became the trees, standing tall on the bench, and stretching until my swaying could brush the clouds from the sky. Evan’s snoring became thunder all around me, the anger of the clouds.

I didn’t think I was hearing this, but it was a voice nonetheless. I turned, or willed myself to, but couldn’t feel myself moving. I was floating, alone, except for the Shadow presence, which I couldn’t pinpoint, only intuit.

There you have it. Feel free to encourage me to keep working on it because it's so brilliant and you can't wait to read more. Otherwise, you can go away quietly.


If you're curious, the next couple of blogs on the blogfest list are here and here.