I'd like to say that when I start a story, I have my hundreds, if not thousands, of fans forefront in my mind. I skim their daily emails and letters to me, looking for small tidbits of what they are desiring of seeing next. I slave over each word, hoping I get it perfect, pleasing the largest amount of people as I can.
As I said, I'd like to say that.
In all honesty though, I write for myself. Yep, that's right. I am a very selfish writer, thinking only of myself and the characters that constantly plague me, demanding that I tell their side of things. LOL
Writing for me, provides a stress relief and a focus that at times I am sadly lacking. It allows me to push away my worries about this or that, and lose myself in a word where I control all.
There have been times that I have crafted stories as gifts, sometimes forcing the direction more than others, but the vast majority of my writings I tend to go freeform with, often without more than a character name or sometimes a title, and see what results.
I have some stories that will never see the light of day, because I really don't feel there is a good enough audience for them to attempt to do anything with them. See it's after I have poured everything that I have into my works that I sit back and ask, 'who the heck would want to read this?'
For my Christmas gift for you today though, I would like to share a flash fiction piece (100 words or less) that I wrote a while back.
Nicely Naughty
by Michelle Houston
Whistling a Christmas tune softly, she reached above her head and attached the mistletoe to the doorframe.
Firm hands clasped her waist, pulling her back against soft velvet. Soft lips began to nibble her neck.
“Why Santa,” she drawled, her eyes dancing with merriment, “is that my present I feel?”
“Have you been a good girl this year?”
“Mmmm, I have been naughty and nice.”
“In that case my naughty sweet, I have the perfect gift.” Flipping her red velvet skirt up, he caressed her bared skin. “Now be a good girl and come sit on Santa’s lap.”
Firm hands clasped her waist, pulling her back against soft velvet. Soft lips began to nibble her neck.
“Why Santa,” she drawled, her eyes dancing with merriment, “is that my present I feel?”
“Have you been a good girl this year?”
“Mmmm, I have been naughty and nice.”
“In that case my naughty sweet, I have the perfect gift.” Flipping her red velvet skirt up, he caressed her bared skin. “Now be a good girl and come sit on Santa’s lap.”
As for why I chose the cartoon I did to start things off, I wish to make clear that Bah Humbug IS in fact a Christmas spirit. It's just not THE Christmas spirit most people are looking for. LOL I'm not a grinch thought (I just work retail while putting myself through college - nuff said). But this year, I am with Santa ... get me to a beach!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!
Whatever your faith, whenever your holy day(s) is/are, may they be blessed. And if you follow no system of faith/beliefs, then may your purse be heavy and your heart be light all the days of your life.
* * *
I would like to ask for a holiday gift from all of you. : ) As my munchkin gets older, hubby and I are looking to change some of the traditions we do for the holidays, focusing less on material stuff and more on family. So I am interested in what others do for the holidays. I invite you to share some of your favorite holiday traditions. I have posted about this topic on my blog, and invite you to share your comments there. http://eroticpen.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-future.html
Hi Michelle!
ReplyDeleteThis was fun.
As for what i do on Holidays, none of the things I would like to do. That's a whole other thing. Me and Christmas don't get along well. But iwas able to get a couple of things for my family.
Anyway, whatever, but i hope you and your family have a really good Christmas.
Garce
LOL Garce, the holidays always leave me in an interesting mood. Halfway between irate and who gives a shit. Hearing people complain because they couldn't buy their spouse/kid/whoever a gift, after spending 20 bucks a week on lottery tickets for several months, etc just gets me more ramped up.
ReplyDeleteEvery year I tell myself that this year, I am not going to let it get to me. Yet every year, inevitably, it does.
Hang in there, and maybe one day, the holidays will improve for both of us.
Michelle
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. And, as for Christmas traditions...
We usually spend Christmas morning unwrapping presents, spending a lazy day with family (just the three of us) and watching the dogs go crazy over bits of discarded wrapping paper. It's neither exciting nor sane - but I wouldn't want to change the tradition.
Best,
Ash
Ash,
ReplyDeleteI wasn't quite certain my post was within the target of what was expected, but it is what is. LOL
We aren't wanting exciting. Goodness knows with me, excitement isn't a norm. We just want to move away from the materialistic trappings and find ideas of things to do as a family.
Their idea is a marathon, with lots of popcorn. But I am just not up to 9, 12, however many hours, of the Lord of the Rings. Or worse, all six Star Wars movies.
Snow is not reliable enough for traditions based around that.
Right now, all we really do is play board games and try not to kill each other. LOL
Michelle
Hello, Michelle,
ReplyDeleteSweet, hot little flasher!
I generally don't write for other people either. Well, sometimes I write for an editor -- that is, in response to a call for submissions. And it's not that unusual that what I choose to right is in direct challenge to a call. For instance, a few months ago, TEB advertised for stories to be included in a M/M anthology about men playing games. The editor concluded with the comment "and we're not talking about Scrabble!"
Needless to say, I wrote a Scrabble story ;^) (AND it was accepted!)
As far as Xmas traditions go -- since I moved overseas I don't get to spend the holidays with my family, alas. I'll call them and share their fun remotely.
When I was in the same country, though, we had a fun tradition in which the gift meister (my stepmom) would randomly draw two names for each person, and those were the folks you'd buy gifts for. (With her children and my family, there were six kids plus spouses). Not only did this save us all money, we got to focus our attention on finding gifts that our selected individuals would _really_ appreciate.
Happy Holidays!
Cheers,
Lisabet
Wow Lisabet, that sounds like a very cool scrabble game. : ) LOL
ReplyDeleteI used to write for calls too, and have some good stories as a result, but I had to really be inspired by the call to write something that I would be happy with. If the call just didn't spark me, then I didn't both with it.
Michelle