Winter of Discontent

The Winter of Our Discontent popped in my mind last night as I tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. I think, now that I’m older I might appreciate John Steinbeck more. While the story didn’t fit my situation, the title spoke volumes. I won’t bother you with the details. I’m sure you’ve had your share of troubles where life was put on hold by circumstances. Things happen and all anyone can do is hold on, going with the flow, hoping not to drown before reaching the end of the rapids. Writing goes to the bottom of your list, once more its in the realm of your dreams.

Everyday my Inbox has been filled with how- to overcome writer’s block in one form or another. Most of them said, just do it. I didn’t have writer’s block. I had life circumstances block. The only fix for that is time. I hit the delete button.

Well, Spring is almost here. My mind is clicking again, and once more, the characters I love are visiting me. Although, I do wish they wouldn’t pick so late at night to visit. I do need my sleep. For the last few days, just as I’m drifting off, they slip into my mind and whisper they want to come out and play. Too bad they’re gone in the morning. But at least with the coming of spring, and the calming of circumstances, they are tiptoeing back into the forefront of my life. It’s good to be back in the groove.

Has life ever pushed you in a ditch?

How did you get your writing groove back? 

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Cover of "The Winter of Our Discontent"
Cover of The Winter of Our Discontent

String of Lies

Sting of Lies
 

Blinking I watched as small watermarks formed smearing the ink. There’s always a sting in the talewoven by his lies. Today is no different. I don’t need nor want to see them written on a piece of white paper, no matter how pretty the script. Not after he’s carved the lies in my broken heart with a tongue that cuts sharper than any knife. As the saying goes, Karma’s a bitch. Well so am I. In time, I’ll heal, butI will not forget. In time, he will wish I had.

by Jean M Cogdell written for 

You can join in the fun

Thanks to Janice Hardy for a great writing exercise on her website. Join in the fun and rise to her challenge. You should hop over to The Other Side of the Story and get writing because the Winner gets a 1000-word critique. Here is my entry. 

Spring Forward

She turned the last clock forward an hour. Whoever invented Daylight Savings Time had a mean streak. Can’t squeeze more than twenty-four hours out of a day no matter which way you turn the hands on a clock. It had to be a man who thought up an idiotic idea like that because no woman in her right mind would bother with such foolishness.

At the refrigerator, she stopped and made a note for James to change the batteries in the smoke detectors. She didn’t think they had the right size so he’d need to go the store for more. She added a question mark to the note.
 
Lord, just thinking about tomorrow made her tired. Church in the morning, assuming she didn’t over sleep, afterward lunch at the in-laws and James Jr’s T-ball game at four. Sunday hadn’t been a day of rest since the birth of their first kid. 
 
She slipped through the screen door and settled on the porch swing. The warm breeze and the song of the tree frogs washed away her stress. Fireflies winked in the grass keeping time with the symphony. In these stolen moments, when her world stopped spinning, she recharged her own batteries. With just eight weeks left of school, she soon wouldn’t have much time for quiet reflection.
 
The door creaked behind her, and she stood turning to follow James to bed. He was right morning would come all too soon.  An hour earlier to be exact.

Porch swing

 

 

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Great Motivation! Thanks FFW

The holidays are over, the decorations are down and it’s time to get back in the groove. I couldn’t have ask for a better motivation to rev up my keyboard than the surprise that awaited me this morning in my inbox.  

Flash Fiction World-Volume 2 Anthology (Kindle edition) was released today with one of my short stories included. I’d no idea that Asleep No More  by J. M. Cogdell (that’s me) had made the cut and even been selected for publication. What a wonderful way to start 2013!

Click on the link above and check it out! A bargain at $4.47, remember to be sure and click the www.Amazon.com “like” button to give me as well as the other authors a boost it will be much appreciated. Everybody loves a thumbs up.

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2013

Flash Fiction World (FFW) proudly presents its second collection of high quality flash fiction and short stories written by many authors from around the world, including amateur, professional and award winning authors. Each story has been selected for its high level of quality in terms of writing skill and pure reading enjoyment. There are seventy stories of up to 1000 words, in all genres, for the reader to enjoy.

This substantial book is for lovers of flash fiction and short stories. All genres are included – thrillers, romance, comedy, horror, fantasy, crime and more. If your taste is for fiction that leans more to the commercial side, with fast-driven plots and action all the way you won’t be disappointed. At the same time many of our stories are literary in style. They deal with the inner conflicts, fears and dramas that take place within the human being.

To take three examples, Flash Fire by R.A. Savary takes a no-holds barred look at the actions of two strangers, a man and a woman caught up unexpectedly in a restaurant nightmare. The Last Love by Varun Malhotra describes a day in the life of an Indian prostitute, and how her love for a client is doomed to fail. The darkly humorous Keeping the Magic Alive by Cath Barton takes us on an outing with a long-married couple. This wry tale looks at how expectations can lessen as years progress.

Flash Fiction World – Volume 2 is packed with stories about all the facets and dramas of life. Whatever your preference you will find plenty of reading material (over 30,000 words) in these pages to keep you happy and leave you fulfilled. I guarantee that you will enjoy a fiction feast and will be seeking more stories by many of the writers that you discover in these pages.

R.A.Savary, Varun Malhotra, Benjamin Davis, Sally Jenkins, JB Lacaden, Ines Franco Fatzinger, Melanie Taylor Herrera, Thomas Pitre, Matthew J. Metzger, Rob Harris, Mark Allerton, J.M. Cogdell, Doug Donnan, A Goddard, Cath Barton, Keith Davison, Ellie Stewart, Helen Lavall, M Hazzan, Wayne Scheer, Ines Bouhannani, Alex Robinson, Peter Lingard, Elliott Capon, Ciro DiLorenzo, Christian L. Berger, Michael A. Kechula, Natalie Bowers, Billie Louise Jones, John Mulligan, Joseph Kaval, Faith, Bill Rayburn, Kirsty May Grant, Merrick W. Allen, Emily Parry, Taryn, Brian Toller, Richard Hartwell, Unisse Chua, Tanya Keefe, Angela R Sargenti, Michelle Ann King, Alan Balkema, Theresa, Patricia Crandall, Shanon Creeley, Cathy Bryant, Olivia Sadie, Duke Alexander, Duncan Jones, Paula Kennedy, Candy Chilton, Sarah E. Alderman, Kerri Dominique, Chaitali Gawade, Danielle Parker, Sheila Armstrong, Stephen Terry, Christina Murphy.