Ciarfella’s Fiction Corner

Monday’s Musing on deadlines….

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Hey all, 

Don’t know if you caught my guest-blog, “Digging those Deadlines” on Saturday at Writers Who Kill, (https://writerswhokill.blogspot.com,) 

It’s a fun site, filled with writers who, like me, enjoy killing off their peeps on the pages! And If you jump on over, you can still see my post in their archives off to the right.

But for all you who missed it, here ya go! Just don’t forget to leave your thoughts below. Luv to hear from ya’ll on it!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 11, 2018

Digging Those Deadlines by Lisa Ciarfella

Hey All,

Lisa Ciarfella here with a warm hello and a toast to my first Writers Who Kill Blog post!

Humbled to be welcomed into the fray, I’m coming at ya’ll today on the topic of deadlines. And seeing as I missed mine here by nearly 24 hours, it’s a miracle you’re reading my post at all. That means my topic’s just about right. But like mom always says, if it were at all humanly possible I’d be late for my own funeral, so I guess it’s not that surprising. And like Douglas Adams  author of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy quote above, ” I’d venture to guess I’m not alone!

Not sure how ya’ll handle deadlines. But being nearly two years out of grad school, the memories of those looming, logistically impossible, never-ending nightmarish academic deadlines, small and tall, still hang over my head like a bad hangover the day after a night full of fun. You know those kinds of nights. The ones you thought were fun, but the next morning says otherwise!

Quizzes, exams, finals, papers, projects, and those all-consuming thesis deadlines tend to beat lowly grad students into submission until they can no longer function in the real world without them. You learn to lean into it though, cranking out what you must to get the job done. So what if that persnickety professor says that thing is due Tuesday at midnight on the dot in her inbox? Well, at 11:59 pm you’re chugging your twelfth espresso and hitting the submit button on your laptop, praying to the campus Gods that your WiFi doesn’t decide to go Kapow!n And if it does, there’s always the beg, borrow and plead your case ‘dog and pony’ show you can offer up. But it’s a crapshoot whether they’ll buy it or not. Either way, you either get the thing in on time, or die a slow academic death.

Out here in the real world, deadlines haven’t got any easier. I’d hoped they might, especially as a writer. But I’ve found that mandatory deadlines were actually much easier than self-imposed ones. Especially when it comes to blogging. Don’t know about ya’ll but running your own blog’s hard!

I started mine on a wing and a prayer, throwing up a WordPress site not knowing the first thing about it. But coming up with thoughtful, well-considered, interesting and timely topics to blog about every week is no easy feat. Especially when you consider there’s no money in it and the bills keep piling up. But what makes it super tough for me at least, is that no one’s laying out those deadlines anymore!

Tough as they were in school, not having ‘em at all is way worse. When I first started blogging, I thought three times a week sounded grand. Quickly, that went down to two. Then one. And now, I get out my posts when I can, and only when I think I have something interesting to say. (Oh yeah, that’s the other thing I learned quick. Babble’s never good. No one wants to read babble.) But I digress. Case in point, staying on point!

My take-away here? Deadlines are tough, but they do give structure. Without ‘em my blog posts are just “a blowing in the wind”  like my mini skirt; just a tad too short. There’s always something else more important, like taking out the garbage or walking the dog. And much as I want to write that next blog post, it can get kicked to the trash without much doing. And that can could get kicked down the street and onto the next block easy, unless I get tough on myself.

I’ve found guest-blogging’s actually easier. At least that way I’ve got some accountability. May not be the fear of failing finals anymore, but it’s more than that now. It’s the fear of failing at this writing thing and having to barista forever that keeps me up nights. So here it is. Me getting tough. And with just a smidge under 24 hours over the mark!

And here’s to all the Writers Who Kill for rolling the dice and still putting me up!

Cheers all and stay tough!

Lisa

Lisa’s a recent MFA graduate from California State University, Long Beach. Her writing slants dark towards the Noir and crime fiction, channeling inspiration from greats like Jim Thompson, Paul D. Marks and Paul Brazill. She’s been featured on PulpMetal Magazine, Flash Fiction Offensive, Near to the Knuckle, Asheditcom, NoWastedInk, and other places. And her short story “Tick-Tock” will be featured in the upcoming 2019 Sisters in Crime L.A., Fatally Haunted Anthology.

Lisa Blogs here: Ciarfella’s Fiction Corner;  https://www.writingfictionnow.com    

Ciao for now,

Lisa

 

Talking ‘Small Time Crimes’ by Paul D. Brazill…

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Hey all,

Coming at ya on a rare Saturday with a crime fiction review that just can’t wait. This week, I’m serving up Paul D. Brazill’s “Small Time Crimes,”a hard-hitting, fast paced, and darkly comic collection of short tales that go down easy as your favorite ale!

Brazill’s pace and quick to the draw style are an entertaining way to spend an evening. Outlandish yarns spun like nobody’s business! A real one-two knock-down drag em’ out tone, his characters are like cowboys in the wild-wild west…rebels, without anyone’s cause but their own. 

Take 7 Minutes to Midnight.

Compelling, chilling prose puts the reader in the story right away. I just knew something bad was gonna happen soon, and Brazill’s narrative cuts right to the chase:

“It’s seven minutes to midnight and the brothers will be here at the witching hour, for sure. Same as last night and the previous night. The motel room is dark except for the faint light from an old transistor radio that is tuned to a classical music station. Hinkson sits in an old rocking chair, eyes closed. A sawn– off shotgun across his lap. A half– empty bottle of whisky on the table beside him….” 

And you got to luv the protag’s final way down:

Hinkson lights fire to a toilet roll and grabs his shotgun, shouting “bring it on.” What a way to go out!

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A man of sophisticated tastes has its own charms, and could have you up late nights, worrying about the last burger you downed:

“ He ran a butcher’s shop and me ma worked at the old people’s home. Times were ‘ard after that Thatcher snatched the mines. And the oldies were droppin’ like flies. So, it just seemed like … well … an opportunity. It was just recycling, really. Very ecological.”

A Big Payoff is wicked funny.A dude hacks up people he doesn’t like, then cuts em up and sells em for dog food on the street! Then, for good measure, spikes their heads:

“It’s all about revenge. Impure and simple. Same as it ever was. The turban idea came to me after I saw a documentary on The History Channel about Vlad The Impaler. You know him? He’s the bloke that they say Dracula was based on? Anyway, he was a right nasty cunt and that was one his ways of showing everyone who was boss. And I was inspired,”

And Gareth and Fiona remind me of the young couple in “Pulp Fiction” who try to rob the diner before the two hit men intervene. These guys are a little more successful, and actually rob a postmaster, but not before Fiona takes out a blindsided teenager in the process who happens to wander in at the wrong moment! They’re violent, guilt-less, and all about the cash grab! 

Go on out and grab yourself a copy. Just don’t forget the popcorn!

Brazill’s Bio:

Paul D. Brazill was born in Hartlepool, England and now lives in Bydgoszcz, Poland, where he’s been TEFL teaching for more than a decade.

His books include Last Year’s Man, A Case Of Noir, Guns Of Brixton, Small Time Crimes, and Kill Me Quick. He’s had stories published in various magazines and anthologies, including The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime 8, 10 and 11, and his writing has been translated in Italian, Polish, Finnish, German and Slovenian. 

You can usually find him on Twitter @PaulDBrazill and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pauldavidbrazill/

Website: https://pauldbrazill.com/

 

Ciao for now,

Lisa

Monday’s Musing on First Drafts….

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Hey all,

So Monday’s Musing on First Drafts today, and all the confusion they can cause an author. 

You know what I’m talking about. Things like character inconsistencies, repetitious scenes, phrases or action. Or your character’s musing on back-story and background so much that a reader is bored to tears and wants to toss your masterpiece before even finishing. Plot holes the size of the Grand Canyon, and endings wrapped up so near they leave no room for surprise.

We’ve all been there. And this week, I’m shining the spotlight on fellow author Janice Hardy’s post “First Look at a First Draft”  at Fiction University’s http://blog.janicehardy.com

Hardy breaks it down like this:

Step One: For every scene, ask yourself four questions:

  • What is the point of view character (protagonist) trying to do?
  • What goes wrong?
  • What does the point of view character (protagonist) do about it?
  • Why does this matter?

For me, the Why is key!  If your characters don’t have a why, your readers probably wont care! Got to answer this biggie first!

Step Two: Once you have all your scenes down, read through your list and see how the story flows. 

I use flash cards for this.  3 ‘ 5 cards, front and back for each scene. That’s it. Then I shuffle them and see if they make sense on their own, as well as in order. If they’ don’t, it’s time to re-juggle.

Step Three: Take note of anything that feels repetitious. 

I tend to repeat, a lot (a lot – haha.) Not on purpose, but it happens. The same types of actions or musings, albeit in different words. Got to check your script over for this bad boy – a sure-fire way to bore your readers!

Step Four: Look at your overall character motivations.

This goes back to step #1 and ‘the why.’  Got to keep your story stakes moving and for that, your people have to have motivations. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, if your character’s people are desperate to cross lest they drown, then you’re right on target! Give em’ reasons for everything they do!

That’s it for today peeps, and another shout out to Janice Hardy at Fiction University http://blog.janicehardy.com for all the great tips!

Ciao for now, 

Lisa

Monday’s Musing on SC Cunningham’s “Unfinished Business”

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Hey all,

So I’m on Blog tour again, this time reviewing SC Cunningham’s delicious and steamy thriller, “Unfinished Business.”

He loved being him… he got away with murder.

She loved being her… until she met him.

Cunningham weaves one steamy, roller coaster of a ride here, fueled by her psychopath David’s dark obsessions with both his childhood sweetheart Tara and his abusive religious upbringing by priests who liked boys just a tad too much. A pulsing mix of overtly sexual, graphic scenes and tension and dark humor grab the reader by the throat early on and don’t let go till the end.

 
Fun-loving Tara is the only victim to survive David Howard’s revenge-filled death list, and is the unlucky recipient of his return after he breaks out of prison on a lark. Recruiting the help of an eager prison guard whom he seduces with sexual prowess, he breaks the neck of another guard and flees to Mexico with his accomplice. There, after a short-lived stint of freedom, his charred remains are found in a fire at a plastic surgeon’s clinic, and the police declare him dead. Tara and friends can finally relax now. Yet little do they know the real score!

David still walks among them, but with a new face. And his revenge to-do list is just getting started! He haunts them by tapping into Tara’s laptop, and cyber stalks as well. But can Tara turn the tables and make him suffer like she did when he kidnapped her?

          Tara has had enough. Time to turn the tables and make him suffer.

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Purchase from Amazon  – USA – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unfinished-Business-David-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00B623ABC/

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unfinished-Business-David-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00B623ABC/

 

                     About The Author: British Author S C Cunningham

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The Penance List, Unfinished Business and The Deal creates psychological and paranormal thrillers. Her works offer a fresh level of sincerity and authority, rare in fiction.

Cunningham writes what she knows. Abducted as a child, she survived; and every night for months afterward, she prayed to God, asking for a deal. This personal journey sparked the fuse behind the intriguing and riveting fictional world she portrays in The Deal, the first in the Fallen Angel Series. Twenty years later she crossed paths with a violent serial attacker, thus sowing the seed for her thrillers The Penance List and Unfinished Business part of The David Trilogy. She is currently working on Book III For My Sins.

An ex-model, British born of Irish roots, she married a rock musician and has worked in the exciting worlds of rock music, film, sports celebrity management and as a Crime Investigator for the Police – Wanted & Absconder Unit, Intelligence Analyst, Major Crime Team, Investigations Hub.

Having worked in the music to film industry, she writes with film in mind. The Penance Listhas been adapted to film screenplay.

 

Social Media Links –

Website                                     – http://www.sccunningham.com/

Twitter                                       – https://twitter.com/SCCunningham8

Facebook                                 – https://www.facebook.com/pg/sccunningham8/

Instagram                                 – https://www.instagram.com/siobhancunningham8/

LinkedIn                                   – https://www.linkedin.com/in/sccunningham/

Amazon Author Page USA    – https://www.amazon.com/S-C-Cunningham/e/B002L3ZC2U/

Amazon Author Page UK       https://www.amazon.co.uk/S-C-Cunningham/e/B002L3ZC2U/

 

Giveaway – Win a signed copy of Unfinished Business (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494103/

Friday’s Flash and pimp here kids…

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Just a quick blurb here kids, to catch you all up…

This summer I had the great fortune to have a couple short stories picked up by a few of the most deliciously deranged (but in a good way) crime fiction sites out there on the net!

As if that wasn’t enough, both were also highlighted on the esteemed SMFS (Short Mystery Fiction Society) website as part of their “May International Short Story Month.” How lucky can a girl get?? It’s July, and I’m still celebrating!

So pop those cold ones and jump on over and take a gander. All three sites and stories are free to peruse! (Links follow below!)

Happy crime reading, peeps, and see you all on the dark side!

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First, here at SMFS  “as a bonus to Short Story Month…  Shortmystery.blogspot.com

And then, find “Last Night’s Lift” here, at Near To The Knuckle

And finally, check out “Karmic Catastrophe” at Out Of The Gutter Online.   

Much thanks to Kevin Tipple at SMFS, and May Short Story Month, as well as Henry Roy and the folks at Near to the Knuckle for putting up Last Night’s Lift.  And last but not least, much luv to Hector Duarte Jr. and Rob Pierce over at Flash Fiction Offensive’s Out of the Gutter Online, for grabbing up Karmic Catastrophe!

What a summer it’s been, and what a ride! 

Oh, and tomorrow, just to keep things rolling, I’ll be guest blogging over at Wendy Van Kamp’s NoWastsedInk at https://nowastedink.com. So drop on by and say hi!

Ciao for now all, 

Lisa

 

Labels: International Short Story Month, Lisa Clarfella, Near To The Knuckle,Out Of The Gutter Online, SHORT STORIES, short story month, SMFS, SMFS Member

 

Monday’s musing on back-story, and author Margot Kinberg’s latest post…

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Hey all,

So Monday’s Musing on Author Margot Kinberg’s latest blog post, “I Am the Observer Who is Observing* —at Confessions of a Mystery Novelist https://margotkinberg.wordpress.com/2018/05/31/

Not unlike the spotted pup above who looks to be observing all, Kinberg’s post got me thinking: how can the observer characters in crime-fiction help us write better back-story into our novels?

Kinsberg likens writers to those people in life who tend to be the natural observers, the chill peeps…nothing gets by these guys! You probably know a few. I know I do (myself included.) If you ever read Agatha Christie, you know Poirot is always looking to interview the observers, the ones who been there and saw that! And he always gets the most info out of them in terms of solving X for Y!

Similarily, if you watch any of HBO’s crime fighting shows, or BBC’s mystery dramas you know observers are the detective’s main go-to’s!  Even more so than physical evidence found on scene most of the time.

As Kinsberg notes: “Observers often have a very interesting perspective, because they stand back and notice everything…can give valuable information on what they’ve seen. And their perspectives can give the detective a sense of what a group of people is like So, it’s little wonder that we see them so often in crime fiction.” 

 

Observers all!

 What intrigued me the most in Kinberg’s post was her mention of author Louise Penny’s book, Still Life. In it, the victim, Jane Neal, seems to be the observer, albeit from after the grave. She helps the cops by letting them know she’d known things, a lot of things, that other people in town just may have wished she hadn’t! Which, ironically enough sealed her doom!

I just so happen to be working up a novel where the victim chimes in from after the grave too. And it’s especially cool using this as a way tof deal with a character’s back-story. Back-story is so challenging. It engrosses us as we create our characters, but can too easily become the all consuming dreaded author’s “dumping ground” too. After all, we don’t want to barrage  the reader in one fell swoop with 4-11 overload, right? Or, as esteemed crime fiction author Les Edgerton affectionately calls it, doing “The Rubber Ducky” (http://lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/rubber-ducky.):

“The “Rubber Ducky” is Paddy Chayevsky’s term for when the hero or villain, at a lull in the action, explains he is the way he is because his mother took away his rubber ducky when he was three…Always a nice scene…totally unnecessary …usually comes from not trusting the reader’s or viewer’s intelligence to “get it”….

…if  you’re trying to give your hero more emotional depth, for the sake of emotional depth, without integrating his back-story…you run the risk of awakening the “dread Ducky.”  Edgerton

 

Not sure how my attempt will go, but going back in time and letting the victim tell some of the tale from an observer standpoint seems a great way to deal-in her back-story without awakening the dreaded RD. 

Could make my tale more present for the reader, involving them intimately as they hear my vic’s own voice relaying the rough-ride. Better her than me, no? Gotta get out of my characters way and let them do the heavy lifting!

Thoughts, comments, odd musings on the topic?

Drop em’ all below, and let’s talk!

Ciao for now,

Lisa

 

 

Today’s feature: Author Chris Roy’s latest….

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Hey kids...Today we’re checking in with a mid-week blog tour highlighting extraordinary author Chris Roy’s latest addition, “Her Name is Mercie.”   

Author Chris Roy

Author: Chris Roy

A dark collection of grist and gore for the late-night thrill-seeker in us all, “Mercie’s” tales combine revenge, cop chases, car crashes, horror, and even a good old-fashioned ghost-story highlighting Roy’s Southern Mississippi roots with glimpses of marshlands and bayous at Roy’s story-telling finest.

But beware…read these stories late at night at your own peril…my lights were down low when I started but burning bright by midnight. Of course, a little good old-fashioned horror fiction never really hurt anyone….right? 

 

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To start, I really enjoyed the title story, “Her name is Mercie.”
Mercie is one chick I could get behind! She’s a stand-alone girl in a world gone crazy, having had both her parents and everything she knows taken away from her in one small moment! A fatal car crash, a girl gone mad, a stolen car and a bank robbery at gun point are just some of the highlights!

And you know you’re in for a good ride when Mercie, after seeing the coroner push the tables with her parent’s bodies back into the freezer, “grinds her teeth, looking at the Grim Reaper’s Lunchable cooler” then punches Chief Perez as hard as she can in response to him asking “are you ok?”

Personally, I really liked Roy’s stab at a bit of dark humor throughout, especially when our girl stops at none other than ”Sears” to buy the weapon of choice. And when her new-found Asian friend Kermit (yes, like the frog,) names their next ride ‘‘Miss Piggy’’… also very endearing.

“Libby’s Hands” was also a stand-out:her-name-is-mercie-received_10216173315868194-e1527158533876.jpeg

A good old-fashioned ghost story set on Halloween night with creepy goblins and ghouls roaming the streets set amidst Roy’s Mississippi background bayou stomping ground:

“She knew. Somehow she knew it was connected. She ran. Light from the back porch glistened on the wet grass, shoes soaked by the time she reached the pond. The tree was on the other side. A huge sycamore with low hanging branches, thick black tangled mass with the moon behind it. “Ah!” Dina slipped on the path next to the water, nearly splashing in. Dirt on her hands, grass on her knees, wrinkled her nose. Shoving to her feet she marched along the path, wary of the waterline and the tall grass she knew harbored snakes.”

In this tale, our girl Libby seems to be brought back from the 70’s as a super-natural force to be reckoned with in the present, trying any way she can to steal back the hands that were never given to her in the first place. We watch the horror and tension mount, as first a boy from the neighborhood trick or treat patrol gets his hand bound and mutilated, then Dina, Libby’s cousin and the storie’s protagonist suffers the same fate.  Creepy to the hilt, it wont be leaving your gut any time soon! Libby will keep you up tossing and turning late, if you dare! 

Also, a shout out also to “Marsh Madness.” Again, lots of hints of Chris’s Mississippi upbringing here. Makes you feel like you’ve taken a tumble right into the marsh along with the alligator and the very unfortunate pup. But the real question is, Is he trying to appease his greater need for the kill by killing off a helpless animal instead of humans? Not really sure, can only wonder… Or, maybe he takes out all in the end, grandma and the boy, just teasing them first…

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Kat Jayne; Pexels.com

My ARC ran short here, so I’ll never know. But the thought will keep me guessing, for sure!

 

Universal Purchase Link:  http://bookgoodies.com

Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLv2jjpJJxQ&feature=youtu.be

Other books by Chris

Purchase Links:   

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Roy

Website | Facebook | Amazon

Chris Roy was raised in South Mississippi, in the midst of ugly Gulf Coast beaches and spectacular muddy bayous. Chris lived comfortably with the criminal ventures of his youth until a fist fight in 1999 ended tragically. Since January, 2000, he’s been serving a life sentence in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Nowadays he lives his life crime vicariously, through the edgy, fast-paced stories he pens, hoping to entertain readers. When he isn’t writing, he’s reading, drawing or looking for prospects to train in boxing.

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Friday’s Focus: The Writing Wins…

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Happy Friday all….

Today’s inspiration came from one of my fave blog spots, Writersinthestorm.com, and guest blogger Christina Delay’s post, Living for the Writing Wins;http://writersinthestormblog.com.

Oh man, can I relate!

Ms. Delay reminds us that if we only focus on the highs, the wins when they come, and get too swept away by the euphoria of it all, we could just as easily come crashing down on the other side. And boy is she right!

In April, I experienced this all too real. You may already know, but I hit the big time, scoring huge when two of my short stories were picked up and published on two different, and long-time coveted, crime fiction sites. I’ve been wanting to add them both to my bio. for a while now and finally nailed that goal! (http://www.close2thebone.co.uk, and http://www.outofthegutteronline.com)

What a month it’s been; congrats coming out of the woodworks, smiles for days and an overall pumped up mood in my core that hasn’t been there for a while….I’ve been like a jack-rabbit on steroids! But the crash came all too soon!

Ms. Delay described the writing journey like a roller coaster with its crazy ups and downs, and she’s right! My moment in the sun faded all too fast as I realized it was just that – and settled back into the daily grind, cranking out more stories, entering more contests, and facing that uncertain future my writing life is.

Most days, I wish I had a crystal ball that would just tell me if I was on the right path or not, but that’s just not how a writer’s life goes!

So, I’ve decided – it’s the journey, the road ahead that matters most. I’ll celebrate those wins, the published moments like crazy! Champagne and caviar if you will! But keep my eyes focused on the road under my feet too, lest I trip and not get back up!

Like Rocky Balboa, I’ll take those punches, but keep on moving!

That’s my plan anyway!

Ciao for Now,

Lisa

Monday’s Musing on writing for free…

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Hey all, today we’re musing on an important writers quandary: writing for pay vs. writing for free…

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Do you think your writing career, past, present, and future, feels a lot like this photo...grim, grey, and oh so foggy, with the road ahead looking dim and no clear-cut path to success?

I’m willing to bet my hard-earned weekend’s track winnings there are more than a lot of us out there, all wanting to pen our way on to the NY Times Bestseller list and having to do all sorts of crazy things to get there.

By the way, this topic was inspired by way of my girl Michelle over at The Green Study.com and Jamison, another blogger at Jamison Writes.com. (If you don’t know either, check em’ out now,) as well as my recent short story publishing successes (see my last couple posts for more on that score.)  All the above have me musing on this dilemma….should writers work for free, or should they work for hire only…

Like interning or freelance writing with no contract or financial agreement in place beyond maybe a few bucks, guest blogging to help out other authors and hoping to gain a few readers, blog tours where again, you read and review to help out other authors, and yes, even blogging, all of it is done for free with little to no compensation and no guarantee it will further your writerly aspirations in the long run. I’m no expert, but after having tried out all these to some extent both now and during my recent grad school affair, I can say one thing: all of it can make you feel like an elephant treading water….eventually, you feel like you’re losing the battle!

For those of you still with me, you probably already know. It takes an enormous amount of time, energy, and drive to write a carefully researched, thoughtful and engaging commentary, review, blog or guest post, and then to have nothing to show for it, well. It’s not all roses and candy canes! But, it depends on your goals.

As writers, of course we want readers and recognition, but to get there, something you put out has to keep the lights on too or there’s no internet left to post your scribblings on. So, what’s an ambitious writer to do??

This is where I’d luv to hear your commentary, thoughts, and considerations. Jump on in, the water’s warm! I haven’t quite yet turned into that drowning mammal, and I’m still hoping to tread lightly and make it to the other side. And I hope you make it there with me!

Ciao for now, 

Lisa

Monday’s Musing on the “Pat-Down”…

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Hi All,

So this was basically me this weekend. Some of you may already know, but Saturday I took a little trip to the teaching credential test center to find out if my wits were a match for the credential ‘gods that be,’ and their lofty yet legal, expectations. And not only did I pay bank ($) for the privilege, but I was also treated to their full on, pre-prison ‘Pat-Down’ experience in the process!

Upon checking in to test, I was told to place my palm on the electronic monitor to scan it not once, not twice, but 8 times! Up, down, and over again. Apparently, my palm was  un-cooperative! Then came the photos; 3 sides, front, right and left, smiles definitely discouraged. Next, an escorted walk down a long narrow hallway, where another cop-like eagle-eyed guard stood watching multiple video camera angles from all sides of the unlucky slugs already inside testing. Then the grand finale, a metal detector wand passed all around. Finally, before being allowed in to take my place in the tiny computer cubicles where I’d spend the next three hours cranking out timed, impromptu essays, I was ordered to empty and turn out all my pockets and show them the inside of the back of my hoodie…(not sure what exactly they thought I’d be hiding in there.) Then, last and not least, the hands-on, physical “Pat-Down,” top to bottom, on all sides. Kind of like getting pulled over for a DUI (just sayin) or getting booked for a night in the local slammer. Jail never loomed so large!

Perhaps, this was a pre-cursor of things to come. To be frank, the thought of spending a night in jail almost seems like a more appealing option than teaching full-time. This I know from being a Sub, probably the worlds worst job ever! I’ve had kids do unspeakable, horrific, awful things! Things like jump out a second story window while my back was turned writing lessons on the board. And posting social media pics pretending to smoke rolled up joints inside my classroom, which they made out of paper, usually reserved for airplanes. I’ve been called to the carpet in the Principals office and had to “go to the mattresses” Godfather style, to defend myself against their onslaughts. And truth be told, most days that blessed 3:00 bell just couldn’t ring fast enough! So why you might ask, did I bother testing at all?

Honestly, I can’t really say.  But after finishing up my MFA last year it’s been all job hunting, writing, (write, submit, rinse, respeat,) both of which have been a steady, slow grind getting off the ground. But in the meantime, a girl’s gotta keep the lights on!

The test itself was difficult too. Not I imagine, like a doctor’s medical boards or a law-student’s LSAT. But questions specifically tailored and just crafty enough to easily crap-out on if you don’t give them exactly what they want to hear, exactly how they want to hear it. So, we’ll see. Not too sure I even want to pass! If I do, it’s back to the bottom of the ant-hill school-wise, looking up at yet another whole semester of student-teaching this fall to freak out on! But if not, I guess it just means, more time to write! More crime fiction shorts, finish that novel, and get my stuff out there! As if that’s a bad thing!

Don’t know about you, but the latter sure sounds like more fun!

Keep u posted…Oh, and I’ve got a crime fiction flash piece that was just accepted by a major online mag., so I’m psyched on that score. Let u all know when it’s up. Progress rides in on small waves!

Ciao for Now!

Lisa

 

 

 

Hi all… Been out on blogging hiatus but I’m back…

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Well it’s 2018, and hi there all…

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Snoopy’s musing..

Been out on blogging hiatus but I’m back! And in desperate need of a blogging fix!

So, it’s March 2018, and my focus is on why blog, why do we break, and why, oh why do we ever return? I think it’s basically destiny. If you’re born to write, you write. No matter what. Even if it means shaking off those long dreary months of writing/critiquing/rejection/re-writing/rinse….repeat….etc…

Or, it could be your finances, or lack thereof, that took you down that street of dreams into job fantasy-land for a while, into whatever 9 – 5 situation was offered up thinking hey, at least you’re keeping the light on, eh??

But if any of you have seen that new show “Corporate” on network TV, the office stretch ain’t exactly what you might think, as I so recently found out. The show mimics the original hilarious, all time laugh out loud funny sitcom, “The Office” with Steve Carrell, and John Krasinsky, and puts you in a similar place of mind where the expected is ludicrously ridiculous and yet, oh so imaginable! And of course, when you’re doing the office-corporate gig or even a teaching stint like I was, (which, you’ll be hearing more about soon, ) your wrting will probably take a serious back seat. In my case, more like the trunk of my falling apart 2000 Camry in desperate need of retirement. Hence, the job! Which is all to say, why you haven’t seen me here in a while.

But excuses be dammed! And never one for quitting, I’m back. And so, I move forward. With promises of more writing to come, and getting back to our main squeeze, deliciously dark, desperately delectable, sinful, fiction noir, and all things writing.

In the meantime, I leave you with a link to fellow blogger Michelle, at The Green Study via https://thegreenstudy.com.

Michelle has some great thoughts here on micro-resolutions, especially helpful for the new year. Check out her “writing” section, where she says she gave herself a “writing” map, and will travel with it as long as she can. Words to live by, fellow readers! And in that vein, so will I. My map into the new year includes posting here whenever the inspiration strikes. No more strict deadlines to meet, but Monday’s Muse will continue. And Friday’s flash fiction too. But on inspiration, not on demand. So keep an eye out!

And as always, Ciao for now.

Lisa

 

Yo, all “Pulp Metal” zine fans… I’m up…

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As of this morning, my short story The Abyss  is up at Pulp Metal Magazine! 

Couldn’t be more thrilled!

Much gratitude to Jason Michel for taking it!

It’s here,  at https://pulpmetalmagazine.com/2016/12/09/the-abyss-by-lisa-ciarfella/

As always, your thoughts are more than welcome!

 

Fun Flash Friday, beyond the Zone…

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Hey there kiddies, and happy belated Hallow’s Eve to all!

 

Don’t know if you dressed up and went around the neighborhood hijacking candy, but the combination of the holiday, plus the sky getting darker way too early has me in a Friday Flash funk kind of mood, so here you go:

Inspired by Charli Mills weekly 99 words, no more no less flash-fiction challenge over at Carrotranch.com, monkeys are flying!

Enjoy! 

Beyond the Zone!

 

 Hector cursed them; damn financial aid forms!

Jumping through hoops, that’s what this is. How the hell did they expect him to get all this filled out by Friday, with three papers, two exams and a final to suffer this week? Like monkeys flying bat-shit all over campus, it just wasn’t gonna happen!

What he needed was cash. Lots of it. And now!

The line grew longer by the second, and sensing his out, he took it! The grey gun-metal felt cold to his touch in his pack as he raised it, passing the point of no return…

Monday’s Musing on synopses and Skeletons…

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This one comes courtesy by way of Kristen Lamb’s blog and her interesting article at warrior writers.org. As Ms. Lamb tells us,

 

“The synopsis strips away our pretty prose and all our verbal glitter and it lays our story bare…The synopsis is the skeleton of our story…

 

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Another blogger recently alluded to the fact that if we can’t contain our story down to a concise, intriguing, and “want to read” synopsis, chances of getting an agent to read it, is slim to none.

This seems unfair, you might cry. Feels so unjust. 

And you would have a point, to be sure. After all, our stories are our stories, expanse and hard-earned words all, and why should we have to boil it down to a nub?

But think of it from the Agent’s pov. As an Agent intern for the last 9 months I can tell you first hand; they are bombarded with stories from all over, their inboxes overflowing with literary goodness. And why should they pick yours to read over the others? I’ll tell you why. Because you’ve enticed them with the tale that can’t be tossed in your oh so short and sweet synopsis!

We all probably hate writing them, and cringe when having to cut out everything but the briefest brief. But it clarifies, optimizes, and increases your chances of getting read.

What’s your take on this? Luv to hear all about it. 

 

 

 

Friday’s Flash… Hey it’s getting dark down here…

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Lurking in the dark dusty 7th floor corridor, the grad student stared down rows of empty, after hours office doors. Sensing the incoming bomb drop, he’d tried to prepare but hadn’t been able.

Nearly 10 pm now and he knew; his pompous thesis advisor, over an hour late, wasn’t coming. Shuffling his final thesis signature pages, he sighed; no signature, no candidacy! No candidacy, no diploma! Digging into the bottom of his backpack, his fingers found the scissors, sharp and slick, nearly nicking off his pinky in the process. His advisor liked the campus bar, frequented after classes.

His cell phone glowed out  10:45 now;  just enough time, before they called last call…

 

What’s chomping at your grey matter this funky Friday??Tell me all about it. The darker, the better!

 

Monday’s Musing on the Mighty Blog…

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let’s make some noise!

Ahoy there mates, and happy Monday  again!

This muse comes courtesy of an inspirational post by Michelle over at the greenstudy.com (thanks much, Michelle). So, let’s make some noise…a blog kind of noise that is!

Much like these cool hands here, the blogger is just like the ultra hip D.J., spinning smooth tunes in some smoke-filled night club, just hoping to raise up those dead rebel-rousers out onto the dance floor. It’s all about making some noise, and knowing at the end of it you’re alive and other people are actually listening to whatever it is you’re putting out there!

Michelle’s post suggests that “At least once a year, if not more, I have to justify my reasons for blogging… Part of the reason is that I’m seeing longtime favorite bloggers close up shop or disappear in the vapors of the ethernet. It begs the question: what do they know that I should be paying attention to? ”

Good question, Michelle. And one that definitely needs the begging. Blogging is such a personal, up close and all, in your face kind of writing. Yes, there’s all kinds of bloggers. Some have more official, business marketing  agendas, and for others the experience is more akin to opening   up a vein and bleeding all over the pages, and hoping like hell noone crashes their after party. Yes, as Bloggers, we all want engagement. But when it becomes unstable, scary, or downright militant, who’d willingly sign up for that?

Michelle says she made a “half-hearted effort to set up Facebook and Twitter accounts, cussing through the entire process and attempting to change settings so that any public contact will be highly unlikely….and that maybe our word reservoirs have a limit, especially if one is an introvert.” Here here Michelle! I couldn’t agree more. I like you, like interaction with the peeps I want to interact with! Just not with the ones I don’t!

And as far a limit to our “silver tongue” well yeah. Kind of think maybe you’re right! Like you, I’m busy cranking out my first novel, and I’ve been given the sage advice by others too…Focus on the task at hand, and all the rest will follow!

So my Monday quest for you all is this…

Why do you blog? And what are you hoping to get out of it all???

Can’t wait to hear all your answers. I really, really, want to know!

 

Location, location, location…

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Stans drive-in

Stans coffee shop, 1958;  Hollywood!

So kids and kidettes, Monday’s nearly here again and we’re musing on this…

 

A thoughtful  post on where we actually do the deed from fellow scrivener Sarah Brentyn at sarahbrentyn.wordpress.com.

Being guilty of clicking away in a coffee shop as we speak, I’m notorious for frequenting the joints. Much like this old black and white from Holly-weird yesteryear, hanging out in a space filled with the aroma of freshly ground grounds and all kinds of humanity prowling around near me is enticing.

Yet, does any work really ever get done?? Honestly, no! Too many sticky fingers grabbing too many sticky buns and too much caffeine never really helped my writing. Sure, the brain gets fired up and emails get answered. But actually novel chapters in a setting so noisy I can’t hear myself think?

NO! Never happens!

For that, I gotta go bury in a cubicle ten feet deep in the bottom racks of the school library, where the only people around are busy typing as fast as I am and in just as much mental misery as I am in some shape or form!

So. My question of the week is out there! I really want to know! Where are you when your characters do the dastardly deeds and you spicy pages germinate best???

Tell me all about it!

 

 

 

 

Talk it out… Monday’s musing again…

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Funny how the week goes by so darn quick. But here it is Monday again, and we’re musing on dialogue. That pesky, all-consuming character talk-talk…

 

Snoopy, writing up dialogue“One of my biggest pet peeves as an agent reading slush is unrealistic dialogue. This is a huge indicator of skill for better or for worse. For me, this is a bigger red flag than any grammatical error…” 

(Literary Agent, Carly Watters, on writing good dialogue; Source: 4 Ways To Write Better Dialogue)

Ms. Watters post on the matter got me musing alright! Dialogue, in its best state, is natural. When it flows like water and you can’t turn off the stream if you try, then you know, you’ve got something! When the characters interact and your fingers can’t seem to stop typing, as if they’re on autopilot, that’s when you’ve struck gold! Like that time I sat eavesdropping in an old leather booth at a local diner, jotting down everything the two old birds next to me were saying. One was practically mute while the other carried on the practically the whole conversation by himself, ping-ponging back and forth, asking and answering his own questions, and having a grand old-time doing it. It translated into a short flash, then a longer short-short for me. Nothing like the real thing!

But what about those days when the words feel more forced than anything else and reading it back, you practically choke on the sound it’s so stilted and vague! Don’t know about you but I have those moments. Never easy to write, one of the things I’ve found helpful is to have others read your dialog out loud. And not just in a workshop setting. 

I’m talking about drama. Live, on stage actors, reading the parts. That’s where you’ll know for sure if it’s working or not. And the actors will probably be the first to let you know, in case you haven’t figured it out for yourself yet. If they feel funny saying it, chances are, it’s a pretty funny set of words to be spoken out loud!

What’s your take on the matter???

Luv to hear your thoughts on this one! 

 

 

 

 

Monday’s Musing: libraries and labor day…

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Happy and peaceful Labor Day folks, 

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While you’re all out there waving the red, white and blue, and firing up those BBQ’s, don’t forget to take off your hat and give a wave to your local libraries and librarians who toil away for the sake of you, your kids, and your family’s insatiable reading prowess at large! By day and by night, these institutions and folks are the cornerstone of the American word, free speech, and our steadfast right to enjoy both!

As an MFA grad student, writer and prolific reader, I’ve probably spent over half my life in these places. Filled with gifted, educated, and wonderfully decent people attempting to spread the word, they are still the best free deal in town! Or, as David Nilsen tells us in this recent post from fourthandsycamore.com in On Neil Gaiman and Libraries,

“I’m going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do. I’m going to make an impassioned plea for people to understand what libraries and librarians are, and to preserve both of these things.”

What’s your take??? Salute me back with your thoughts…

 

Source: On Neil Gaiman and Libraries

Monday’s Musing on Social Media… the good, the bad, and the ugly!

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So, Monday’s nearly here again, and I’m musing on this:

It’s Clint Eastwood in “The good, the bad, and Ugly” and Roz Morris’s recent post on Nail your Novel.com about authors and Social Media. And I can’t help but wonder, just how Eastwood and his fans might have seen it?

 

Seems we can’t escape it, whether or not we want to. It’s here, in all its forms, from friending to tweeting to linking and tumbling. And for introverted authors like myself, it can all feel like a terrible plot conspiring against our very sanity to drive us out of our ever-loving minds!

Yet, where would we be without it?? It keeps us connected, keeps us informed, keeps us current and most of all, keeps us writing!

So, tell me, what’s your partial brand of this particular poison?? Chime in and have at it!

(Roz Morris Source: Yes, social media DO work for writers – here’s how)

Friday’s flash and more…

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“CHOP, CHOP, CHOP” went the knife.

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Thanks to David Duron for this pic!

Down and through the apple, over and over and over. Staring blankly out through the kitchen window, Kevin wondered what would happen if the apple weren’t an apple but instead, a head. Somebody’s head, but not just anybody’s head. It would have to be more wide than circular with orange hued lips and a V-shaped mouth and eyes that slanted slightly to the left when they looked at you. And nostrils the size of extra-big peanuts, sniffing in any hint of aggression coming its way. It would have to be…

“Dam it all to hell!!”

Kevin looked down at his hand, now crimson stained and the liquid was leaking to the left and the right and all over the cutting board. The apple that was green a moment ago was now anything but. Stinging like the worst splinter he’d ever recalled, his skin was now splitting like a zipper, only the split was expanding and getting wider.

Grabbing up the lose bit of skin now strewn like oatmeal, Kevin triaged his finger with wet paper towels clamped together so thick that no blood could get through, and cinched the knife with his left hand. 

Needing a  beer more than ever, he turned and pulled hard on the fridge with the free left hand.

“That mother-fucker” he mumbled under his breath, hoping Joe, his roommate couldn’t hear on the other side of the wall. “Why the hell he’d have to go and drink all my beer again. Third time this month.”

He slammed the door shut on seeing nothing in the fridge but an empty Vodka bottle and a half eaten loaf of stale bread. He grabbed up the utensil, and turned toward his roomie’s door. They’d neve really gotten along well anyway. Bigger steps now, blade still glistening, he knocked hard twice, then kicked open the door….

 

Happy near Labor day kiddies!!  

 

Oh, as a bonus for your labor day weekend, here’s a great link to an excellent article on how to build your author brand through UTube and more! Thanks to Wendy Van Kamp and Adam Mulholland at nowastedink.com or this link! 

YouTube offers content creators a way of cross-utilizing mediums to enhance and bridge engagement beyond a book. Authors wanting more presence should leverage this platform to reach a larger audien…Source: How Authors Can Promote On YouTube & Use Patreon by Adam Mulholland

Masterful madness and mayhem…

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Happy Friday Kiddees and Kiddettes!

Here’s a little something for you to gnaw on, if you’re like me, and am pondering the bridge to the depths of despair when it comes time for axing off your characters! 

If it seems like a tough choice, just ask yourself the eternal question of the master, “To be, or not to be!” Hahahaha….if you write anything at all like yours truly, you’ll know the answer in a flash! A friday, fun flash, that is!

And now, some words from our sponsor, master of the deathly muse himself, Shakespeare…

(Thanks for sharing this on twitter, Mr. Moon! (@Mr.Moonunity) https://twitter.com/MrMoonUnity?cn=Zm9sbG93ZXI%3D&refsrc=email

 

Shakespearess methods of madness

Monday’s Muse…

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Breathe in, breathe out, blink, repeat…if this doesn’t quiet your mind’s constant chatter, what would???

Thanks much for this. Jack!