Writing prompt response.

I mentioned previously that I was responsible for coming up with the writing prompt for our next writers group meeting. I had a tough time coming up with an idea, so I just went with the first thing I came to mind. That was "tiny little robots, two by two." I tried all this week to figure out something to go with the prompt, but I couldn't figure out anything at all.

Decided today that I'd just try to write something I had never written before -- a fight scene. I thought a bit about my story on my way home from work. What I came up with is below. Hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.

Marquez smashed the bottle against the edge of the bar. The brown glass clattered to the floor and he pushed the jagged edge in Solis’ face. Solis slapped Marquez’s hand away and he dropped the bottle.

A pair of security bots spun in circles by their feet, the little red lights on their domed heads flashing. Solis kicked the bot nearest him and the little machine slid across the floor, crashing in to the leg of a chair.

Marquez was distracted by the commotion and Solis put a fist hard into his opponent’s stomach. Marquez doubled over and Solis brought a knee into the shorter man’s nose. He dropped to his knees and a security bot passed by his ear. Marquez pushed it aside.

He brought himself slowly to a knee then sprung at Solis, burying his shoulder into the older man’s soft middle. The pair crashed into three bar stools as they fell to the ground. Marquez straddled the old man, his hair falling in his eyes in a sweaty mess. Solis grabbed a handful of Marquez’s dark mane and pushed him back into an upright position. He swung his left arm and crushed Solis’ cheek. Solis’ head snapped to the side and smacked the old, wooden bar the two men were laying next to. Marquez pushed Solis off of him and the younger man lay on the ground in a wet heap, one of the security bots by his head and the other near his feet.

Solis reached into Marquez’s back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took the three American twenty dollar bills that were inside along with a few pesos.

“Now we’re even,” Marquez said as he pocketed the bills and headed for the door.

A quick update

I missed worked yesterday with back issues. Not sure what happened, but at some point yesterday morning I tweaked what was an already sore back. Made it dang near impossible to walk. I literally crawled from the kitchen to the bedroom and got back in bed. I called work and let them know I was having some issues and that I'd be late. My boss called me later and said that I shouldn't worry about coming in. They could cover my responsibilities. So I stayed home and made a doctors appointment for the afternoon. Gina left her job a little early to take me.

The new doctor was a nice guy, but he said there wasn't much he could do for me. I have strained some muscles in my back and the only thing that will make it better is time.

So that's what I am giving it -- time. I am taking some pain meds that aren't doing much for me, but it actually feels better today.

Wrote just a little bit yesterday while I was laying in bed. Not on the writing prompt for my group, but on the longer piece I have going. I am excited about the world I have created and really think that it could lend itself to several stories. It's intriguing enough that there are lots of possibilities for a series of works. Not necessarily following the same character, but set in the same world.

A little something

Figured I haven't posted any new writing lately, so here's a bit from the middle of the longer piece I am working on. It may not make much sense since you don't really know what it means to be plugged into a feed. If you read it all, though,it'd make more sense.

I wake to the sun fighting through the curtains and my head is a swirling fog. The light hits my face flush as soon as it gets above the buildings surrounding the south bay and the warmth coaxes me back to the land of the living. Once I am up I can hear the horns from the street and the Freedom Parade that’s going on fifteen stories below me.

I crack the window and lean my head out. There are three floats and a marching band down there now. I am sure that others have passed. A crowd lines the route five deep and they are all screaming and hollering. Many of them are waving green and yellow flags and others are blowing horns.

My arm still tingles. It will for at least another hour. I’d over done it, falling asleep with the feed still in me. A tingling arm was a side effect of that.

I get breakfast and shower and it’s not until then that I realize I’ve missed a phone call. The light on the front of my cell is blinking red. I have a voicemail.
It’s the chief. “Call me,” he says. “It’s urgent.”

The crowd is still on the street once I get showered and shaved. I fight my way through people who’d been celebrating for hours at this point. The smell of alcohol and herb is strong as I push my way through the partiers.

Chief is waiting for me at the corner. I am wearing a hooded sweatshirt and he puts a hand into the pocket on its front and fishes out my cell phone.

He rubs a finger across the screen and the phone comes to life. He dials a number and a phone in his pocket rings. He pulls it out and looks at the screen then holds my phone back up to my face.

“Nope,” he says. “It’s working.”

Old man going grey

For a long time I had a goatee. It grew in thick and dark. I kept it for five years then shaved it about a year or so after I met Gina.

I've grown it back in a couple of times since I shaved it. Usually it's right after a week of vacation since shaving is one of those things I don't really do unless I have to. Plus, Gina likes it when I am scruffy. So, having this past week off work I only shaved once. Gina asked me to keep the goatee when I shaved yesterday for work. I agreed. I noticed that I have got some serious grey in my beard. It wasn't there a couple of years ago when I last had the goatee. It's making me feel kind of old, to be honest. I don't always feel like my 36 years, but now I kind of do.

Welome to Texas, spring

On Friday, technically the last day of winter, Gina and I borrowed her parents and their lawn equipment and mowed our overgrown lawn. We pulled some weeds that were overtaking the area we want to plant some flowers. It was embarrassing actually. Our lawn looked awful. But the weather was perfect for taking care of that. It was in the low 70s and breezy.

Yesterday, technically the first day of spring, the weather took a turn. It was overcast and the wind rushed in from the north. It never got out of the 30s and by the time Gina left to go spend some time with a friend it was starting to spit snow. Not a surprise. The weathermen said that we could get a dusting of the white stuff.

Today, technically the second day of spring, we woke up to find a couple of inches of snow on the ground. This is not the hello we wanted from spring. We would have been happy with mild temps and clear skies. I think we would have even been happy with a spring shower if our choices were between that and more snow.

Writers' group meeting

At our writers' group meeting Saturday morning we each read our response to the writing prompt. Have to say that I was impressed. I am in a group with some seriously good writers.

We all enjoyed writing off a prompt and I volunteered to provide the next one. I thought about it all day and couldn't come up with anything that I really liked, so late last night I sent out the only thing that repeatedly came to mind. It wasn't a quote this time, just a phrase -- "tiny little robots, two by two."

I was hoping to push some of our writers out of their comfort zones and that should do it. Two members of our group write historical fiction. Another seems to write thrillers but loves history. But none of them have robots, so we'll see how literal they are when responding to the prompt.

Winner, winner, baked chicken dinner

We got back from the Choctaw casino this afternoon with our wallets a little fatter.

The place was really nice. The room was great, and the casino was Vegas quality. Very cool place. We got there and there was a bit of a line for the check-in. But for our wait we were given free buffets. That was nice. The food was decent but nothing to write home about, but it was good for being free.

We also signed up for the players club card and were given $10 to play with. I got hot at a couple of slot machines and by the end of the night that $10 had become $200. Gina made $100 out of hers and we left Oklahoma with 300 more dollars than we had come with.

Spring break projects

Gina is off work this week for spring break so I am taking the week off too. We are spending it getting the house in order.

When we moved in we did a Big Paint, getting new color on the walls in our living room, formal living room, dining room, and kitchen. We had plenty of help. Gina's mom and dad, my mom and dad, and her sister and brother-in-law helped. We painted everything in about a day and a half.

So, seeing how quickly that went, we decided that we'd tackle other rooms ourselves this week. We were shooting to get the guest bath, computer room, our bedroom, and master bath painted Sunday and Monday. I don't think either of us realized how much help having those six other sets of hands was.

We got a late start Sunday and Monday so only got through the guest bath and computer room. They look great, but it wasn't as much as we'd hoped. I'll post pictures soon. The rest of the week is going to be other housework (Which could mean more painting. We haven't ruled that out.).

We are going to go to a casino about an hour away tomorrow. It's a new one on Indian land. Looks nice in the commercials. We just couldn't spend our whole vacation doing work around here. I'll report back with winnings.

Rejected

My story that I submitted to the anthology was rejected. It was a personal rejection, so that's good.

Here's what they said.

Thank you for submitting your story to us, but we've decided to reject it for publication.

This story feels like it's hit the wrong length. The idea of data-addiction isn't a new enough idea to make this effective as a flash piece, and it's too short to allow enough character development to make it a fully-fleshed story.

We wish you luck in your newly-begun writing career, and if you have any other stories that might fit our theme, please feel free to submit them.

At least I know what was wrong with it. That's the second time I have been told this story feels too short. This time it was even after I added an entire section to it. Guess that means I have some more working to do on this one.

I'll read it again once my list of works in progress is a little shorter and see if I can't figure out where to take it. This could just be one that I keep in a drawer somewhere and only pull out once I become a famous author and people are falling all over themselves to publish anything I write.

Writers' group story update

I am making some good progress on my writers' group story. It's going to go well past the 1,500 word limit we set for ourselves, but I am not too worried about that. I am at 1,100 words now and still have two-thirds of it left to write. But I know where it's going and I like the characters and the setting is fun. It's going to need a bit of rewriting to punch up some of the things that I wanted to work on. Still not painting enough of a picture, I don't think, but I am concentrating on doing it more. I have already gone back over what I've written and added a bit of detail.