All Things End… Or Do They?

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Ileandra Young

This month (and last actually) seems full of endings. It’s not fair. I hate it when things end.

I’ve finished several awesome books. I’ve seen the end of the BBC series Merlin (which was great right up to the last episode which was horribly disappointing). I’ve just finished season seven of Supernatural. My maternity leave has also ended which means I’m ‘back at work.’

Yes, all things end and it can be disappointing/sad/scary but isn’t that what life is about?

I apologise in advance for what is probably going to be something of a rambling post about nonsense, but the thought has been on my mind a lot recently.

Particularly Merlin; I think stung by that ending. I feel cheated. With Supernatural I’m all geared up to watch season eight and can practically hear my brain vibrating against the cage of my skull. And my maternity leave? Well that needs a post all of it’s own since, despite being ‘back at work’ I still haven’t been into the office.

But the main reason I’ve been thinking about endings is because I took the opening sequence of Walking The Razor’s Edge (sequel to Silk Over Razor Blades) to my Tuesday writing class. This opening sequence is comprised of the epilogue to SORB as well as some additional prose. So it’s an ending and a beginning. It was well received when I read it. There are obvious points within it that need looking at like certain facts and continuity, but I’d expect that from a first draft.

What bothers me, however, is that I’ve sent SORB out to various places now, with it’s ending as is. If I’m finding things I want to change in the opening of WTRE then shouldn’t they change in SORB too?
lion with black eye from OpenClipArtYeah, totally makes my head spin too.

What I don’t want is for any readers I may one day get, to feel cheated as I did with Merlin. To bring this whole rambling post back into it’s full circle, I want readers to feel like I did at the end of Supernatural. Or even as I did after the end of the Tales Of The City series; pleased, calm and genuinely pleased at the closure of all the new friends I made in the beautiful characters.

It sounds like a really tough job, but being well under way with WTRE I have to keep in mind that there are still two endings to go. And some may even say three; the end of WTRE, the end of the third book and the end of the whole trilogy all together. Now there… is a challenge!

Have you guys ever thought you’ve finished something only to realise that you haven’t? Have you ever read/watched something with an ending that left you dissatisfied? What endings do you remember fondly, be they from books/films/TV? I’d love to hear from you. As always.

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Six Sentence Sunday 20/01 #48

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Ileandra Young

The time has gone so fast! Almost the end of January and this is the penultimate post for Six Sentence Sunday. *sniffle* Back to Breaking Him In which I think I’ll stick with to round off the rest of the month and these posts altogether.

Master has firmly wedged himself into Raven’s play time. But what does he have planned…?

He beckoned her forward and as she moved he took the spreader bar off the sofa and lengthened it to its longest point. “Bend over.”

Biting back whimper, Raven did exactly that, leaning over to assume the position she knew so well; forearms laid flat on the sofa cushions, legs spread, body bent sharply from the waist. She heard Master bend down and felt the soft touch of his hands as he brushed them over her exposed rear on the way down to her ankles. The cuffs were already there, complete with buckles and tiny padlocks which he fastened to the spreader bar with rapid precision.

The air was cool against her thighs and bottom, each movement of her master causing a breeze to rush against her skin.

Oooo, I’m feeling kinda tingly myself! This sort of saucy play is just the sort of thing to brighten a rather gloomy and grey Sunday, wouldn’t you say?

Well that’s all you get for today anyway. Use the banner link to check out what the others are up to and I’ll catch you next week for the last Six Sentence Sunday post.
Six Sentence Sunday

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The Book Fairy’s Bigger, Badder Cousin!

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Ileandra Young

Oh. My. God!

I knew it had to exist. I just knew, but I hadn’t managed to turn up anything during my (halfhearted) internet searches.

Last Saturday I took three books along with me to the Phoenix Writers, intending to get more Book Fairy offerings floating around through different channels. I explained, in brief, what I was trying to do by sending these books off into the wild and Maria asked ‘is that like the Book Crossing?’ Having never heard of it before I had to ask what that was about and, as it turns out, the Book Crossing really is a bigger, badder (and far more sophisticated) version of the Book Fairy.

I had a little skim of their website and though I haven’t joined it yet (and therefore can’t access many of the features) I can see that there is a massive amount of books floating around. And these books are travelling all over the world! They have labels and identification numbers so that they can be followed wherever they go.

Part of me is a little disappointed that someone ‘got there first,’ but the rest of me is thrilled that there is such a well organised initiative to share books. After all, books are made to be shared and the fact that a system exists to do so (other than a library, I mean), warms me. What I need to do now is decide whether I want to send my books through the world with the Book Crossing, or if I want to just keep going it alone. I’m yet to decide, but there’s no rush. I still have six stickers left so that’s at least six more books to get going. I left a couple on the train the other day, so I’m still really enjoying myself.

Do any of you guys use Book Crossing? Have you heard of it before? Have you come across any of their books on your travels? I would love to know; I feel like I missed a trick with this site, having not heard of it before.

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Just Do It

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Ileandra Young

The new moto of the Phoenix Writers Subs Club.

If I haven’t mentioned this before (I really can’t remember) then the Subs Club is an additional part to the weekly Phoenix Writers, though it happens only on the second Saturday of each month. A small cluster of us stay behind after the main critique group and talk about the work we have submitted to various places. We commit to realistic and attainable goals and meet the following month to see how we did.

The first meeting took place in November and though I had every intention of submitting two pieces of flash to Flash500 that simply did not happen. The meeting in December was one I had to miss so by the time we got to January’s meet (which was Saturday just gone) I was feeling incredibly miserable and demotivated. I mean really… how hard is it to submit something (on the internet as well!) that I’ve already written?! Harder than I thought, obviously.

Anyway, the group seems to have shrunk quite a lot and there was only a fraction of the original number present. We had experienced varying degrees of success, but we all agreed that it is important to us that we continue to push to make submissions. We all write of a calibre sufficient to warrant entering competitions and the like and the reason we aren’t winning (or coming runner up) in any is because we haven’t entered. You have to be in it to win it and truer words have never been spoken.

So… I pledged/committed/agreed that I would submit one piece of flash fiction to Flash500. Not exactly taxing, but realistic when put against my other odds and sods. It is not the most cost effective way to enter a competition (£5 for one entry, £8 for two), but it means that I will enter at least one story, even if I couldn’t manage two. That was my reasoning anyway.

Fast forward to Saturday night. The kids have gone to bed, dinner has been eaten, the washing up has been done and Dave has retired for a nap before going out. The house is in a rare state of peace and quiet and I have a gap. A beautiful, wonderful gap! So… I take out my piece of flash, gather together the various critiques and feedback paragraphs I’d collected over the last couple of weeks and hammered at the story. I sliced, diced, streamlined, smoothed, tweaked and polished. Two and a half hours later I had a piece of flash fiction of 496 words (exclusive of title) that was as good as it was ever going to get.

Wow.

So… remembering Maria’s words from earlier that day, rather than faffing around and waiting for the moment in which I might have two pieces ready to go, I visited the Flash500 website, paid up and sent it off. Anybody who follows my Twitter feed might have seen this:snippet from my twitter feed on Jan 12 2013
I just did it.

And that, my friends, is all I wanted to say. Stop (over) thinking, stop worrying, stop procrastinating, stop dithering and just do it. You never know what good may come of it. Heh, I’ll let you know how I do in March. ^_^

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Six Sentence Sunday 13/01 #47

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Ileandra Young

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you’re all well. ^_^

Back again for another snippet from the Breaking Him In story in which Raven the sub has been allowed use of a pet she has named Fox. When last we left her, her Master had slyly intervened with a flogger and a spreader bar, clearly meaning to take charge one more time before letting her have her way.

She looked across at Master with a fire in her gaze just shy of outright insolence. “Now?”

“Right now.” Said Master. “Lift up your skirt.”

Raven did as instructed, bunching the purple velvet up in her hands and tucking the hems up into her waist band.

He’s not kidding is he? But then, Master is Master, so what he says is how it goes, right? We’ll see. Join me next week to find out.

Meantime you know what to do with the banner link below; there are other authors offering up six sentences for your reading pleasure.
Six Sentence Sunday

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