O is for . . . THE ORNAMENT

Welcome to The Blogging from A-Z Challenge April 2014! This year, I’m offering up a story – each one 100 words or fewer - for each letter of the alphabet.

Some are heartfelt, poignant, sweet. Others are…not. 

I hope you enjoy them.

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THE ORNAMENT

At the party, she hangs from his arm like a sparkly bauble. First mistress, now second wife.

Accusations, sneers shatter her into shards of shame.

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King's Speech: O is for OFF

Regular readers of The Shellshank Redemption know how much I enjoy a good quote (see Motivational Mondays) and that I’m a huge fan of Stephen King (see the King of All Days Part I and Part II.) So, for the 2013 A-Z Challenge, I decided to combine the two, using some of my favorite King quotes about reading, writing and life in general. Enjoy!

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But if you don’t want to work your ass OFF, 

you have no business trying to write well – 

settle back into competency and be grateful 

you have even that much to fall back on. 

(Stephen King)

I’ve been writing for a long time. I’m better at it now than I was a few years ago, than I was ten years ago. I make it a point to learn something from every acceptance and every rejection, from writing conferences, from talking with readers and writers, with agents and editors, from reading novels and stories and books on the craft.

I love writing for many reasons but one of them is the constant opportunity to learn and to grow and to improve, to just keep getting better and better. That’s a gift, not only to myself but to my readers as well.

Give Me an O! ODD

Welcome to The Blogging A-Z Challenge April 2012! Some of the most popular posts here at The Shellshank Redemption are the Motivational Mondays. So, after consulting the tortoises, we decided to make April our Motivational Month! Please join us for this (almost!) daily dose of alphabetical inspiration. We hope you enjoy it!  

* WHEN I SAY WORK I ONLY MEAN WRITING. EVERYTHING ELSE IS JUST ODD JOBS. (Margaret Laurence) *

I purposely did not go out and get myself a “career.” I wanted a “job” - something I could leave behind at the end of the day, something that didn’t suck the life out of me, something I could do and do well but then take myself on home and get on with what I was meant to do.

Sure, sometimes I wonder if I should’ve done it differently. I’d probably have more money, maybe live in a bigger house, maybe have the respect and interest of family and friends, maybe do some good for others (depending on the career.) But would I have been happy? Maybe. Maybe not.

One thing I know for sure, though, is that I would much rather wonder if I should’ve had another career than wonder if I should’ve pursued my writing the way I always wanted.