Do you like reading and/or writing?
Do you want or need some inspiration?
If so, please check out the free gift I’m giving away on my author site, Laying It Out There. You’ll love it!
I already wrote a blog post about it, so there’s no need for me to repeat myself here!
Just go check it out, and grab your freebie before you forget!
Oh, and please tell others about it. I’d appreciate it!
Thanks!
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My short story, Firs and Angels, was the winner of the December 2013’s Short Story competition I entered via LinkedIn! Today I’ll share it with you, too. 🙂 Soon it will be a part of Aspiring Writers Short Story Competition Anthology 2014, which will be sold on Amazon.
Each month a short story contest is open to group participants. The Group I belong to is 810 members strong (as of this writing) and is called Aspiring Writers Short Story Competitions and Discussions. It is a subgroup of Aspiring Writers, to which I also belong.
In mid-January, I made sure to check the weekly notifications from this group. I was shocked and surprised to see that my short story submission won! Thanks, Ronnie Dauber, for choosing me! I particularly liked how you mentioned that it was “obviously edited for grammar and spelling errors,” too! This proves that I made a good choice to offer my editing services to others. 😉
The really wonderful news is that my short story will be included in an anthology!
Hooray!
This reminds me of my other recent announcement of having a True Tale of mine included in an anthology!
For this, one, however, here is what was told to me in the group:
“All first, second and third place winners will have their stories included in “The Aspiring Writers Short Story Competition” yearly anthology published in soft cover and e-book format, and will be available at Amazon.com, Lebrary.com and Smashwords.”
The Aspiring Writers 2013 Anthology is available now from Amazon and CreateSpace.
Since I retain all rights to this original work, which was written in accordance with the rules, I’m able to share my short story with you.
The rules for this particular short story competition are included below, in addition to the fact that the story was supposed to be about cutting down a Christmas tree. For each short story competition, a specific prompt is provided, to ensure that the stories are newly-written and original. For those of you who know what flash fiction is, you’ll understand this concept. For those who don’t, I think you get the idea of it now. 😉
The short story rules are as follows:
THIS IS A ‘TRUE TALES TUESDAYS’ POST
A Short Story, Written by Lorraine Reguly, in 1998.
Intended audience: preteens and teenagers
Title: My Best Friend
Snoopy was her name, and I loved her immensely. She was a tiny, grey dog; part Chihuahua, part Poodle, and part mutt. She belonged to my grandparents, who lived next door, but I always thought of her as my dog, because I was the one who took care of her, especially when my grandparents went on vacation.
Snoopy and I were best friends. We were almost the same age; in human years, she was one year older than me. I fed Snoopy, played with her, made her do tricks, took her for walks, and even changed her dirty, stinky newspapers that she used for a toilet. (I didn’t particularly enjoy doing this, but I wanted to show everyone how grown-up and responsible I could be. So I did it almost everyday, holding my breath until the acrid smell was safely contained in a garbage bag.) It was during these times that I felt special; loved, wanted and needed. The bond between us grew stronger until she loved me as much as I loved her. She was always there for me, and always would be. Or so I thought. Read More
THIS IS MY TRUE STORY OF HOW I NEARLY DIED.
I’ll never forget the weekend of August 24-26, 2012 as long as I live. It was the weekend that marked a major, life-changing event. I nearly died that weekend. The weird thing is – I’m actually grateful for this experience, because it led me to my son.
Let me tell you about it.
This was taken last Halloween but it pertains to the story in this post, so I am using it here… I love colours (as you may know) and this love is evident in this picture! I line up my dabber lids following the colours of the rainbow! (Notice the Certs? I love Certs, too!)
On Friday, August 24, 2012, I went to Bingo. I ordered and drank iced tea that evening, and began feeling a bit weird. I got a stomachache, and began feeling nauseous. I hadn’t eaten anything, so I knew I didn’t have food poisoning. I thought that maybe the iced tea was tainted. I don’t think I will ever know if it was, for sure. I just know that I felt fine beforehand. Read More
