Leap | CWBC
This article is part of the ChristianWriters.com Blog Chain for February. The subject this month is ‘Leap’, dedicated in part to the fact that 2012 is a leap year for February. It is an intriguing idea, and I couldn’t wait to get to it on both of my sites. Since NonaKing.com is based on my Spirit Driven Fiction, I thought I would post a scene not yet in a book which portrays my thoughts on the word. My characters chosen? Originally I chose an “edgy romance” scene between Marshal and Sally from an alternate reality spin-off of my Military Sci-Fi series, Bookworms and… Booya!
But then the main characters from my YA fiction series, Changing Scenes, protested at being passed over. So, after comparing the scenes I decided that I agreed with them. Not only is The Question of Spooky Doom shorter, but it is even more appropriate for this month’s subject. 
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The Question of Spooky Doom
Wil tapped his thumb against the steering wheel of the Chevelle Malibu as he stared at the large white house. Davis, you can’t put it off any more. If you don’t ask, he probably will! Clearing his throat, he gave the steering wheel a brief grip before getting out. He straightened his letterman jacket and crossed the street, green eyes again focused on the wide front door of the Modine house. But his steps halted at the foot of the brickwork path. Come on, Davis. Wil gave a curt nod and continued forward up the walk, reaching out to press the doorbell just as the door opened and Vicki stepped out.
“Oh. Hi, Wil.” Her smile sparkled in her blue eyes. How did a girl do that? “ I didn’t know you were coming by today.”
Wil gulped and forced an easy tilt to his lips. Drama class came in handy. “Needed to talk about something. You have a minute?”
“Sure. Is everything okay? Cora’s not having nightmare’s again, is she?”
“Nah.” He gestured down the path with a tilt of his head, still smiling in hopes it would coax away the concerned darkness to those eyes. “Come on. Let’s walk.”
“O-Okay.” She peeked her head back inside. “Mom! Wil and I are going to walk around.” She shot him a smaller, less certain smile when she pulled the door closed a second time.
He nudged her arm. “Chill, Kiki. Nothing’s wrong. I just need to ask you something real quick.”
“I know. The past few months have made me a little paranoid, I guess.”
Wil studied her profile as she studied the ground beneath their steps. She worried the bottom of her sweatshirt with her fingers. Between being the new kid ridiculed by his ex-girlfriend, finding out her sister was adopted, and then helping him become a Christian after his sister was raped …. “Yeah. No kidding.”
He gave her a gentle squeeze about the shoulders. “Don’t sweat this. It really isn’t bad.” At least, he hoped it wasn’t.
She smiled up at him. “Okay. Now you’ve got me all curious.”
Wil’s stomach felt like he’d just survived a whole day of football drills. He motioned to the park bench in the soccer field across the way. “Let’s sit over there.”
Vicki peeked at him several times as they crossed the street to the bench. Then, instead of meeting his gaze, she picked at her sweatshirt.
Great going, Davis. “Vicki… I, uh…” He scrubbed at his neck as he sat beside her. Was there a non-idiotic way to ask this particular question? “Vicki, I was wondering if… well…” He felt her glance but didn’t lift his stare from his hands gripping his knees. What he wouldn’t give for a football. “I was wondering if you’d be okay with being,” Here it comes, ”my girl-friend,” and it still sounds stupid. Wil almost sighed. “You know. Exclusive?” He shot her a look. She blinked at him. No smile. No frown. She just blinked. Aw crap.
Vicki cleared her throat. “I’m sorry… what did you just say?”
I’ve got to say it again? Geez… Wil gulped. “I wondered if… um… Well, I want to, us, to date.” That’s it. There is just no ‘cool’ way to ask. Wil shrugged out of his letterman jacket – Westriver High’s green and gold – and offered it to her. Vicki blinked at it without moving a single finger. “You’ve been a great friend, awesome, but I… erm… I want to be more than… that, so… Will you be my girl-friend?”
She blinked, her lashes brushing her cheeks. Then she focused those eyes on him and he almost forgot what he just asked. Did any girl have eyes that… awesome? She lifted a solitary finger and pointed at him “You…” and then herself “…m-me…?”
Wil couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. You and me.”
Vicki’s gaze retreated to the letterman jacket now in her lap. Her one hand had begun a steady stroke of the green fabric. “I—” Her hand froze, and this time her blue eyes glimmered when they met his.
“Aw man.” Wil rested a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t cry. You only have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. There’s no crying. Jocks don’t do crying.”
Vicki choked out a laugh.
Wil smiled again. “Whew. That’s better.” She didn’t look away, and Wil couldn’t shift his stare from the tears that made her eyes as dark as midnight.
She finally trilled a giggle and smoothed the wrinkles from the back of his jacket. A smile teased the corners of her mouth, and Wil had a hard time not imagining what it would be like to kiss her, right now. Vicki shifted and slipped into the jacket, snuggling down into its bulk to breath deep, eyes closed.
Wil could feel embarrassment set his face aflame, but he couldn’t help but watch her. Whoa… No girl had ever done that before. Well, not exactly like that.
Then Vicki opened her eyes and met his, smiling before saying, “Yes,” in a voice so quiet he almost thought he didn’t hear. He would have humiliated himself and asked ‘Really?’, but he didn’t get a chance. She faced forward and moved closer, pushing her hand out of the too-long sleeve to gather up his and once more say “Yes,” a little louder.
Wil stared down at their hands for a full minute before it really sunk in. Then he smiled and gave her hand a squeeze as he also faced forward, just sitting there as they had since he first met her. He hadn’t ever ‘just sat’ with a girlfriend before. But with Vicki he did a lot of things he’d never done. Like be who he was.
Once again focusing on their joined hands, still smiling, he said, “Cool.”
Vicki giggled.
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I considered posting their first kiss as the ‘leap’ subject, but this was just too cute from Wil’s point of view that I decided to go with it. On the 23rd of this month, I will be posting another ‘Leap’ article, but on my blog WordObsession.net.
The ChristianWriters.com Blog Chain:
- 2/1: Chris Henderson, TheWriteChris
- 2/2: Lynn Mosher, Heading Home
- 2/3: Bill Jones, I Was Thinking the Other Day About
- 2/4: Scott Fields, Dead Man Writing
- 2/5: Nona King, Spirit Driven Fiction
- 2/6: Jacky Brown, JayBees Blog
- 2/7: Tracy Krauss, Expression Express
- 2/8: Terrie Thorpe, Light for the Journey
- 2/9: Chris Vonada, I’m Just Thinkin’
- 2/10: Debra Ann Elliott, Words are Timeless
- 2/11: Deborah K. Anderson, Faith, Fiction, and Unvarnished Truth
- 2/12: Pegg Thomas, The Sheepish Scribe
- 2/13: Cindee Snider Re, Breathe Deeply
- 2/14: Suzette, Beautiful You
- 2/15: Steve Olar, Snickerdoodles
- 2/16: Edward Lewis, Sowing the Seeds
- 2/17: Tanya Dennis, In the Dailies
- 2/18: Traci Bonney, Tracings
- 2/19: Mike Johnson, The College Field Manual
- 2/20: Michael Galloway, Horizons
- 2/22: Carol Peterson, From Carol’s Quill
- 2/23: Nona King, Word Obsession
- 2/24: Joseph Lalonde
- 2/25: Adam Collings, The Collings Zone
- 2/25: Pauline Creeden, Hosanna’s Christian Reader
- 2/26: Marilyn, Life 101: Understanding It All
- 2/27: Israel Ikhinmwin, Education Made Simple
- 2/28: CH Dyer, Thoughts and Visions
- 2/29: Victor Travison, Lightwalker’s View
Freedom for Thought | CWBC
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The word Freedom means different things to people depending on their history, their community and culture, and their perspective on life and living. It could mean independence from someone or some job or responsibility. Or it could encompass the simple idea of free will to complete your desire, to change the path of your life’s story. There are so many possibilities to the word, and its meaning is so broad that I procrastinated on writing my blog until last evening.
Until my drive home from work.
I ruminated on the reasons why my writing production had fallen so drastically. At first the time to reflect and consider seemed a God-send. But after awhile even that motivation molded into a listless bit of nothing. Oh, I continue to occasionally think about this scene, or that twist, or this possible re-hash of the beginning, but the moment I arrive at home all thought or desire of actually working on my projects has vanished.
So, I began to question why.
Why do I believe I have no special talent or ability for writing? Why do I feel my fiction doesn’t offer much to anyone other than myself or my family? Like many writers, the passion for creating characters and worlds and stories has grown with me from before my memory. Why would I now allow that passion to wane into a torment that would coerce me into giving it up?
While there are many possible reasons – including the possibility of spiritual attack to keep my stories from reaching those eager to hear the Christian message presented in fiction – one rang clear in the forefront of my mind, I had allowed myself too much ‘Freedom’.
Instead of holding myself to a task or a goal on any level, I made the mistake of giving myself the supposed freedom to do whatever my heart desired. With the lack of any clear direction, my mind and inspiration soon grew too overwhelmed with the infinite possibilities to make a decision and a goal and then move forward. So I did nothing, comfortable in the fact that I utilized my long commute to/from work to hash out a clear picture of my romance rewrite.
Yes, it is good that I am using the time for something other than listening to music or letting my mind wander. However, what about the after? When I arrive at work, or at home, am I putting my thoughts into the computer or onto paper? Not like I should. Distractions were allowed to rule my heart and my inspiration.
I have done the one thing writers are to never do, grow complacent.
My time isn’t being spent reading, or writing, or studying… my gift of freedom to myself has been squandered because I did not assign myself goals. So, when I did not experience the enticing euphoria of completion or accomplishment, my mind began to wander to lesser distractions.
Once complacency had a foothold, laziness soon followed.
Though stories and characters and conflicts cried out for resolve and the breath of life, their dismay did not tempt me. Instead, I began to feel even more pity for myself. Woe is me. I have all this time to write and yet I do nothing… wait… what? Why am I feeling sorry for myself when I am the one letting me slip into the mire of idleness? Why am I expecting pity when I am the one allowing NOTHING to happen?
I have the freedom to place my mind on the path of a goal. Or, I have the freedom to set aside my pen for a vacation of refreshing, no strings attached. It is my freedom of will and thought that allows me freedom for thought and creation. But I must always remember to respect the power of a goal on that freedom. Boundaries and goals help guide us, they are not a limiter. If anything, they swing wide the door of motivation because we see an end that welcomes the pride of accomplishment.
Other participants in the ChristianWriters.com Blog-Chain
- 7/1: Lynn Mosher, Heading Home
- 7/3: Brian Jones, Alambraidria
- 7/4: Traci Bonney, Tracings
- 7/5: Debra Ann Elliott, Sticks and Stepping Stones
- 7/6: Carol Peterson, From Carol’s Quill
- 7/7: Cindee Snider Re, Breathe Deeply
- 7/10: Keith Wallis, wordsculptures
- 7/11: Liberty Speidel, Word Wanderings
- 7/12: Terrie Thorpe, Light for the Journey
- 7/13: Nona King, Word Obsession
- 7/14: Chris Vonada, I’m Just Thinkin’
- 7/16: Scott Fields, Dead Man Writing
- 7/18: Michael Galloway, Horizons
- 7/19: Adam Collings, The Collings Zone>
- 7/20: Victor Travison, Lightwalker’s View
- 7/21: Edward Lewis, Sowing the Seeds
- 7/22: Sarah Grace, Write-Minded
- 7/23: Anita Estes, New Life Dialogue
- 7/25: Chris Depew, The Beulah Land Blog
- 7/27: Tracy Krauss, Expression Express
- 7/28: Marilyn, Life 101 Understanding It All
- 7/30: Chris Henderson, TheWriteChris
Fresh Air | CWBC
This is another ChristianWriters.com Blog-Chain installment. The topic this month is ‘Fresh Air’. To read more blog articles on this topic, please navigate from the link list on the right.
There is something to be said for the steady pace of a life outside of the metropolitan. Life doesn’t sprint past you, leaving you out of breath and wondering what you accomplished. On the east side of the Snoqualmie pass it is up to the hubs and I to make things happen, which opens our minds and imaginations to a long list of adventures standing just outside our doorstep. It becomes our choice to lounge, fish, swim, boat, hike, walk… you get the picture.
In fact, this weekend the hubs and I took up our fishing poles and picnic items and journeyed out for a lunch of bbq burgers and some fishing. The feel of the sun on my face and arms and the soft kiss of the cool breeze off Banks Lake was wonderful, relaxing.
Would I have done the same in Western Wash? Perhaps, to a degree, but more often than not my habit was to get home and try and relax from the hectic journey to and from work. Traffic truly is a muse squasher for me, and it would often take more energy to gird myself up for an evening of editing or writing than I had in reserve.
What I find here in the expanse that is Eastern Wash is a rejuvenating 90-minute one-way commute surrounded by lake after lake, sun-kissed cliff sides, and clear blue skies that are speckled with herons, hawks, magpies and various other birds. How can a person NOT be inspired by that? Well, a person such as I who was raised on a 30-acre homestead. This change of life encompasses not only an alteration to my surroundings, but to my very life’s view.
The Fresh Air of this new ‘way of life’ smacks with the flavor of what being a full-time writer could be, and I must say I am eager for that arrival!
Until that day comes, I will make use of the silent, quality time of my commute to obsess over the outline for my novels, swirling the ideas in my head until my characters and I decide on what the circumstances and outcomes for their destiny happen to be. Perhaps I will even be able to finish the revisions that are dawdling in my head for my contemporary romance and my science fiction YA series?
Time will tell, and the fresh air of the lakes and canyons will be there waiting for me when I venture forth down this new road of creative imaginings.
I am a writer. I adore the spinning of the unwritten tale – that lesson waiting to be divulged to others. Each day a new story beckons. One last happy ending. My characters have a life outside of my own, and I always learn from their destiny.
~ Nona ~
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." ~II Corinthians 5:17
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