Flash Fiction: Crocquake
Today’s flash fiction is inspired by the epic Syfy Channel phenomenon, Sharknado. With that said, I give you: Crocquake (since Spidericane and Snakefire seemed to entice actual fear).
It was bad enough that people’s homes, cars and loved ones were falling through the ruptured chasms in the earth. No one expected that giant, mutant, man-eating crocodiles would crawl out from the depths to feast on the survivors.
The earthquakes had ravaged the coast, tearing chunks of earth into the sea and ripping massive canyons far inland. At first we sought shelter within the ground itself, but soon discovered the horrors that emerged from the deep. These beasts were not the rowdy pint-sized reptiles you might see at the zoo or on television, these extraordinary creatures were easily twenty feet long and could swallow a man whole. I know because I saw it. I saw the scaly killer crawl clean up the side of a quake crack and take a human down its throat in a single gulp.
We tried knives, axes and chainsaws to end the reign of the crocodiles, but their hide was too thick. Like armor, not really scales. The knives barely made a dent and the chainsaws were torn right off their guide. More people were killed by attempting to take out a croc than those who ran away. And so we ran, dodging the falling earth and shattered rock until we reached a shed upon a hill top.
But the crocs kept coming. Waddling over the earth and charging up the hill towards us. We could see their jagged teeth and open mouths, eager to consume our bodies. I scurried inside the shed to find anything we could use to fend them off. And to my delight, I spotted a few rocket-style fireworks. It was worth a shot, but the beasts would have to nearly be upon us before we fired into their mouths.
So we waited, watching the dozen giant reptiles slog their way up the hill before nearly reaching our shed of safety. Setting up the fireworks, we each aimed towards the gaping mouths of the creatures intent on feeding. As one, we fired. The fireworks squealed on take-off, spiraling through the air before entering the mouths and stomachs of the crocodiles. There was a pause, a single beat of emptiness where I believed the fireworks had failed. But not a moment later, the explosions rocked the beasts from within, splattering their teeth, guts and scales in all directions.
Apollo Academy Cover / Trailer Reveal
You may have already heard, but in case you havent, one of my awesome beta’s, Kimberly P. Chase, is self-publishing her YA scifi, The Apollo Academy this summer! She recently revealed this beautiful cover art:
The Apollo Academy by Kimberly P. Chase
Cover Art by Cliff Nielsen
Releases 08/06/2013 in Paperback and eBook.
As the heiress to Titon Technologies, eighteen-year-old Aurora Titon can have whatever she wants—clothes, expensive gadgets, anything money can buy. All she really wants is to escape her pampered, paparazzi-prone life for the stars. Becoming the first female pilot to train as an astronaut for the Apollo Academy is exactly the chance for which she has been waiting. Everything would be perfect if it weren’t for her unreciprocated crush on a fellow student, the sexy astronaut bent on making her life hell, and the fact that someone keeps trying to kill her.
The first in a four book new adult science fiction series, The Apollo Academy, is an action packed story of love, discovery, and survival.
Early praise for The Apollo Academy:
“I am obsessed with this book! Suspenseful, sexy, and just a great read!”
-Cora Carmack, New York Times Bestselling author of LOSING IT.
“Exquisite worldbuilding, thrilling suspense, and a sexy flight instructor! Chase’s exciting debut novel is one you don’t want to miss.” – K.A.Tucker, Author of Ten Tiny Breaths and One Tiny Lie
Add The Apollo Academy to Goodreads today!
Check out the trailer for her book below:
You can also enter a Rafflecopter giveaway to win a copy! Go on, enter today!
Kimberly P. Chase holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, which basically means she’s kind of a geek and loves flying airplanes. Naturally, her books tend to include aviation, hot flight instructors, aviator glasses, and—let’s not forget—kissing! When Kimberly’s not writing or reading, she’s hanging out with her husband, four-year-old son, and two dogs.
Find Kimberly:
website: www.kimberlypchase.com
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimberlyPChase
twitter: https://twitter.com/kpchase817
Drafting Guest Post
For today’s blog, I have a guest poster here to discuss drafting! Woo! Angi is 
an amazing person who tweets some really great tips for other writers as well as some pretty funny stuff! I had the pleasure of reading her story mentioned below before it was out and trust me, you’ll love it! If you enjoy NA romance, this book is totally for you! I am thrilled to have her stop by today. So without further adieu, here’s what she wrote for you guys:
First, let me introduce myself. I’m Angi Black, or you might know my alter ego Irene Rose and I just put out a book CHARCOAL AND HOT CHOCOLATE. It’s New Adult and I’m pretty much in love with it.
College life is a breath of fresh air for 20 year old Ellie Baylor, a painfully shy but beautiful art major. She has her canvas and charcoal and that’s more than enough. Her choice to go to school far from home and the watchful eye of her strict parents seems like the perfect thing for smooth sailing into an easy life. But when River Daniels, a charming artist with eyes the color of hot chocolate, asks her to join him in a project for class, Ellie may get more than just an A. She might find out how to live.
I’m already working on my next book LEARNING CURVE and it’ll be out sometime in November.
But today I’m going to talk about getting rid of drama and excuses and how to get in those words. I’m a fast writer and lots of people want to know my secret. I’m sad to tell you, there isn’t one. I’m very lucky in that I rarely seem to be out of words, but as far as fast drafting goes, those two things aren’t always the same. So in honor of JunoWriMo this month, Camp Nano next month and the ever daunting/impressive NanoWriMo, here’s some thoughts on the fast draft.
So here are my basic guidelines and hopefully some of them will work for you.
1. No editing! In order to fast draft, you have to put a certain amount of trust in yourself. This can be really hard for writers, I know. But go with it. Let the scene take shape and don’t worry about fixing it, or if it’s crap or gold. Just write and move on.
2. No rereading! Allow yourself a few previous lines to see where you left off, and then get into it. If you keep going back to the first chapter, it’s going to be pretty freaking awesome, but it’ll be an awesome first chapter of an unfinished manuscript and that won’t do you any good. Get it written. Get it done. Then you can fix it.
3. Set goals! Can’t do 50K in a month? Who cares! It doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It means you’re busy. If you can write 100 words a day, then make that your goal and do it. The best key to drafting – stop comparing yourself to others. I see this a lot when I lead #WriteClub on Fridays. Someone will get a crazy count and someone else gets 117 and they feel bad. Hey, that’s 117 more than you had and writing is art and sometimes it takes time to put your soul on paper.
4. Make your writing a priority! Let me tell you a story. A couple days ago, I really wanted some tea. It seemed a simple thing to go to the kitchen and make a pitcher of tea. But I was busy. I had work, and writing, and cleaning, and laundry and all these things. And they all took priority over something that mattered to me, something so simple. I texted my husband and said, “Tell me you want some tea.” He said he did. I went and made tea.
I found it acceptable to fit someone else’s needs into my schedule but not my own. And that was over a pitcher of tea! Ridiculous!
Now, think how silly it is that you don’t make time for your words when that’s way more important than your choice of beverage. And man, that tea is delicious.
5. Just write! Stop worrying about how it’s going to be when it’s done. Stop worrying about if it’s commercial, who will rep it, who will read it, this, that, this, that, just write it. Think the words. Transfer to paper. Ta-dah!
**My fast drafting usually includes large amounts of snackage and only slightly smaller amounts of wine. Season to taste. And then add a dash more salt.
I hope this helps. I know maybe those sound simple and obvious, but most times as writers, we put so much pressure on ourselves, we forget why we’re doing it in the first place – we have a story to tell. So just relax, maybe make some tea, and tell your story. Before you’ll have a story and then you can edit and revise and embrace those neurotic writer tendencies, but that’s another post.
You can find Angi at the following locations:
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The Lyric Quote Meme
Writing can take shape in many forms, and we tend to forget that one of the most popular and poetic is in lyrics. So to celebrate lyrical writing, my friend, Margaret Alexander, came up with this little meme here.
The rules:
- Thank the person who tagged you and link back to their Lyric Quote post.
- Go to your iTunes (or wherever you store your music) and find 3 different songs which have lyrics that describe your blog! The quotes should be short, one liners. They don’t have to be exact, just go with what feels right. Use A-Z Lyrics Universe or another similar lyric website to help you out with the exact words.
- Write down the quotes. Be sure to cite the artist and the song name! Then go to recitethis.com and create a quote poster for each of the quotes. It’s free and super easy! If you find other quote generators, feel free to add them to the rules so other people can use them too!
- Upload the posters to your blog post.
- Include a copy of the rules in your blog post and link back to the original post (on Story Addict – addictivestory.wordpress.com).
- Tag 3-10 people and send a message to each so they know they were tagged. If you’re tagged and don’t want to do the meme, tag someone else who can take your place so it keeps going.
- Spread the word and hop in even if you weren’t tagged! You can also do the meme multiple times if you like.
First of all, thanks to Margaret for tagging me in this clever meme she created. My three lyric quote posters are as follows. I did two about my books and one about my blog. Thought that might be fun! You can guess which is which 😉
Pitch Wars Mentee 2014
Awards
