Six Sentence Sunday 9

It's the last Sunday in July... so what better way to celebrate than to check out all the other Six Sentence Sunday participants!

...and thanks again for those who left comments and offered constructive criticism :) Thanks to one commenter, I was able to figure out why one particular sentence has always bugged me, and that was awesome. For those who have something to say, but are concerned about leaving negative remarks in the comments section... feel free to me-mail! Seriously, I want to know :)

Last time, you met Hector, the younger brother, so here's the next six sentences:

Simon’s stomach flipped and grumbled, but Faith had not touched her meal. Rather, she had curled up even tighter, her forehead pressed against the cool glass of the window. Her face was scrunched into a scowl of concentration and Simon stole another backward glance at his brother. The hollows in Hector’s cheeks and the gaunt angles of his narrow ribcage showed clearly through the servant’s uniform. Simon’s stomach twisted again, this time from anxiety, and in desperation, he reached out to Faith.

“Y...your hair is in knots, little princess. Why don’t you let me brush it for you.”

I'm going to be skipping the next couple SSS's as I'm taking off to the family cabin where internet is non-existent and even cell signals are spotty.

Oh, one more thing, I created a tab at the top of this page so you can read from the beginning if you so choose. Grammar is definitely my weakest point, so if you find something, nail me :) ...and I'll thank you ;)

Who knew?

So, apparently deer like marigolds...

I have already mentioned that the woods around "the witch's hut" are infested with overly aggressive deer, but one of the coolest things is how tame they are... We have a family of four, a full grown doe, a yearling buck and twin spotted babies, who often graze in our front yard. They are so comfortable that the babies (barely three feet tall they are so young) will often just wander around by themselves and even get right up on the doorstep.

So this morning I was pouring a fresh cup of coffee and looked out to see one baby deer nibbling peacefully on the grass, then lean over, chomp off a marigold flower, have another bite of grass, move to the next marigold, and on and on until every plant was de-flowered...

...and I really wasn't sure how to react. Should I be angry? After all, I spent a good 6 hours digging all the weeds out of that neglected witch-garden, then made a couple trips out for new plants and have been diligently watering them. Should I be worried? I don't know if marigolds are poisonous... but I really wasn't planning for the deer to use my garden as a banquet hall, so it didn't cross my mind to ask at the plant store. Should I chase it away? I know from experience my beagle will chase anything she's *allowed* to, but is very good when I tell her, 'no'... and she's insanely curious about the deer, especially when they are standing four feet away through a screen door. Should I laugh? It was pretty comical how the little guy was taking a bite from the lawn, a bite from the flowers, then another from the lawn...

And in the end, I did nothing. Just sipped my coffee and watched until every last orange and red flower had been delicately devoured.

Not every experience can be classified as good, bad, funny, or otherwise. Sometimes it just ends up being a good story to tell someone else, and hopefully, a memory that will give you a smile when it pops up.

So what do I want my own stories to be? How do I want my readers to remember them? What about you, do you all ask yourselves questions like this?

So, what now?

Since I'm finished with my major edits, I've sent it off to beta-readers, but don't expect feedback until the end of August.

I could work on polishing the story, but what's the point? You don't re-paint a wall three days before you take a crowbar to it...

So what I am going to do is read. Read as close to my genre, and as much of it as I can.

Here's the first chunk of my reading list:

The Pricker Boy by Reade Scott Whinnem
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Holes by Louis Sachar
The Orphan's Tales Book 2 by Catherynne Valente
The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier

Basically, I'm looking for books that have a slight fantastical element with a 10-15 year old male protagonist, or dark fairy-tales. I have a couple others I have in mind, but I'm totally up to suggestions!

Wa-hoo, cheesies!

Uh, sorry, that was an obscure reference...

Ahem. Let's try this again...

Crack open the champagne, or at the very least, a cold beer!

As of 5:23pm, Pacific Standard Time, I have finished my full round of major edits on Project #2, which now clocks in at a total of 71,992 words.

...yeah, yeah, I know I'm not done. I need to send it to beta-readers, receive feedback, fix more mistakes, rinse, repeat, etc before the final polish... but still...

I'm really happy!

A kind of progress

To celebrate the fact that I've finally decided on a new title for Project #2, I have written a new *blurb* for my "What I'm Working On" page.

I would love it if you would drop by, read it, and let me know what you think... though it will have spoilers for those following the SSS posts.

Honestly, the whole blurb thing is pretty new to me, so any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

...and yes, I have toured Query Shark :)

Thanks!