Race to 200 Blogfest!

Before I get onto the actual blogfest, I want to mention that my query for NAUSICAA was featured in Evil Editor's blog, HERE...and by "featured", I of course mean put through the Evil Editor and cronies blender. ;)

I also want to mention this great recap of the latest WriteOnCon chat, written up by L.J. Boldyrev at Sisters in Scribe!

Okay, now onto the actual point of this entry!

It's time for the Race to 200 Blogfest (click on the image to find out more), and here is what's required:

"Write a story/excerpt (no more than 750 words long) about a race of some sort. It could be an actual race. Or a race for survival. Even a race against time. Be creative!" - J.C. Martin

And without further ado, here is my entry! :D According to Word, it's 649 words!

Pansy

Brendan was a dick. Everybody knew it, but it seemed he wasn't satisfied with everybody knowing—he wanted to show them.

Not that he hadn’t done so plenty of times before. But this time was different.

John was sitting in his car in the left lane, staring fixedly at the glowing red traffic light. It cast its warm light across the intersection. He saw the faint hue of the green light for the crossing street, but he saw no more than that. It didn’t have much impact on the red. Beyond the lights was a t-junction.

He was trying his best to ignore Brendan and his absolutely dicky friends in the next lane, their lime green Ford Falcon chugging away like a race car. But it was hard to ignore their booming voices. And their stinking exhaust. They’d turned their music down, presumably so they could hear themselves better. Or maybe so John could hear them. How considerate. Usually John would have turned his music way up, to drown it all out. But his speakers were messed up and silence was preferable to the painful buzz-crackle they emitted.

Usually, it was preferable.

He was wondering if time to embrace it, just so he could drown in noise and pretend Brendan didn’t exist. It was always nice when he could pretend that.

“Oy, pansy, what’s it gonna be?!”

Brendan’s voice rang through the night. John clenched his jaw and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, willing that red traffic light to turn eerie green. The red seemed to mock him, saying, Nah, we’re gonna sit on this a while, see how much you can take.

“I think he’s deaf, ay!” Brendan’s cousin Larry hooted. “Or wait, I know what it is—he’s got a crush on you mate!” And the laughter was deafening.

John swore to himself he was getting his stereo fixed first thing in the morning. He’d been putting it off, saving for a new car, but he wouldn’t be ready for that for months—and he couldn’t stand another night like this. The kind of night you couldn’t drown out in music.

“PANSY, PANSY, PANSY...!” The chant wore on, and John daydreamed of running the red light.

And then that red light was green. Both cars sat in their lanes, not moving.

John had been here before. It was better to let Brendan tear off, so you weren’t in danger of getting in his way. Getting in his way could mean being run off the road. John had been here before. But Brendan wasn’t moving.

“What, you don’t wanna race me?!”

John gave no answer.

“Hey dude,” Brendan said to somebody else in his car, “why don’t you get out and hop in the pansy’s car? He can show you a good time!”

Much more hooting laughter, and John imagined that maybe Brendan’s car was rocking with it. Then one of the doors opened, and John knew it was time to act. The light was still green, but it could turn amber at any moment. He pressed his foot down on the accelerator, hearing a door slam and a bunch of dicks shouting. He was rounding the corner, resisting the urge to start speeding. Then he heard squealing tyres and the lime green beast flashed past, cutting in front of him.

He leaped on the brakes and his car shuddered to a stop, giving himself mini-whiplash. Then he looked up, through the windscreen, and saw Brendan’s car half stuck into the embankment of the t-junction. Steam rose from the bonnet, hissing in the night.

With zombie-like motions John took out his mobile phone and dialled triple zero.

“Emergency, how may I direct your call?”

“Um... Yeah. Some dicks just had a car crash.”

“All right then. What is your location?”

Gone But Not Forgotten Blogfest

Yep, that's right! Today is the Gone But Not Forgotten Blogfest, hosted by Alicia, Holly, Pam and Quinta and Erinn. What we have to do for this blogfest is list our top 5 TV shows no longer making new episodes. And without further ado, here are mine:

Medium	Okay, so I haven't even seen this entire show yet, but I've heard it's going to end, and THAT SUCKS!! It's one of my favourite shows of all time, and I'm going to miss it. Lots and lots.
Firefly	OH. MY GOD. What were they THINKING, cutting this so soon?!?! I don't know what else I can say except...dumbest move everrrrr! This was one of those shows that, I guess, never lasted long enough to get crappy. But still, I doubt it would have. It was and is perfect. Except it's incomplete!
Angel	I wasn't a huge fan of where this show was going, and that considered, the ending was pretty cool. It could have been a lot more disappointing I think. And yet that ending REALLY left me hanging. I guess that's a good way to end, though - by leaving it to our imaginations. Still, I miss this show. It was SO CUTE in the beginning.
Jem and the Holograms	Classic kids' cartoon, and I still wish it was going. But then, I shudder to think what they'd be doing to it nowadays. ;)
Fast Forward	Brilliance in Aussie comedy - Full Frontal was never as good as the original. I'm sad that there's nothing around quite like this anymore. But at least we can get it on DVD!

Ahhhh, yes, it's fun to reminisce, even if I have to lament their demise to do so!

Super-Snooper Blogfest, March 2

It's Super-Snoop Blogfest time! Click on the picture to read more about it and see links to other participants' blogs!

"For the blogfest, you need to describe a setting that tells us something about your character's personality. Characters can be of any age, living in any time or place. But don't tell us about the character, tell us about his or her stuff. We'll get to know the character from what you write." - Alison Pearce Stevens

I had a hard time deciding which character to focus on for this blogfest, but in the end I decided to go with somebody I'm having such a lot to do with right now (revisions...argh!!). I tried to remove all mention of the character, to see if you can guess more about him/her. Anyway...here's a description of what you'd find if you stepped into this person's place of abode (am I allowed to tell you it's a rental?):

DOWNSTAIRS

Entering the home

There's a short hallway leading into the rest of the house. In this hallway is a coat rack which has a handbag, frizzy pink wig and guitar carry bag hanging from it. In other words, it holds anything but coats. The hallway also features a bookcase packed full of guitar tab books, a hand-me-down record collection and music magazines. Finally, the guitars and amplifiers and all the other necessary equipment are stored in the hallway. Great place for it, wouldn't you say? When the hallway ends, you get to the rest of the house.

The dining table/area

On the dining room table there is stuff. Lots of stuff. An example of what might be found on it on any given day is: a few more guitar tab books, issues of Alternative Press and Guitar World magazine, half full (or empty, depending on the mood) glasses of water, scraps of paper with notes scribbled on them. Basically nothing that you'd use for actually dining. At right angles to the dining area and the living area is a cabinet that houses all sorts of stuff - art and travel books, a handful of biographies, participation ribbons from school sports carnivals, a certificate for a prize won in high school music class, and a tiny collection of family heirlooms like a gold "key" brooch and a bracelet with emeralds in it.

The kitchen

It's pretty cramped, and is basically a strip of tile with benches on either side (one of which houses the small sink). There is no dishwasher. There are a lot of mismatched dishes, hand-me-downs of all varieties. There is an accidental collection of mugs, the result of numerous Christmases and other gift-giving occasions. There's a silver clock on the wall, and a medium-sized refrigerator which is one of the shiniest and most modern things in the home. On the fridge are a series of ridiculous magnets, including a magnetic calendar with pictures of hedgehogs on every month of the year. In the fridge is snack material, and a variety of types of beer. There's also a jug of chilled water in there.

The living area

There is a single three-seater couch, fabric-covered and rather mangy, but it's covered with a series of blankets. Opposite it is a slick black coffee table, the only other shiny modern thing in the place (except for guitar equipment). The coffee table is also covered in magazines, and the TV remotes are on there. There's always at least one coffee mug on the table. The TV is a wall-mounted old-style one that hasn't yet been hooked up to the digital aerial. It has pretty crappy snowy reception. Underneath the TV is a CD cabinet housing an extensive CD collection. It's organised chronologically.

The garden

Through the sliding doors in the living area there is a small garden that usually looks pretty lush but overgrown. There are a fair few weeds competing for attention at the best of times, though periodically throughout the year those weeds find themselves in grave peril as rent inspection time rolls around. There is a small patch of grass out in the garden that tiny picnics can be had on, but only if you like cramped picnics.

UPSTAIRS

The bedroom

In the tiny bedroom, whose walls are painted dark blue, there is a queen-sized bed with a green polka-dot pattern, an old-style carved wooden dresser. There is also a series of items from IKEA: wardrobe; set of drawers; lamp; moderate-sized bookcase. The bookcase houses old copies of middle-grade fiction. Under the bed is a box full of stuff belonging to somebody else, which rarely comes out from its hiding place. The small window has white cotton curtains.

Bathroom

The bathroom upstairs is all in blue translucent tiles, and makes a person feel like they're standing on the bottom of the Blue Lagoon gazing upward through their goggles. Even in winter, the room looks light and summery.

Do you feel like you know this person now? I feel like I do a little better now, myself. :D

Contests & blogfests & argh!

Current wordcount for SUNDOWN: 106,015. I have been reluctant to share this since the messing around I did, because I'm going to be (probably) adding more words in order to fill in the new holes I've made in my novel. But eventually I'll be back to chopping, so...yeah, might as well share the adventure as it unfolds, I guess. ;)

Anyway...I wanted to advertise the Back from Branson Giveaway Part 2, which is open to international bloggers (as long as your country gets delivery from The Book Depository, at least!). I'm always excited to see contents that I in all my Aussie glory am eligible to enter. There are a fair few books up for grabs that you can choose from, so it's pretty cool!

I also wanted to say, check out how busy March is gonna be!!

March 1-31st - Cadavers and Creation: A Writing Lab Experiment

March 2nd - Super Snoop Blogfest

March 4th - Gone But Not Forgotten Blogfest

March 4-6th - Race to 200 Blogfest

March 7-8th - Catch Me If You Can Blogfest

March 11-13th - Share the Birthday Love Blogfest

March 13-15th - Broken Heart Blogfest

March 15th - Delusional Gloom Blogfest

March 16th - Hone Your Skills Blogfest

March 26th - The Nature of Magic Blogfest

Basically, YAY! What great ways to get involved in the blogging community. :) And here in Aus, it's March 1st! Phew. It's going to be one heck of a month.