Worthing Flash

It’s Friday and time for my weekly WRITE-BYTES blog…concrete tips for developing writers. This week’s topic: HOW TO FINISH YOUR BOOK. Recommend you read this one even if you haven’t started writing your book!✍🏼 Go to my website www.lindasgunther.com OR just read the whole blog post below. (for your convenience). April 28, 2023 - #33 – HOW TO FINISH YOUR BOOK I’ve attended a few webinars on this topic and one that stuck with me was a presentation from Brooke Warner, author, publisher and writing coach. Her first point of emphasis was related to the writer’s mindset, and how you, the writer can often see your first draft (of a chapter or short story) as a piece of crap. Yet, when you pick it up five days later and read it again, you may actually be impressed with what you wrote. And then there’s the fact that some writing days are good and other days may turn out to be duds. If the latter happens, just let it go. But save it anyway and write something fresh. Another point Brooke ma...

Her heart fluttered; the heat between them was intense. Moving in sync, they grooved and got the best of the night. She moaned, and he begged for more, with his salacious arousal heightened. He didn’t want to go there with her. She was someone who deserved more and better than that. He took what she gave and responded appropriately, leaving the obscenities at bay where they belonged. After they copulated, he became bold and realized that she was still hanging around, something he was not accustomed to. With her, it didn’t seem to bother him, and he wondered why?                 Lily FInch is the pen name for an author, editor, and creative writing mentor. She lives South of Detroit in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. She is an emergent writer who works on short stories that depict real-life situations. She has one short story publication, “The Beauty is Watching.” The Literary Yard . Sep 20, 2022. And one flash fiction publication, “The Rus...

The Silence Whispers There’s ten or twelve of us waiting at the gate. We don’t look at each other; afraid to see our pain, reflected in other eyes. We don’t speak; afraid to hear the words we don’t want to hear expressed by another tongue. Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Tick. They came. Their expressionless faces betrayed by the shock in their eyes. They spoke the words we didn’t want to hear. Words we’d heard whispered in the silence. They comforted us. Together in heartbreak. Alone in grief. They let us see them. Let us kiss, cold, colourless cheeks while the silence whispers, why?   by Dorcas Wilson 

  My m other, wrapped all men—my father included —around her finger. On and off stage, s he stole the show. She dazzled audiences with love - sick maidens singing tra-la-la tunes in the tower, knights ready to die for them and bloodthirsty pirates. Five years.  “ M e me , please, pleeeese Mommy?” “ Ah puppet, you’re clumsy. ” Ten years. “ Won’t you teach me? ” “ Ah puppet, this art isn’t for you. ” Fifteen years.   “ Your magic is so rot rubbish, Mother.”  “ Art not magic!” my mother shouted, over the deafening applause of the crowds . Every ending told a story; though my mother was the o ne pulling the strings .    

WRITE-BYTES BLOG …a resource for writers April 21, 2023 By Linda S. Gunther The topic this week: HAPPY OR PHILOSOPHICAL ENDING TO YOUR BOOK? To read this blog, go to my author website: www.lindasgunther.com Click on Write-Bytes at top of screen and enjoy this week’s blog byte. Each week is a new blog post and all previous blog posts appear on website. ————————————————- For your convenience this week’s ✍🏼 blog post appears just below. HAPPY OR PHILOSOPHICAL ENDING TO YOUR BOOK? What is the best approach for ending a memoir or novel? This is a universal question most authors struggle with, usually during the middle of the first draft and most definitely when about two-thirds through the story. For me, once I turn the corner to the final third, there’s a little bird sitting on my shoulder and tweeting in my ear: “Okay, brilliant author, so how ya gonna end this thing?” Go away, I think and roll my eyes. Let me just see where my characters take me. But that birdie doesn’t leave m...

His heart was racing; he was sweating in the heat. The serene look on his face belied the inner anguish he felt. He looked again at the clock, the tension almost palpable, the end was so near. Suddenly he raised his hand and pointed in shock, he tried to speak but his dry throat prevented the words. Surely that cannot be. Finally he screamed NO. The look of dismay came over his face. It was obviously off side. Surely the goal cannot stand, but NO, the final whistle, that means another four years, for a go at the World Cup.           Don McBeth    

by Susan Cornford You think, because you parade around the pool in a bikini, that you are displaying an equally uncovered conscience. ‘Nothing to hide’, you flaunt! But I know what you did last winter, one cold moon-lit night, when you pushed your own sister overboard so she drowned. It was because she had the money, you didn’t, and now, as her next-of-kin, you have it all. I was on a boat going the other way, so it’s taken time to get back and let you know that I saw it. We jump in from opposite sides; I grab your ankle and dive.      Susan Cornford is a retired public servant, living in Perth, Western Australia. She has pieces published or forthcoming in Across the Margin, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Antipodean Science Fiction, borrowed solace, Cafe Lit, Crow’s Feet Journal, Ethel Zine, Flash Frontier , Flora Fiction Website, Frost Zone Zine, Granfalloon Magazine, Meet Cute Press, Mono, Mystery Tribune, The Mythic Circle, Quail Bell Magazine, The Short Humo...

WRITE-BYTES BLOG …a resource for writers  April 14, 2023 By  Linda S. Gunther T he topic this week : ATTRIBUTES FOR A PULITZER-PRIZE WINNING BOOK To read this blog, go to  my author website:  www.lindasgunther.com Click on Write-Bytes at top of screen and enjoy this week’s blog byte. Each week is a new blog post and all previous blog posts appear   for your convenience! ​            P.S.  If you read the WRITE-BYTES blog, let me know if it’s of value to you.  Please contact me on website or friend me on Facebook. You can also send me an email at linda.gunther@sbcglobal.net For your convenience, the actual blog post below. ———————————————- ATTRIBUTES FOR a PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING BOOK April 14, 2023 - #31 –  Whether it’s a novel or short story, as writers we ask ourselves: What is the secret formula to an award-winning story? So, let’s pretend we were judges for the ultimate writing award – the  Pulitzer ...

Rajan V Kokkuri You were born from me the mother earth. I'm crying quietly since I can't express how I'm feeling or how grieved. You took everything from me got hurt in return. Let everyone make an effort to protect the soil and ecosystem. You can all grow your own food, let the birds sing freely, let the plants get watered by the rain. Why won't everyone help me ensure that there is life for the future generations too. Everyone was put to the test by the Covid virus, but yet to learn their lesson.

 I knew who they were as I watched them come up the path and ring the doorbell. Horrors! She had a notebook and a fussy little pencil. He was holding a leaking bag of doughnuts.  Both were smiling jauntily. They sat down. Alec began on a doughnut.  "We want a sequel."  "I'm not writing one."  "We deserve further development. Like in Jane Austen." "Sorry. Had enough of you."  I looked at Alec. Sleazy. At Laura . Conceited. As the cliche goes, I had created monsters.  "All right. I'll compromise. A hundred words and no more."   They looked dubious. I felt smug.             

WRITE-BYTES BLOG …Tips and tools for developing writers April 7, 2023 By Linda S. Gunther The topic this week: DEEP DIVE PANEL DISCUSSION on BLENDING ROMANCE WITH SUSPENSE To read this blog, go to my author website: www.lindasgunther.com Click on Write-Bytes at top of screen and enjoy this week’s blog. OR: For your convenience, below is this weeks post for easy access. Enjoy!✍🏼 ——————————————— #30 DEEP-DIVE PANEL DISCUSSION on BLENDING ROMANCE WITH SUSPENSE My last blog post talked about dove-tailing romance and suspense in one novel. This week I’d like to feature the discussion we had at a writers panel for the Mystery Writers of America (Northern California Chapter). I had the pleasure of being one of seven panelists. The topic: Blending Romance with Mystery. I learned so much from my six fellow panelists and from the 65+ audience members. My goal here is to share a few of the most interesting questions asked to panelists and the robust discussion generated. W...

by Linda S. Gunther “Take me with you. I’ll die here without you.” “You will live . Get healthy.” “I really wanted to see Iceland.”   “Not in winter you don’t. And your chemo every week.” He kisses her forehead, her damp blonde bangs on his lips.  “I’ll be living in a hut on a glacier.” “Six weeks is forever. You’ll have medical there?” “One doctor for the ten of us.” He holds her close, let’s her go, and stares down at his feet. His silence saddens her. “How about a small hotel in Reykjavik?” he whispers. She smiles. “I’ll need to learn to spell that.” Linda S. Gunther is the author of six romantic suspense novels: Ten Steps From The Hotel Inglaterra, Endangered Witness , Lost In The Wake, Finding Sandy Stonemeyer, Dream Beach . and most recently published in 2021, Death Is A Great Disguiser . Her short stories and essays have been published in several literary journals across the globe.    

219 The gym heaved with sweaty bodies, that time of morning. Fanatics, dripping, dropping in to oxygenate beefed-up muscles en route to work. One treadmill, fitted with a tv screen, was free. He swooped, hung his hand towel round his neck, selected manual. The belt ran. He pressed quickstart, selected speed: 4.0, incline: 6.0. The carbon screen matched his sombre mood. He ran 2.1km, burnt off 329.3 calories. Elspeth appeared onscreen mouthing: Come, my love! The screen grew large, swallowing him. Time elapsed: 32.18 minutes. Distance: 2.11km. Calories burned: 1329.3. Heart rate: 123, 146, 167, 185, 197, 208, 211, 219.

Back and forth, I walk the bridge every Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. where he once set his easel with back to the sun (to catch the walking shadows). “ That’s where our life begins and ends,” he said and squeezed my hand with such intent I knew he wanted me at his side, always, gliding past the Seine—our images mirrored in water, the sun leaving shapes underfoot. We walked and walked until his hold loosened, and quietly we stepped to separate sides. His voice drowned in the whisper of those passing—my fingers fretting, dampness circling my eyes.  by Chella Courington      

a resource for writers March 31, 2023 By Linda S. Gunther The topic this week: DOVE-TAILING ROMANCE WITH SUSPENSE To read this blog, go to my author website: www.lindasgunther.com Click on Write-Bytes at top of screen and enjoy this week’s blog byte. Each week is a new blog post for writers and all previous blog posts appear on the website for your convenience!​ P.S. If you read the WRITE-BYTES blog, let me know if it’s of value to you. Please contact me on website or friend me on Facebook. You can also send me an email at linda.gunther@sbcglobal.net Linda S. Gunther has written five novels: Ten Steps From The Hotel Inglaterra, Endangered Witness, Lost In The Wake, Finding Sandy Stonemeyer, and Dream Beach. She grew up in New York City, received a Master’s Degree in Psychology, an MBA and studied theatre at Oxford University with the British American Drama Academy. Linda’s passion for travel and continuous learning fuels her fire to create vivid fictional characte...

by John Sheirer Daphne knew Kenneth wouldn’t want to go on without her after forty-three years of marriage. So when she got her terminal diagnosis, she poisoned his dinner. Daphne cradled Kenneth’s head as he lay on the dining room floor and breathed his last. She dialed, stroked his hair, and explained it all to the emergency operator. Just then, Kenneth’s hand, still strong as his life waned away, grabbed Daphne’s shoulder and drew her shocked face close to his. “You … did this?” Kenneth mumbled. “Yes,” Daphne replied. Kenneth spoke his last words as he pulled her into a final embrace: “Thank you.”    John was the first to enter the 100-word challenge within a few minutes of my request for stories .