welcome readers & writers. hope your weekend allowed for moments of rest and renewal. i enjoyed reading your self-help spoof advice, and your "messaged" reflections - thanks for writing with me! more glad news for write away! yesterday, author kathryn magendie found this blog via a tweet (on twitter). she read my novel excerpt and was kind enough to take the time to send positive feedback - which made my day. 'tis the power of social networking. kathryn, a southern writer and women's fiction novelist, has two novels out (and one on the way), both of which have received high praise from critics. i'm looking forward to reading her work.
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today's photo prompt is one i shot on saturday evening, looking into a downtown restaurant from the street. come write with me! what's your short story, poem or creative non fiction spin on the photo? 250(ish) words or less. here's mine:
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A wind tunnel whoosh of air conditioning undermines the soothing voice of an NPR commentator. Pulling into a parking space, Marnie tilts the rear view and pouts her lips for a touchup of gloss. She thinks how much work sucked today, and of her head, which is beginning to ache. The glimmer of late afternoon sun bounces off of the wine glasses hanging in the restaurant window, and she finds herself impatient for that first tangy sip of chilled white wine. The wine is all she's looking forward to tonight; it's the conversation that must accompany it that she dreads. In preparation, she'd downloaded When Harry Met Sally to watch during her lunch hour. She'd fast forwarded to the restaurant scene. No, not that restaurant scene. The other one, toward the end of the movie. For as many times as she's pictured it - that she and Kenneth would sit in silence while he chomps obnoxiously away on his salad and she takes dainty bites until they both say aloud, "it was a mistake" - she knows it won't happen this way. Because it really was a mistake. Sure she'd fantasized about their friendship evolving into romance. But the moment his dry lips brushed hers she'd known unequivocally that he was not the one for her. She just hadn't been able to summon the courage to pull away, to risk wounding his dignity, this man she loves. As a friend. And now this awkward misery. Inside, the hostess shows her to their table; he's already there, waiting with a silly grin on his face.
can't wait to read your work. just click on comments below to share it.
