NaNoWriMo Prep 106: Sister, Sister

Sister Act

          “Ugh, I have nothing to wear!” Missy cried, standing in front of her closet crammed full of clothes, shoes, and handbags.

            “Are we looking at the same picture here?” Karen said, glancing up from her magazine from her spot on Missy’s bed.

            “We must not be if you’re telling me that you see something I can wear tonight to go out in.” Missy continued to take shirts off their hangers and throw them on the floor. “Ugly. Ugly. Last season. Wore this one every day last winter. Ugly. Ugly. Eew, flashback to the eighties! What was I thinking on some of this stuff?”

            “Missy! You know you’re going to just have to clean this mess up as soon as you find something to wear.” Karen ripped a page from her magazine and began rubbing a perfume sample on her wrists. “Forget the clothes. Rub some of this new Ralph Lauren fragrance on your neck before you go out, and Josh won’t even be looking at your clothes – he’ll be picturing you naked!”

            “Eew, Karen! You can’t say that kind of stuff to me. You’re my sister!” Missy threw the next two sweaters she grabbed from her closet directly at Karen’s head.

            “Oh, come on. I’m kidding. Besides Josh is going to love you no matter what you wear. He’s the one that asked you out, remember?”

            “Yeah, I guess, but I don’t know. You should see all the girls that throw themselves at him. They have long skinny legs, golden blonde hair, sparkling sapphire eyes. To state the obvious, they’re gorgeous.”

            “Aw, Missy. You’re not giving yourself enough credit,” Karen started to get off the bed, walking towards the door as she spoke.

            Missy was mumbling and throwing clothes around the room when Karen came back.

            “How about one of these numbers?” Karen suggested, twirling two sweaters on hangers towards Missy.

            “Wow! You’d let me wear one of those? But those are your favorites. I know you save those for interviews and special work meetings and stuff.”

            “Eh, what are big sisters for, right?” Karen said, getting back into the magazine she was reading. “Besides, if I lend you these, maybe I can borrow those awesome brown suede boots you got the other day.”

            “Ha. You mean the ones I caught you wearing out with Lauren last weekend?”
            “Okay, so maybe I feel like I owe you one. But really, I know you’re looking forward to this. God, why else would you be tearing apart your closet, making your entire wardrobe look like remnants from Hurricane Missy.”

            “I know. I’m just so nervous. It’s my first date since breaking up with Jack and I just want it to everything to be right.”

            “Just be yourself, Miss. He’ll love you just the way you are. Just be yourself and you’ll look great in anything you wear. Now, just choose one of these before I change my mind.”
            “Aw, thanks, sis! You’re the best really. And not just cause you’re lending me your Diane Von Furstenberg.” Missy practically  mauls Karen in a bear hug. “And thanks for the vote of confidence. It means a lot.”
            “Okay, okay. Save the mushy stuff,” Karen said, hiding her blushed cheeks deeper into the binding of the magazine she was reading. “And I’m still borrowing your brown suede boots Saturday night. I got so many compliments on them. It wouldn’t be fair to Seth not to.” Missy threw a pillow at Karen’s head, mussing up her hair and losing her place in the magazine.

Missy threw on the sweater over a coordinating tank top. She topped the look off with Black knee-high boots over a pair of dark blue designer jeans. She took one last glimpse of herself in the floor length mirror, grabbed her purse, said, “Wish me luck, big sis!” and headed out of the room.

            “Wait!” shouted Karen. Missy retreated back into the bedroom. “Here take these, too.” She took out the chandelier earrings he was wearing and handed them to Missy.

            “Alright! Thanks!” Missy said, putting them in each ear lobe and hurried out of the room for the second time.

            “Don’t forget I want all the juice when you get back!” Karen called out to Missy.

            “Don’t hold your breath! And get out of my room! I don’t want to find any more shoes missing from my room when I get back.” Ah, sisters, Missy thought. Can’t leave them. Gotta love them.

NaNoWriMo Prep 105: Meet the Parents

       Prom 2010  

     16. At last. You know I was never one of those girls who looked forward to having a Sweet Sixteen party, but Prom was different and I knew – I knew – that it would be the defining moment of the year I turned 16. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of those girls whose going to go and get a hotel room with my boyfriend for the night but still, ever since I was a little girl, I had a vision of prom where I was the Cinderella of the ball. You know, minus all the fairy godmother, glass slipper and mystery girl stuff. No, it was definitely no mystery; I would be going to prom with Jack, my junior high crush and now, my boyfriend of the past three months. There was only one hindrance to get over before the big night and that was Jack meeting my parents.

          “So, I don’t understand, Missy. Tell me again. Why do your parents insist on meeting your boyfriend before prom night? I mean it’s not like he’s such a stranger. We’ve known him since we were in kindergarten and you guys have been dating for a while now,” Lauren asked me one day in the cafeteria.

          “I don’t know L, they’re just old-fashioned, I guess, and they’ve never met him before any of our dates so…I don’t know…I guess they just want to make sure he’s a good guy,” I tried to explain without making my parents sound like Mr. and Mrs. Brady.

          “Or maybe they want to make sure he’s not a rapist,” quipped Christine.

          “Or at least get a good look at him if he is,” Alison giggled.

          “Ha ha,” I jabbed Alison in her arm. “Very funny; my parents will love Jack as much as I do. I’m not worried a bit.”

          “Ooh,” both girls teased at once. “She said she loves him,” Alison got in a jab of her own.

          I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”

          “Oh, we know exactly what you mean,” Alison and Christine gave each other a knowing look.

          “Oh just eat your lunch. We’re going to be late for Geometry.”

          “Yeah, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be late to learn about love triangles.”

          Later in class, I got to thinking about my parents and the meeting with Jack that coming weekend. What if they did scare him away? What if they started asking him questions? What if they wanted to know about…you know…things. Ugh, they can’t meet him. Can they?

          “Honey, you look absolutely beautiful. The color of that dress is just so striking against your skin tone and your eye color. I can’t believe how much better it looks outside of the store,” my mom gushed, causing my cheeks to burst with flames of red. “You look so grown up.”

          “Come on, mom. I’m 16 now. It’s not like I’m 12 years old anymore.”

          “I know, I know, which is why I wanted to give you this.” With that, my mom reached from behind her back and handed me a rectangular black velvet box.

          “What’s this, Mom?”

          “Go on, open it,” she said with the eagerness of a child waiting to open her Christmas presents.

          I opened the box and couldn’t contain my own excitement, “Is this? These are…Mom, this is too much. This was your mom’s; and it’s so expensive.” I held the string of pearls so that they glistened in the light of my room.

          “I know, but I trust you. You’re not 12 anymore remember?” She mimicked my previous comment with a sly smile.

          Then the doorbell rang. I could feel my whole body tense up.

          “Come on, Missy. Let me put them on for you. Don’t worry. Your dad can let Jack in.” Hmm…exactly what I was worried about.

          “Alright, well, here goes nothing,” I gave myself one last look in the mirror and followed my mom out of my room and to the top of the staircase where I could see Jack standing next to my dad at the bottom, waiting with such poise and patience.

NaNoWriMo Prep 104: Love Letters

4or my fourth writing warm-up, the prompt I picked was to write about first love...I decided to call it, "Spin the Bottle". Hope you like it.

All the kids were eager to play Spin the Bottle except me. I was mortified. This hadn’t been what I imagined when I was standing in my room in front of the mirror getting ready just a few hours before…

         

          “Honey, you almost ready to go?” Mom had called out as she walked into the entrance way to my room. “Wow! Sweetheart, you look beautiful.”

          I couldn’t help but blush. I was cursed with the same fair Greek skin as my father that turned three shades of red at the slightest sign of attention. And that’s just from my mom. Imagine what it will be like with boys at the party. What if Jack’s there? My face turned purple at the thought. Oh boy, literally.

         

          I hadn’t ever kissed a boy before that night and I sure didn’t want my first time to be in front of all my classmates at one of Alison Fletcher’s parties. Her parties were infamous all the way up to the high school. Come to think of it, I wasn’t really even sure why she’d invited me. I looked around the darkened basement – the ambiance had been set to what I assumed was called “mood lighting” with lit candles scattered about various furniture and fixtures – and didn’t see a single person from my usual crowd. Alison had asked me at the last minute two days earlier…

          “Psst, Missy!” I turned around and Alison Fletcher handed me a folded up piece of paper. She sat behind me in Math class. In fact, she sat in front of or behind me in most classes we had together because my last name was Guinn. I whispered back to Alison, “Did you want me to pass this to someone?” She looked at me with a smile, rolled her eyes and said, “It’s for you silly.”

          I turned back around and opened the note. It unfolded into a heart-shaped invitation that read:         

Annual Valentine’s Party at Alison Fletcher’s House

This Saturday, February 14, 2009 @ 7pm

102 Mockingbird Lane

Ladies: Wear Your Best Lip Gloss

Guys: No Baseball Hats

S.W.A.K.!!

I had no idea why Alison had chosen to invite me but when I told my best friend, Ellen after class, she said, “What are you crazy? Why question it!?! Just go! All the hottest boys in school will be there and maybe you’ll get a chance to find out if Alison Fletcher really did get a nose job over Christmas break.” While Ellen’s motivation may not have been the most honest, she was right about one thing, Alison Fletcher was the most popular girl in our class and boys would definitely be at her party and that meant Jack would be there, too.

          Now I knew what the lip gloss was for. Ugh. I hoped it was dark enough that people couldn’t see how crimson my cheeks were turning or if they did, maybe they would just mistaken it for too much make-up or something. I guess I don’t really want Jack to think I’m so shallow that I wear too much blush either, though. Oh, boy. Just think neutral thoughts. Think about the upcoming girls’ swim meet or basketball scrimmage or Mr. Hanley’s biology class. Eew. Last week’s owl pellet dissection was enough to deter anyone from thinking about playing Spin the Bottle.

          “Come on, ladies and gents! Everyone get in a circle. Ladies on either side of me and guys sit in an arc around David. Who wants to go first?” Alison said in a teasing tone, her shirt starting to slide off of one shoulder. I’m convinced she could teach a class on how to flirt with boys and make girls feel insecure about themselves. “All right if no one is brave enough to go first, I will,” She proceeded to spin the empty bottle of Coca-Cola and as it slowed to a crawl, I prayed it wouldn’t land on Jack. Phew. Ben. Everyone stared in awe as they leaned in to kiss each other. Ben was next. It landed on Sarah and then Steve and then Christine. Only when Steve leaned in to kiss Christine, she turned her head, forcing Steve to fall forward, almost landing on his face if he reflexes hadn’t been so good. Alison was furious, “What the Hell, Christine! That’s totally not part of the game. I knew I shouldn’t have invited you!” Wow, I’d heard Alison could be tough but that was just cruel. I know Christine comes from a very Catholic family. Maybe she just didn’t’ know how to say no to Alison (like so many of us didn’t’). “Well, if that’s how you’re going to be, Christine, you can’t play anymore. Who’s going to take her turn? Come on!” No one said anything. “None of you are any fun anymore. Hey, new girl, Missy, you go! This is your first time at one of my parties, right? You spin,” and she handed the Coke bottle to me.

          Too afraid to say no after what I’d just witnessed, I took the bottle from her hands and held my breath as I set it in motion. Spinning, spinning, spinning. I wanted to close my eyes out of fear of who it would land on and fear of who it wouldn’t land on but I kept watching as it spun around. Luke. Steve. Ben.

          Jack. It landed on Jack. Oh. My. God. It landed on Jack. Had I applied my lip gloss enough before the game? Was my breath terrible from all the pizza I’d scarfed down earlier? Oh, no. He was starting to lean in. I closed my eyes and started to lean in, too, and then, he kissed me. Soft and sweet, he kissed me on my closed mouth, then leaned back in his seated position, ready to spin the bottle for himself. Jack just kissed me. Me. I think I’m in love…

NaNoWriMo Prep 103: Blog Name Inspirations

As I began to write this piece, I was thinking about Alice in Alice in Wonderland when she fell down the rabbit hole. I was never sure at any particular point where my writing was going to go from that first sentence until it just ended. I guess that’s one way of interpreting what Andre Gide meant when he said “The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.” You never know what you are going to get when you a thought or idea enters your mind and then you put pen to paper. I find it so fascinating where the imagination can take you - the madness that prompts - and at the same time how odd it feels to not know what direction it may lead you but that somehow, somewhere along the way, it becomes a cohesive whole and eventually it’s called a story with a beginning middle and end – the reason that gets written. Please keep in mind that my work is always a work in progress. My goal is to write everyday – whether I write well or write poor is less my concern than it is that I simply write. I read a quote by Richard Rhodes on another blog: “If you’re afraid you can’t write, the answer is to write.”

Falling, falling, falling. That was the last thing I remembered before I woke up to a haze of bright lights and concerned faces. I could hardly make them out, but I heard my mother and father’s voice and thought I could make out my sister in between them and…was that my baby brother in the corner? Where the hell am I?

“You sure gave us all a good scare, Missy,” my mother said in the saddest voice I had ever heard come out of her mouth. I hadn’t even realized I’d said it aloud. It was just surreal; a feeling of depersonalization; like I wasn’t there; or I was – but it wasn’t me – but it was – wasn’t it?

“Maybe we should let her sleep,” That was definitely my father. He was never one to talk about things, especially not anything about one’s feelings and nothing this serious.

“Do you think she can even hear us?” It didn’t appear that my sister was talking to anyone in particular. She was staring down right at me.

Why were they talking about me like I wasn’t here? Where am I? What happened to me? Why can’t I remember anything but a blur of passing scenery, flashing bright lights and then everything just goes blank?

I heard footsteps clacking down the hall, coming closer and getting louder with each heel. When they stopped, everyone around me turned their heads at the same time to look at something or more likely someone.

“How’s everything going in here?” came a baritone voice. My parents and sister moved out of the way like a crowd parting ways to make room for a king to come through on the red carpet.

“Missy, can you hear me?” a doctor hovered over my bedside and began fiddling in his pockets for something. It was then I realized it took all my strength to even attempt at a nodding head motion.

“Do you know where you are?”  The doctor continued while shining a light at each of my pupils. I tried to shake my head to the side but it was too painful. “Missy you are at St. Catherine’s Hospital in Winston. You were in a very serious car accident with another man. You broke your collarbone, fractured several ribs and gave the rest of your body a serious jolt.

A car accident? Who was I with and what happened to them? 

“Well, you’re a very lucky woman, Missy. I’ll be back to check your vitals again in a few hours.” And just like that, the doctor turned and left, allowing the concerned faces to close back in on me.

“Wha..” I barely recognized my own voice it sounded so weak coming out of me. My mother turned to look at my father and my sister looked at the ground. She looked like she was crying.

“It’s Jack, Missy,” my father said.

“It’s Jack what?” I demanded. My voice only gaining the slightest of volume but no one responded. And then the visions started again. The blur of scenery of trees whizzing by us in the dark; the falling; the crash; the darkness and then the bright lights; then I saw Jack’s face for the first time come into the vision as I’d seen it the last time I saw him. “Oh, no!” I gasped and everything went black again.

NaNoWriMo Prep 102 - Madness Prompts

Write something inspired by your blog name (and reveal the meaning behind your blog name)

My first blog follows me on my journey that is the path to fulfill my dream of becoming a published author. I read and review chick lit books and discuss various aspects about the writing process and inspirations from the books I read. I wanted to have a separate blog that was all writing. I wanted a place where I could practice my writing; a place that could possibly motivate and inspire me to write on a daily basis and make (more than) baby steps towards that novel I aim to write someday.

I decided (since I love quotes) that part of my new blog would include a page solely for inspirational, funny and just plain fun quotes about writing. In my search, I came across so many great words. That’s when I decided that my blog had to be titled something either based on one of these quotes, a play on someone’s famous words or verbatim. I first stumbled upon a quote by Graycie Harmon: “Being an author is having angels whisper in your ear - and devils, too” and thought Angels Whispering in My Ear would make an excellent title, but I wasn’t convinced.

I got to thinking about the creative process that writing is and how it truly is an expression of someone’s inner psyche, their hopes, their dreams or even, everything else that is never said. Somehow this brought me to Alice in Wonderland, and how Lewis Carroll created one of the most fantastical lands of children’s play and imagination in one story. I knew Alice had to be a part of my new blog and its title.

Finally, I came across: The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.  By Andre Gide and decided my blog must be titled: “madness prompts and reason writes. It made me think of the mad hatter, the crazy psyche and the beautiful art that writing becomes on paper.

From there, I knew my blog wouldn’t be complete (or started) until I had a picture that captured all of this, too, so I took a black and white chessboard (so Alice) and a few kaleidoscope patterned, psychedelic designs in a rainbow of colors and my writing blog was ready to begin.

NaNoWriMo 2010 Prep 101: 15 Minutes of Word Sprinting....Go!

15 Minutes of General Fiction Writing

For my first writing challenge , I’ve got a 15 minute timed session to get whatever I can out and on the page. 15 minutes. 5….4…3…2…1…Write!:

            Once upon a time and far far away.....I woke up bright and early Friday morning, put a fresh pot of coffee on. I threw on my favorite black stretch pants, oversized t-shirt and slipped into my running shoes. As I turned to look at the clock, 5:42am, I caught a quick glimpse of myself in the mirror - My eyes were black and puffy from the night before - so not fair. I flipped my head and hair upside down, as if shaking off the memory of last night, and secured it high atop my head in a half ponytail-bun-do.

            When the coffee was ready, I poured it in my favorite travel mug, checked to make sure the lid was tight and walked out of the kitchen and into the back room where I found a pair of socks scrunched up inside my sneakers on the belt of my treadmill. I picked them up and felt them for any remnants of sweat, holding them close enough to my nose, to determine if it was okay to put them on for a quick run. The old socks won out over a fresher pair, knowing that going back in my bedroom would only lead me back to bed.

            I put on my cross-trainers without untying the laces and then stretched out my tired body even quicker, extending my legs in a bent lunge position while crisscrossing one arm over the other in front of me. My iPod was already sitting in the tray on the treadmill so I picked it up/. I certainly wasn’t going to let the fact that it had been a gift from Jack stop me from listening to it so turned it on and slipped its buds in my ears. Lady Gaga was trying to seduce my head with songs of dirty sex and S&M….Next….a throwback to the 80s, as Rob and Fab advised me to Blame it On the Rain….another single I wasn’t ready to get into….finally, I settled on a little Tom Petty. Runnin’ Down a Dream seemed neutral enough…til I thought about the name of his band mates: the Heartbeakers.. Ugh. This was going to be a long day…

The (Fictional) NaNoWriMo Prep School

    Last year I heard of the well-know, National writing event, NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a first draft of a novel in 30 days (or less!). The "winning prize" is the satisfaction of your finished work of fiction (or non-fiction if that's your thing). Unfortunately, it was January last year when I discovered this incredible event. Luckily (somehow) I remembered the event not too far off before its start date this year. I've been trying to get in the habit of writing every day for some time now and it just always seems that something gets in my way. Originally, I was going to try a 30 day blog challenge to jumpstart my writing habits but with NaNoWriMo right around the corner, I'm excited for a National Event to inspire me to finally get on my butt and write, write, write or should I say type, type, type?! I imagine NaNoWriMo must share the premise that it takes 30 days to form a habit and therefore, I’m aiming to kick-off off my newest blog with a "NaNoWriMo Prep School"  to jumpstart my writing routine, gain followers and network. In the days leading up to NaNoWriMo I'm going to take some of the writing prompts based on a modified version of the 30-Day Blog Challenge. Eventually, I'd like to try the Traditional 30-Day Blog Challenge but with a Novel to write, I'll take what I can get right now! I created this blog about 4 days ago now and I’ve realized it’s not going to get written if I don’t write it (shocking, I know!) so I figure what better way to get into the habit of writing EVERY day than to use a little fun competition?

          Please join me in any of the prompts or participate in NaNoWriMo challenge or cheer me on as I write.

          Ready…set….write!!

The (Fictional) NaNoWriMo Prep School

Class 101: Introduction, 15 Minutes of General Fiction Writing

Class 103: Write something inspired by your blog name Class 102: The meaning behind your blog name 

 Class 104: Write about first love

Class 105- Write on parents

Class 106- Write on siblings