You like me! You really, really.....

O.k., well, maybe that's exaggerating just a tad, but someone out there likes me. 'Who is this insane person?', you may ask.

Why, my multi-talented, and very kind Google Plus pal, Shen Hart...that's who! Shen has nominated my little blog for the Liebster Award.

'What is this...Liebster Award?' you ask. (Amazing how I just seem to know what you're going to ask, isn't it?)

Well, it represents small blogs, with less than 200 followers, that contains awesome content. Now, the word 'awesome' is a bit subjective I guess but, hey, it's my blog...so it's my rules ;) The other thing that goes hand in hand with being nominated is that I'm to nominate five blogs that I enjoy and spread the love, as it were.

The following five blogs fit the 'awesome' bill, in my opinion:

1. Mark Craddock's CROSS PLANES (capital letters, just to emphasize the point). A real life friend for over 20 years, Mark has jumped back onto the blogging wagon, not only as a writing lesson for his home schooled kids, but to chronicle his many RPG ventures, as well.
2. Rob Hall: Another real life friend who's also become quite 'the posting fool' since the new year. He puts up a lot of stuff about his love of comic books, movies, books, you name it. A cornucopia of nerdyness minus the taped up glasses ;)
3. Terence Towles Canote's blog always...and let me say that again...always, has something of interest for me. He writes a lot about old television shows, old movies, and the actors that worked them. A lot of times his posts are on the more obscure pop culture icons of the past, which makes it all the more interesting. Check it out and be prepared to be schooled. Oh, and if you enjoy old television (and who doesn't?) Terence has also written a book of essays about the subject, which you can find here.
4. Lily Alice is a very....unique person...and I mean that in a good way. Like Terence, she's a Google Plus pal who always has something interesting to say. Her blog is focused on the past, mainly the 50s and 60s and always has interesting posts about music, movies, food, flowers and booze.....not in that order, either. If  you really want to get in her good graces, tell her you just adore Jim Garner and Bill Holden.
5. Jennie Vongvith is, yet another, Google Plus pal...one of my first, I do believe, who is not only extremely prolific, but also a sweetheart. Extremely supportive of other writers, she's a great NaNoWriMo  buddy. She posts about everything, it seems. Jennie loves to write and she does it well. I'm never quite sure what I'll seeing in my reader from her site, but I'm always pretty sure that I'll enjoy it.

I want to thank Shen Hart, again, for the nod and you can check her great stuff out at Ink Stained Pawprints.

This next part I'll lazily lift....er, I mean reproduce from Shen's site...

Now what those of you have been nominated need to do:

• Thank your presenter on your blog.
• Link to the blogger in your thank you message (see above for a possible method of doing so… Props for being original, if you feel so inclined)
• Copy and past the award (see below).
• Present the award to 5 other blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) if you think that they deserve it.
• Let your nominees know through some means of social media.

You can copy paste your award right here:

Lucky Seven

So there I am...minding my own business...when I, suddenly, get tagged!  That's right....tagged!!

One of my Google Plus pals, the multi-talented Shen Hart, tagged me in an exercise known as "Lucky Seven" where you go to your current manuscript, flip to page 7 or 77, go down to line 7 and post the seven lines afterwards.

Mine, from my NaNo (and still unfinished) project, The T.E.M.P Agency goes, as follows....

"Uhmm...excuse me...", Linda said as she pointed to the picture of the big eared young man, "who's that?"

His well rehearsed speech interrupted, Templeton gave here his best "annoyed" look and nodded at the picture.

"Walt Disney."

"Who's Walt Disney?" Linda asked.

"He's in the cartoon business....for now. One of the best animatronics innovators of all time, why he will be widely regarded...." Templeton caught himself before he said 'too much'.


It's not War and Peace but, I wrote it and, more importantly, had a blast writing it. I really should go back and finish it up, sometime.

Until then, though, I've tagged the following to 'get lucky'.....

Jaime Cooper
Rebecca Blain
Terrence Towles Canote
Harold Chester

No, I said 'flash fiction', not Flash Gordon....

I wanted to do a little bit of flash fiction and something pulpy so, here ya go....

The Fortune Society in: 

Gems 'da breaks, kid.

"Now young man, if you would be so kind as to toggle the starting mechanism located just above my left shoulder, I will...."


"Huh?" came the reply from the young blonde kid with the slicked back hair, tweed jacket, and bow tie.


"Flip 'da switch..." grunted the hulking figure that stood behind the both of them, rolling his eyes up as if trying to look under the brim of his battered derby.


"Oh...well, why didn't ya say so?" the kid said, reaching up and flipping the button to the 'on' position...then taking a step back. He was never sure what, exactly, Professor Proton's wondrous inventions did at any given time, he just knew it was always a good idea to stand far away from them when they were set to go.


The device strapped to the smaller, older, looking man's back started to hum. Lights began to shine, in a circular pattern, on the outside of the device which looked a bit like a round backpack, but made of highly polished metal. Two hoses were attached to each side which ran down the length of the wearer's arms and fastened at his wrists. A nozzle stuck up and over each hand, which he brought up and tried to take aim.


"Uhhh.....Prof, I don't think 'dats da best idea ya ever came up wit', ya know? I mean, I think The Baron wants ta....you know....take care o' 'dis himself..." the big man standing behind the other two men said.


"Now,now, Slate", the smaller man in the white lab coat said, holding his arms up and clenching his fists, "it should be obvious to any plebeian that our illustrious leader is in dire need of a bit of scientific assistance, wouldn't you say?" He closed his left eye, taking aim behind his thick, darkly tinted, goggles.


"Oooohhhh....this ain't gonna be good...I just know it." the blonde kid said, taking a step back and adjusting his bow tie.


"James, please refrain from vocalizing your inner dialogue as I am in the midst of addressing the fascinating beast which has designs on ingesting our fearless leader?"


"Huh?"


"Shaddup so's he can aim..." the hulking figure, Slate, said screwing up his face in frustration.


"Oh....well, why didn't you say so? And besides, you can call me Jimmy...everyone dmmmpffff!"


A large hand clamped over his mouth as Jimmy's eyes widened. He looked up, nodding at Slate, who removed his overly large hand from Jimmy's mouth and returned the nod.


"Almost.....almost......there...." the Prof said as his fingers on each hand depressed twin triggers and bright beams of crimson energy shot out from the nozzles on his wrists. The bright flash of light drew the creature's attention and it turned it's many tentacled head towards the twin beams of energy, just before they impacted it right between it's two sets of eyes. A loud explosion echoed in the small chamber and the Beast from a Thousand Nightmares dropped into a pile of rubbery, foul smelling goo.


"Blast it, Professor!" the dashing man with the wavy blonde hair and matching goatee shouted, his right arm still up and over his eyes, his left arm out and brandishing a glowing rapier. "I had the creature just where I wanted it!"


"Oh Baron, your cavalier attitude towards danger never gets dull." Prof grinned as he motioned for Jimmy to flip the switch of his Plasma Manipulator off. "Besides, our mission here was to obtain the Sultan's Guardian Gem, correct?"


"Exactly...something we couldn't have done until the gem's thief was dispatched. We had him on the ropes, didn't we Dumas?"


"Of course sir." a disembodied voice echoed from the glowing rapier in the Baron's hand.


"I hate 'dat sword..." grumbled Slate as he continued checking over his shoulder to remain sure that the portal behind them was still open. 


The Baron grinned at Slate, then glanced down at the pile of rubbery goo that was the remains of the Beast. Barely visible was the gleam of a multifaceted, aquamarine, gem.


"Well, that looks to be a bit of a sticky wicket, eh?" The Baron said, motioning towards the smelly, bubbly, mass with the glowing rapier.


"Sir, if you stick me in that mess I will cut you in your sleep...", the rapier said in a haunting voice.


"No need for that, I'm certain. Jimmy, might you have something to help us out here?" The Baron winked at the blonde young man.


"Oh, sure thing Baron....gimme one sec. I got what ya need or my name ain't Jimmy Dohicky!" 


The young man approached, pulling a small, telescoping rod from his inner jacket pocket and attaching some silvery string to the end of it. From another pocket, he produced some copper wiring and began bending and twisting it while his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth. He then tied the other end of the string to the copper wiring and lowered the fishing pole like device down towards the goop covered gem.


"Ya know, I've been thinkin' about makin' some sorta game outta this one. See, the people would put their money in and try to move this claw like thing down into a buncha toys or such and if they can clamp onto 'em", he said as he snagged the gem with the bent wiring, "then they get ta keep it!" he grinned as he held the now brightly glowing gem as if he'd just caught a prize bass.


"Jimmy, you're definitely a keeper." The Baron smiled as he took the gem from the wiring and put it into a black, silky, pouch.


Jimmy smiled, dismantling his gizmo and putting the pieces back into different pockets.


"Now lads....we're off. Let's get this gem back to the Sultan before the hourglass runs out of sand."


"Agreed Baron. I think now is good time to retreat to our own plane with alacrity."


"Huh?"


"We gotta get home....quick-like....."


"Oh, well why didn't you...."


A three voiced chorus replied "Shut up!"



Dramatis Personae:


The Baron: Swashbuckling man of mystery, wielder of the Karma Blade, and leader of the Fortune Society.

Professor Proton: A scientist of undetermined age and credentials. His wondrous devices seem to bend the laws of physics....when they work.

Aristotle Slate: Philosophical strong man and medic. Fluent in over twenty languages thanks to his photographic memory.

Jimmy Dohicky: The son of Dohicky Toys magnate, Chester Dohicky, Jimmy wants to lead the life of adventure, helping the team with his amazing, cobbled together from nothing, devices.

Yeah, I'm talking to you!!

It's been a while since I posted anything here, but...

 Like I've said elsewhere, I really hate opening a post with that line but, hey, truth hurts, huh?

Anywho, I've been sliding off the writing wagon, a lot lately, and have been putting some thought into why that may be. It's not for lack of time....I have scads of that. It's not for lack of encouragement. I have tons of that, as well...my wife makes sure of it. I think it boils down to one factor....

Lack of discipline.

There, I've said it.

I've always been the type of person who, if things didn't come naturally, I didn't put a lot of effort into doing them. As I've grown older I've come to realize, more and more, that something worth doing is something worth putting the effort into doing it well. If things were always easy, there would be no satisfaction in getting them done. Take NaNoWriMo (please! :P ) for instance. There were days when I did not want to sit down and put pixels to virtual paper. Some days, I didn't. But I always caught up and it was so satisfying to 'win'....to actually finish....that it made the effort worthwhile. 

Sometimes the oldest lessons out there are the most profound. 

That said, I think I'm going to try to do a few things to self-motivate and get some writing done. After all the name of this blog is "Left and Write"....not "Left and Slack".

Here are a few ideas I've been tossing around....

• Doing a weekly writing challenge. Yes, I know there are a lot of those floating out there, especially by my pals on Google Plus, but I think I need something more tailored to my interests. At least to start with. Perhaps a 500 word minimum, with a week to complete, which I post here for perusal/harassment, etc.
• A simple 100 word challenge, taking prompts from the Seventh Sanctum site. (I've had some good success with this in the past)
• Taking suggestions via a Twitter or G+ post, maybe for a 200-300 word short story and posting the results here. 

So, I think I might try one....or all...of these ideas and see which stick and which fall to the floor in a burning heap.

What do you do to stay disciplined?