Monday, December 24, 2012

'Twas the Blog Before Christmas....







'Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the blog,

Not a post for a while, I've had nothing to log.

"Archive" header was posted on the sidebar with care, 

In hopes that some content, soon would be there.




The bloggers were nestled, some sitting, some in beds,

While cinders of writer's block, danced in their heads.

My wife on the couch and I in my baseball cap,

Making sure not to type loudly, avoiding a slap.




When, then in my brain, there arose such a clatter,

I gasped so loudly, my wife asked what was the matter.

 To typing, I went regardless of noise,

My wife shook her head, muttering "Boys will be boys."



Inspiration had struck, this much I knew,

My fingers a blur as over the keyboard they flew.

"On Lefty, on Righty, on thumbs to space bar",

The keys tapping faster than pistons on a race car.



The words started flowing, the sentences formed,

My synapses fired, my neurons they stormed.

A story began, about a man and a sleigh,

About a special time of year, it was called Christmas day.



This jolly old elf, was the hero for sure, 

It seemed crime was the disease, and he was the cure.

A vigilante Santa and his army of elves,

Sounded......too far-fetched to me, in spite of myself.



I let out a sigh, hit 'select all', then 'delete'

Such a cool idea for a story, suddenly wasn't so neat.

It was back to the drawing board, for the rest of the night,


Merry Christmas to all, from the blog, Left and Write!


I'd like to wish you all a very safe and joyous holiday season.

Merry Christmas!





Monday, December 10, 2012

Cheers, Cavanaugh Blog Fest




Two amazing things here....

The first is that I'm actually posting not one, not two...but three entries in a one month period. My past record hasn't been all that sterling, I'm afraid.

The second, and more important, is that this post is in celebration of an awesome author....The Ninja Captain, himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh!

I've only been following Alex's blog for a little bit but, in that time, I've come to find him as being one of the most giving, kind, and supportive authors out there. While Alex is, indeed, all these words I've used to describe him, he's also a bit of a mystery.

No one has seen a picture of this man. Heck, that can't even be said for Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. That's just how mysterious he is.

My job, in this post, is to do the following:


  • In +/- 20 words, what does Alex look like?
 That guy from Mythbusters....maybe it's the hat?





  • In +/- 20 words, who could play Alex in a documentary? (Living or dead)
That guy from Mythbusters....maybe it's the goatee?




  • In +/- 20 words, who does Alex remind you of?


A mixture of Hemingway and Santa Claus. He likes to write (drunk?) and is very giving....wearing a red suit.




  • In +/- 100 words, (excluding the title) write flash fiction using all these prompts:
    • Cavanaugh
    • Ninja
    • IWSG
    • Cosbolt
    • Guitar
I had just stepped out of Cavanaugh's, the fresh air a welcome relief to the stale smell of the bar. It was then that I saw the Night Ninja for the first time. As a member of the International Wrestler's Sentry Group...or IWSG, as we like to call it, I ducked into the alleyway, ready to don my Lucha mask and piledrive the notorious criminal into the asphalt.

As I prepared to leap up, I saw what looked to be a street musician swing his very new looking Cosbolt guitar up and aim it at the rudo*. He gave the strings a hard strum and energy, shaped like cleft and treble notes, shot from the neck of the guitar and blasted the ninja off his swingline and into a smoking pile of unconscious crook, thudding on the street.

I stood there, giving the man a nod and marveling at how one never knew just who had the talent.

"Wow, great suit!" he said, giving me a salute.

"Thanks", I grinned, "hey, anyone ever tell you that you look like that guy from Mythbusters?"

"I get that all the time", he grinned as he disappeared into the night.


*Editor's note: Rudo is the term used to describe 'bad guy' wrestlers in Lucha Libre wrestling.

(Yeah, I know it's over 100 words, but it's my blog....so sue me :P )

So, here's to Alex J. Cavanaugh....man of mystery and all around swell guy.

I wish you much happiness, success, and prosperity and thanks for all that you do.




Wednesday, December 5, 2012

IWSG for December 2012



It's first Wednesday of the month and that means another blog post devoted to the Insecure Writer's Support Group. The IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain and author extraordinaire, Alex J. Cavanaugh. Alex is a very generous blogger and, if you get a chance, you should check out his stuff, here.

This month, I want to talk about.....last month.

November, last year, was great for my writing. I was kicking butt and taking names in NaNoWriMo. This November...not so much. I started NaNo (and was, actually, excited about it), but only got about five thousand words in before I gave up the ghost. I also missed November's IWSG post (sorry Alex!), something I've been trying to be diligent in getting done.



It seemed like life got a bit more 'underfoot' this year than last. I got a bit caught up in the election, then Thanksgiving came along and, with that, a one thousand mile journey to my parent's for a week. Not that I couldn't have got some writing in, I could have....I guess I just wasn't that motivated. I know that many people have much more hectic lives than mine (all year 'round) and still manage to do/finish NaNo, as well as other writing goals.

It's times like these when I feel like this might not be what I was cut out to do. I love writing and love coming up with stories...it's just that when it comes to actually doing it....I, sometimes, let laziness win out. This struggle comes up every once in a while and I've been thinking about just how I could go about fighting it. Then, something from my past popped into my head and it just may be the key.

I was thinking, maybe, diversifying my creative endeavors might help to fight the 'lazies', so I've started drawing/sketching again. When I was young, I used to draw all the time. In fact, my lifelong dream was to be a cartoonist (I was always a big "Peanuts" fan).

When I got older, it was to join the Secret Service (honest)....but, that's a post for another time.

Anyway, I'm hoping that splitting my creative time might help motivate me to get some stuff done on one, or both, fronts.

I still gave thanks this past November, just not for my writing motivation.

Ah well, a new month brings new opportunities as well as new challenges. It's up to no one but myself to take the ball and run with it.

So....hut, hut, hike!

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Vertically challenged jumble of words...



Back when I first got the 'writing bug', a little over a year ago, I started by trying to do some flash fiction a few times a week. In doing that, I would take prompts from Seventh Sanctum and then borrow the format from the 100 word story site and go from there.

I was just going through some of my old stories and found this one. I forget what the prompt was....maybe alien murder or something?


“I think she's dead.” the detective stated flatly.  His optical sensors scanned the curvy humanoid up and down, fixing on a spot behind her right ear. The faint 'whir' of mini servos was all that was heard.

“Hey, great catch Shorelok....ya think?” The Mind intoned in his audio receptors.

“Indeed I do.  No respiratory activity. No heartbeat....in either heart.  Yes, I would consider this humanoid to be deceased.”

“Ok, sure...and what killed her?  That pile of salt next to her?”

“Correct.” said the android detective as he kneeled, pressing a small stud on the base of the woman's ear.  She seemed to shimmer for a second, then her appearance faded from a beautiful Bandorian woman to a dried up looking slug creature.

“Someone knew that 'she' was really a Lugosian....a race evolved from snail like creatures to whom salt was deadly.”  Calculations began running in his 'brain' as he stood.

“It was Sherlock, by the way....” an almost wry smile tugging at his synthetic lips.




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