I'm very proud to say that I've finally, officially submitted my entry into the Fresh Ink 2013 contest!
It was a painful process that took a lot of editing...revising...rewriting and more editing, but with the help of my wonderful mother and friends, I was able to complete a short story that not only complies with the required word count, but also has plot!
For my entry this year, I decided to sway away from the short story I previously mentioned about Acamar the Turkey Vulture, and submit an older creation of mine that some of you may be familiar with. When I originally published Lilac Lane on my blog last year, it was full of typos and was in need of some serious reshaping. Today, completely reworked, it has been entered into Fresh Ink 2013 with my high hopes that someone will enjoy it.
Due to contest rules and the possibility of plagiarism, I unfortunately can't post the entry right away, but I will soon.
I hope that those of you who end up reading it find it interesting...and maybe even that it leaves you hungry for more!
All the best!
~a very happy girl
With July 31st fast approaching, I've been hard at work on my entry for this year's Fresh Ink writing contest. Remembering the last minute rush I went through to submit my entry last year, I've been determined to complete my short story in advance to give lots of room for editing and critiquing.
Although I have a few things up for entry consideration this year, the piece that I find myself focusing on is a short story that I wrote while planning to enter another local contest this past March. All writers were required to create an original piece that tied in with the theme "Raptorfest," an annual springtime event where various birds of prey migrate through the Niagara Region. Entrants had to write a short story or poem from the point of view of a bird of prey on how they see their environment, and I did exactly that. My bird of choice was an unusual one, but I picked the Turkey Vulture with the intention to hopefully spark some interest.
Just shy of 1000 words, my story took place inside the typical day of a young Turkey Vulture named Acamar. I packed in as much information about the bird and its environment as I could while trying to keep it intriguing at the same time, but as you can imagine, that can be challenging to do with such a small restricted word count. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to submit my entry due to the fact that we went away for the Easter Weekend when the contest closed. However, I've been planning to submit it into Fresh Ink 2013 this month with some slight adjustments considering the fact that the word count for this contest is a minimum of 1000 words!
Unless I have a miracle brainstorm within the next week or so, I'll be submitting Acamar the Turkey Vulture into Fresh Ink 2013 by the end of this month with climbing levels of anticipation and excitement!
I walk down the sidewalk that boarders our property line. Past the maples and the mailbox. The cloud coverage that was existent all day is finally clearing and I can see the warm rays of the sun starting to set. They cast a petal pink evening glow across the neighbourhood and show the shadows at their strongest.
I casually make my way along the sidewalk, pausing at the bike path that leads down to the park and listening to some shouts and giggles coming from the playground. I decide to change my path of direction and take a stroll through here instead, along the rolling hill.
The breeze gently kisses my cheeks as I pass under the evergreens, and it's still warm enough that I feel comfortable in my shorts and amaranth t-shirt. I can hear the distinct whistle of robins and blue jays starting to settle down for the night, and smell the distant scent of barbecue coming from a neighbour's backyard.
I shield my eyes from the last bit of sunlight that tries to blind me as I come around the loop of the park, and continue on the sidewalk again. It's quiet here, and there's a certain serenity that makes me want to freeze time and simply indulge. There's a quiet ticking off to my left side, the result of a sprinkler watering the grass, and as I continue on my walk I see a few people meticulously mowing their lawns. Passing a few people with dogs and strollers are the only encounters I make.
Finally I see it. The highlight of my trip always lies around the corner of the bike path. On the edge of a huge property is a cedar rail fence and trellis stretching at least thirty feet and adorned in crimson roses. I've never been entirely sure who owns the property, but it's always been my favourite place in the neighbourhood because of the copious amount of roses that are in full bloom this time of year. The way that the sun rays illuminate the blossoms makes it feel like one of the most pleasant places in the city to be, and the fragrance that the flowers give off is almost saccharine. The purpose of my walk complete, I decide to stay here for a while marvelling over the bright carmine colours and taking in the scent and sight of the Crimson Beauty on Evergreens Drive.
Where to begin?
School has been out for officially two weeks and I'm absolutely loving it!!!
My new goal is to try to blog at least once a day...emphasis on try. Fingers crossed I'll find something new to write about every day.
For now however, I plan on summarizing what the beautiful summer has brought me so far!
The past few weeks have delivered me screams, tears, baskets of giggles and tasty treats! A Toronto Trip to Taylor Swift left me in awe, while a superb Sunday swimming at the city pool kept me smiling. A classy creation of clam chowder last night was my addition to our dinner, and that being one of my favourite soups, I was quite pleased with myself! Last Thursday gifted me clear contact lenses and I was ecstatic when I realized that up to that point, I had never been able to look into the mirror and see myself without glasses-I've had glasses my entire life. I was entirely blown away, and my little sister's joke about me being able to see myself for the first time in fifteen years almost made me sad. That took care of the tears I mentioned earlier.
Afternoon visits with friends and family have made my heart melt with joy at the realization of how blessed I am, and the result and rave of my edible project last night put me in a good mood! For those of you that don't know, I seem to have a love affair with baking things. Usually I stick to simple cookies, but last night as a treat for some friends, I tried my skill at a batch of scratch, maple bacon cupcakes with chocolate icing. Although I have to admit I was too lazy to make scratch icing and left it to Betty Crocker to save the day, as well the fact that I accidentally let the cocoa and brown sugar marinated bacon in the oven escape my mind...needless to say it was a little too crispy. In the end though, the silky, maple sweetened batter made up for it all, and as it would turn out, my cupcakes were quite a hit with our friends today!
So far, that's about it! I sit here at the kitchen table, marvelling at the sunset shining through the window, recollecting on what an amazing year I've had, and looking forward to every single thing that awaits me from here on in...
