NaNoWriMovember



Writin', with a Stylin' Stache!

I can't grow a mustache to save my life, and coincidentally if I tried to grow one my life would need saving… from my wife.  She hates facial hair, well, my facial hair.  She says it's like little razor blades, she won't hardly kiss me if I'm not clean shaven which is a bit of an issue as my stubble grows in quickly (to make matters worse, it grows in quick but patchy, I skip over the rugged look right to the homeless bum in about 12 hours).

For the last two years I have made an attempt at Movember with pitiful results I must say, and all joking aside my wife was supportive of my efforts but come December 1st I was expecting her to tie me up and shave me… actually that sounds kinda hot, I may have to try that next year.

Anyways…

So as the whole Movember thing is a complete loss to me I decided instead to just make the above photo combining the two together.  Now I thought the whole NaNoWriMovember thing was a unique concept that I alone came up with, as usual my original ideas have previously been copyrighted, trademarked, patented, forged, reversed engineered, knocked off and… well, you get the picture.  It does however make for some rather witty banter on twitter, here are a few gems I pulled out of the #NaNoWriMovember hashtag:

option8: This month, my mustache will be writing a novel.#NaNoWriMovember
cavaticat: What I'm saying is I don't do #NaNoWriMo, but if I did I would rarely eat or pee & never shave. My beard would be glorious. #nanowrimovember
kprobbins: #NaNoWriMo and #Movember go hand in hand. Maybe I'll sit on my #prostate and write a #novel this month. #NaNoWriMovember
himupnorth: This month I am going to write a novel about a man who grows a moustache #NaNoWriMovember I might call it Taches to Taches... or maybe Bristle Down the Wind

Well I hope everyone's lip is tingling with growth and fingers on fire with words!

Happy NaNoWriMovember!

Oh…
Don't forget about #3ForThursday tomorrow at 9:00am Eastern.  There may be a mustache related prompt!

Thanks for Reading

D. Ryan Leask

Dear, Sad Neglected Blog:

I'm so sorry, I have been sadly neglecting you but I have been really busy, writing flash fiction (all of which can be found at Alphabet Wine) running my own flash fiction contest, 3 For Thursday, which is now starting to take off, and preparing for NaNoWriMo.

It has been a very long time since I paid any attention to you but honestly you are in my heart.  You see I was sick for almost a week, then I went to a far off place that had hardly any internet.

I know, I know, that's hardly an excuse.  Would you forgive me if I wasn't paying you any attention because I was writing?

Yes?  Oh… only if I was working on something publishable, darn.  Well no, I haven't, but I will soon, I promise.  Starting on November 1st.  This time, I will succeed with NaNoWriMo, I am going to attend some events and get support from others, both in person and from my Social Networking buddies on Twitter and Google+.  I already made a circle of NaNoWriMoers to keep in touch with.

What am I going to write?  Well, Blog, I am going to solidify my comedy sci-fi adventure I was working on before I got distracted.  I know, I have already written some of it and that's cheating, well, I am going to start over, I don't like what I have.

What is that Blog?  Will I still be doing flash fiction?  Of course I will, but I am really going to focus on my other writing, I may even start up the #6amWriters again and see if I can coax all my #WordMongering buddies out of hiding.

Well Blog, I sure do hope you accept my apology, I promise to keep you up to date on my NaNoWriMo progress and goings on.

I missed you,

Sincerely,

D. Ryan Leask

P.S. Thanks for Reading

#HumpDayChallenge Week 15 - Winner!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!

Winner

Chris Blanchard (@blanchardauthor) - This one is great. It uses the given words, though not in a predictable way for the story. I really liked that. I'm also a huge fan of alluding to something but allowing the reader to fill in the blanks. In this case, John and Alejandro's relationship and how it comes to an end.

Runner's Up

Sarah E. Olson (@saraheolson) - Another great non-predictable use of the key words. Quite touching, too.

@tinaofbord - I found this one humorous, mainly because the beginning sounded almost exactly like how I came up with using "Deray" for the challenge.

Sarah and Tina - drop me an e:mail d.ryanleask@gmail.com for a coupon for a free copy of "Counting Down the Storm"


Chris - Send me your address and I will mail you a signed copy of my novella!

Thanks so much B.C Young for reading all of the stories and trying to figure out which of these great tales was the winner.  I know it must have been a tough choice!

Also thanks Tracey for letting me look after your baby while your on your cruise.  Next time I'll take the cruise and you run the challenge!

===========================================

Tracey (@THansenWrites) generally runs this show over at her blog Tracey Hansen Will Write For Food but this week she is enjoying a cruise (the boat, not the Tom) to celebrate her 30th birthday!  She so kindly asked me to take the helm of the good ship #HumpDayChallenge!

B.C Young is our guest judge today!  He has recently released Unspoken Stories Volume 1, an awesome collection of five short stories.  You can also buy All My Fiction which contains and will contain all of B.C. Young's writing!  What an opportunity to get your foot in the door and buy all his writing which gets updated every time he writes something new!  Cool concept.  Check out everything he does over at The Time Capsule. And follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

Now for the technical stuff:
Contest Opens at noon on Wednesday and closes promptly at 8pm (est).
Use all five words below in your story of no more than 100 words which you post directly into the comments section below.  (If you have issues with posting in the comments you can send me your story via e:mail D.RyanLeask@gmail.com.)
Please leave your Twitter handle or e-mail address below your post!
B.C. Young will chose his favourite story as well as a couple that stand out for various random reasons.

The winner will receive a #HumpDayChallenge Winner badge to post on his or her site as well as recognition via Twitter and Facebook. Each contestant also agrees to lavish kudos upon said winner!

As well as these wonderful prizes they will also receive an autographed hardcopy of my novella Counting Down the Storm with the runners up each receiving it in e-book format!

Now, usually there is a part where Tracey says she encourages offensive language and profanity, this week's guest judge has issued a further challenge along with the usual five words and that is to keep your story fairly clean!  Now THAT just might be the real challenge!

So, here are this weeks words:
Omnipotent
Voodoo
Gringo
Alarm
(Any form of these words are fine)
And the judges super extra-special word is:
Deray (n. meaning: disorder; merriment)
Free your mind, empty your bladder and get at'er!
-WTYM
(WTF does that mean anyway?)

DON'T FORGET, TODAY IS TRACEY'S BIRTHDAY

I Hope You Get To Meet A Nice Fireman!

One more announcement!  Starting Tomorrow I am kicking off an ALL NEW flash fiction contest called:

3 For Thursday

Find Out All About It

I'm a Finalist! Vote for Me! Five Minute Fiction Tuesday. UPDATE: I didn't win but it sure was fun

Read the Winning Story Here

So I stumbled upon this fun little contest of Leah Petersen's #FiveMinuteFiction.  Wow what a rush.  How it works is a word is posted that must be used or be the basis of a story of which you have five minutes to write.  The word is posted promptly at 1:30pm EST and post are not accepted after 1:45pm EST.  You have 5 minutes to write and 10 minutes to sort out any issues.  This happens every Tuesday.  And Guess What?

Out of 19 Entries I was one of the Five Finalists.
Vote for it Here

This was my five minutes of fiction:

It was a rather amazing thing to find under the bottle cap. I had been walking along the beach to clear my head, well hangover really. It was a bit of a fuzzy night and I woke up alone although I could have sworn that someone had been in my bed at one time. Anyway I was walking along the beach, clearing my brain and failing at it and seriously contemplating a little Hair-O-The-Dog when I kicked a bottle.


I'm not normally one to pick up stray bottles of booze off the ground but I rationalized it as a sign that Hair-O-The-Dog was better than fresh air. Besides, the bottle was full and the seal was tight. Rum too, real Jamaican Rum.

I opened it up and smelled the cap. Already my head began to clear, the musty sweet smell of cane sugar, the rememberances of a warm belly and a serene brain. I looked inside the cap.

"Winner! See back for details." It said.

Odd, I don't recall any booze bottles having contests before.

I took my finger nails and popped out the rubber.

"Three Free Wishes, redeem at once." You've got to be kidding me. This day was going to look up after all.

Did You Like it?

Vote for it Here
(You can vote for someone elses instead if you wish, they are all great stories and all written in five minutes!)

Thanks for Reading
D. Ryan Leask