Realms of the Raven

And next week may be delay.

I’m going to be traveling to Fort Benning, Georgia, to see my oldest son graduate from US Army Infantry training. He’ll be in Germany until January, then is scheduled to deploy to Iraq for six months and then Afghanistan for six months. This timeline is, of course, not set in stone and can change with little notice.

I’m very proud of him and I know he’s going into this with his eyes open but I’m a mom, I can’t help worrying.

So my time got sucked up by packing and preparations, so please excuse me for skipping the first week since I started the Friday Flash series.

All good thoughts and prayers for my son are also appreciated. You can never have too much.

Now is your chance to tell me how you’d like to see the Friday Flash Archive page. It’s gotten BIG since I’ve been doing a weekly Friday Flash for over 40 weeks now and I was trying to decide if I should change the order it’s displayed in or what I should do and I decided that I should ask the people that read it (or might).

You can see the current page here.

At the upper right of this page, in the sidebar, is a poll offering the options I’ve thought of for ordering the page. Please vote and let me know what you think would be the best way. Feel free to leave a comment if you have an idea I haven’t listed, too!

(I’m working on this week’s Flash, too)

Join Maura Anderson, Celia Kyle, Lizzie T. Leaf, and Kara Griffin for fun, chats, book news, and giveaways. Find out about their latest hot book releases, news and more! Bring a friend and get more chances to win prizes and books. Everyone attending will get a special prize just for joining these sexy and sassy authors on Monday, July 14th from 6pm to 9pm PDT in the Realms of Love chat room.

Click here to join the chat!

Delayed again. My close friend and writing mentor had give two of her beloved cats into the arms of Bast this week and, though they were not my own pets, my heart grieves for her and the pain she’s going through. It left me rather adrift and unable to put my mind to writing.

Sorry for the delay but hope you enjoy the flash.

Oh - and an interesting tidbit… As I was writing the last part of this flash, my seven year old son came in from our yard and brought be a beautiful feather he found. It’s either owl or hawk. :)

(Archives are on the website, if you want to read the offerings of past weeks)

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Spirit Messenger
(c) 2008 by Maura Anderson

At least it was a weekend. That alone was something to give thanks for, given his current exhaustion. Lately it seemed that no matter how much he worked, how exhausted he became, he lay awake most of the night. The tossing and turning had long since grown old and now it both pissed him off and worried him.

Dreams interrupted what little sleep he managed. Images of lightning, thunder mixed with the sound of battles and the smell of blood and death. Something was calling to him, screaming out to him, pleading with him. He knew he was the one supposed to answer but he couldn’t figure out what he was supposed to do.
Read the rest of this entry »

My special fourth of July flash fiction story - Up in Flames - is up on the Fiction with Friction blog now!

Give it a read and let me know what you think!

Testing Windows Live Writer. Please return to your scheduled programming :)

Tomorrow we’ll be chatting in Lizzie T. Leaf’s Tearoom at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LizziesTeaRoom/ from 6:00 AM PST to 4:00 PM PST.

Join us for excerpts and fun!!

Or maybe that’s really a Saturday Snippet.

I’ve been sick all week and I have a sick cat I need to take back to the vet in a few minutes. So I’m late - but I’ve never missed a week and refuse to now.

Back in a bit.

Aspen Mountain Press is celebrating the Ebook Week by offering a 20% Discount on any order from their website.

Just shop at Aspen Mountain Press and enter code:

EB2594-8

to receive 20% off your entire order.

It’s a terrific way to stock up or introduce others to ebooks!

I just finished this book and LOVED it. Ann Aguirre has a fun quiz up and it says I am:

A Jumper!

Grimspace navigator? Dude, you’re like interstellar royalty. You’re charismatic and possess a forceful personality. You’re used to having power and you don’t hesitate to use it. You also love to take risks. If it has danger attached, you’re first in line, and no, you’re not wearing a safety helmet. You live for the thrills, don’t care about life expectancy, and expect to go out with a bang.

Hmmmm - really? LOL

Ann also has a contest with some really great prizes on her blog. Check it out here!

KICK-BUTT CONTEST! Answer five questions, earn chances to win fabulous prizes. The official GRIMSPACE quiz* Ever wondered what job you’d hold down on a star ship? Yes! Uhm, no… *shifty look* Banana Hammock!