National Short Story Month

May is National Short Story Month!
In 2007, the Emerging Writers Network kicked off the very first National Writers Month.

“There’s a national poetry month, and I think there should be a national short-story month, too. It’s a very American form," says Larry Dark, director of The Story Prize, and one of the first people to initiate the month long event.

So how should writers and readers celebrate?
Write a short story of your own!

• Get together with friends and family and have a writing celebration. In the first week of May, prepare your short story skeleton. Make your plot fun and exciting, because you're going to share your story with others. You don't want them to fall asleep.

• Write your short story during the remainder of the month. Have fun; don't concern yourself too much about the quality. On May 31st, have a party. You can eat hors' d'oeuvres, bake a cake, and celebrate.  Read your short stories to one another, have a laugh, and enjoy yourself! Since it's springtime,  I'll leave you with this gorgeous photo of apple blossoms.

Happy National Short Story Month!! 
And Happy Cinco De Mayo!

Pea Brains Not Allowed

Yesterday I found myself reading a website which I had in past months determined to be only suitable for elderly folks. I had the impression that the articles were created for relaxing inspiration. Upon reading two of the site's columns I was surprised to discover them surprisingly witty.

One was written by a man, the other by his wife. The woman's column shocked me with its lack of sugariness, and the man's was incredibly fresh and smart. I know what I am-I'm critical and close minded about everything which doesn't apply to me. I was glad I'd finally read these articles.

What a disadvantage it is to be narrow minded! Reading can enrich our lives and minds, but this can't be achieved if you don't accept new things. It's often hard for me to read a book due to the mere fact that my younger sister was enthralled with it. It was a long time before I finally read Lord of the Flies. I was shocked to find it an intriguing and moving work of art. Just recently, my sister read Anne of Green Gables. I was dubious of the book at first. When I read it at last, I found myself completely taken with the detailed characters and vivid descriptions. I only wish to be as talented and vibrant a writer as Lucy Maud Montgomery. I may have never read some of my favorite books if others hadn't inspired me to keep an open mind.

Don't postpone reading new books and different genres. It is the key to writing in new ways. When I was around ten, a librarian introduced me to Sharon Creech's works. Her books weren't at all what I was accustomed to. They didn't match my R.L Stine criteria. But there was something about Sharon Creech's books that inspired me to change my writing. In my pre-Sharon Creech writings, there was always a Goosebumps-style tone. I learned the power of dialogue and close character portrayals through Walk Two Moons. I learned to reveal things delicately and slowly by reading Chasing Redbird. I'm always discovering new ideas from reading things which step out of my boundaries. Isn't it wonderful to be flexible and have a variety of tastes?


I'm beginning to sound like something that isn't my type, so I'll go now.


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Goodbye Earth, pt. 5

Goodbye Earth
Page Five

“Hi!” I exclaimed, as I jogged onto the track field.
I looked at Jerri Tarantelly, a girl who I hung around with at track.
“Hey, Star!” she said, her infectious smile beaming, “Today is game day at track and we just play soccer and tag!”

“Wonderful!” I said, rubbing my legs, “I’m exhausted!”

“I had a tiring day too. I went swimming all day at the Nautilus!” Jerri replied as I grabbed a soccer ball. Jerri’s friend Deckard came running over and the two girls danced a weird dance.

“I have got to go back to my team Jerri!” Deckard breathed between giggles.

“I'll call you later, Deck!" Jerri called.

“Umm, Jerri?” I asked.

“Yeah?” she answered with that same huge grin on her face.

“Have you heard of the Mayan calendar?” I inquired.

“Yeah. And it ends on December 21st this year, right?” she asked, rolling her eyes and kicking the ball between her legs.

“Yeah. Guess what else happens on that day? A planet that is usually far away from Earth will pass through our solar system, close and cause awful things to happen, like fires. People think that when it passed a long time ago, it may have caused Noah’s flood. There will also be a polar shift that will make people, like, drop down dead!” I said.

“Oh my gosh!” Jerri exclaimed, “That is the weird huge star I have been seeing lately? I thought it was Venus!”

Then she laughed. "It is Venus, isn't it?"

I shook my head with foreboding.

“Well, Jerri, there is a part that I haven’t told you about yet.”

"What?" she asked quietly, making the ambience one of bizarre horror.

“I’m going to live while everybody else dies,” I said, shrugging.

“What, did some wacko tell you that?" Jerri asked, regaining a smile to her face.

“No, NASA did. You see, a group of people is going to live on a space station way up in the sky where they can survive! You have to be invited to go, and I was invited.” I explained.

“Is that really true?” Jerri asked doubtfully.

“Yes! If you want proof come the day after tomorrow to see me go off in a rocket!” I said.

“You’re inviting me?” Jerri asked excitedly.

“Yeah, sure, why not?” I replied.

“Oh, thanks so much!” Jerri exclaimed.

“No problem,” I said.

There was silence out there on the field at George Wythe High School.

“Star?” Jerri asked, “Are you just going to abandon your family, and your friends?”

I had a sinking, disgusting feeling in my gut.

“Yes, I am.”

Jerri looked at me strangely as if I were doing something wrong.

“I guess I’ll go to heaven before you!” Jerri forced a smile.

Then suddenly I realized something. For the first time in my life, someone thought of me as a friend. Jerri really thought of me as her friend and I only thought of her as the girl I talk with at track.

“Jerri, you are such a great friend!” I said, smiling, “I won’t forget you. I’ll never forget you.”

Come back to bluepencildiaries.blogspot.com  tomorrow for the next page of Goodbye Earth!

Goodbye Earth, pt. 4

Goodbye Earth
Page 4
She was in the basement doing laundry.

“Mom, I have to tell you something,” I said.

“I’m not going to hear anything about the end of the world, Star,” warned Mom, glancing into my eyes. I felt annoyed, as if she was denying my intelligence or bravery or some silly presumption of stupidity. Nevertheless, I needed to do this.

“I am not talking about that. I wanted to tell you that, well, I am a woman.” I suddenly felt flushed. How could I have said IT?

“Star, Congratulations!” she yelped, spreading her arms to embrace me.

“Well, Mom, I don’t have it right now. I wanted to tell you something else,” I said gravely.

“What, sweetie?” Mom asked tenderly.

“Well, this has been for almost two years,” I muttered.

Mom looked aghast.

“But you didn’t even have…a chest then!” Mom whispered.

“I know,” I said, feeling strangely guilty.

“And you didn’t tell me?” Mom asked. I think I saw tears in her eyes glistening.

“We went to shoot the .22 that day,” Mom murmured, her eyes looking far off.

I remembered that day with dread.

“You probably didn’t even have sanitary supplies!“ Mom yelped, hugging me. She brushed aside one gray hair, and tenderly smiled.

I wondered if I was red, green, or white.

“I'm proud you told me about it, Star,” she smiled, and let go, “I don’t mind.”

“Mom,” I whispered, “Can I go take a bath?”

“Oh, I guess I am crowding you! Sorry!” Mom smiled nervously. I started walking upstairs.

“Star?” Mom called. I looked back. “Star, remember. I love you!” she called.

I nodded and walked up the stairs. I drew a deep, hot bath and slipped in. I tried to envision myself wearing a bulky space suit, and living in the same place forever. Well, not forever, just until I died. Whatever. Peace suddenly barged into the bathroom, her 11-year-old face looking disgusted.

“Mom told me the good news!” Peace said, with fury.

I could die. If mom had told Peace WHEN I got it, I would so totally shoot myself. Because you know what Peace would do? She would scream her head off and be all like, THAT WHOLE TIME YOU WERE HAVING THAT? What can I say? I do not want that to happen.

“Umm, yeah isn’t that nice news?” I said.

“Oh yeah it is! First I find out you’re going to live while I suffer and die and then I find out you’re a menstrual monster!” Peace exclaimed, “I hate you! I really hate you!”

I burst into tears.

“Y’know Peace, I have been having a really stressful time with this whole thing, okay? It has not been good for me. Do you think I enjoy the thought of you, Mom, Dad and Chunky dying? I am not completely brutal! I’m really sorry about this!” I shouted.

“Okay, Star. I guess I am being a little unfair. However, I feel like I deserve to live. I do not want you to abandon me. Star, we have been so close in the past years. I don’t want you to leave me to die,” Peace sighed, her arms still crossed.

“Apology accepted,” I said, “Now can you leave?”

“Sure,” Peace replied, with a giggle.

I pulled some shampoo off the rack and squirted a pile of it on my head. I could not believe that tomorrow I would be visiting the NASA headquarters for an orientation, and that the day after that I would be boarding a rocket to the space station. I sank back into the bathtub, and tried to relax.
 
Come back to bluepencildiaries.blogspot.com for the next page of Goodbye Earth!

Goodbye Earth, pt. 2

Goodbye Earth
Page Two
“Oh my gosh, are we going to die?” Peace asked.

“Your mother said it isn’t going to happen!” shouted Dad, appearing  nervous.

“Is this the thing with the Mayan calendar?” I asked, “Mayans are very intelligent and are never wrong. If they said the world was going to end, they would certainly be correct!”

Peace looked at me with incredulous blue eyes.

“I think the Bible says that you won’t know the day or the hour!” she said.

“So? As if the bible is right about everything?” I yelped.

“Yeah, it is!” Peace shouted.

“Holy roller!” I screamed in annoyance.

Dad screamed, “Shut up!"

“Fred, calm down,” Mom murmured, holding Dad's arm, “Children can be very excited about this kind of thing. It can really worry them.”

I shook my head, amazed that my parents didn't believe. My entire life, I'd spent a lot of time reading history books and reading about the ancient Mayans. How could they be wrong? The calendar ended there.

“You see, girls, I don’t believe the world can ever end. It goes on and on because there is no way anything really can exist or not exist. Asking if the world exists is like asking how many monks it takes to put in a light bulb. The answer is one and not one. The world exists and not exists,” Mom lectured.

“Please Mom. I happen to know that’s a crock of bull!” I said sarcastically. By then we were pulling into the driveway.

“Why is it a crock of bull, Star?” Dad asked, looking cold.

“Because…because…I don’t know but it just seems like every principle I’ve been taught turns away from my life. Nothing really holds true for me!” I said, tears in my eyes, “The world is ending. I feel it in my blood. The animals are not flourishing as they used to. Everything is ending. Everything is going to sleep. The Earth is dying.” I looked outside at the bleak, cold landscape outside our small, cold Virginia home.
Mom sighed.

“Well, you know, maybe it is all coming to an end. Whatever will be will be!” Mom said, quoting an old song.

We all got out of the car and walked inside of the drab white house. I tossed my keys on the kitchen table and crawled onto my bed. Then I heard something pushed through the mail slot. I got up to check it, hoping for a letter. Instead, I found only one parce.  It was something from NASA. I was about to call my mom when I saw to whom it was addressed. The name on the envelope was mine. I read it over again. Yes, Star Arusta was the name imprinted upon the envelope. Why would NASA be sending me a letter? Why, they could not even know I exist. I slowly walked into the kitchen, and grabbed the letter opener. I sat down on my disk chair, my prized possession. Upon pulling out the letter, I read:

Miss Arusta:


A select group of young individuals has been chosen to live on a special space station where they can survive the events of the Niburu fly by. On December 21, 2012, there will be a polar shift that will cause unimaginable effects to the Earth. Twenty selected persons between the ages of 2 and 30 have been chosen to live upon a ship. These people alone will live through the effects of the flyby. These people are only the most talented people in the world; these people can make our new world complete. You, Star Arusta, are one of the people who have been chosen to leave your family and survive. Please remember, if you stay on Earth, you will not live. If we do not receive your response by telephone before 10:00 P.M tomorrow, we will renegotiate and get another person to fill the spot.


Sincerely,


General Peterson
Return tomorrow to bluepencildiaries.blogspot.com for the next page of Goodbye Earth!

Goodbye Earth, pt. 1

Goodbye Earth
Page One

Thursday, December 10, 2012
I collapsed to the grass exhausted after the exercises at track.

“I am no track chick!” I panted to Jerri, who sat next to me likewisely bushed.

“Me either,” Jerri replied.

“I can’t tell that. You do hurdles so well,” I responded, smiling at Jerri. She rolled her eyes.

My teenaged coach sat up. “Okay girls, you can all go home now,” she said in her husky voice as her brawny boyfriend wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.

“Eww,” Jerri whispered.

“The sky looks like it is going to snow, maybe track will be called off tomorrow,” I said, looking up at the cloudy sky.
"That'll be a relief," sighed Jerri, standing up.
I lifted myself off the ground with a grunt and plucked up my bag.

“Bye!” I said to Jerri, noticing my family waiting on the bleachers.

“See you!” called Jerri, running across the field.

I walked back to my parents. My mother stood wrapped in blankets, looking chilly and tired.

“Let’s go home now!” she whispered, puffs of steam emanating from her mouth.

“Awww, Mom. It isn’t that cold,” I said, “I’m wearing a T-shirt”

“A cup of hot chocolate awaits me at home!” Mom murmured as we walked back to the car. Our rusty pickup shivered as Dad turned the key. Mom turned on the heater. I realized how cold I was and snuggled next to my sister, Peace. Peace pushed me away.

“Geez, it’s not like I want to be near you!” I exclaimed.

“Okay, okay. Just don’t act so lovey,”

“Umm…That wasn’t lovey.”

Peace sighed. “Whatever.”

I sat back in my seat, and tried to keep warm. Mom turned on the radio and out blasted the noise of a talk show. I heard the word apocalypse and turned my ears to the noise. At the words, “December 21 is the day! Prepare to see the Messiah!” my dad turned off the radio. Silence filled the car.

“Uh, what does that guy mean?” I asked quietly.

“Nothing, sweetie,” my mom said, “It’s just something people think is going to happen. It is just a silly rumor.”

“Well, Mom I think I should know about this!” I yelped.

“Well, people say that a planet will pass Earth on December 21, 2012 and cause cataclysmic occurrences. That probably won’t happen, though.”

Come back to bluepencildiaries.blogspot.com tomorrow for the next page of Goodbye Earth!

Just a Reminder!

Tomorrow I will begin posting my short story, Goodbye Earth. One page will be posted per day so that you, the reader, can enjoy this book in bite sized peices. The book will be complete in 18 days, continuing from Monday, January 11th, to Friday, January 29.
Goodbye Earth is a family-friendly tale about a 12 year old girl directly experiencing the end of the world. One cloudy December day, she finds out that she has been selected to be spared from the wraths of the Nibiru fly-by. In the few short days before she leaves her family, she realizes the deep values of family, friends, and life.
So, remember to keep watching Blue Pencil Diaries! Don't worry, if you miss a day, you can always check the blog archives on the sidebar ------>
Have a great Sunday!

Welcome to Blue Pencil Diaries!

This blog's purpose is to exhibit my works so that others can enjoy my writings. I hope that anyone who wishes to will read my postings, which will vary but all show a main theme of writing. My first project will be to post 1 page of one of my short stories on this blog per day until the whole story has been posted. This will begin next Monday, January 11th,  so keep your eyes peeled!
Oh yah and about my name. I think the color blue symbolizes me fairly well, and then the pencil part-I use a pencil to write. Why is it diaries? Because I love writing diaries, of course!
Be the first to leave a comment on this entry and I'll give you a copy of Nothing But a Fire, my latest short. It's about a young girl struggling to hold onto hope, while the odds seem to all be against her. Her father is gone at war, and she now has to start 7th grade even though she's been homeschooled her whole life. When her freinds start rumoring about her father, it seems her world is turning upside down. Aprox. 20 pages long.
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