Writespiration #95 Kaleidoscopes, Labyrinths, and Maze Worlds

It’s been a month since I published a Writespiration. Slack I know. But what could I do, I had to finish my book! Anyway, it’s back now…

So, I’m a kid at heart. Ok, a teen. Whatevs. The reason I’m telling you, is cause I was at mumzy’s the other day and I found a super cool kaleidoscope. Obviously it was farrrr to dangerous for baby black to play with… *cough* so I kept it safe for him instead!

It resulted in some what I think are awesome photos (click in the post for a slide show) and the inspiration for today’s post.

Write about a Kaleidoscope – maybe its a kaleidoscopic fantasy world, or a memory, a maze or perhaps a toy. Let your mind wander and see where it takes you. Entries short this week – under 100 words, deadline 9th October. Post entries in the comments or use a pingback.

Image Source – Wiki, By Source, Fair use, here

Kaleidoscopes remind me of an awesome (albeit slightly scary at the time) movie from my youth – the Labyrinth

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Now for your entries and last time, where we were condensing our stories into 3 sentences.

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First in Ritu,

Aashi had her hands full, planning her dream Indian wedding. Until she caught him with his pants down, and not with her! Aashi grows up, and learns the real ways of the world and still gets her happy ending.

and she gave us a little background to her blurb too – personally, I can’t wait to read it.

This is a novel that has been a long time in the writing… Started over 15 years ago, and been written in stops and starts… It’s still nowhere near finished. I wish I could sit with no distractions for a few weeks and get back until it. It’s my little baby! A genre I like to call Chickpea Curry-Lit – Rom Com with an Indian flava!

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Next in, Judy,

A mixed race couple come together with a world of differences between them. Domestic violence, duty, obligation, and culture try to separate them, but sex keeps them together. An unhappy marriage is finally over when his wife joins him from overseas – with their children!

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Next in Reyna Favis from the introvert broadcasting network,

Fia is in a mutually abusive relationship with the dead. Can she overcome her necrophobia and serve the Psychopomp, guardian of the dead, to earn a normal life?

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Next up, Geoffle who makes it short and sweet

Harry wants to get laid. For 320 pages, he fails. Then he doesn’t.

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Next, Diana,

Conall and Treasa are at odds about the imprisoned dragons. Conall’s wounding and recovery at the Mirror brings a change of heart. Conall and Treasa fall in love and work together to free the dragons.

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Sean Carlin, experienced screen writer and author teaches us about screen writing and loglines, his was only an example but I felt compelled to include his entire comment because of the interesting lesson from screenwriting. So his comment and example:

In screenwriting, we call this a logline, and it’s a crucial component of the outlining process: More than a mere sales tool, it is the conceptual nucleus of the story around which all the other particles organize. You can mix-and-match the details — set pieces, subplots, etc. — but the logline is sacrosanct. Ideally, it should convey the protagonist, the antagonist, the conflict, the setting, the genre, and the tone — all in a single sentence (two at the most). Here’s an example: On the Fourth of July, a resort-island sheriff finds himself in deep water — literally — when his beach is attacked by a great white shark that won’t go away. See that? Tells you everything you need to know.

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Babz up next with a dark plot,

New school, new environment, new friends.
but in the end, he ended up dead.

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Next in is Shaun,

Kolast is a Blood Mage who has traveled home to save a dying king. He meets a talented young girl who requests his tutelage. Together they uncover and disrupt an insidious plan to kill the king and send the country, and potentially the world, into disarray.

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Next up Jane,

Jon is bitter resentful and angry with life but mainly with his dad. Dragged into a barbaric parallel world where egocentric bitch fests just get you a slap round the head or dead, he learns that survival means cooperation. He finds a lot of things in the mistlands that help him become a man, and one that breaks his heart.

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Next up Hugh, with his epic Bloggers Bash inspired tale, the Truth App

A group of unsuspecting bloggers become the victims of a terrifying new App which threatens to wipe out humanity from planet Earth. In a rush against time, the son of one of the bloggers does all he can to ensure the App is wiped from the face of the planet. However, somebody is out to stop him and they have a mysterious power helping them.

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Icy shares with us her pitch sentence and her 3 sentence condensing:

My 3 sentences…

The Council of the City Above want to clear out the Underground City. Jyx and the necromancer general need to resurrect an ancient goddess to thwart the plans. The goddess removes the corruption from the Council and the Underground City is saved.

By contrast the start of a blurb…

To save his city, Jyx needs to unbreak the heart of a stone goddess. Can he defeat the Crown Prince and halt his schemes before his city is destroyed?

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Next in Debby with this emotional corker, she’s just released the book, so go check her out.

After almost 50 years of emotional abuse, a daughter of a narcissist finally breaks the ties that binds and learns forgiveness in the process.

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Sarah up next with a couple of versions for us:

This is the pitch for Give in to the Feeling
“Chicago 1924. Arriving to America, Susie thought she found everything she never dared to dreamed of in China. But only when she meets Blood, she realises the exciting flapper life she’s been living, the speakeasies, the illegal booze and the daring dances are just a little, unimportant part of the true freedom she yearns for”

And this is one of the most successfull tweets for my novel
“Chicago 1926 Her bones are ashes, mixed with the mortar of the house they built on her land. She remembers and they’ll regret it”

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Next up, Ana,

Quiet, withdrawn Charlie finds a book in her library that transports her into the world of her birth, where magic abounds. Torn apart by incredibly powerful twin sisters, Argravia is slowly dying and Charlie sets out on a quest to restore balance to the world. She frees each nation-state in turn and eventually finds out the truth of her birth.

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Last but by no means least, Marje, who has given us her three sentences and then elaborated too:

Amelina Scott doesn’t know it yet, but she is a magical Krystallos. That knowledge might just save her family from the cruel roller coaster ride which has bugged her family’s happiness, since The Curse of Time. A shadow hides, crystals twinkle, and gossamer wings threaten to bring Amelina full circle on the ride of her life.

I thought I’d elaborate upon this to make an initial blurb idea which would go very roughly something like this:

Sixteen year old Amelina  Scott lives in Cambridge with her prematurely aged father, cranky mother, a black cat called Shadow, and a self-harming mirror girl.

She doesn’t know it yet, but she is a magical Krystallos. That knowledge might just save her family from the cruel roller coaster ride which has bugged her family’s happiness, since The Curse of Time. A shadow of two halves hides – Ryder’s  mesmerising eyes and dark charisma draw her to him – but appearances can be deceptive. While crystals twinkle, and gossamer wings threaten, Amelina’s spirit is brought against her will to a tranquil meadow in Grantchester. Whilst there she is encouraged by her captor to paint a  bizarre puzzle of art, and all the while, a threat lingers groaning to turn youth into old age, and to turn neighbour against neighbour.

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