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Tagged Lucky 7 Style
Heya lovely readers I’ve been tagged by Sally to take part in: Lucky 7 -which is blog (or facebook) fun for authors (Sally is a good friend of mine from university and is also the author of ‘Through Mortal Eyes‘ -her superb new novel -keep an eye out for her; I will be featuring Sally as a guest blogger soon as part of Savvy Salutations too). I think this is a good way to introduce you to my current manuscript BMR; I hope you like the snippet I am about to share with you. Before we read the passage, here’s the instructions I had to follow:
-Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
-Go to line 7
-Post on your blog the next 7 lines, or sentences, as they are – no cheating
Tag 7 other authors to do the same. Seven sentences…
My manuscipt (BMR) is still in draft mode; so it’s still rough around the edges. This is from page 7, 7 lines from the 7th line.
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Challenge Issued: Paper Canvas Tapestries Collaborations (A Recap)
15th March 2012 was the one year anniversary of my blog. *dances a merry jig* Due to all that was going on as I mentioned in my earlier post (click here to read); I’ve not been able to do a midway check-in or anything fancy to celebrate. Never fear, I’m here today so we can do a quick recap to see where we are in the challenge and to celebrate the missed anniversary; I plan to write something up for this challenge too (just a separate Flash Fiction piece for fun; I’ll post it within the week or so).
So far, CMBrown, Lara Schiffbauer and Deniz Bevan have taken up the challenge (if you haven’t read what they have written, please click on the links above -in the order above- to catch up); who will be the next story-teller, you, me or them? Join us and find out.
The Challenge to you…
I want us to write a story together. How? Just like any other Flash Fiction Challenge; but with a slight twist (I can’t help myself); we will each write a paragraph (no more than 250 words per entry) to the on-going story (which will start below and continue in the comment section/linky list, I will create a page to collate all the entries.). Once we finish this rather exciting online project, I hope to publish our collected works in an eBook -either market it for free or put it on sale for a worthy cause, I usually choose children charities; but we can decide the final outcome all together once the project is completed.
What do you say? Are you in? Alrighty. 
Here’s the 3 (+1, just because an anniversary is coming up) images I have chosen for this challenge; I hope it gets your creative juices going; be inspired by one or more -the choice is yours.
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Challenge Issued: Paper Canvas Tapestries Collaborations
Happy Valentines’ Week!
I thought I’d kick of today’s post with a love-themed video; Sand Art by the talented Ilana Yahav – this is part of the SandFantasy series titled “Love 2008″. Take a deserved break and enjoy.
Wasn’t that just amazing? I am always mesmerised with what she creates; hard work certainly pays eventually. 
Speaking of hard work, I have some exciting news to share; yikici turns one years on 15th March 2012 (yes I know -how cool is that?); I did not realise how quickly the past year went by -it’s been super speedy. So I have been thinking what I could do to celebrate it -then it hit me, since I LOVE collaborating (no pun intended), I thought it would be fitting to celebrate yikici’ paper anniversary with a collaborated challenge (you all game? I hope so).
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Challenge Taken: Fated to Love a Recycled War-Hero
I wanted a challenge and a challenge I did get; Sonia G. Medeiros has come up with another blinder of a challenge (click here for the full details); essentially the challengees have to pick five words from the list on her post (the words I chose to use are in bold below) and add a word to the list (‘quintessential‘ is my submission) with a love and/or leap-year theme -oh and the word count must be 250. I combined this with the challenge I set (see here) and et voila; I give you:
Fated to Love a Recycled War-Hero
Clara squeezed her eyes shut and stopped breathing as she let herself silently tumble underwater toting Cornelius’ ring. It had become an unwanted, disorderly ritual she craved; every leap year she re-enacted what she considered became her idiosyncratic fate; despite her repulsion for her new form when in the sea, she always always welcomed the cool salty water; the silvery fins gasped through her already scaling skin. Her thoughts raced…
A Fun Game – In Your Head (The Theory & Second Analyses)
Now that we have viewed the three sets of character(s) profiles (read post here) we can now move onto analysing Cynthia‘s characters in conjunction with the way she visioned the dialogue and how CM Stewart interpreted Cynthia’s characters in her version of the story -excited yet? You should be.
Here’s Cynthia’s two characters:
Ted: Grounds keeper 75 year old and hates kids. He has a limp and very good eye sight.
Katie: A twelve year old girl hiding in the barn.
Katie knows more about why she was left at the festival than she is saying.
Yes, they are brief profiles; but the real question should be do they speak volumes, will their voices shine through?
Festival of Colour
by Cynthia
A Fun Game – In Your Head (The Theory & First Analyses)
(Whoopsie -I apparently hit save draft instead of schedule *embarrassed smile* -I wondered why I could not see it here on the blog. Here’s yesterdays’ post; apologies for the delay.)
When I set out devising this game, I had no idea how things would pan out and how life would prolong the inevitable end. Here we are -the part of which where I reveal my theory and if my findings are as I thought it would be. I realise this will likely to end up as a rather long(ish) post; therefore, depending on it’s length I will spilt this up into two or three posts (for the sake of easy reading). Before I start I would like to thank Cynthia, Stephanie, Billie Jo Woods and CM Stewart -you guys have been great sports for taking part and extremely super for being sooo patient!
Now let’s get back to my theory. My theory is a simple one; it was spurred on after I took part in Voice Week hosted by Stephanie. We were required to use different voices to re-act the same scene. Whilst taking part a thought popped in my head (a common known flaw at the best of times 
); would a perfect character sketch allow for any writer to write in the same voice (or close enough) as another writer? Hmmm was my response and then this game unwrapped itself.
I can’t believe how ironic it was that the character sketches provided by Billie Jo, Cynthia & CM Stewart was sooo different.
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I Hear Voices – Fighting the Fifth
Voice Week – I Hear Voices:
It’s the final day of voice week. (Not fair! I was having fun. 
-Stephanie, you must organise this again ) There has been a lot of creative entries, why don’t you pop on over to here and check them out. If you have missed out on my previous submissions, click here (voice 1), here (voice 2), here (voice 3) and here (voice 4). Here’s ‘voice 5′; my entry for today continues with ‘The Fight’.
UPDATED: I have amended the below text; therefore, if you receive email subscriptions please have a re-read so that you enjoy the piece as it should be. I edited late lastnight so it was not perfect, this morning I was not feeling great so I could not check it until now; I hope this does not inconvenience you too much.
(As always, there is a pdf document at the bottom of the post for those who may find this a difficult read.)
The Fight – Voice 5:
“Hit her, hit her” it encouraged.
I refused.
“Hit her!”
My teeth crunched –I didn’t budge.
“Kill her” the voices said; they became two, three , four…
“Hit her”
“Kill her”
“Push her”
My fists clenched.
Her nails dug in deeper, skin pierced, lined, scarred, bleeding. It stung –my eyes, misty; I turned to leave; her fingers twisted my skin –my gut reacted as I spun around; my claws sliced her arm.
Did that just happen -or was that my messed up mind?
“Kill, kill, kill” the words swam in my head
‘Go away’ I wanted to scream, my eyes brimming; I ran up the stairs. I kicked it shut; it locked. With my feet I sunk into the floor, my scratched hands clawed my ears –the voices sang harder, louder into a deafening shriek.
“Hit”
“Kill”
“Push her”.
“Sweetheart, are you alright?” her soft voice filtered through the chaos of my mind. “Please let me in.”
I crushed my eyes tight, my fists melting into the floor; I mustn’t open the door, I just can’t…
“Hit”
“Kill”
“Push”
“Kill”
“Kill”
“Kill”
My skull found the door with a thump.
I mustn’t; not whilst they’re here, this strong; she’s safer on that side of the door…
***
So, that is the final voice for this fab-tastic challenge. What do you think of it? How does this voice differ from the last four voices (if any)? Do you have a favourite voice? Which one etched into your mind?
(I have not been able to pop by blogs and comment -still catching up with my family, I will do my best in the small pockets of free-time I have; I hope you can be patient with me.)
This is all from me for now, I’ll be back tomorrow with a Showcase Sketch (possibly an artwork or poetry -I can’t decide just yet; if you want to help me out, then by all means please feel free to let me know in the comments below).
As you already know, thoughts and comments are encouraged as always -even if it is just a word -as ‘all good discussions start with just one word‘.
Pdf document: I Hear Voices – Fighting the Fifth
***
Want to read more? Here’s a selection for you:
Like poetry? Here’s a couple of my favourites: Homelessness – Barking Dog (Haiku)
One of your firm favourite reads: Challenge Taken: Moon of Change – The Prologue & Epilogue
A book review: The Trust a Novel by Sean Keefer
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
***
If there is a topic you would like me to look into and explore in my own yikici-kind-of-way then please feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment box below or for those of you who are a wee bit shy drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk
Care to join me for some collaborative work or want to be a guest blogger? If so, email me at the above address.
I Hear Voices – The Fourth Fight
Voice Week – I Hear Voices:
It’s day four of voice week! There has been a lot of fabulous entries, why don’t you pop on over to here and check them out. If you have missed out on my previous submissions, click here (voice 1), here (voice 2) and here (voice 3). Here’s ‘voice 4′; my entry for today continues with ‘The Fight’ (the first one to be 100 words exactly -woo hoo!).
(As always, there is a pdf document at the bottom of the post for those who may find this a difficult read.)
The Fight – Voice 4:
So what if I pushed her?
Her eyes steamed,
Her lungs exploded…
My thoughts giggled as the pranks, taunts enraged her more.
My eyes strained to listen then danced as it peaked through the gap in the door; she picked up speed, engines roaring; she slipped. I began to shake as if an earthquake struck -a tsunami to follow; I let the pressure release, doubled up as my sides hurt from the hilarity of her response –always the extreme, a drama queen!
So what if I pushed her? She needs to chill out, let me be and forget about dad.
***
Did I succeed in creating a good voice? How did you find the voice; can you guess who this voice belongs to? What kind of character might they be? How does this voice differ from the last three voices (if any)? Tomorrows voice just came to me and I think it will be just perfect for the task at hand. *grins*
I’ll be back tomorrow with another post for voice week (the fifth voice for the same scenario above). So, until tomorrow, think smart and remember to keep smiling and staying-A-positive.
As you already know, thoughts and comments are encouraged as always -even if it is just a word -as ‘all good discussions start with just one word‘.
Pdf document: I Hear Voices – The Fourth Fight
***
Want to read more? Here’s a selection for you:
Love challenges -particularly Flash Fictions? Take this month’s (extended due to error on my part) challenge (you still have time to participate): Challenge (Re-)Issued: Turner’s Tapestries
Life inspirations: My Encounter with Fate!
One of the most searched topics and one of your favourite reads: The Joys of Nutella Cake –My Angst with it!
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
***
If there is a topic you would like me to look into and explore in my own yikici-kind-of-way then please feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment box below or for those of you who are a wee bit shy drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk
Care to join me for some collaborative work or want to be a guest blogger? If so, email me at the above address.
I Hear Voices – The Third Fight
Voice Week – I Hear Voices:
It’s the third day of voice week! There has been a lot of fabulous entries, why don’t you pop on over to here and check them out. If you have missed out on my previous submissions, click here (voice 1) and here (voice 2). Here’s ‘voice 3′; my entry for today continues with ‘The Fight’.
(As always, there is a pdf document at the bottom of the post for those who may find this a difficult read.)
The Fight – Voice 3:
I noticed the cuts on my hands as I locked the door with all my strength; the pain singed through to my gut. I collapsed to the floor; tears crept down my face. My body shook as she pulled on the door handle, her fists pounding on my back; if I didn’t love her so much I would leave, that was my option but I couldn’t, I knew that, it was no longer a choice for me –it never was, I couldn’t leave her, not after what dad did to her. No, it was not an option; I just have to grin and bear it. This has to be a teething problem, yesterday was the first since dad left and now this… She’s only looking out for my best interest –well, I hoped –no willed that to be true. I gritted my teeth as I begrudgingly stood up; I turned to face the door, now was not the time to be afraid, I reached for the lock, she needed me too.
***
Did I succeed in creating a good voice? How did you find the voice; can you guess who this voice belongs to? What kind of character might they be? How does this voice differ from the last two voices (if any)?
I’ll be back tomorrow with another post for voice week (the fourth voice for the same scenario above) and possibly a Thursday Topical Tête-à-Tête (all depends how today pans out). So, until tomorrow, have a delightful day -remember to keep smiling and staying-A-positive. You deserve the best in life so why don’t you take steps towards that goal of yours.
As you already know, thoughts and comments are encouraged as always -even if it is just a word -as ‘all good discussions start with just one word‘.
Pdf document: I Hear Voices – The Third Fight
***
Want to read more? Here’s a selection for you:
Love challenges -particularly Flash Fictions? Take this month’s (extended due to error on my part) challenge (you still have time to participate): Challenge (Re-)Issued: Turner’s Tapestries
Life inspirations: My Encounter with Fate!
One of the most searched topics and one of your favourite reads: The Joys of Nutella Cake –My Angst with it!
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
***
If there is a topic you would like me to look into and explore in my own yikici-kind-of-way then please feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment box below or for those of you who are a wee bit shy drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk
Care to join me for some collaborative work or want to be a guest blogger? If so, email me at the above address.
I Hear Voices – The Second Fight
Voice Week – I Hear Voices:
So, it’s the second day of voice week! After reading various comments here and on fellow voice week participants I have realised there seems a different approach to how we rewrite the chosen prompts/scenarios etc… Therefore, I am intrigued on how this will pan out; let’s see what you make of ‘voice 2′ in today’s entry of ‘The Fight’.
(As always, there is a pdf document at the bottom of the post for those who may find this a difficult read.)
The Fight – Voice 2:
I slammed and locked the door shut as she ran after me. She shrieked as she slipped up the stairs.
Unwanted moisture formulated around my eyes -it stung like acid ‘for the love of all things good -get over it’ I thought as I switched on the stereo and yanked up the volume to its max; Linkin Park blared out,
‘Crawling in my skin,
These wounds they will not heal…’
a malicious grin now evident on my face as it drowned out her pathetic rage. The pounding on the door came through like a light rain tapping on the window. I lay on my bed, hands behind my head, laughing to myself –knowing how the irritation would fuel her further. Serves her right –she shouldn’t be meddling in my business; yesterday was one thing but today’s quite another matter entirely. I’ve had enough -she keeps this up and I’m walking.
***
Did I succeed in creating a good voice? How did you find the voice; can you guess who this voice belongs to? What kind of character might they be? How does this voice differ from yesterday’s voice (if any)? I’ll be back tomorrow with another post for voice week (the third voice for the same scenario above). So, until tomorrow, have a glorious day -remember to smile and know that the world is as good as you make it. All good decisions come from the heart, so treasure it wisely.
As you already know, thoughts and comments are encouraged as always -even if it is just a word -as ‘all good discussions start with just one word‘.
Pdf document: I Hear Voices – The Second Fight
***
Want to read more? Here’s a selection for you:
Love challenges -particularly Flash Fictions? Take this month’s (extended due to error on my part) challenge (you still have time to participate): Challenge (Re-)Issued: Turner’s Tapestries
Writing tips and ways to source inspiration… Recycling -but not as you know it…
One of your favourite reads: ROW80 – Round 3
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
***
If there is a topic you would like me to look into and explore in my own yikici-kind-of-way then please feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment box below or for those of you who are a wee bit shy drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk
Care to join me for some collaborative work or want to be a guest blogger? If so, email me at the above address.
I Hear Voices – The First Fight
Voice Week – I Hear Voices:
Oooo I nearly forgot this is the start of voice week! Luckily, I remembered (thanks to Billie Jo Woods) and quickly put together my first entry. We were given the choice to either pick one of the prompts they have listed or choose one of our own, I chose my own (not that I was trying to be difficult, it just felt right that way) so without further ado I give you *drum roll* ‘The Fight’.
(As always, there is a pdf document at the bottom of the post for those who may find this a difficult read.)
The Fight – Voice 1:
Tears began to sting my eyes; I clamed them shut, droplets escaped down my cheeks. My stomach jerked in several places, tug-of-war in motion as I realised what just took place. I covered my ears with my scratched hands as she screamed through the door, her rage ripping through every splinter of wood and clawing through the thin dismal walls. Her fists thundered against the door as I buried my head under the pillow, ‘please for the love of all things good just let it be’ I wanted to shout back; but I daren’t –not after what I witnessed yesterday and certainly not now; having rushed up to my room and locked it secure. This only fuels her anger even more –I know, but I will not step out –not until she calms down –and if she does not, I’ll just pack my bags; I’m sure there is somewhere better out there; the bright white panelled window looks very inviting now…
***
Did I succeed in creating a good voice? How did you find the voice; can you guess who this voice belongs to? What kind of character might they be? I’ll be back tomorrow with two posts; one for voice week (the second voice for the same scenario above) and also this month’s Triptych Tapestry Challenge. So, until tomorrow, have a fabulous day.
As you already know, thoughts and comments are encouraged as always -even if it is just a word -as ‘all good discussions start with just one word‘.
***
Want to read more? Here’s a selection for you:
Love challenges -particularly Flash Fictions? Take this month’s challenge (you still have time to participate): Challenge Issued: Turner’s Tapestries
Want to know how the game is developing -pop by and have a peak… A Fun Game – In Your Head (Part Deux)
One of your favourite reads: Copyright – What Do You Constitute as Ok?
Copyright © Ozlem Yikici 2011 & Copyright © doodllz™ 2011. All Rights Reserved.
***
Pdf document: I Hear Voices – The First Fight
If there is a topic you would like me to look into and explore in my own yikici-kind-of-way then please feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment box below or for those of you who are a wee bit shy drop me a line via my contact page or email me at admin[at]yikici[dot]co[dot]uk
Care to join me for some collaborative work or want to be a guest blogger? If so, email me at the above address.