Tag Archives: writing

Writing Challenge-Photo Prompt – Fiction and Alternate Reality

I sent the writing challenge below out to my Wednesday Writers Café writing group this week, and decided to share it with you too. Any takers? Please post your story or poetic prose on your blog within the next couple weeks and put your piece’s title and the post link into the comments below so we can find it. You may link the prompt image or capture it to post with your writing challenge response. Enjoy!
I’ll post mine next week.

Non-fiction generally works to illuminate and clarify facts or circumstances in reality, where fiction could be considered a reflection of reality defined and embellished by imagination.

I believe fiction writers work to clarify images rather than facts and to focus on mood, ideas, feelings, atmosphere, and perhaps alternate forms of scene/worlds and characters. But I also believe effective fiction is well rooted in our reality. It carries suggestions of things we know and a flow we understand, so we’re able to step into the alternate world of feelings and imagination and belong within the story – or at least alongside it seamlessly.

What do you think is the difference between the two forms? What do you focus on when you write fiction? Why?

Below are two versions of the same photograph. The first is non-fiction (except for interpretation of the photographic capture). The second is flipped upside down (and cropped for emphasis) to allow us to access the reflection as the prime ‘reality’ and see our usual view of reality as the root or base.

by Sheri J. Kennedy 03-02-2015, All Rights Reserved

Writing Challenge:

Using the flipped photograph below as inspiration, do a fiction free-write entering into the reflected world. Imagine ‘entering into’ on any level and in any way you like. OR Take any setting or moment and turn it over in your mind to enter into it in a new way.

I look forward to seeing what you post on your blogs. Don’t forget to come back to this post to give us the title and link to find them. Happy Writing!

by Sheri J. Kennedy 03-02-2023, All Rights Reserved

Tubby’s Turbulent Talent Trek #AtoZChallenge

Each day this month I’ll be posting an Alliterative Story with the A to Z Challenge letter of the day. I’ve also posted a few Alliterative stories or sensible poems by other authors from a separate free challenge I hosted. You can join in the fun by going to THIS POST to read the challenge authors’ pieces and vote in comments for your favorites in the next 6 days! Winner announced on April 30th, so hurry and vote NOW.

Tubby the tightrope trainer tiptoed through Tinseltown trying to turn up the terse tiger tamer Tula Turner to take over under the tent after Tubby’s turbulent tribulations with the terrible topsy-turvy Two-foot Tina.

Teaching Tina, though titillating, was tough. Her timorous trim torso tipped terrifically, taking ten tons of trials with the tangible tether. Then she tore tarps with terrifying tumbles, tended toward tragic torpors, and tangled tremendously when toeing the track. The timid tiny Tina teetered like a top-heavy tubular turnip on titanic tree trunks even after Tubby’s tried-and-true twenty-two tweaks.

Tearing his tam, and tempering his tongue, Tubby tossed out tricks to tamper with the travesty. He tested tips on a tablet to transmit with telemetry for Tina’s transcription, but tilting, her tush tasted tarmac. He tinkered with telepathy and, though her temple tingled with tertiary tools, she tanked on traversing the trying trail.

Tina tromped, trading trepidation for tenaciousness with twisty tremors, but when the tortured trooper toppled the two-thousandth time, traumatized, she ticked tumultuously and tearily told her teacher, “Tubby, this is too taxing. I was tantalized by trending on and Tic-Tok and Twitter, but this tedious torrid torment’s taken a toll on my toleration and tractability. My tummy is toast. I’m travelling.”

“Tisk-tisk,” Tubby tattled to Tina’s transitory target, tabulating his triumph vs. termination and transferring tawdry truck to Tina.

He took a tardy timeout for a toke and treated himself to tilapia tacos, tuna tortellini, tiramisu and Tanqueray-and-Tonic till tipsy. Trodden down, his tottering temperament trifled with a Tardis to transport him to a tip-top title, but Tubby tapped his teak, travertine and tusk Tasmanian talisman, and trusted that his troubles with Tina were trivial not toxic.

Tuckered out he turned to his team. His toadies, even Tom, twigged Tubby was teed off, and they tunneled, tripping to their Teslas when he trounced their trousers like a trilling tambourine, “I’m talking turkey: Tout tickets!”

Tubby triggered his telephone to trump up talent for a task-oriented tryst. He tussled with traditional types while tugging on Tijuanas. He tucked his tunic under the table, tamped out his tobacco, and twinkled with tranquil truth. “Tula Turner could tantalize treasure.”

The temperature trashed Tubby on his trudging trek around town and he temporarily traipsed to a topiary by a tourist trap. “Tula!” He tailed the tall tulip and tackled her with a tango of trinkets. “Triscuits, Tonkas, Tupperware, Tevas, Teddy-bears, Tiffany, Teletubbies? What translates to tally transcendence in the tarpaulin tabernacle together?”

“Televise,” Tula twanged without a twitch.

Tubby tapped-out, totally totaled.

by Sheri J. Kennedy, All Rights Reserved

Persnickety Pursuit #AtoZChallenge

Each day this month I’ll be posting an Alliterative Story with the A to Z Challenge letter of the day. I’ll also be posting a few Alliterative stories or sensible poems by other authors from a separate free challenge I hosted HERE  You can join in the fun by watching for the challenge authors and voting in comments for your favorites! Winner announced at the end of April.

And Here’s the classic that started it all….

Penelope, though pretty, was particularly picky and perused the proffered products at Pittsburgh’s Provincial Plaza with practiced precision to procure the perfect pair of pumps. She persisted in poking and prodding prolific piles of plastic and patent. There were paisley, pink, puce, and platinum. She was partial to the pastel purple pointy plush, but she put priority on price and pushed them to the posterior. Peeved, her pulse palpitated.  “Please provide a pleasant proposition,” she pleaded to Providence. Presto! She pinpointed a perky plaid prize precariously perched on a pedestal. She was poised to pounce when a peculiar pesky patron perpetrated a perplexing play popping the pleasing platforms from their post into her pernicious paws, provoking Penelope and parting Poof! preventing proper pardon.

Portly Paul peered through the pane into Polly’s Posh Primping Pavilion perceiving that Penelope was profusely perturbed. He pivoted in place pounding the pavement in perpendicular patterns, patiently pacing, prepared to plod for a prolonged period.

Penelope persevered in plundering the plain and perfunctory piddle plying for the paragon of prissy polish. The purity of her pursuit produced a prime praiseworthy pick. Proud of her proficiency, Penelope pried the pittance of pence from her purse to pay the prim proprietor.

“The pinnacle of palatable pretentious preference!” Polly pronounced as she presented the pristine package. Penelope preened.

Paul promptly pulled to predominant position with their Porsche and plucked his pompous paramour and her precious pearls from the public parking place.

The passenger peeled her prestigious purchase from its packing and pushed in her plump professionally painted piggies. “They pinch!” she proclaimed with a perilous pang. Penelope pummeled them to a pulp and pined pathetically, “That was positively painful.”

Paul planned a prospective plane passage pronto to pamper his poor Penelope in a palatial Parisian paradise to purge the petrifying proceedings from her person. Placated, Penelope passionately purred.

by Sheri J. Kennedy, All Rights Reserved

Marilyn’s Musical Mitigation #AtoZChallenge

Each day this month I’ll be posting an Alliterative Story with the A to Z Challenge letter of the day. I’ll also be posting a few Alliterative stories or sensible poems by other authors from a separate free challenge I hosted HERE  You can join in the fun by watching for the challenge authors and voting in comments for your favorites! Winner announced at the end of April.

Melvin molded magnificent marvels in mucky mounds of marbled matte modeling medium and mashed-up media that moved the masses and marked-up monumental margins, making a mint at Madeline’s Monday Morning to Midnight Mobile Mart in mid-town Manhattan.

His manikin-like manager, Marilyn, merely maximized the money and misunderstood the meaning of Melvin’s material, but he was mad about her maudlin moments when she missed her medieval mother from Mississippi and misted her mauve make-up. He married the mundane maiden merely for this miniscule mooning mourning which motivated matchless murals.

The mushrooming market for Melvin’s masterpieces made the morose, melancholy Marilyn melt into memory. She morphed into a merry, mature Mrs., minus moody melodramatic misgivings.

This mirthful Marilyn marred Melvin’s mushy mind-blowing maneuvering. He manufactured muddy, mangled, marshmallowy, mishmashes of misfit matter – marginal at most. He mulled misconceptions, and minced muddled, monkeying on mistakes.

Mystified, Marilyn mustered her moxie to mitigate misfortune and monitored his mental and motor misfires. She ministered to Melvin, mending his monstrosities by mediating his messy mediocrity with mellow, morbid, misery-filled, movie musical measures.

Her moderating muses mollified his manic manner and modified his montages to mainstream magic. Magnificent!

by Sheri J. Kennedy, All Rights Reserved

Got my Towel!

Norwescon 42Norwescon here I come! I can’t wait to be there again this year. Will you be there too? Come by and see me April 18th-21st at the FVP Books table on Writer’s Row. I’d love to chat with you and perhaps sign a book or two. See you there!   –Sheri J Kennedy

And here’s a sneak peek at my Towel, Some of our great Book Bundle Deals, and the Wild and Crazy Authors I’ll share a table with:

Norwescon FVP 3-Author collage

Feeling Human Countdown Deal Celebration!

 

 

In celebration of the release of my new Kennedy J. Quinn, Miss LiV Adventures series book, Memory KeyI’m offering my Sheri J. Kennedy, Reality with a Twist book, Feeling Human, at only 99 cents on Kindle for 48 hours, starting June 28th 12am PDT. Don’t miss this great price for my most popular novel! GET YOURS NOW!

Here are a few Reader Responses to Feeling Human:

“I’ve never read anything quite like this. You have a misunderstood youth, sure, but he’s very different from anyone else in the world or in literature… Engaging from the start, satisfying to the end.”

“I really lost myself in it. I liked the variety of characters and experiences…It felt real. A great job capturing a boy who was so hung up on his past he couldn’t move forward in life…both fun and heartwarming…very original and refreshing.”

“It was brilliant! Intriguing, unusual and yet so human and familiar.”

I can’t wait to share this book with you! After you read it, leave a review on Amazon, and let me know what you thought about it.  I’d love any feedback you care to share. Thanks! -Sheri J. Kennedy

A Little Fun from Another Me

 

Miss Liv II Front Cover VERY FINALAs an artist I learned my creativity far exceeded any box that society or gallery marketers tried to shove me into. So when I started writing novels, I saw if I published under only one name, readers would scratch their heads on their second purchase with a great big, “How did we get from there to here?” So, Kennedy J. Quinn was born. Really, it’s just my name backwards – if you put in my nickname ‘Quinn’ as my first name. So it’s all just another me. Sheri J. Kennedy with a twist.

Ms. Quinn just released her 3rd novel (4th book since 2 are under one cover) The Unwitting Journeys of the Witty Miss Livingstone – Book II: Memory Key. (Available on Amazon along with Book I: Journey Key) And I’m so excited about the upcoming Launch Party, I just had to share! Come out and meet both me’s and enjoy some handmade shortbread and a spot of Mariage Freres tea. See you there!

Wine and Words Tea and Dirigibles Flyer.jpg

So Excited!

Almost on my way to my first Author event that’s focused on only one book and sanctioned by King Co. Library System. I’m so excited!! Wish me luck…

Here’s a photo of the library room schedule that was posted when I stopped by to print the hand-out earlier in the day. And also the official flyer they’ve had posted and available to grab for over a month. My name in lights. 🙂 Too much fun!

Library Books & Camp NaNo – Event-full

It’s been an exciting beginning to my writing year with some fun boosts to my journey as an author! I’ve also been working nearly 4 hours everyday (and yes, I have a day job as well) on Book II in my Time Travel series, starring the Witty Miss Livingstone and just finished the ARC copies yesterday! It will be released in May!! Whoo hoo!!!

That accomplishment means I ‘won’ #CampNaNo for April as well with a 90 hour goal. Woot!!!

20180320_115035But much of what’s been driving me with great enthusiasm is the King Co. Library System’s honoring my book Likeness with a community book club event, which I’m feverishly preparing for by May 2nd at North Bend Library. It was also thrilling to find my book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble! I also found that same Miss Livingstone book in circulation at the library. I just had to check them out!

Wine and Words Flyer April 2018And squeezing in before the Likeness Meet the Author event is Wine & Words at The Black Dog in Snoqualmie, WA. I’ll be reading for that, as always. Not to mention toting a huge rack full of FVP Books for our indie author display table. Come on out and read on stage or kick back and listen and pick up some great books by indie authors!

What’s going on for you this year so far? Anything Eventful?