TBT Writer - What Is Red?

I know it's been a LONG time since I've posted a #TBTWriter, so I'll be sure to include extra photos for this post. :)

Today I'd like to share a simple story/poem that I wrote when I was 11ish about the color red.

I never realized how much I liked the color red until I re-read this. Then when I started looking at all of my old photos to share, I discovered that so many of them were of me wearing red.

Even in my stories I write now, red is very prevalent. For example, the protagonist in Strange Luck has red hair and she is frequently wearing red or a red accent.

Coincidence, or have I always just had a fondness for the color? You decide.

Here's a pic of the original poem.

Red

What is red?
Red is the color of flaming fire.
Red is the color of beautiful birds.
You can find small red creatures hiding in rocks by the ocean.
Red is the color of victory.
Red is a bright color that brings out the picture.
Red is the color of wonderful books that tune on the mind's imagination.
Red is the color of a ruby red cherry.
Red is the color of life!

~~~

Apparently I felt very strongly about red being the color of life so much so that I included a punctuation mark. Lol.

And now for some TBT pics....

This is one of my favorite pics of me (far right). Not only am I Super Girl, I'm also posing with a giant Twinkie.  Ha ha!

Here's me at age 11 wearing my favorite red shirt.

For my entire undergraduate degree I dyed my hair red. If you're wondering what I'm holding it's a chinchilla.

Ano Nuevo in California. This area and its neighboring towns heavily influenced my stories.

Here's a pic of me from when I lived in Florida.

Here's a recent video I did where I'm wearing....you guessed it. Red!

~~~

Do you have a writing throwback? Post it with #TBTWriter so we can all read your story. And don't forget to check out my other #TBTWriter stories and pics:

• Confessions of a Sugarholic
• A Nine-Year-Old's First Horror Story
• Good Ideas, Sometimes

Follow You Passion, Even If It Means Taking Some Detours

I'm a Women For One Truthteller!

Read the true story of why I  gave up a good job, steady paycheck, and wearing high heels to pursue my greatest passion: writing fiction.

TBT Writer - The Cave

My fascination with caves started in elementary school. 

Whenever there was a promise of a cave at the end of a long hike, I would take it.

My dad and me at wind caves in CA

Caves have found their way into a lot of my short stories I wrote growing up. I'm not sure why exactly. Perhaps because they are so mysterious and kinda spooky. Whatever the reason, they are still finding their way into my stories today. Here's a snippet from Strange Luck:

At one point, I made the mistake of leaning over the edge of the staircase, only to see the cave walls disappear into a dark foggy abyss. Like a whirlpool, smoke swirled before it was sucked into the middle.

My visit to Ruby Falls in Chattanooga, TN.

And here's one from Book II in the Strange Luck series, The Nightmare Birds:

I must’ve walked for over an hour—at least I thought I did. A patron had once brought a book to Strange Luck called Troglodytic Offerings. It chronicled the accounts of people who had voluntarily lived in isolation in caves without any light. Though the scientists reported that the volunteers were physically and mentally healthy when they finally emerged, their sleep patterns and perceptions of time had been drastically altered. They had lost track of entire weeks and had even slipped into 48-hour sleep cycles. The book also included some of their unsettling hallucinatory drawings. One drawing of a disturbing winged creature gave me nightmares for a week. Although the book was interesting, I didn’t purchase it given its lack of supernatural qualities. There was nothing worse than being trapped in darkness alone, even voluntarily. Yet here I was doing that very same thing.

Garden of the Gods in Colorado

Do the catacombs in Paris count as a cave?

For this month's #TBTWriter post I thought I'd share the very first story I wrote about a cave, simply called The Cave. Original, I know. :) My elementary school teacher gave me a 23/25 on it. Woot!

The Cave

Suddenly, the lantern sputtered and went out. It was my worst nightmare. I heard many strange noises, and screams. I was so scared, even more when I heard footsteps. They came closer. Just then I knew I had to leave. I tried feeling around so I would not crash. After a few minutes I found the wall. I tried with all my might to climb it. When I was just about to give up I saw a light. Ohhh! I listened for the footsteps. They came closer and closer and then they stopped. I shivered in fear. I tried again and I made it. When I got up, I thought I was in some sort of an attic. But I didn't see where the light came from. I then heard a crash and things falling. I knew someone was after me.

I tried to run but I was stuck. I felt to see what was holding me. It turned out it was an old trap, and I was caught in it. The footsteps came back, and it sounded like a group of them. I thought, oh no! I then just remembered my magnifying glass. The sun shown through the ceiling. I held the glass up to the sun, and in no time I had a fire. The room lit up with flashing red and yellow flames. Now I could see the trap. I carefully unwound it, and ran for my life.

I ran down halls and through doors. I then found myself trapped again. A huge door was in my way. I pounded on it when the footsteps were once heard again. I thought I could never escape because the door was made of the roughest metal and the hardest iron. Just then the footsteps stopped. I had finally lost them.

I started walking and found a torch. To me it looked like a giant tunnel. I walked ever so fast to find my way out. I hardly noticed a sound. But this one I noticed.

The sound was rough, loud, and shaky. I remembered it was the sound of water. If the tunnel filled up with it I would die. I ran as fast as a swift fox, but instead the water beat me. I was swimming for my life. The water was cold as ice. I looked over and saw a door and it was open. I swam, and swam, and swam.

After a few more seconds which seemed like hours I reached it. I pulled myself up on something which turned out it was the person after me. At that moment he moved in back of me. The whole time he was looking at my head. I very gently lifted my hand and tapped the man on his back. He turned around. Hello, he called, and then turned back to me. I was gone.

I turned in the first hall and to my surprise I found a hidden staircase. I jumped up each stair and found the way out. It was a misty night, a light moon, and a cold temperature. I wanted to go home, and that's what I was going to do. I walked home and disappeared in the mist.

High school me and my very first pug (Gomer)

~~~

So there it is. My first cave story. Between the thing with the magnifying glass and finagling my way out the trap like it was nothing, I must've been watching a little too much MacGyver. :P

~~~

Do you have a writing throwback? Post it with #TBTWriter so we can all read your story. And don't forget to check out my other #TBTWriter stories and pics:

• Confessions of a Sugarholic
• A Nine-Year-Old's First Horror Story
• Good Ideas, Sometimes

TBT Writer - A Nine-Year-Old's First Horror Story

Throwback Thursday (TBT) is awesome! It's fun, and often hilarious, to see what people used to look like and who they were. But, for this TBT let's mix it up a bit...

Wouldn't it be kinda neat if writers shared their old pics? Maybe holding a pen for the first time or even writing in a journal? Wouldn't it be cool if your favorite authors shared some of their very first stories...like when they were in grade school? 

If you're a writer, I invite you to share something you wrote way back when and/or a pic of yourself. Don't forget to use #tbtwriter when you post. If you're a reader, let's see how many of your favorite authors we can get to share. I would personally love to see Neil Gaiman back in the day. :) 

To kick off #tbtwriter, I present mini-me and my very first horror story I wrote when I was nine (which has been edited for ubiquitous typos). Enjoy!

The House Was Old and Abandoned 

As I was walking down the street, I turned into a court. I walked to the middle house, then stopped. I saw an ugly, broken house. It was blackish and grayish, and the house had a gate circling around it that was yellowish. I stepped inside the yard. I saw an old rotted oak tree and a tire was leaning against it. The grass, well it wasn't really grass, it was a few dozen weeds. Also, I saw concrete steps that had been covered by weeds that were leading to the house. I followed the steps to the porch, then I saw a weird creature looking at me. I almost screamed cause I thought it was real, but it wasn't, it was just a statue. After that, I saw a huge door. It had a giant knocker. I knew no one was there so I entered. The door handle almost fell off in my hand, then I encouraged myself to be brave and go in, so I did.

I saw a bunch of wood chips scattered everywhere, and spiders that had made homes out of it. I also saw a Persian rug that had lost some of its color. I walked over to the staircase. It was long and twisted, with a carpet that covered the staircase. The carpet had lost its color and turned gray. I climbed up the stairs. When I got to the top I had counted 45 stairs. Where I was standing I saw hundreds of doors that were an ugly red color. I went to the second door on the right and opened it. I saw all kinds of old-fashioned furniture that was torn up and the stuffing was coming out. The floor was made out of wood that was missing a few boards. I turned my head. On the wall I saw a picture of someone that was bald and a huge Indian head dress. The wall paper had strange designs that looked like a triangle stacked on a square, stacked on an ant shape. Then I saw a table missing a leg. On it was a book. I walked over to it. It was a picture book of the people that used to live there long ago. It was weird. I even saw a bald guy.

I decided I wanted to leave and find some other interesting things, then I heard a strange noise. It scared me half-to-death (in the original I wrote half-to-deaf). I ran out the door, came to the stairs. I thought it was too long to walk, so I slid down the rail. "Boom!" I reached the bottom, hopped up, and ran out the strange door. I almost tripped going down the stairs, but I managed to keep my balance. I ran out the gate and started to walk home cause I was out of breath. Then, as I was leaving, I saw a strange thing look at me through the window and gosh, I think it was bald!