IT'S FIRST FRIDAY! Delaney. Eckhart. Hurricane Sandy

The Photo

This is where I give three authors one photograph, and in 150 words, they write what they see in it. The difference in imagination and voice is fascinating. This month one of the authors, Marc vun Kannon, lost power to Hurricane Sandy and didn't make it. Maybe he'll be back sometime. 

DELANEY

I sit here, in my father’s study, waiting. Soon the candle will go out and the birthday party for my cousin, Cassie, and my beautiful sister, Alice, will be over.

Today, they are sixteen. Alice, whom I love so, wants only to be with Cassie. No longer does she read with me, play games or share secrets. She only smiles on her way to giggle with Cassie under the elm tree. They fall silent when they see me coming.

I helped Cook frost their individual birthday cakes, though. Chocolate for Cassie, lemon for Alice. It is a tradition.

My mother is screaming, my aunt sobbing, the wail of an ambulance falls silent as the front door opens. I smile as I blow out the candle.

Someone stands at the open door. Alice? No, Cassie. She sobs as she holds up a small birthday cake. It is lemon.

 We traded, she says.

ECKHART

The loud overweight lady with bad breath would be right in. But that was an hour ago, when her mother left. So she didn’t move even though the sharp edge of the metal framed chair poked the small of her back. They’d practiced for hours last week. Sit straight, shoulders back, even though she longed to skid on her bum across the room. But that she could never do, because her mother expected her to be perfect—to win. Nothing less would do.

Her face itched from the makeup. Her hair was curled and fastened just like a princess—a princess she never wanted to be. She tried to ignore the pinch between her shoulder blades, but agony worsened as she waited for the agent to appear, promising fame for the children and fortune to the parents. And not once had anyone asked nine year old Lily, what she wanted.

At Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

KATHLEEN DELANEY

Kathleen Delaney writes the Ellen McKenzie mystery series. Dying For A Change, the first in the series, introduces us to Ellen who has returned to her as a real estate agent. Finding a dead body in the closet of the first house you show is a hard way to start. Life doesn’t get any easier for Ellen in the next three books, Give First Place to Murder, And Murder For Dessert, and Murder For Dessert. She has just finished the fifth in this series, Murder by Syllabub. She lives in South Carolina in a one hundred year old house with a dog and cat and often a couple of her eight grandchildren who love to visit. Or is it the pumpkin/cranberry bread they like?

At Amazon

LORHAINNE ECKHART

Lorhainne Eckhart began her writing career five years ago. A lifelong love for stories inspired her to start writing. She read everything and naturally had the ability to create vivid characters, drawing on the experiences of friends, family and acquaintances around her. When her children started school she sat down to write her first novel. The story unfolded and four years later The Wild Rose Press published her first novel, 'The Captain's Lady.'  Lorhainne has a passion for the outdoors, her extensive gardens and preserving nature. Lorhainne Eckhart and her family live in the peaceful countryside on Vancouver Island.

CODY. WYLIE. IDEN. 3 Views, 3 Authors

Photo 123rf

It’s FIRST FRIDAY! Three amazing authors give their takes on one picture in 150 words or less. Their genres, voices, and visions are wonderfully different.

CODY

"It's the color of a ruby." The child's awe-filled voice broke the eerie silence following the storm. "Just like the Book of Legends says."

Murmurs rose and blended into a single, querulous hum: "That's all it is. Legend. Only part ruby. Rest … black as night. Not exactly a slipper."

An old woman stepped forward. "Might be. Fashions change."

The child reminded them, "The Book says she came on the wind."

The hum countered, "Aye … seven generations ago."

The woman said, "I've heard rumors of ominous weather down there."

The leg twitched, accentuating its unseemly length. The crowd, except for the woman and the child, stepped back. The child cried out, "She needs help."

The hum accelerated to an angry buzz: "She's not our kind. What can we do?"

"Whatever we can."

"There could be consequences."

"There's always risk."

"Not if we don't get involved."

"Unthinkable!"

At Amazon

WYLIE

In the dark shadows of the forest Mira stood out like a psychotic rainbow amongst the bland browns and greens. She had always been different; a bit wild, forever disregarding the rules, particularly when it came to fashion. Her choice of colors had never caused her harm; in fact it would often bring smiles and laughter to those around her.  She loved to smile. She loved to laugh. In the forest, she did both as she skipped and danced along the path in her favorite red and black shoes. The bright pinks, yellows and blues of her outfit swirled around her. It was not, in the end, the colors that killed her, though they did attract the fairies. The creatures didn’t harm her either, though their sudden presence startled her.  Later investigators firmly attributed her demise to the 40 foot fall down the ravine. Cause of death: six inch heels.

IDEN

I had two reactions to this picture the instant I saw it. In both, I sense the wearer of this get-up is a young girl dressed up in atrocious cast-off clothing from the seventies or eighties.

Those ridiculous heels, they’re good for a laugh. All kinds of scenes—right out of any sitcom—spring to mind.

At Amazon

Unfortunately, writing crime fiction gives you a crooked bent of mind. The other reaction? A murder scene. The girl discovers, then dons all of the blinding fuchsia clothes her mother picked up in 1978. By the time she senses the killer, it’s too late: the scene turns from humor to horror in an instant. She runs, but the heels trip her just as she attempts to escape. The picture captures the horrific irony that it was the very costume that led to her demise.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Sandra Carey Cody

Sandra Carey Cody's latest book, Love and Not Destroy, examines the ways in which destiny is shaped by family secrets. An infant is abandoned in a carriage shed on the grounds of a small town museum. Twenty-two years later, the body of a homeless man is discovered in exactly the same spot. The foundling, now an adult working at the museum, is haunted by the coincidence and thus begins a search for identity that explores the nature of family, of loyalty and responsibility. Sandy also writes the Jennie Connors mystery series, published by Avalon Books. Her website is: http://sandracareycody.com/

Book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007JVAX3C

Jen Wylie

At Amazon

Jen Wylie resides in rural Ontario, Canada with her two boys, Australian shepherd and a disagreeable amount of wildlife. In a cosmic twist of fate she dislikes the snow and cold.

Before settling down to raise a family, she attained a BA from Queens University and worked in retail and sales.

Thanks to her mother she acquired a love of books at an early age and began writing in public school. She constantly has stories floating around in her head, and finds it amazing most people don’t. Jennifer writes various forms of fantasy, both novels and short stories.

book link: http://www.amazon.com/Flashy-Fiction-Other-Insane-ebook/dp/B007Q33YB6

my website: www.jenniferwylie.ca

Matthew Iden

I write fantasy, science fiction, horror, thrillers, crime fiction, and contemporary literary fiction with a psychological twist. A Reason to Live is the first in my debut detective series featuring Marty Singer, a retired DC homicide cop who helps the victims of past crimes while waging his own war with cancer. Marty’s story continues in Blueblood (August, 2012) and Signs (October 2012).

Find out more at my site http://matthew-iden.com and my Goodreads page (http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5313211.Matthew_Iden).

Book link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0081MW9LM

Feel free to join in. Add your vision (150 words maximum) in the comments!