American Melancholy - my novel

I'm excited to say that my second novel, American Melancholy, was chosen as a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.

Follow this link to Amazon's site where you can download the published excerpt, read and post reviews.

Any reviews and/or comments on the excerpt will be much appreciated. Thank you to those who have already posted.

For Starters

There was no blood soaking through which meant it was healing.

(For Starters is a new series of posts to the blog which provide writers with a first line for a new story. Take this line and go with it...)

Creative Burst - Samuel and the Killer Worm

Samuel stopped struggling and stared at the ground. The ripples of soft sand rolled away in concentric circles like a dropped pebble’s signature in a pool of water. He had seen this before, too many times. But this time was different. It was coming for him. The sand beneath his feet began to pulse and vibrate; he could feel it through the soles of his shoes. Lifting them off the ground was no option. His weight would only tighten the noose around his neck. And even if he could keep himself from passing out, the few seconds he’d spare himself would be no consolation for the pain that would follow once his feet inevitably touched the ground again. The thing coming for him was a burrower, and it did not discriminate. It would find its way inside him. One way or another.

(From the prompt: Start a scene with a character in imminent danger of death.)

Writing Prompt #9

Begin a story where your character’s simple attempt of going to the store to buy a gallon of milk goes horribly wrong. Start off from the point when your character realizes the milk container in his or her fridge is empty.