Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Writing Prompt 44

Mike kicked a pebble on the pier and watched it plop down into the sea. “Okay, we’re here. Now what?”

Alex rolled his eyes and sighed as if he had other, better things to do than explain trivial things to the village fool for the tenth time. “Now we wait.” He spoke slowly and intoned each word to make sure the message got through. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and bounced on the balls of his feet.

Mike fought the urge to introduce his fist to Alex’s face. Instead, he nodded and chewed on his lower lip. Moments later, when the silence became unbearable, he spoke again. “For how long?” Pompous, know-it-all little prick was going to get the beating of a lifetime, if he gave him another stupid or arrogant answer.

“Until something big happens. Now. Shut. Up.”

Mike flexed his fist and tried to picture his friend’s nose as a swollen, three-feet-wide monstrosity across his face. He caught sight of something strange from the corner of his eye. He turned his head to it, and something cold sped from the base of his skull, down his spine, all the way to his limbs. “Big as in… like that perhaps?” He pointed at the shore.

Alex turned and looked. His face turned ashen, and the bulge on his throat went down once and rose slowly. His mouth hung.

“Sea going away big enough for you? Where’s the sea going, Alex? Huh? You messed up. Again.”

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Free short story on Amazon and information about At Horizon’s End

Today is the last day you can download The Man Behind The Bar for free from Amazon. I was lucky enough to see it reach the number one spot in its category and that made me really happy. It means people read the story. Hopefully, it’s something they enjoy.

If you download it, consider leaving a review (even if you don’t have something positive to say) for other readers. This coming Tuesday (July 4th) is also the last day the story will be available on Kindle Unlimited, so if you intended to read it, but never got around it, this is your last chance. Soon after that, I will make the story available to other retailers (Kobo, ibooks, Google, etc).

So, what happens next, you may ask. Well, the next short story I’ll publish is called At Horizon’s End and it’s a horror story (not gory or splatter). Advanced Reader Copies are already in the hands of some reviewers, so when it goes live, it should have a couple of reviews waiting. Here’s an early blurb:

The Man Who Fed On Tears always knows whose time it is to remove from our world. His existence is one of a symbiosis between his need for the tears and woe he causes to those closest to the deceased, and the natural order of life and death to which he is bound to obey. He never questions himself or his actions and has never made a mistake. Until now.

Stella is a four-year-old girl who misses her mommy and wants to see her again. She doesn’t yet understand the concept of loss, so when she sees close family members crying, she tries to stay cheerful and optimistic. After all, Mommy said they’d see each other again when the time comes At Horizon’s End. So if they’ll meet again, why is everyone crying?

I have yet to make up my  mind on a firm release date. I can’t decide if it should be July 23 or July 30. The thing is, I’m trying to figure out when most of you will be on your summer vacation, because I like the idea of you going away with my story in your e-readers. I should have decided within this coming week.

Stay tuned for the cover reveal 😉

 

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos · 2 Comments

Readjusting a writing routine

For the past few weeks, certain life events (all of them unforeseen, as life tends to make them, but not all of them bad), have made me unable to write. No, I’m not going through a writer’s block. I want to write and edit and revise my work, and I have material to work on, but, alas, someone decided that each day should only have 24 hours. I don’t know who it was, but I don’t like that person. I used to like them, but not at the moment. And, to make things harder, I also got a job. For the record, I’m not a lazy bugger, but as it’s the case with most jobs, it takes up a great part of my day. One third of it, to be exact. However, it’s a nice place and, get this, there’s another writer there. Another one from the tribe!

And yet, it adds to a problem that has been going on for the past few weeks, one that leaves me with either not enough time to spare to write or not enough energy for it. Everything that has been going on for the past month or so has messed up my writing routine (which I took great care to protect, but when family health issues arise, what can you do?). So I’m trying to come up with a new routine, at least until my placement is over (which will be around February 2018 – unless they fire me before that *shudder*).

I’m sure most of you have faced similar life changing events, so how did you cope? Did it take you long? Was the transition to a new writing routine easy? Did you have a routine in the first place? What steps did you take to be productive (writing-wise) again?

I have a few ideas, and once I put them into practice I may write a post about them, but until then feel free to share your take on this. I’d really like to see how other people deal with this issue.

I’m hopeful this changes in my life will not affect this blog. But it may happen, since I usually draft these posts a few days in advance and go over them as much as I can each day, before I publish them. If it does happen, know it’ll only be temporary, that you can reach me through social media, or through the contact form (at the top).

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Writing Prompt 42

Are you bored with promotions yet? Yes? No? Well, here’s another one. The Man Behind The Bar is free worldwide for today only (May 28). You can get a copy here. If you live in the UK, try here, if in Germany go here. Here’s the link for Canada and Australia. Check other regional Amazon shops for your free copies. Oh, and I’d love it if you could leave a review.

Anyway, on to writing prompt 42

Thunder cracked in the distance. “You sure it’s the right grave?” Burt asked. I rattled and slapped the flashlight, and muttered a few curses. “Eleventh from the path,” I said over the whistling wind and the pattering of the rain. The flashlight came to life, and a yellow ribbon cut through the darkness. I pointed the light beam on the tombstone. The rain washed the name away. two New ones replaced it. They were our names.

Originally, the above prompt was bigger (more like a vignette, though probably too small even for it), but since I’ve decided to publish these prompts on Pinterest and had to use background graphics for them for more people to, hopefully, benefit from them, available space became an issue. Anyway, for the readers of this blog, and those interested in the slightly longer version, here’s the original piece.

The flash illuminated Burt’s face staring at me, water running in rivulets on it. “You sure it’s the right one?” Moment’s later, thunder cracked somewhere in the distance.
Roger slapped his flashlight, rattled it, and emitted a few silent curses.
I nodded. Stupid me; he couldn’t see me in this pitch black. “Eleventh headstones from the path,” I said over the whistling wind.
Roger’s flashlight came to life, and a yellow ribbon cut through the darkness. “Finally.”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Burt said. “Let the dead rest, my pop used to say.”
“Doesn’t surprise me one bit. You’re as senile and superstitious as he was. In his best days.”
Roger whimpered loud enough for me and Burt to hear. His light beam was shaking. He pointed a finger at the tombstone.
The letters on it faded away, as if dissolved by the water. New letters formed and replaced the old ones.
They were our names.

Posted on by Chris Sarantopoulos

Writing prompt 41

Danny! Danny, I need help. I’m at my aunt’s house. No, my aunt’s, up on the hill. Listen, I’m freaking out. The houses disappeared before my eyes. Disappeared, man. No, all of them. One by one. Oh, shit. Danny, get out of the house. The city. The city down the hill is disappearing, man. You hear me? Get out. Get ou-

Danny? Hello? Danny?