SUSAN TIPPETT BRAITHWAITE

Welcome to Week 19 of the Friday Fiction Writing Challenge! Here’s a complete list of all the posts so far. Feel free to join in.

This week’s random word is: Shopping

As hobbies and pastimes go, shopping is not on my list. It’s more of a need to do than a like to do. 

With that out of the way. I decided to play around with a “meet cute” for my response. If you’re not familiar with a meet cute, it’s a screenwriting term for how the hero and heroine in a romance/story with a romance subplot meet.

Here’s my response:

Natalie stepped onto the elevator of the prestigious Astoria building on West Ave. The whole bus ride there, she’d berated herself for not telling her boss to pick up his own shit from his brother’s place. It was bad enough that she had to get three buses to get there, but having to walk past all those stores where even window shopping was out of her price range was too much. 

“What floor?”

Natalie jumped. How had she not seen him? It’s not like he didn’t stand out with those ice-blue eyes or his simple, tailored shirt and jeans. “Penthouse, please.”

He hit the button for her requested floor and leaned against the wall. His eyes slid over her, lingering at her shoes. “Who sent you?”

Was it really that obvious that she didn’t belong here? “None of your business.”

“Considering I’m the only person who lives up there, it actually is my business.”

Crap. “Mr. Deaver, I’m Natalie Cross. Anton said he told you I was coming.”

Relief seemed to wash over the man. “You can’t be too careful.” He held out his hand to shake hers. “Call me Evan.”

Warmth radiated from where their hands met all the way up to her face. She pulled her hand from his like he was contagious. This man was a complication she didn’t need. She shoved her hands in her pockets and looked up. The access panel in the ceiling was open. What the hell?

Thanks for reading and have a fantastic weekend!

HOW IT WORKS

1. Don’t think too hard on the word; just write about it for a maximum of twenty-five minutes or 250 words.
2. Once you complete your sprint, give it some basic editing.
3. Be courageous and post your results to your blog.

RULES

1. Complete the challenge on your blog before 1700 UTC of the following Friday.
2. Link to the original prompt post and make sure to use the tag Genre Scribes so that we can see all the posts together in WP Reader.
3. Your text must be fiction (preferably one you publish in (or plan to).
4. No real-life stories.
5. The text can be dialogue, an interior monologue, a scene, flash fiction, anything… so long as it’s fiction.

Full information is on the Genre Scribes: Friday Fiction Writing Challenge page.

Welcome to Week 18 of the Friday Fiction Writing Challenge! Here’s a complete list of all the posts so far. Feel free to join in.

This week’s random word is: Airport

For some reason this was a tough one. I went through three different scenarios before I went with the one below. It’s difficult to write a suspense/action scene set in an airport—with all the security etc. Every idea I had involved a gun, or a chase… Not very believeable in this day and age.

So, I opted for the scene below:

The car swerved again. 

Maddie crossed her arms over her head before she slammed into the side. The driver certainly didn’t give a damn that she was in the trunk.

She’d already searched for the trunk release, but the car was too old to have one. Her abductor was smart. Though, maybe not that smart.

A spark of hope twinkled to life in her chest. The spare tire. Maddie scooted back and tugged the edge of the carpet toward her. On top of the spare was a tire iron.

Ha. Maddie’s abductor wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. Not that she’d seen him in the longterm parking out by the airport. But the woodsy cologne told her that it was a man. He’d been smart on his choice of car, but he hadn’t thought to remove the tire iron.

Buoyed by her find, Maddie removed the panel covering the left light cluster and scrunched into the opposite corner. She aimed the tire iron at the exposed lights and punched until it was gone.

The car screeched to a halt, then rocked as the driver got out.

Maddie’s heart drummed so loud she couldn’t hear if the driver was heading her way. But common sense told her to be prepared. She gripped the tire iron, ready to beat the shit out of whoever this guy was. The trunk opened. Before she could swing, the man disarmed her.

“You’re going to get us killed,” he said.

“Kurt? What the fuck?”

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

HOW IT WORKS

1. Don’t think too hard on the word; just write about it for a maximum of 250 words.
2. Once you complete your sprint, give it some basic editing.
3. Be courageous and post your results to your blog.

RULES

1. Complete the challenge on your blog before 1700 UTC of the following Friday.
2. Link to the original prompt post and make sure to use the tag Genre Scribes so that we can see all the posts together in WP Reader.
3. Your text must be fiction (preferably one you publish in (or plan to).
4. No real-life stories.
5. The text can be dialogue, an interior monologue, a scene, flash fiction, anything… so long as it’s fiction.

Full information is on the Genre Scribes: Friday Fiction Writing Challenge page.

Welcome to Week 16 of the Friday Fiction Writing Challenge! Here’s a complete list of all the posts so far. Feel free to join in.

This week’s random word is: Crime

I’m not going to post my response to the challenge today. I ran out of time—got sucked into outlining DU2—and I’m really hungry. So, I’m off to have my dinner (pizza, pizza, pizza). I’ll update this post with my response over the weekend.

Update:

Here’s my response to the prompt (basic editing):

“Next,” the teller called from behind his counter.

Veronica smoothed the crumpled withdrawal slip between her clammy hands, then slid it to the man. She shifted from foot-to-foot, waiting for the inevitable.

The bland smile on the man’s face evaporated, his brows knitting together. He glanced from the slip to her face and back again, then let out a loud bark of laughter. “You’re shitting me, right?”

Anger gathered in her chest like a violent storm. Everything had fallen apart. Heath had told her he’d be here with her, that they’d save her sister together. And like a lovesick idiot, she’d believed him, trusted him—until she woke alone.

The teller must have seen something in her face that told him she was deadly serious because he moved his hand toward the silent alarm. But, before Veronica could threaten him, his eyes grew wide, then narrowed, and a smug little smile tugged at his lips.

The small hairs on Veronica’s neck prickled. She reached into her purse, frantically searching around for Heath’s gun.

“It’s over, Sweetheart.” Heath gripped her searching hand and turned her to face him.

Betrayal landed like a sucker-punch as the man who’d been her partner-in-crime cuffed her. The only thing she could focus on was the detective’s shield hanging around his neck. “You’ve killed her.”

Heath guided her out of the bank into the side alley. He leaned his forehead against hers and let out a long breath. “We found her. She’s safe.”

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend!

HOW IT WORKS

1. Don’t think too hard on the word; just write about it for a maximum of twenty-five minutes or 250 words.
2. Once you complete your sprint, give it some basic editing.
3. Be courageous and post your results to your blog.

RULES

1. Complete the challenge on your blog before 1700 UTC of the following Friday.
2. Link to the original prompt post and make sure to use the tag Genre Scribes so that we can see all the posts together in WP Reader.
3. Your text must be fiction (preferably one you publish in (or plan to).
4. No real-life stories.
5. The text can be dialogue, an interior monologue, a scene, flash fiction, anything… so long as it’s fiction.

Full information is on the Genre Scribes: Friday Fiction Writing Challenge page.