Literary Freestylin': I'm Finna Try it Again

So it's 2:30am. I'm eating grapes and gyrating to dancehall music. I have Chaka Demus and Pliers' "Murder She Wrote" on repeat and just finished working my thang in front of the mirror like I'm sexy or something. You can't tell me my dutty wine isn't Hall of Fame worthy. Prior to this, I was perusing my blog archives and reunited with a short story I posted on here 3 years ago. I wrote it chapter by chapter over several weeks. It was about the adventure of an overweight bookworm who met a man intent on introducing her to a new world of eroticism and fear. Here's an excerpt:


"Tell me what you desire most."
"Do you have all night? I desire a lot of things."
"As do I. But every list begins with one thing. That thing, or desire, is usually the most important."
Sweety held the phone to her ear the way she would have held his hand to her cheek.
"A man’s touch."
"I see," he said thoughtfully. "That's interesting. Tell me, Sweety, would you say you are suffering from skin hunger?"
"I never thought about it that way, but yes, I would say that."
"What terrifies you the most?"
"Drowning. I can’t swim and almost drowned when I was little."

Raymond, "Papi," took some time before replying. Sweety knew he was contemplating something profound, everything he said seemed like it belonged in a text book. She had discovered his blog Mind Factor two weeks earlier and was immediately intrigued at his eloquence and intelligence in his latest post in which he described the often taboo relationship between fear and eroticism. She left a comment and the link to her own blog, Loserville, Population: Me. Papi visited her blog and over the course of several days generously left detailed replies to all 75 posts. This was her fourth consecutive night of intense phone communication with him. During that short time, he had managed to coax experiences and personal admissions from Sweety that she dared only repeat to herself.

Finally he said “I know what you need. For the two extremes to collide--can you imagine what that would do to your senses? To fear your surroundings, but to squirm in pleasure beneath the hands that confine you there."
And that's when he started to tell her about a special underworld he governed, complete with clients and a collage of "wishmasters" who served those clients' needs.


Read the whole thing here. 

Promise me you won't judge me. I'm just a writer relaying a story a character told me.


Well, I was impressed by myself to say it was a literary freestyle. Meaning I didn't think about it beforehand or cut and paste it from an existing document. I just looked at what I last wrote, started a new post, and got to typing whatever came to mind.


I want to do it again. It's a great way to relive writer's block and to get the creative juices flowing as the saying goes. I'm not going to promise a certain number of chapters or anything because literary freestylin doesn't work that way. It just flows. By the end, I hope it will have improved my flow on my short story collection. 

So, later on today, after I've gotten some rest, I'll sit down and get started on Chapter 1 of some type of story. It's been a while, I hope the old brain can still do it on the fly. I'll let you be the judge. While I said I don't plan ahead for freestyles, I'm giving myself a start time only to hold myself accountable. I won't cheat, it'll be totally as I go.


Signed,

JenntheEditor (I've never used this handle before establishing it on Twitter. I kind of like it. I think 'JenntheEditor' will be my new thing. It has a nice ring to it.)

An Ode to the Passage of Time

This week, among the many stories that captivated the public's interest, was the story of Karen Klein, a 68-year-old school bus monitor, who was videotaped being verbally abused and bullied by a group of middle school kids until she cried. The outrage over the kids' lack of respect and cruelty has been nothing short of astonishing. Money has been pouring in from all over the world from people who want for Ms. Klein to take a well-deserved vacation. Some would like to see her retire and never have to do that type of work again. As I type this sentence, strangers moved by this poor woman's suffering have donated over $577,000.

The power of the internet. The power of humans seeing one of their own in need.

The power of the passage of time.

Ahh yes, time. The interesting thing about time is that none of us can escape it. Seemingly before those kids know it, they too will be older, and will have to venture out into the world each day, taking their chances that they don't cross paths with people, maybe even children, who for their own reasons find excitement in targeting those who cannot defend themselves. They'll will know how it feels to be easy pickings for cowards.

I'm not talking about karma, just the inevitability of the life cycle. We are born vulnerable, relying on others to see us into the next phase of life. We then repeat our beginnings, relying again on others to see us into our next...and final phase.

Despite all I've just written, I know that kids grow up. And that our actions as children don't define who we are as adults. I remember how mischievous and annoying I was as a kid. I was a good kid, but I went through a phase where I would purposely aggravate my grandfather when my mother wasn't around. I was an only child, and perhaps saw him as a cure for my boredom. I didn't know then all the wisdom that sat before me. All the stories of what it was like to grow up in rural Louisiana in the 1920s. I was just too young to appreciate him.

I've strayed so far from the point of my post, or maybe I haven't. I just wanted to add a voice in support of Ms. Klein. And then I got to remembering the grandfather who I annoyed and pestered. The grandfather who by the time I was old enough to finally ask all those questions, was gone.

If only we could appreciate our elders while we are young. There's no guarantee they'll still be around when we've entered into our next phase.


 Love,

JenntheEditor

50 Shades of Say What Now?

Photo courtesty of cnn.com

I refuse to read it.

Typical Jennifer. When the world seemingly enters into a state of excited delirium at the hottest new movie, clothing item, reality show, restaurant, pop culture term, song, and yes, even book...I shun said flavor of the week, refusing to have anything to do with it. Sometimes this lasts until the excitement dies down. Or after I've stopped caring, and happen to stumble upon some reference to it and dare to investigate.

And here comes the point of this post. I've been hearing about the 50 Shades book for a few months now. It's supposedly the book to read. Book clubs are going nuts. As you can see, I'm not. That's why I've said nothing about it's actual content, I haven't even read the thing. I'm choosing to remain in blissful ignorance. Sometimes it's fun to not know about something, yet proudly speak on it and hurdle stones of judgment. Anyway, I wanted to acknowledge an interesting article I found on CNN, "Fifty Shades of Confused: Why do people like this book? ," I was so intrigued by the title, and so surprised that a naysayer dare show himself. Who is this person who would ask "Ummm, what's so great about it?" to the book's devotees? Give the article a read. Maybe you can chime in on what's so great about it. Or what's not so great about it.

I don't know. Perhaps one day I'll read it. After I read the million other books that actually matter to me and sit collecting dust. When I finish those, I'll gladly open this book's pages to read about torrid sexual encounters, fantasy play, and other things that women and men are raving about.

Signed,

JenntheEditor

I'm on Twitter!!!...I Can't Believe It

After running away from popular social networking sites for as long as I could, I decided it was time to take the plunge and become one of those people who does something called "tweeting." After abandoning Facebook not too long ago, I figured it was best to anchor myself to some sort of social networking medium so as to not look like a complete weirdo. Well, I do have this blog, if that counts for anything. And I suppose Twitter is another way for me to meet other writers and to showcase myself. And hopefully soon, to promote my book.

Here's my Twitter page: https://twitter.com/#!/JenntheEditor

Check me out....y'know...if you're into that sort of thing.

All the best,

JenntheEditor