New #Ebook 31 Days of October Volume 2

It's here! 31 Days of October Volume 2 
at Amazon.

Read my short stories The Snake Pit and The Deer Hunter. Also my first poem that I've written and had published, Death of a Shifter. Great for bed time and on the go reading.

Sold here --- http://amzn.to/2yzmm5l

Second Place Story: Christmas in August

I won second place for the August short story challenge in my group Writers 750 at Goodreads.
Here is my story for the month. Enjoy!

Kringle’s Christmas Cruise

By Glenda Reynolds

It was another hot day in the nineties in the Florida Panhandle.  There I sat at my laptop looking out at my tropical garden in the back yard. The wasps were mocking me as they continued flying around the glass door. Just as I doused the outside door and vinyl siding with bug spray, the doorbell rang. There was no need to say, “I’ll get it, honey.” I knew my hubby wouldn’t leave his man-cave.

The door squeaked open. There stood a short, stout guy that resembled the actor Danny Devito in a green velveteen suit with a long, green toboggan hat on his head. I became aware that my mouth was open, so I composed myself.

“Greetings, Ma’am! It is my good pleasure to tell you that you’ve won a free dinner cruise for two aboard the Kringle Voyager,” said the elf-like man before me.

“But I didn’t enter any contest for this. How did we…?”

“Someone in this household checked the box when you made a purchase at a vendor web site. It automatically entered you into the contest drawing.” Yes, I did remember checking a box. “The only thing is that you’ll have to use your winning tickets this weekend since dinner cruise season is coming to an end for the year.

“Thank you so much! By the way, it’s ninety degrees out here with high humidity. How do you manage that suit in this weather?”

Mr. Elf smiled and said, “Mr. Kringle only uses a special fabric that keeps the body cool in subtropical temperatures. He owns the patent on it – made in the USA.”

The little man turned and got back into his Chevy hatchback that had a wrapped digital print advertising Kringle Dinner Cruises. I immediately entered the hubby’s man-cave and shared the news about the dinner cruise.

It so happened that the next day was Saturday. We made our reservation for that evening. It turned out that the Kringle Voyager was a river boat that cruised Saint Andrew Bay and Upper Grand Lagoon. The life preservers had graphics of Christmas wreaths and ornaments on them. The attendants were all dressed in the same green velveteen fabric with toboggans. They all looked related if not cloned from the same Mr. Elf that had delivered the winning tickets. The food looked very festive with watermelon cut in the shape of Christmas trees; olives and pickles had little red Santa hats; dinner rolls were stacked in threes to resemble snow men; and best of all: the center piece was a pineapple with the spiky leaves on top from which hung many colorful Christmas ornaments. My heart leaped inside at such wonderful details. But the best was yet to come.

After a fine meal of turkey, salad, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, we enjoyed beautiful choir numbers performing songs of old and songs that I had never heard. There was even a short ballet rendition of the Nut Cracker. For the final number, Kris Kringle himself took center stage wearing a tropical print shirt, board shorts, a flower lei necklace, and a straw hat. He held a ukulele and began to strum a rhythm as he began to sing Mele Kalikimaka, a Hawaiian Christmas song.  Mrs. Clause joined him in a grass skirt, white lei necklace and headband, and a coconut shell bikini. She began to do a little Hawaiian dancing to the festive song. After the song ended, we all raised our glasses in a toast to “peace on earth, good will toward men”. The band played as couples got up from the table to dance. The hubby and I made our way to the side of the ship. A small pod of dolphins swam along side of our riverboat. The lights glistened off of their skin as they hit the surface only to dive back in.

“This is the best time I’ve ever had with you in our thirty-four years of marriage.”

“I agree, sweetie. My love for you has grown deeper over the years. I would do it all over again.”

“Me too, babe. I’m so glad that I have you.”

We embraced and savored the moment. This was and will be a great memory to look back on through the years.

Art by Glenda

I consider the art work below to be some of my best. All were done during my college years 1980 - 1982 except for the sketch of the gorilla done when I was married and living in South Florida. The first sketch below of Jesus still hangs on the wall at a Church of the Nazarene in Chuckey, TN. The others were drawn for my art class at Kentucky Mountain Bible College.

A Special thanks to my Aunt Jane who provided my art supplies while I was going to school out of state with no means to buy my own.

I debated posting these at a large size. Art can't be appreciated if it is too small; detail is lost. Enjoy!

Elijah Ascends to Heaven - done with colored pencils

The Babe Moses - done with colored pencils

The Risen Christ - done with wax & oil crayon/oil pastel

The Good Samaritan - done with wax & oil crayon/oil pastel

The Power of Forgiveness: A Collection of Short Stories

Hot off the press!  #AmWriting flash #Fiction - some stories based on true life events.

From the authors of Writes 750 at Goodreads comes an anthology that is now published at Amazon in time for Easter: The Power of Forgiveness

Edited & published by Stephanie Baskerville; edited and cover art by Glenda Reynolds; edited and conception by David Russell. We would appreciate some book reviews for this and if you could share with your friends, family, and church groups.

 www.amazon.com/Power-Forgiveness-Collection-Short-Stories/dp/1545309507

TO WRITE GREAT FICTION: STOP USING THE LOGICAL SIDE OF YOUR BRAIN

One can learn a lot by reading advise from other people. But it always remains just that: advise from other people. To become a serious writer, we have to know our own minds and learn to listen to what we know to be true, for us, regardless of what anyone else might think or say.

No one else can tell you what you need to know when it comes to emotion. No one else can chart the terrain of your subconscious, your belief systems, or your dreams: the beautiful and totally unique irrationality that belongs only to you.

This is the stuff that comes out in the writing of great fiction. The character who is deeply unlikable. The plot that doesn’t seem to make any sense. The ending that doesn’t wrap up all the loose threads.

The first page that holds out a quiet but expectant hand, inviting in the curious reader softly, slowly, as so many works of brilliant fiction have done throughout the decades—without relying on Reality TV promo tactics to hustle in spectators who really couldn’t give a *BLEEP*.

This is what writing great fiction is actually like: It’s hard and confusing and there is no map. There is no method that will help you circumnavigate all the dark, festering places in your psyche that you don’t want to see. You won’t come out on the other side with all the answers, or even with any answers at all.

But the journey into the underworld is worth it. It’s always worth it. That’s why writers keep doing it. Because, deep in the most secret parts of our heart, we know we can do nothing else.

by Lauren Sapala. Lauren is a writing coach who specializes in personal growth and artistic development for introverted intuitive writers. http://www.laurensapala.com/