101 Fiction: Forge

A more polished first episode of 'The blacksmith's wife' has been accepted by John Xero for his 101 Fiction.   Little did I know when I began that I'd  be about to wrestle with 'ration', flatter' and 'squid' from which to wrench episode 32 this week ...

101 Fiction: Forge: by Sandra Davies Caged by guilt and shadowed bars of branding irons, breasts and belly besmirched by centuries of soot from the roof-supp...

Isn't the brain a wonderful thing!

No I'm not boasting but intrigued and impressed, having picked up today's words from Lily Child's Feardom's final hosting of the Friday Prediction, which are impersonate, elegant and shovel

Last week's eleventh episode of 'The blacksmith's wife' ended "We entered the river, clinging." and my first thought was 'oh damn I'll have to get him back to his forge if I'm going to be able to use shovel and how the hell do I fit the other two in?'

But I typed the words, put brain in gear, got one sentence written, two words used - and I still have another seventy-five words to play with!

Practice has a LOT to do with it - and I shall continue to practice over at Phil Ambler's site from next week.

[The picture is a part-finished illustration for for episode three which can be read on the Friday Predctions page at the top of this blog]

Friday prediction - update

This the illustration for part 2 of The blacksmith's wife, once again a digital combination of print and plate and drawing (ten layers of them!)

Part 11 - 100 words incorporating psycho, belt and purgatory -  which can be read on the above Friday Predictions page - was added yesterday to what is Lily's penultimate week.   Thereafter Phil Ambler will be hosting the show and the saga will, hopefully, continue.   (It almost ended here but I could not bear to have it finished yet ...)

Big grin

I'm both delighted and relieved by today's news from Lily Childs' Feardom  - delighted to have been awarded winner for last week's Prediction Challenge and relieved that, following Lily's decision to spend more time taking up the challenge of her own writing, Phil Ambler will be continuing what she had built - I trust it will continue to be as absorbing, entetaining and supportive a community in his world.

Continuing episodes of The blacksmith's wife can be read on the Friday Predictions page at the top of this blog.

The blacksmith’s wife [part 6]

‘Jenever,’ he said, ‘from sloes, not Amsterdam.   You’re not enough a mother to be ruined.’
He tipped the glass, watched me drink, sloe-eyed himself, inscrutable, all personal emotion hidden, yet knowledge of the hurt I’d dealt caused blood to hammer in my head, tears to flow for what I’d lost.

Not the child, that never had existed, but his belief in me.

Another touch upon my back, forewarning.  ‘Charcoal, to mark the placing of the letters.’  
But gin-loosed tongue took me past sanity;  contemptuously ‘Can you spell?’  
His face hardened.  ‘Trollop, wanton, Jezebel, jade – there’s space to write them all.’

Parts 8 and 9  on this weeks Friday Predictions

Images for Blacksmith's wife

Having a yen to perhaps produce an illlustrated version of my Blacksmith's wife serial - currently to be found on the Friday Predictions page and running to six parts - I have been playing with imagery.

This idea is a mixture of original collagraph and carborundum prints, digitally combined with drawing.
I had originally visualised something strongly black and white but it would be a pity to lose the idea of the flames of the forge.

Lily Childs' Feardom

If you like reading or writing horror or chilling flash fiction you could give yourself a treat by visiting Lily Childs' Friday Prediction Challenge

Each week Lily posts three words and challenges participants to use them in a piece not exceeding 100 words and then post their entry as a comment on her page.  Comments are generous almost to a fault;  Lily picks a winner and (surprise, surprise - no point in hiding my light under a bushel) last week's winner was ME, as she says herself:

Winner of Last Week's Prediction Challenge
Every week many of you say, how does Lily choose a winner when the quality is so high? Well, it's always hard but this week - hell has erupted from the frozen lakes of my chambers and stumped me. However - it must be done. There will be just one winner, and no runner-up... because every single entry is a runner-up. Well done, one and all.
My winner is Sandra Davies with the second part of her harrowing series The Blacksmith's Wife. This tale is screaming to be told and I cannot even begin to anticipate what will happen next. Many congratulations Sandra - don't leave us dangling!

The story so far can be found on my Friday prediction page - next week's words are curdle, cherub and rip and I shall do my best to continue the tale.

Bastard

He had coached her, not wisely, except in his own self-interest, but too well, and when her third “I’m late” was said too late, and the grey of his eyes changed as speedily as the Irish weather, from promise to perdition, she knew to jump.   Into the outgoing, grey-green, full moon, Spring solstice tide.  

Posted on Lily Child's Feardom site - Friday's prompts:   Irish, coach and tide, which inspired the above.
And which has enough in the way of colour in it to qualify for a February stone.