The second flash fiction on my blog, and the last for now, Starting Over is no less than I've come to expect from Danielle La Paglia. Her Seven Deadly Sins flash fiction is awesome, and there's tonnes more on her blog. You can follow her on twitter as Dannigrrl5 or friend her on facebook.
This is a blog swap, so you can find my short fiction, The Egg, on her blog.
This was written using the following quote as a prompt: There is a special sadness in achievement, in the knowledge that a long-desired goal has been attained at last, and that life must now be shaped toward new ends. – Arthur C. Clarke
She sat at her desk staring at the blinking cursor. The glow of the blank page her only light. Her hands were poised and ready, but she couldn’t find the strength to tap a single key. Ideas that had once flowed through her so freely were now frozen in her mind. The beautiful stream of creativity now held captive beneath an icy wasteland.
Her heart ached at the thought of starting again. A process that once brought so much joy, now left her feeling hopeless and alone. Tears streamed down her cheeks. So many words, so many hours, so many ideas.
How can I ever do it again?
She had given so much, and now it was all over. Her hopes, her dreams, her everything was bound neatly on a shelf and sold at discount prices.
There was nothing left to give. With a heavy heart, she pushed away from the desk and picked up the book from her coffee table – its glossy cover and bold title mocking her. Collapsing on the couch, she curled up and cried herself to sleep.
Danielle is an urban fantasy junkie who writes horror of every kind, be it ghosts and werewolves and vampires, or monsters of the human variety. She participates in #fridayflash on Twitter and posts weekly flash fiction on her blog. She is completing final edits on her paranormal romance novel, The Watchers, and is hard at work outlining her next urban fantasy project.
Starting Over pretty much describes how I feel now my book has been released. Time for a new adventure.
Ahh, the pain of starting over. You captured it. Great flash.
ReplyDeleteVery nice portrayal of page-fear. I hope she can find some wonderful new ideas.
ReplyDeleteWell done.
Excellent story. Hits close to home. Well done Danielle.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've read it before, it's one of your beautifully crafted pieces that can be read again and again. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteWell, she just needs to take a break and live a little in order to refill the creative well.
ReplyDelete"Her hopes, her dreams, her everything was bound neatly on a shelf and sold at discount prices." Such a great sentence!
As Marisa said, she just needs a little break. I know that always refuels me and gets me excited about the next project. Very well written. This was an excellent story!
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing worse than a blank page...
ReplyDeleteKari @ The Best Place By The Fire
What Marisa said. Plus -- it captures so well that bit of panic when you fear you'll never have another idea worth writing about every again. Peace...
ReplyDeleteOh, this hits close to home, not that I've anything nicely bound and on a shelf you understand. I have enough trouble getting the ideas I have onto paper. A great and well written story!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how it would feel to have a best seller go huge especially as a first novel and how the page fear would be after such a thing...
ReplyDeleteSorry it took me so long, I've been otherwise indisposed. I think this is something anyone who enjoys putting down stories on paper can relate too, hell I feel that way at the end of chapters sometimes. Very well done, a great portrayal of what it is like to search for inspiration daily.
ReplyDeleteVery well told. I am sure a lot of us can relate, even if we have to adapt it to suit ;o)
ReplyDeleteYou really captured the dispair of a creative rut. Well done.
ReplyDeleteChris, thank you for hosting me this week and thank you to all who stopped by to comment. :)
ReplyDelete