#IWSG and #WEP Spooky Time #ghost #stories #Horror Horrorfest 2024

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Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today: Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jacqui Murray, and Natalie Aguirre!

October 2 question -

Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What's your favorite classic ghostly tale? Tell us about it and why it sends chills up your spine.

Classic ghost tales... classic... ummm.... 🤔
The Woman in White - as seen in the tv show Supernatural. A vengeful spirit who can cause pain and death, all while begging for help and being unaware she's not alive. I guess that sounds scary to me, enough for this prompt at least.

There's a better one I know, but to mention the word, especially in print, is forbidden. (Not that people outside of the culture don't use it. They do. Including a version in the show Supernatural. Season 1 Episode 2. Right there in the title of the episode is the word that should not be used, especially in print. Sorry, this isn't like "fear of a name only increases fear..." blah blah Harry Potter quote. No, it isn't like that. BUT ANYWAY)

Allow me to present links to some of my reviews of horror novels:

• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4319398401  The Cure by Patricia Josephine Lynne 
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2952218899 The Phantom Forest by Liz Kerin
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2701846118 Twisted Tales by Deborah A Stansil
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2123074471 Caught in Between (The In-Betweens, #1) by Alison L. Perry
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2102749649 The Snowman (Detective Quaid #0.5) by Yolanda Renee
• https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1872165572 The Miniature Golf Course Murders (River Corners Mysteries Book 2) by Sara Penhallow

Here's a mini "lite horror" (more mystery/ myth) novella. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1015003

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https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2024/10/wep-halloween-flash-fiction-special.html
FEAR THEMby J Lenni Dorner

Mother taps on the tallest, oldest tree in the forest. "Be careful, my child, for they will come for you. The time will never come when you can let down your guard. Our people have suffered for hundreds of years from this danger. Do you see this tree?"

I nod.

"The danger has existed longer than this tree has lived. Put your arms around it. Feel the years the tree has stood."

I hug the tree. The bark scratches the delicate skin on my young cheeks. My arms cannot wrap even halfway around the tree. "Why do they come for us?"

She frowns. "That question does not matter. You must focus on not being taken. Not only would you be separated from your family and home, but from yourself."

"From myself?" I rub a spot on the tree where the bark has been removed.

She pulls at my chin so I meet her stare. "The very essence of your being. All that you believe, all the knowledge your father and I have imparted, it would be taken. You would not know nature, and it would no longer know you. For that is their way. They do not share our connection to life. This is why we stay apart from them. To be taken by them is a horror beyond repair." 

The lesson was said before and would be taught again many times. 

Too bad I didn't listen well enough.

They came for me. And all that my parents warned proved to be true. Far worse than what they claimed. 

"Mother? Father? I have returned!" It took many years to find them again.

"We see you. But you cannot return beyond visits." Father hangs his head. The campfire illuminates the tears on Mother's face.

"I am myself. I know nature."

Mother tisks. "Nature does not know you as it once did. You are not who you were. The change is clear."

I still see myself. They see a changed being. I sit at the fire, staring at the flames.

"Show us that you are aware. Point out all that we see, the proof of your difference." Father motions his hand up and down, as if pointing out all of my variations.

I start at my feet and work my way up. By the time I've listed twenty differences, I stop. "They did separate me from myself."

Mother wipes her tears. "Awareness is the true horror. Some are spared knowing. I'm sorry you were not."

Father extinguishes the fire. "Soon the sun will rise. You will go. Perhaps, one day, you might return to us. I wish it could be as who you were. We cannot save you, nor turn you back."

I move to the river, wishing I could wash myself clean of the changes, though I know there is no river strong enough to clean what remains of me.  

FCA 477 words

Tag: Some changes cannot be undone.

#IWSG J's 3 Book World Choices and Other Insights

"One benefit of summer was that each day we had more light to read by."- Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

InsecureWritersSupportGroup.com

Shout-out to Alex and the awesome co-hosts for today:
J Lenni Dorner (me! ✨), Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton!

July 6 question - If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?

Short Answer:

You set the price!FREE, .99 cents, $1.99, whatever...

Lumber Of The Kuweakunks 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1015003

By J Lenni Dorner

I pick this book and world because of the trees. 🌳

It's a short read with a mystery told in modern times and the early 1600s era.   

Long Answer:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by J Lenni Dorner (@jlennidorner)

For my longer answer, I arranged a few books in the shape of my name - J.
(Hopefully, no one will confuse my name with co-host Jenni Enzor's. J isn't an abbreviation, I didn't know about the superfluous "ay" that people add, or that sometimes J is short for Jayson or other names. Lenni- Lenape means "original people". My tribe is also known as the Grandfathers. Naming customs are different in various cultures.)

BSC. I appreciate that the books are being redone with Graphix while still staying pretty true to the original books. Stoneybrook is a fictional small suburban-like town in the state of Connecticut. Most of the problems were solved in one book. 

The Baby-Sitters Club books remind me of my youth. It was just such a better world than my own, a parallel universe of sorts where I wished I could be. Not that I had any interest in baby-sitting. A rare happy period in my school-age time when, for a brief while, I had friends. The Logan character helped to cement the idea that it was okay for the girls I knew to have a guy friend (me). Their parents disagreed. My foster caretakers didn't know or care. Things eventually went bad because of other males at the school. Resulting in my being hospitalized more dead than alive. At which point I was passed to a different foster home. (This is all before I ran away and found my people and birth parents again.)

So anyone out there saying the new laws in parts of America are fine because the foster and adoption system exists can kiss my 🍑ss. Plenty of people are talking about that. 

I'll pause to talk about just how "pro-life" the American government has been for about two centuries. I don't often get political on social media, unless it relates to Native American issues, and this does. 

https://time.com/5737080/native-american-sterilization-history/

Think putting abortion services in Federal places will help? 🎲 That's rolling the dice because those places sometimes sterilize people without their knowledge or consent. Especially Native American women.

https://www.niwrc.org/restoration-magazine/november-2020/past-and-current-united-states-policies-forced-sterilization

"On October 2, 2020, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning unwanted, unnecessary medical procedures on individuals without their full, informed consent."

House resolutions are not binding laws. 

In case anyone thinks this happened long ago. 2020. Hasn't even been two years since the House did something. Though, what they did wasn't much.

It was after finding out some medical personnel at the ICE cages were sterilizing people who they deemed to be non-Americans.

 

For ten seconds, imagine a popular, well-liked American celebrity is shooting a film in another country. And, while in that other country, is captured and sterilized. And the other country says, "well, it wasn't one of our citizens, so it's okay." Try to imagine how well that would go over. American citizens getting forcibly sterilized in other countries.

Now imagine it's someone that is barely known at all. Doesn't matter where they're from. Is it okay now?

https://19thnews.org/2022/02/forced-sterilization-guardianship-reproductive-justice/

"31 states and the District of Columbia have laws allowing permanent forced sterilizations."

Some states will outlaw abortion, but have laws to force sterilizations.

https://givingcompass.org/article/forced-sterilization-is-still-legal-in-the-u-s

Surly the “"pro-life"” crowd has put a stop to forced sterilizations. Right? Nope.

There are some laws to prevent certain groups, like inmates, from being sterilized without consent. But there is NO LAW to prevent forced non-consensual sterilizations for all Americans.

So yes, in certain states, very soon, a person can be imprisoned for performing an abortion, and the person who had the abortion could be forcibly sterilized. 

Ending one pregnancy will be outlawed. But preventing a person from ever becoming pregnant by sterilizing that person is still legal. (Again, depending on the state.)

The loss of the right to consent to carry a pregnancy will be new to many people alive today.

The loss of the right to consent to ever reproduce was taken from many long ago and is still being fought to get back. 

In theory, medical malpractice and assault and battery might protect a patient from sterilization without consent. Unless the patient is incapacitated. And even then, consider that forced sterilization just happened in America. And that there are still laws that ALLOW it. But there do not seem to be laws that specifically OUTLAW it. 

In case you wonder, some places also prohibit people from making the choice to be sterilized via "tube tying" (tubal ligation) or hysterectomy (womb removal). One in six US hospitals, it is estimated, refuse to perform such procedures as electives. Vasectomies, however, are easier to obtain. https://www.insider.com/a-woman-needed-husbands-consent-to-get-her-tubes-tied-2020-2 

I feel everyone should have the right to decide when and if they wish to create offspring, and that no one should be able to take away someone's consent for the use of their own body. (Not a parent, spouse, officer, court, president -- NO ONE.) No additions or removals should be performed without informed, comprehended consent. I'm also strongly opposed to permitting child marriages or forcing victims of pedophiles to endure pregnancy. I have seen a child, not yet a teen, who died in labor. And no, that fetus didn't make it either. There is a sick, dark underworld of sex-trafficking and pedophiles who rely on places with relaxed laws that make it easier for them to carry on. I have seen the horrors of the dark world they run. I oppose their existence and any law or ruling that makes anything easier for them.

The following is from a scene in Stargate SG-1:

(LYA)
After careful consideration, I believe that both Klorel and Skaara have the right to live. But living as a host with no will of one's own is not life, therefore only one may remain in the body. To that end, I award priority to the original owner of the body.

Lya is of the Nox people. The Nox are an advanced, non-violent, wise people who use technology in harmony with nature and have existed since ancient times in the Stargate Universe. 

As there are Stargate books, my third choice for a book world would be to live with the Nox. They feel like an evolution of my own Lenni-Lenape tribe, had history been different for Native Americans.


Thanks for reading! See you next time.

Please also visit: The Insecure Writer's Support Group Book Club on Goodreads.

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https://t.co/sgrj82hfJa #WRiTECLUBDFW
WriteClub 2022 is here. pic.twitter.com/QdGdbcEpyv

— J Lenni Dorner (@JLenniDorner) July 2, 2022

Please 🤍💗 and Retweet!

Happening at OperationAwesome6.blogspot.com

Have your query letter and first 250 words ready
This week is the #PassorPages #QueryContest
July 4-8: Entry window 🤔 #win agent feedback
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👨‍👦‍👦👩‍👩‍👧‍👧💑👬 Family Dynamics/Family Saga fiction - all age audienceshttps://t.co/F9IU7kcAC4
Please spread the word pic.twitter.com/i7hCBpuRjS

— Operation Awesome (@OpAwesome6) July 4, 2022

It would mean a great deal to me if you'd be kind enough to share that tweet, or go to the Operation Awesome site and share a post of your own somewhere. Please 🤍💗 too!

J Lenni Dorner (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) ~ Co-host of the #AtoZchallenge, OperationAwesome6 Debut Author Interviewer, Reference& Speculative Fiction Author
Please, call me J.

Under the Trees #atozchallenge #story

My theme this year is blogging about my author brand. Fridays are a story told in parts. This story fluctuates between modern times and centuries ago.



LUMBER OF THE KUWEAKUNKS  - part 4

The lieutenant governor leaned against the fence that marked the dividing line between civilization and the territory of the Kuweakunks. Jonathan stood beside him, a bandage covering the lump on his head and a cane helping his balance.

"Look at them. Lazy!" The lieutenant governor gnawed on a raw carrot. "Just lounging about under the trees. Have you ever seen one of them put in a day of work?"

"No, Sir," Jonathan held up a paper. "This one also needs your signature."

"Talk, talk, talk. What could they possibly have to say? You have heard them speak. Barely manage to string together a sentence."

Jonathan motioned with the paper. "A most ineloquent vocabulary. No command of our language whatsoever. If this could be signed, I can have the noon rider take it to the docks."

"Yes, yes! The docks. She will be here soon. Arriving on our first ship." The lieutenant governor spit bits of carrot as he spoke. "The King himself sanctioned our marriage. Did you know that? Sending her along with a proper priest to be sure it is all in order." He rubbed his stomach. "I am certainly good enough for her now. What say you, Jonathan?"

"There can be no question." He tried again to get the paper in his hand noticed. "More than good enough by now. Your rank and station are above her father."

The lieutenant governor let out a robust laugh. His fat mitt clapped Jonathan on the back, causing him to drop his cane. "It will stay that way. My next shipment will elevate my name. High value, Jonathan, high value indeed."

~~~***~~~

The former sheriff relied heavily on his cane as he approached. "I heard a child went missing from the school again."

"We have the situation handled, Mr. Long. You did not need to have someone bring you down here." The current sheriff said through gritted teeth.

"That so? Did you even glance at the old case file?" He pulled it from his sweater. The smell of his vintage orange and cinnamon musk wafted off the folder. Clorinda stormed over, demanding to know why the retired sheriff was at the scene.

"Mr. Long wants me to examine a thirty-year-old case." The sheriff grinned and turned away, leaving the old man to the rhinoceros. He watched a tree full of birds empty. The winged creatures fled the shouts. Lilia Turner, on the other hand, ran toward the noise.

"Is there word about my boy?" Her face was covered in tears.

"No, ma’am. You should sit and have some water. I’ve seen ships come in from hurricanes that looked in better shape."

Lilia waved the sheriff off. She moved closer to the argument.

"And where was the child thirty years ago? You do at least know that, don’t you? So we can look there. I daresay you didn’t come down just to waste time and be in the way."

The former sheriff shook his head. "Lilia Lion. I always loved how your name rolls off the tongue." He extended his hand.

"It’s Turner now. Has been for a long time." She shook the man’s hand.

"Ahh, but it was Lion." He pointed to the folder Clorinda had snatched away.

The two women were wide-eyed as they flipped it open.

"You were a missing person?" Clorinda rubbed Lilia’s arm. "I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Was it," she bit her lip, "was it very terrible?" Tears spilled out.

Lilia rubbed the bridge of her nose. "No. I mean, I don’t know. I don’t remember any of this." She gagged and choked as Clorinda’s hands tightened around her neck, the rare moment of kindness dissolved.

"Where is my daughter?" She shoved Lilia against Mr. Long, knocking him over. "You know! Tell me what happened to you. Tell me where you were thirty years ago."

Have you figured out what happened to the children?

The rest of the story is the ebook version on Smashwords!
Set your own price!
(Including free.)

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1015003

Opportunity #atozchallenge #Story

My theme this year is blogging about my author brand. Fridays are a story told in parts. This story fluctuates between modern times and centuries ago.



LUMBER OF THE KUWEAKUNKS - part 3

Lights and camera flashes blinded Lilia as she exited the ambulance.

"Ms. Turner, does your missing child have to do with the election?"

"Is it true your son is responsible for the disappearance of the Flizwatter girl?"

"Why was your son taken out of his previous school?"

Lilia hugged the gray, scratchy blanket against her chest. She wanted her child, not newshounds. The press truly was not on her side today.

"That is a good question," Clorinda shuffled over, wedging herself between Lilia and the reporters. "The policy about education access needs to be updated. I will bring it to a vote again, when I’m reelected. The Tuck Academy was forced to take in a child that the public school no longer accepted."

Lilia shook her head as she muttered about misinterpreted facts.

"My husband and I pay good money for our sweet May to attend this school. We pay to maintain the fence around it, the cameras at the doors, the guard at the station— and what good is it? Security on the outside was not enough to fight the threat permitted inside!"

"You cannot be serious." Lilia threw the blanket down. "My son is not a threat. He’s missing, the same as your daughter."

"May belongs in this school. Nothing like this ever happened before his kind were admitted. Tuck Academy had standards."

Lilia rubbed her temples. The reporters' bright lights were giving her a migraine. "His kind? Which group are you insulting today, Councilwoman?"

A sneer grew across the heavy, round face of Clorinda Flizwatter. "It is not right that other people have to pay your way."

"That’s not how it works."

"A grown woman still bagging groceries part-time. You dare think your child is entitled to the same schooling as mine? That you have the right to run for my council seat?"

"I own the entire chain. Haven’t been a cashier in years, though it is a decent job and my stores pay an honest wage. And yes, every child is entitled to an equal education opportunity. I do have the right, yes, to run in the election."

"Maybe your son ran back to the reservation and took my daughter as a hostage to use along the way."

Lilia threw up her hands. "For the last time, we did not live on a reservation! We were living in Malibu until my husband, Ricky’s father, passed away. I came back here to be with my mother. The grant money, as you call it, is payment from an albinism study that Ricky takes part in." Lilia rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Our children are missing. I don’t care if it is election day, this is no time to campaign. Shove your smear tactics under your over-privileged fence."

Come back next Friday for another installment of this story.
Have you seen the ebook version on Smashwords?
Set your own price!

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1015003

Invaders Lie #atozchallenge #story

My theme this year is blogging about my author brand. Fridays are a story told in parts. This story fluctuates between modern times and centuries ago.



LUMBER OF THE KUWEAKUNKS - part 2

The lieutenant governor adjusted the flower arrangement on his desk for the third time. Everything had to be just right for when his lady love arrived.

"Lieutenant governor?" David West knocked on the door and was waved in. "I have the latest report on the progress of the school. The wood so generously set aside will nearly suit all our needs."

"Nearly?"

David shuffled the papers, several falling to the floor. "Whoops, I, sorry about that. Just a moment. I have it here."

Clearing his throat as he rose from his desk, the lieutenant governor felt his good mood in danger of slipping away. "David. David!" He took a pause to smile as the man jumped back. "What is it you need?"

"Desks, Sir. We need to be able to accommodate as many students as possible. There are so many settlements now, but so few opportunities for a proper education. The leaders of tomorrow, great men like yourself, must have access to decent schooling. With proper planning, the Tuck Academy will be the envy of the world." He handed over the paper listing the remaining needs to open the school.

"The world? I daresay my alma mater will always hold that title."

David nodded. "New World, that’s what I meant. There’s a great need for a proper boarding school. Not nearly enough governesses to go around."

"Yes, yes. You said all this when the King’s Ear was last on our ground. That is how you got the royal endowment, is it not?"

"Sir, indeed. And the budget would have come in." David shuffled through the papers again. "See here? We were doing very well with the royal gift. Until," David glanced to the door and then back at the lieutenant governor, "the raid by the Kuweakunks."

The lieutenant governor growled. His meaty fist pounded his desk, causing the flower arrangement to bounce. "Thorns in my side! Daggers in the back of progress!"

Another man knocked on the door, letting himself in without waiting for a reply. "Sir, I have word. Both good and bad." He shut the door behind him.

"Out with it, Jonathan" the lieutenant governor roared as he flexed his knuckles.

"The governor has sent his thanks for the furniture." Jonathan passed him the letter of praise. "We have several orders for more. Some very important clients want our lumber used in the making of their furniture."

David clapped. "We’ll be known as settlement producing that which lasts the longest: education and fine furniture."

"Yes, yes," the lieutenant governor flopped into his chair. He rubbed his great stomach, deciding that he’d put another notch in his belt tonight. "What was the other news?"

"Runhhan wishes a word."

"Does he now?" The lieutenant governor sat up. "Ole Run-and-hide. I could spend a great deal more time looking in on the other settlements if he and his Kuweakunks would honor our agreements. Let him wait. It is time for tea, is it not, Jonathan?"

The door burst open knocking Jonathan unconscious. A shadow extinguished all light from the entranceway. The whites of two eyes were all that could be seen as the darkness broke into the room. Runhhan scoffed at the gathered men. His form was in full view now, though hunched over to account for the ceiling. "Kuweakunks honor agreements. Invaders lie." He threw six blankets at the gathered men. "You keep. Our needs met by Hokus. Cut no more trees to south."

"Runhhan, that is not what we agreed. My lumber mill takes what it needs. That is how we have trade." The lieutenant governor pointed to the blankets. He was unfazed by the hulking native. David, on the other hand, cowered in a corner, gripping a coat rack as if it were a sword or his mother’s skirt.

"Trade bad." Runhhan pointed south. "Hokus sacred. Cut no more."

"We must have trade. There is no iron here. I will not go over this again. Remove yourself from my office." The lieutenant governor opened a window and shouted for the physician as Runhhan left. "Pull yourself together, David. Runs-away is gone."

"He’s so," David shook his head, "I had heard stories, but I never believed." He wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Witchcraft," the lieutenant governor waved his hand. He took the coat rack from David and used it to push the blankets toward the fire. "I have no doubt of it. The Kuweakunks survive and grow to such a size only because of unholy magic. Reinforcements arrive soon, along with my lady. We will have peace. Check on Jonathan, will you? I need to burn these before we contract the pox."

Come back next Friday for another installment of this story.
How do you think this will tie into the opening with the missing children, which happens hundreds of years later?

Councilwoman Clorinda Flizwatter #atozchallenge #Story

My theme this year is blogging about my author brand. Fridays are a story told in parts. This story fluctuates between modern times and centuries ago.



LUMBER OF THE KUWEAKUNKS - part 1

Police arrived before parents did at Tuck Academy. Ricky Turner and May Flizwatter had gone missing in the middle of class.

"Excuse me," Lilia Turner pushed her way through the growing crowd. She squinted against the noonday sun, finally spotting the sheriff and the academy principal. "Where’s my son?"

"Ma’am, it’s going to be okay." The sheriff dropped his beefy hand on her shoulder. She winced, as this pulled her long, black hair. "We’ve got the school locked down and I have someone at every exit. The troopers have roadblocks up just in case."

"In case?" Lilia threw his hand away. "In case what?" She turned to the principal. "How did you lose an eight-year-old boy? He’s supposed to be safe at school." She pointed to the main entrance. "What good is all that security? The cameras, the buzzer, everything we paid thousands of dollars to have installed."

The principal opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a woman screeching his name.

"You!" Clorinda stomped past Lilia and the sheriff. The edge of her smartphone poked the principal’s chest. "What’s the meaning of this? How do you not know where my daughter is?" The sheriff told her to calm down. The resulting snarl made him take a step back.

"Councilwoman Flizwatter, please, let me explain."

"You better explain! I will have this academy shut down and you jailed for child endangerment. You hear me?" Clorinda spit as she spoke, the spray moistening the principal’s face.

Lilia snapped her pink silicone breast cancer awareness bracelet. She contemplated going head to head with the town rhino, or just letting this charge proceed. "Clorinda, let him talk. We both need to know what happened."

The beast turned, her eyes widened, and her teeth bared. "We? What business is it of yours? My daughter is missing! You plan to use that in your little campaign? How dare you call me thoughtless and ruthless and then have the gall to show up here and attack me when my child is nowhere to be found."

"My son is gone, too. Not everything is about the election."

Clorinda rounded on the principal again. "Two children? You lost two children?"

The sheriff had a brief conversation on his radio before interrupting Clorinda’s rant. "Ms. Miller is coming out to speak with you both."

Ms. Miller, the second-grade teacher, recounted the events. They were doing the history lesson. Students had been put into groups of four. May and Ricky were in a group with William and John. Everyone was working on their history projects. The doors and windows of the classroom were closed. No one had come in or gone out.

"Obviously, that isn’t true." Clorinda scoffed. "Our two children must have gotten past you."

"I was standing between them and the door." Tears streamed down Ms. Miller’s face. "They were there, and then they were gone."

"Children do not vanish. My daughter did not just disappear."

The teacher blew her nose. "They did, I swear it. Ricky had his hand up. I said I would be right over. I finished helping another student, it was less than a minute, and then," she cried harder, "they were gone."

"Did my son take his medicine before this happened?"

Ms. Miller shook her head. "It wasn’t lunchtime yet."

Lilia’s legs gave out. She crumpled to the ground, the sheriff missing as he tried to catch her. 

Come back next Friday for another installment of this story.
Where do you think these children are?