S. G. Daniels Guest Post - Static: A Short Story

Happy HAPPY Monday, good people of the blogosphere! S. G. Daniels is back, and she's entertaining us today with a short story. This is part of my Monday series leading up to UtopYA Con 2014. S. G. is one of the lovely authors attending that event. Grab your coffee and a comfy chair and dig in! So, without any ado whatsoever, I give you Static.

Static

by S. G. Daniels

The DJ’s excited voice cuts off the song that’s playing. “We interrupt this broadcast with an emergency news bulletin. Local authorities located what they believe to be a UFO in the timber area south of the city. There is no confirmation of any life form in or around the spacecraft. We will update you as news becomes available. Remember folks, you heard it first on WKRA-Z.”

Dumbfounded, I stare at the radio for a moment and then glance to my wall calendar. “It’s only March 31st. You’re all a bunch of crazies.”

I return my attention to the mess of unfolded clothes hanging out of my underwear drawer. “Mom, I can’t find my other black sock!”

“Did you check the dryer?” She yells up from the foot of the stairs.

Ah man, I hate going down in the basement. It’s like a dungeon—all damp, dark, and creepy. The bed slides a few inches as I plop down on the corner. Slapping the lone knee-high against my thigh, I wonder if I could go without socks today. One glance at the frost-coated window made me shiver. Nope, that wasn’t going to be an option unless I wanted my toes to freeze off.

My mouth scrunched to the side at the sound of a pan clunking against the stove burner, and I decide to try my luck. “Since you’re close to the basement, will you run down and check for me?”

Several agonizing moments go by before I start to wonder how long she expects me to hold my breath waiting on her answer. “I’m busy fixing your breakfast. You’ll have to go look yourself.”

“Darn.”

I inhale deeply, and reach around the door. My hand slides up and down the wall until I locate the light switch. Click. I stare into the dark abyss leading to the basement and swallow hard. Click-click-click-click. “Double darn.”

Mom calls to me from the kitchen. “I can’t hear you from in here. What did you say?”

Maybe now she’ll feel sorry for me, and I won’t have to go down myself. “The light is out.”

“You don’t need a light to go down. The dryer is behind the steps, and it has a light that comes on when you open the door. Now stop fooling around. You’ll be late for school.”

A shiver quakes through me, but not from the cold. The sound echoes off the block walls as each wooden step creaks from accepting my weight. Palms outstretched in front of me, I feel my way through the murky darkness until I touch the cold metal of the dryer. A clicking noise is coming from inside the drum, but the machine isn’t running.

My palms begin sweating, so I rub them over my thighs, and will my courage to appear. Gritting my teeth, I fling open the door. My grip slips from the handle, and I fall backward landing on my butt. My hair is flying all around me from the static electricity, and I have trouble keeping it out of my eyes. I want to scream, but nothing comes out.

In front of me is a large green lint ball with a chicken face hovering just inside the dryer door…and it has my black sock.

Gripping fistfuls of my flyaway hair I finally manage to say a few words. “Wha…what are you?”

The chicken faced lint ball starts flying around inside the dryer. If I’m fast, I can grab my sock, and slam the door shut trapping that thing inside. I jerk my hand back…bad idea, I think, and rub at the sting. “Hey, you pecked me!”

“My name is Owlbi. I come from the galaxy Hootonia. A magnetic field disabled my ship forcing me to land not far from here.”

I sit and watch the little creature fly around inside the dryer again…with my sock. “This can’t be real. Wake up, Emma.” Static discharges with a loud snap, throwing blue sparks into the darkness, and I yelp in surprise. Owlbi squawks menacingly at me.

Okay, I’ve had enough of this, and kneel in front of the little alien keeping my hands on my hips so I won’t be shocked again. “What are you doing here in my dryer with my sock?”

Never letting go of its bounty, the alien perches on the lint filter. “I need an electrical charge to run my ship.”
The emergency flashlight skitters across the concrete away from my foot as I try to get up off the floor. Quickly, I remove the batteries. “I’ll trade you these for my sock.”

Twenty minutes later, I’m standing in the snow waiting for the school bus. I want to kick myself because my feet are freezing. What was I thinking? Naturally, Owlbi would need a way to carry the batteries back to the ship. Besides, the little alien wasn’t about to give up my sock once it was fully charged with static. Nobody is ever going to believe this story.

The bus’s brakes squeal as it stops in front of me and the doors swing open. Something lands on my head and falls to the ground. All of the kids standing around me start to giggle and mumble. I stoop to pick up my other black sock. Nope, not a soul is going to buy this story, but at least I’ll have one warm foot today.
~ S. G. Daniels

How awesome was that? Super fun story to get your Monday rolling, eh?

Now that you've had some fun, why not give S. G. a follow?
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I hope you enjoyed this short story.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Author Interview - S. G. Daniels

Happy Tuesday, good people of the blogosphere! Here we are again with another UtopYA Con author interview. Best of all, I'm back on track to be bringing you these awesome ladies on Mondays from now until the event. I know how excited you all must be to see yet another interview here on the blog and meet yet another fabulous author. If you missed any of the past interviews, I invite you to check them out here. If you don’t have your tickets to UtopYA yet, get them now! You can pick one up here. Let’s get to the good stuff! Grab a chair, add to that a cup of coffee or tea, and snuggle up with your computers to help me welcome Ms. S. G. Daniels to the blog.

Jo: Howdy, S. G.! Welcome to the blog. I know you’re a super busy lady, and I appreciate you taking the time to have a little chat with me today. I’m sure you’ve read some of the other interviews here, and I hope you aren’t too scared at what I managed to dig up on you. *grin* My readers like the juicy stuff, so I’m gonna jump right in. Are ya worried yet?
S. G.: *Peeks out between my fingers* Nah, just kidding. I’m excited to be here, Jo. Thanks for having me.

Jo: It’s okay, I’ll be gentle. *evil laugh* I read that you have a full time job as a patient refund specialist (people love you, huh?) in addition to being an author. How in the world do you manage your time? Do you have a schedule you make yourself stick to?
S. G.: *blows a lock of hair out of my face and laughs* It’s a cool job. Not too many people yell at me for handing back their money.
If it was just me, I could probably stick with a schedule. With a husband and two cats, that’s a no-go. Every day is different. My characters can’t seem to stick to a detailed plan either. They talk to me when they’re ready. There is no forcing them to cooperate.


Jo: Oh, man! I know that feeling well. My characters are always lurking and don't always answer when I call them. What a pain they are, eh? *grin* On a lighter note, I saw you were reading my Mystic series. Yay! I do hope you enjoyed the heck out of it. Is Paranormal your favorite genre to read? Which paranormal author is your favorite and why?
S. G.: Yes, and I’m loving it, but duty calls. I had to put it down to work on my editor deadline, but it’s patiently waiting for me to get back to it.
I like my story genres the same as my menu. I don’t want to eat the same thing all the time. I prefer a wide variety, but I always come back to the paranormal.
*frowns* I would say maybe Karen Marie Moning, uh, JR Ward…no I mean Darynda Jones. *sigh* Can I break a bone or something instead of choosing one? It would be so much easier. I love all of their books, the depth of the characters, and how without even noticing it, I’m sucked into the stories.

Jo: I can't choose a favorite, either. I have so many! During my research of you, I saw an interview where you talked about going to a palm reader. That’s really cool! Besides telling you that you had a long author line and were destined to be a writer, what else did he/she tell you, and what drove you to go see him/her?
S. G.: A special lady that worked in the same office as me, but in a different department, was doing readings for a few others at work, and I asked her about it. She said it was something that fascinated her and she started studying about it. It’s not reading the future, she’d told me, only what the hands can reveal about the past. When she offered to do mine, I was skeptical, but thought I would see what she had to say. I was impressed, so many things she revealed were personal things that she would have had no way knowing anything about. When she asked if I wrote books or poetry, I couldn’t ignore the possibly that I might have an untapped talent. Here I am three years later with my first book out in the world, and three others in the works.

Jo: That's so amazing. Growing up in Louisiana, I must say, I believe in a lot of supernatural stuff. *grin* Speaking of odd things, it's time for the alien question of the interview! Because you went to a palm reader, does that mean you believe in the supernatural? Ever had an alien encounter out there in Illinois? Ever wanted to?
S. G.: Yes, I’m a firm believer in the supernatural. Some things have no other explanation than being supernatural occurrences.
*laughs* The only crop circles I’ve ever seen around my area were caused by deer bedding down in a field. Would I ever want to have an encounter? Hmm, that would be a big fat NO. That would be taking research a bit too far.


Jo: I think I may enjoy an alien encounter. I have SO many questions to ask them! For entertainment purposes, in your best writer-ly voice, tell us how you believe an alien encounter would feel.
S. G.: A constant clicking noise reverberates in my right ear bringing me out of my slumber. Argh, I must have passed out. My brain is doing laps around the Olympic size swimming pool between my temples. I don’t remember getting drunk last night—I can’t even remember having any drinks. Slow, sharp taps continue at my side reminding me of the ones an old-fashioned typewriter makes upon striking a page. Whatever bright light is creating the pink glow behind my closed eyelids will be blinding until my pupils can adjust to it, and I hesitate to open them. I try to bring my hand up to shade my vision so I can look at my surroundings. My heart pounds heavy against my breastbone. I jerk frantically to free my arm, but it’s pointless. The cold metal of the restraint cuts into my skin preventing my forearm from budging. The more I fight against my bond, the faster the tapping becomes until I can‘t take it any longer. Wrenching my head to the side, I snap open my eyes and scream until I taste the coppery tang of blood in my throat. Perched on a wooden stool next to me is some sort of skeletal remains covered in a pea green flesh. Its head, resembling a bowling ball with finger holes for eyes, sits precariously on its shoulders. Spindly tentacle arms move up and down on queue with my pulse. A single slender finger strikes the keys of a Smith Corona. Hundreds of typed pages containing the stories once stored in my mind spew out across the floor. I feel them slowly disappearing from my memory as each word is leached away and transferred onto the paper that’s steadily feeding through the manual machine. I begin to implode as the alien sucks away my dreams.

Jo: Holy crap that was awesome! *shudders* Great story, lady. Rapid fire question time! Have you given up the oatmeal cream pies?
S. G.: Yes

Jo: Congratulations. Not sure I could. *grin* I read that you like sweet tea and pretzels. Yum! So, crunchy ones or the big, soft ones?
S. G.: I love soft pretzels, but I crave the crunchy ones.

Jo: Gotta love the snap. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done on your ATV?
S. G.: A group of us riders took a ride on the back roads in southern Missouri. We stopped in a shady spot for a beer break, and I had to jump off so a gigantic 6 ft black snake could crawl over the machine.

Jo: Black snakes are the most awesome. But six feet long? Oh my... I'd probably have a heart-attack! Tell me your favorite Edgar Allen Poe story and why you love it.
S. G.: The Pit and the Pendulum. I love Poe’s first person POV describes what was going through the prisoner’s mind.

Jo: Poe was one of the most gruesome, spine-tingling authors to have ever lived. I understand your love of his work. I see your website/blog is relatively new. What have been your biggest challenges with keeping up a website and blog? How do you plan to integrate that into your writing schedule?
S. G.: Good question. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a blogger. My hat goes off to all those who are. I think for the time being I’m going to use it to showcase fellow Indies. I’m thinking maybe later, when I get more experience under my belt, and feel more confident in giving advice, I’ll put in an author help section, maybe one for reviews.

Jo: Well, Indies will certainly appreciate the exposure you're giving them. You've been married a long time. Congratulations! Where did you meet your husband of thirty-one years and how did he propose?
S. G.: We actually met at work. He was technician at Montgomery Ward, and I was a dispatcher. We went out one night for supper and a drink, and out of nowhere he said, “Do you want to get married?” It was a total surprise. The wedding day story on the other hand… This was a second marriage for both of us, and neither wanted a huge production, so we had the pastor come to our house (at the time was next door the Bate’s Motel) to marry us. It was a small gathering with only the immediate family. The World Series Playoffs were on that day, and I turned the TV off during the ceremony. After the, I do’s, the men turned the game back on. The pastor was also engrossed in the game while he filled out the marriage certificate. He started to write in the date and said, “This is the 8th, right?” I said, “No, it’s the bottom of the 8th, today’s the 9th.” And to this day, that’s how we remember the date of our marriage.

Jo: What a lovely story. Bate's Motel? Oh man. Wish I could ask you yet another question right now. *laughing* I know you’d rather hole up somewhere with a book, but are you looking forward to attending UtopYA Con in June? What do you hope to take away from the event?
S. G.: Yes, this is my second visit to UtopYA. Last year, I experienced the event from an attendee perspective. I was nowhere near having my book finished at that time, so I tried to learn as much as I could from the panels. However, in doing that I didn’t seem to have time to meet and talk with people one-on-one. This year I’ll be at a table with my book, and I’m looking forward to experiencing it from an author perspective. I’ve met a lot of great authors and readers over the last year, and I hope to meet them in person during the event.

Jo: It's awesome that you'll get the visitor and author experience over the span of two years. Genius! Odd question, but what do you find most difficult about using hashtags on Twitter?
S. G.: Remembering to use them! #cantremembercrap

Jo: Sounds like me on a bad day. haha! Well, I’m out of time. As a last question, is there anything you’d like to add to the fray that I didn’t ask you about?
S. G.: I think you’ve about covered everything. *smiles* This was fun! Thank you so much for having me here today.

Jo: I try very hard to give you each a unique experience. Glad I could fulfill that. Thanks for being a guest on my blog. I can’t wait to meet you at UtopYA!

Now it’s time to tell you about the featured book of the week!

Title: The Druid’s Doorway
Author: S. G. Daniels
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Length (print): 334 pages
Buy links: Amazon Kindle  $0.99  ~  B&N  $0.99  ~  iTunes  $0.99  ~  Smashwords  $0.99  ~  KOBO  $0.99

Synopsis: Jake Reese thinks he’s just a screwed-up high school kid living in a small town isolated in the Arizona desert. Traumatized at an early age by his mother’s sudden death—and believing he might have had something to do with it—he’s allowed his guilt and lack of self-confidence to rule his life.

Hailey is the fiery little redhead that sees Jake as more than a just a good friend. When she invites him as her date to a school function, it brings down the walls he's built to protect his heart, and sets off a series of events that threaten not only Jake’s life, but that of everyone around him.

The discovery of a portal on the outskirts of town brings Jake face-to-face with death and reveals a closely guarded secret about his mother. No longer is his memory of her the only thing that haunts him. Something evil from her past has escaped through the portal, and nothing will prevent it from trying to steal Jake’s future.

Can Jake overcome his fears to keep Hailey safe? Will the decisions he's forced to make destroy everyone he knows and loves? And ultimately...is he strong enough to live with those choices?

While your fingers are in the clicking mode, why not give Ms. Daniels a follow on social media?

Facebook: S.G. Daniels - Author
Twitter: @SGDanielsAuthor
Blog: SGDaniels.com

I hope you all enjoyed this interview. If you have questions you'd like to ask S. G. Daniels, drop them in the comments below!

Well, that’s all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo