The Trifecta Meme

The creators of the Trifecta Writing Challenge have asked that its participants fill out this meme so we can get to know each other better. I don't usually do these things, but it's no secret that I'm looking to make friends with other writers, so is there a better way to do it? Probably not. Here we go:

1. What is your name (real or otherwise)? - Cheney. Like the Dick Cheney. But if you ever say that to me, or anything like it, I will be quite unhappy with you.
2. Describe your writing style in three words. - Inspired, Intense, Magical
3. How long have you been writing online? - I have kept a blog since 1999, but the evidence of that can sadly only be found on archive.org. I have been keeping this blog since June and don't see myself stopping. I've been WRITING since junior high.
4. Which, if any, other writing challenges do you participate in? - I participate in NaNoWriMo every year, NaBloPoMo every November, the Indie Ink Challenge weekly, and I am considering trying Story Dam.
5. Describe one way in which you could improve your writing. - I could write more than I already do, which is already a lot.
6. What is the best writing advice you’ve ever been given? This bit of advice comes from a man named Brian K. Vaughn, a writer who wrote for one of my favorite shows, LOST, and the full text of the source it came from can be found by clicking here.
   "WRITE MORE, DO OTHER STUFF LESS.
   That's it. Everything else is meaningless. You can take all the classes in the world and read every book on the craft out there, but at the end of the day, writing is sorta like dieting. There are plenty of stupid fads out there and charlatans promising quick fixes, but if you want to lose weight, you have to exercise more and eat less. Period. Every writer has 10,000 pages of shit in them, and the only way your writing is going to be any good at all is to work hard and hit 10,001."
7. Who is your favorite author?  - Really, who can pick just one author? Stephen King. And Anne Rice. And John Steinbeck. And Christopher Pike. 
8. How do you make time to write? - I just write when I can. I don't have a writing schedule, and although I do blog every day and particpate in weekly challenges, when it comes to getting down and really tinkering my novels, I honestly only do it when I am inspired, which is NOT the best way to do things and goes against my own best advice. However, it is what it is right now. I am a single mom, so really most of my writing gets done between the hours of 9pm and 3am. I don't sleep much at all. Usually about five hours a night, six if I am lucky. It's not because I CAN'T sleep, it's just that I don't want to. Sleeping is an inconvenience to me.
9. Give us one word we should consider using as a prompt. - Nostalgia
10. Direct us to one blog post of yours that we shouldn't miss reading. Please read The Hannah Sketches.  That is the blog post that sort of intruduces the Hannah Sketches, the string of stories that I have been working on during the Indie Ink Challenges. Right now, they are just pieces, but one day, I'm sure, they will be part of a novel. I love them, they are my heart, and I want as many people to read them and give feedback as possible.

Thank you, Trifecta, for giving me the opportunity to meet so many other amazing writers and to hone my craft week by week - thank you.

Sway

She stared at him from across the bar, not blinking or moving her gaze away when people passed between them in the pulsing crowd of the nightclub. 

There was just something about him that she desired, something about the way his dark hair rested on his forehead, the way his blue eyes glinted brighter in the dark room than any other eyes. 

She wanted him.

She stood up, moving slowly through the crowd, pushing past those that were in her way with a stare and a frown. She parted crowds like the best of them, she never had to worry about anyone getting in her way.

Then she was before him, and she regarded his two women companions with disdain. 

“Leave us,” she said quietly. Her voice wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the din of the club music, but she didn’t need her mouth to carry her thoughts to the heads of women surrounding her prey, she could sway them with the simple and eternal power of her mind.

The women got up and left, blank expressions on their faces, and he stared up at her in shock and annoyance.

“What the hell? Who the hell are you?” he asked her, rising to stand and face him, and she put one slim white finger on his chest and pushed him back down into his seat. 

“It doesn’t matter who I am,” she said. “It only matters who you are, and tonight, you are mine.” 

---

This is my first piece for the Trifecta Writing Challenge, and this week's word was Sway. The way the challenge works is we are given a word, in this case, Sway, and we have to use the third dictionary definition as our writing prompt to write a story between 33 and 333 words.  

I have seen this challenge here and there and wanted to give it a shot, just as I am planning to do more challenges in the next couple of months. So far, I have really enjoyed every Indie Ink challenge that I have done, and I think that in the long run, doing these challenges is going to be great for my writing overall. 

I've been in this really weird place lately where I am excited about the long zombie story I've been working on for, well, ever, but at the same time I am really uncertain if that story is THE ONE. 

I'm really determined to make 2012 my year of BECOMING A WRITER, and no matter what path I have to take to get there, I know one thing for certain, and it's that the only way to get better at what I do is to do it all the time, to do it as much as possible, and to do it with all of the passion and energy I have in me to do it as well as I can.