Hello fellow prolific pen’s! It has been quite some time since my last blog post. There have been some milestone’s throughout these past six weeks or so. The very first milestone that I will share with you all is that I had graduated from College with my Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. This had been a huge accomplishment for me, as It had taken five years to complete and copious amounts of caffeine. The second milestone that I had completed this year, was taking a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. I had explored the Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire National Parks. During this trip, I had gained a larger appreciation for the Native Americans and the geographical environment that they had to survive in. In the Valley of Fire National Park, I was able to capture the Pteroglyphs that had been left behind from the natives. Below are some pictures of the experience:

My experience in Las Vegas and at these National Parks have created memories that will forever remain in my mind and camera roll. The wild life had also been in attendance, throughout the duration of my visit. I had captured sightings of a roadrunner, a rattlesnake and a ram. These are all creatures that I am not used to seeing back in my home state of New Hampshire. The next places to visit on my list are; Index, Washington, Redwood National Park in California, The Grand Canyon in Arizona, Zion National Park in Utah and Crater Lake in Oregon.

As I return to my everyday life of working forty to fifty hours each week and attending the gym, I have been trying to surpass writer’s block. This is probably the worst part of being a writer ( I’m sure most of you would agree). I have not come across anything that would prompt me to continue adding content to my current story. This can be anything from reading articles or stories, listening to music, watching movies, being in my own element ( hiking in the mountains) or talking to others. I’m currently working through this challenge and I will overcome it, like everything else that life has thrown at me. Stay tuned for more content in the future and as always, thank you for showing your support my lovely prolific pen’s!

 Stepping out of my city issued cruiser, I approach the front yard of the victim’s house. I look around the neighborhood and notice a tall, lanky woman with dirty blonde hair next door. She slipped into her 2018 Toyota Camry and drove away. I turned my head and focused back onto the crime scene, lifting the yellow caution tape as I enter into the victim’s house. Approaching the entry way to the kitchen, I look to the corner and greet him. “ Good morning, Rick. What can you tell me about the victim?” 

Rick was a little bit younger than I- no more than thirty years old and was afraid of anything alive. His long, curly, black tendrils had been covering his icy blue eyes. Sometimes it was hard to tell if Rick ever left his house, just by looking at his pale complexion. Rick walked over towards me to show me the deceased woman’s chart. “ Her name is Janet Colins. She’s 45 from Spokane, Washington and is divorced with no children.”

   I looked over at the kitchen and noticed what looked to be a couple traces of blood splatter on the upper cabinets. “What was her time of death?” Rick flipped her chart to the next page. “Her T.O.D was just after two am- 2:20am to be exact.” I continued to examine the kitchen cabinets and  had noticed that a chef’s knife was missing from the wooden knife set holder. “Interesting. Rick, what was her cause of death?” Rick flipped the chart yet again, she was stabbed once in the sternum. My eyes shifted from the empty knife slot to Rick. “Did we recover the murder weapon?” Rick looked back at me with disappointment. “No, unfortunately we didn’t.” I nodded and continued to examine the rest of the kitchen. Just before I could carry on, my phone had rang. Pulling it out of my pocket and unlocking it, I answer. “ Detective Anderson.”

 I could hear the town sheriff shuffling around, trying to locate a more quiet area. “ Detective! This is Sheriff Stoneham. I need a favor to ask of you. There’s a criminology class in Bellevue Community college. The professor would like to cover the topic of local homicides and wants to have a representative from the police force stand in and discuss the intricacies of these type of cases. I regrettably can not attend this time around and was wondering if you’d be willing to?” I stood in the doorway between the kitchen and living room of the victim’s house, considering my options. There had been a pause in the case until we could recover the missing murder weapon and in the interim there had to be interviews conducted. The more I thought about my options, I began to realize that this school stand in may help the case. “ Sure thing, Sheriff. I can do that for you.” I ended the call and turned to look at Rick.

 “ Hey, Rick. I’m going to Bellevue to stand in for a criminology class. Maybe they can help with the case.” Rick stared blankly back at me and nodded. I made my way out of the entry way and through the front door – to the out side lawn, where my cruiser had been parked across the street. I open the door and hop into the driver’s seat, as I turn the key to the ignition. Hearing the engine purr to life, I give the neighborhood one last glance before driving away.

Eric is a 36 year old caucasian male from Tacoma, Washington. At the age of ten, Eric had been relocated to Seattle, Washington to live with his grandparents. His father, John had been a CEO for a fortune 500 company and had always been traveling. Eric’s mother was tragically murdered when he was six years old. Ever since his mother Eve’s death, Eric has had a desire to become a detective and help bring justice to the innocent individuals who were unable to do so. Eric is six feet tall with light brown hair and amber brown eyes. He has an athletic build and enjoys sports and fitness. He works out at the gym five days a week and plays on a co-ed beer league for softball. In his spare time, he watches professional baseball and football, reads unsolved case files and attends music festivals.

Eric has obtained a Bachelor’s of Science in Criminal Justice from Washington State University and a MS in Criminology from UCI (University of California Irvine). Throughout his time in his Bachelor’s program, he had joined the police force for the Seattle Police Department. Eric had spent most of his time in the station helping officers of higher rank document day to day operations, conduct surveys, input data, conduct research for projects, provide outreach to the community and other duties. On occasion, he would tag along with an officer to gain some field experience. It wasn’t until he had obtained his MS in Criminology that he had been promoted to detective, after passing the exam.

This promotion had taken five years to obtain, with the help of a few mentors. These mentors had provided Eric with advice and knowledge that he has carried with him. Unfortunately, Eric had lost one of these mentors when he was a sophomore in college. This mentor had been shot in the line of duty while working for the Seattle Police Department, leaving behind his wife and young daughter. Eric has since transferred to the Bellevue Police Department, to break out of the city life. He had perceived Bellevue to be a more robust and sophisticated community- in which he didn’t have to be too concerned about the crime rate. He soon realizes that his perception is slightly off, when he is called to the scene of a suburban homicide.

Hello and Happy Wednesday profilic penners! As I share my creative works and stories with you all, I also want to express the origin in which my stories are derived from. I will be completely transparent with you all, when I say that even my short stories have been written multiple times over before an initial submission. This is solely because I usually come across ideas or experiences throughout my day that spark inspiration within me. When this happens, I make note of these bursts of inspiration on my iPhone or a notebook, if it is available at the time. Throughout the years of school and English classes, there has been a standard when generating ideas for a story. These standards can appear in the forms of visual aides such as diagrams, lists and webs. The most infamous method that I had been subjected to throughout elementary and high school ,was the web diagrams. Let me be transparent when I say that these diagrams are the bane of my existence. Instead the method that has helped me the most is using a bulleted/ numbered list.

The bulleted list that I use is structured like so:

• Setting: Seattle, Washington & Bellevue Washington .

• Characters: Elizabeth, Eric, Jessica.

• Scenery: South Seattle & Bellevue Community College.

• Character developments: Elizabeth- personality, education, hobbies, strengths/weaknesses.
• Eric- personality, profession, education, hobbies, strengths/weaknesses.

• Objects/symbolism: knife, journal, alarm clock.
• Character Narrations: Transition from Elizabeth’s to Eric’s point of view.

This list has tremendously helped me to organize my thoughts, as I prepare to start the beginning of my story. Every writer is different within their approach on how they prefer to organize their brainstorming ideas. In addition to this, I have provided an external link for tips and tricks on how to organize your thoughts when preparing to write a story.

The above article provides a more comprehensive breakdown of each category that will be imminent within any creative story. I hope you enjoy this brief post and please feel free to comment your methodologies that help you with your creative stories! Thank you for stopping by!

Reference:

Jerz, Dennis G. “Short Story Tips: 10 Hacks to Improve Your Creative Writing.” Jerz’s Literacy Weblog (Est. 1999), 30 Mar. 2011, https://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative1/shortstory/.

Hello my prolific pen’s! Just dropping in to provide you all with some advice and ideas on what to read in the upcoming months of 2022. Do you find yourself at a dead end with your book collection? Maybe you’ve finished your current book series and are uncertain of who or what to read next. Below, I have included an external link to a blog post with top recommendations.

https://becomeawritertoday.com/crime-thriller-authors/

My personal favorites from this list are Stephen King, Dean Koontz and James Patterson. Outside of this list, I would also highly recommend Kate Kessler/Locke, Mira Grant and Gillian Flynn. Their novels are available in various formats.

Current Reading

I am currently reading Kate Kessler’s Three Strikes. This is the third book within her Audrey Harte series. I enjoy the twist and turns that every chapter provides. The unpredictability of this series, creates a mentally stimulating read. Every chapter delves into the personality and life of the main characters. I enjoy this dynamic, as the reader is able to learn and understand each character on a more intimate level. Kate Kessler does a fantastic job with creating the scene for the reader to use their five senses, to be able to incorporate those senses into the story. If you have not been introduced to this series as of yet, I would highly recommend reading this series.

  As I arrived at school, I could hear snippets of side conversations referring to my neighbor’s suspected homicide. “Elizabeth!” I heard someone yell from down the hallway behind me. I stopped in my tracks, turned on my heel and noticed that my friend Jessica had been the one shouting my name. ” I’m sure you’ve heard the news from last night. That shit is so crazy!” She exclaimed, as she approached me. I looked back at Jessica with confusion and concern plastered all over my face. ” Yeah, it’s crazy how the police believe that it might be a homicide. Nothing has ever happened in this small town-” Jessica abruptly grabbed my arm, studied my face and cutting me off mid-sentence. ” You don’t look well. Did you sleep at all?” She asked. I looked back at her and shrugged. “Yeah, I’m fine. I just had a difficult time sleeping last night, compared to most nights.” Jessica gave me a deeply concerned look. ” What was so difficult about it? Did you have one of those nightmares? The ones you used to have as a child?” 

    She and I are practically sisters.I nodded my head. She immediately gasped in shock and began her interrogation. “Oh my god! What happened? Who did he hurt? Did he say anything to you?” 

      As I recalled every detail from last night, I began to answer her questions. ” Well this time, it had been in the middle of the night and the moon was full. He had been standing over Janet’s lifeless body, in her kitchen- with a bloody chef’s knife in his right hand. He was covered in her blood. He then looked over at me with a grin on his face and said that I would understand why this is happening.” Jessica looked back at me with the same expression that my mom had given me. ” Liz! Oh my god! You need to tell the police! Did you see his face?” I looked back at Jessica. ” Jess, I can’t tell the police. Especially when I don’t have any physical evidence to provide and yes, I did see his face. He had blood on his chin and cheeks.” She let out an exasperated sigh and elaborated. “No, I mean, what did he look like?”

   Her question had me digging deeper into my subconscious- trying to dissect the finer details of my dream. ” He had a strong jawline and brown eyes that were a bit honey colored from the reflection of the moonlight hitting them. He also had light brown hair, from what I could see and was about six feet tall with an athletic build.” In that moment, I could tell by Jess’s facial expression that she had an idea brewing. “Excellent, Liz! You can take that information to a sketch artist and have them try to locate this guy.” I grabbed Jess’s arm and stared directly back into her emerald green eyes. ” Jess, this is not nearly enough evidence to bring to the police. They will laugh at me and tell me to go away.” The class bell rang at that precise moment- cutting my lecture to Jessica off. I let go of her arm and explained. ” Jess, we will talk about this later. I need to get to my criminology class.” 

Elizabeth is 24 years old from Seattle, Washington. She is a college student, studying Criminal Justice with a focus in Criminology at Bellevue Community College and is entering her junior year. She is currently on the high honor roll at her school. Elizabeth’s father passed away when she was 8 years old, in the line of duty- while investigating a homicide case. Ever since her father’s death, she has aspired to be a detective just like her father. She lives with her mom, in Bellevue, Washington and ten minutes across town from her best friend Jessica. Elizabeth and her best friend Jessica have been friends since childhood and tend to share common physical attributes- they are both 5’8″ and have an average build, weighing 150 pounds.The only difference between them is that Elizabeth has hazel brown eyes and dark blonde hair. Elizabeth enjoys the great outdoors- such as hiking, rock climbing, walks in nature and kayaking. Music is also one of her passions and she attends numerous music festivals in downtown Seattle when they come around. She enjoys keeping a journal, to document her everyday endeavors and ideas. This journal is a large part of her everyday life and provides her with elements that she can use to help her understand herself and others around her.

Elizabeth has been using this journal for many years, especially when she began having night terrors at the age of seven years old. She would use this journal to record her dreams, in order to try and dissect their meaning. Unfortunately, these night terrors have returned and they are more intense than before. This time, her night terrors include being a witness to a murder, in which she can’t prevent from happening. Elizabeth is terrified to know that this murder that she had dreamt about the night before, has now become her unexplainable reality. Now, Elizabeth feels obligated to find out the details of this local murder- especially the murderer. Elizabeth has always enjoyed trying to uncover and investigate the meaning and motives behind situations and people. Coincidentally, Elizabeth will be attending an internship with the Bellevue Police Department- throughout the spring and summer seasons. During her time with them, she plans to use her knowledge to help catch her killer.

Welcome to the prolific pen blog page! This page is intended to share my creative stories and ideas with all of you! I will start off by saying that I began my writing journey at the age of 14 years old. The genre in which I would write from now- to-then, has not changed (mystery/suspense/crime). In between this time, I had also developed a strong desire for reading and began reading novels within the same genre. Some of my most favorable authors range from Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Kate Kessler, Clive Cussler, and Mira Grant. In addition to these authors, I would also watch crime drama tv shows such as CSI, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist and NCIS. These shows had ignited an inspiration within me, to expand my writing ventures into a bit of freelance screenwriting.

Settings/Scenes/Character Developments

The inspiration behind the settings and scenes of my stories derives from places I have personally traveled. By incorporating the places I’ve traveled into my stories, I am able to more accurately create a visual imagery for my readers. Settings and scenes are predetermined from the overall flow of the storyline. The flow of the storyline can be dependent upon the character’s actions and next motives. I have also used bits and pieces of music to help incorporate miscellaneous objects within the setting or scene, that eventually become key elements of the story. Character developments occur throughout the progression of the story. Some character’s mature, as they begin to learn how to deal with certain circumstances throughout the storyline. In my very first story that I am working on, there will be drastic character development shifts for the lead male and female characters.

Where to Read?

You can find all of my creative works and works in progress in the “works-in-progress” tab, on the home page of this site. The “works-in-progress” page is intended to provide you all with my current works that have yet to be completed. Inside of this page, you will find bits and pieces of other forms of writing. These various forms of writing can include poetry, screenwriting, personal narrative and more. Enjoy and thank you for stopping by!

Berlin, the largest city of the German empire, the capital of the kingdom of Prussia.

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 3

The images above are presented in a Jetpack Tiled Gallery block, set to the Circles style.