2013 A-Z Challenge

As you may have noticed, the posts from April do not equal 26. The 2013 challenge helped me set a daily deadline for a short story called "Dystopolis." I have pulled the majority of the story because it's now available for purchase on Amazon for $0.99. You can read a portion, beginning here, to get a taste.

Here's part of the introduction found in the Kindle edition:

"Dystopolis" was conceived in the waning moments of March 2013. I was wrapping up a teaching unit on the classic Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, and had dystopias on the brain. I was also debating whether to participate in the annual A-Z Blogging Challenge. I knew then, as I know now, that a strong online presence is a must for today's writers, and because my blog was all but dead, I decided to jump in with both feet.

So, for the next month I sat at the computer in the early morning creating Adam and Evie's story. At first, all I had was a beginning and an ending. I knew Adam had to be desperate, and had to be on his last shred of sanity. Evie came along earlier than I expected. But by the letter K, chapter three in this version, I knew I needed more story than I had. Evie came to my aid often then, and her part was sill fulfilled as I saw it in the end.

The format may or may not be recognizable as an acrostic as it was in the beginning, and is now divided into five chapters.

I have Derek Schneider to thank for the cover art. The sketch he drew for me possesses the darkness and sparsity I had in mind, and it captures an overview of the setting - which is exactly what I wanted.

Here's the final draft:

April was an amazing month full of writing, and I loved every minute of it! I hope you check out the story!