CHRISTOPHER RIDGE

New year. New beginning.  Just been a while since my last post. This should be called the every now the every now and then blog New goal is to write a short story a week for a year. I'm going to publish these once a month in a small collection. I'm  also going to write a short novel every other month. So a lot of writing going on here but all very possible to do. This month's stories will be coming out this week. I'll be posting here regularly for those wanting to follow along. I'll be posting about my ups and downs as a working writer as I show you how to do this while working a regular day job. I'll be sharing my experiences while working for the big C. Corporation, which is about as corrupt as politicians. Also I'm not going to be politically correct here either. These are my opinions and are the opinions of several others as well. More to follow. This is going to be a blast.

A little late on the update on this one. Honestly, I forgot to log my latest story. Story 8 is done I just haven't made any changes on it yet. Soon I'll be compiling those into a small collection. This weeks story has been started and will be done soon. This one is a practice story from a prompt from my short story writer's group where I write an entire story in dialogue. Yes, it will still have my usual blood and guts. Stay tuned.

Story #7 has been sent in to be looked over. Looks like I have myself a new character that makes regular appearances. It's a dog named Chewy. I thought about writing a longer work titled Chewy and me. Except Chewy isn't so friendly. He eats dogs like Marley for breakfast. He is a vicious man eater owned by two rednecks. Bet you couldn't have guessed that. Looks like I may turn this into a series of stories and publish them in one collection of gruesome tales.  I'm going to be posting some stories up here soon so you can get an idea of what my stories are all about. Think SLASH N' GASH Heavy carnage. Lots of blood and guts and wrap it all up with some sick humor and some shocking endings. I love shocking endings.

Crazy right? As if anybody really cares what I'm doing on here in the first place. Beware though. If you're not reading this I know who you are and I will find you because I have a special set of skills that allows me to inflict some serious bodily harm upon you. Love those movies Taken with Liam Neilson. I'm going to put that line right up there with Clint Eastwood in Dirty harry with "GO AHEAD. MAKE MY DAY" Best movie line ever. Week six story is done. This was more like it and I felt more at home with this one. A fun sort of splattery tale about Chewy and me. If you want to know who Chewy is then you'll have to read the story. It's going to be off to the proofers here sometime today. I also thought it would be a great idea to post my weekly stories up here as I write them that way you can read them and say. "Hey. What a real sicko this guy is" "He belongs in an insane asylum" You probably knew there was something wrong ...

Week five story is done. This time I tried a more subtle type of horror story. Not quite sure how it panned out considering it's not my norm and it turned out to be a bit unusual. Starting in June I will also be adding a novella in the mix as well as my weekly stories. Moving right along

Late post but last week story is done. I knew I would have limited writing time due to the surgery last week so I managed an additional story a few days before I had to go back to the hospital. The doctors prepared me enough for how this was all going to happen so I thought it would be a good idea to have an extra in the bank. Skin work is done and just waiting on things to heal. I do have a follow up coming up this week so with my arm wrapped up the way it is it is going to slow me down a bit. Just a tad Moving right along

Weekly story is done and I'm moving right a long and having a good time at it. I am right on track with Dean Smith's story challenge. I even wrote an extra story this week so I have one in the bank just for those 'just in case' situations. I always like to be ahead.  I'm reading a lot of different short stories in other genres. Mostly on the dark side of life. Joyce Carol Oates is really good at this. I did notice my last couple of stories are hitting on a more emotional level. Not so much action about what is happening to the character but how the character is responding to the situation. I've learned that is what really makes the story.  Also, reading some Hemingway short stories which was recommended by Joyce Oates. I took some extra time and watched a few videos of her. She talked a lot about the different types of writing, mostly styles and the importance of white space and how the reader responds to it.  Next month I am going to start writing a ...