#ThursThreads - The Challenge That Ties Tales Together - Week 135

Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, & the Wicked. It's September 11th, a date that hits hard for some folks. Sending blessings to all those still affected. It's also Thursday today, so get your flash ready. Writing a #flashfiction thread! Welcome to Week 135 of #ThursThreads, the challenge that ties tales together. Want to keep up each week? You're welcome to join the FB #ThursThreads group where we'll do events and make announcements. Need the rules? Read on.

Here's how it works:

• The prompt is a line from the previous week's winning tale.
• The prompt can appear ANYWHERE in your story and is included in your word count.

Rules to the Game:

• This is a Flash Fiction challenge, which means your story must be a minimum of 100 words, maximum of 250.
• Incorporate the prompt anywhere into your story (included in your word count).
• Post your story in the comments section of this post
• Include your word count (or be excluded from judging)
• Include your Twitter handle or email (so we know how to find you)
• The challenge is open 7 AM to 8 PM Mountain Time
• The winner will be announced on Friday, depending on how early the judge gets up.

How it benefits you:

• You get a nifty cool badge to display on your blog or site (because we're all about promotion - you know you are!)
• You get instant recognition of your writing prowess on this blog!
• Your writing colleagues shall announce and proclaim your greatness on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus

Our Judge for Week 135:

Historian, and historical murder mystery author, Cindy Amrhein.

Cindy on Facebook

Cindy on Twitter

Cindy on Google Plus

Cindy on Goodreads

And now your #ThursThreads Challenge, tying tales together.

The Prompt:

“See the signs of our victory.”

All stories written herein are the property (both intellectual and physical) of the authors. Now, away with you, Flash Fiction Fanatics, and show us your #ThursThreads. Good luck!

Border's is Closing - Help out Authors and Go buy Some Books!

Border's Books is closing for good. Have you heard?

This weekend my husband and I took the kids to Border's here in town and went through the shelves to pick out a few books. We found many good books discounted (Romance is selling for 30% off!) and I stocked up on some of the ones on my wish list. The store was full of people and most were walking around with piles of books in their hands rather than in a basket (me included). The line was all the way to the back of the store and even with four cashiers, it took a while to get up front.

In the past my husband has forbidden me to buy any more books. Why would he do this and why would I agree to it? Because my TBR pile is 50 books strong and that doesn't even count what's unread on my Kindle at the moment. But in this instance, he made an exception for a couple of reasons.

First, he knows how much I love to read and unlike ground meat or milk, books will never go bad. They have a shelf-life of however long it takes paper to degrade in decent conditions like A/C. So having more books around is never a bad thing. Bonus: it makes his wife happy and there is nothing better for him than that! ;)

Second, this really helps the writing community, particularly the published authors. And I'm not talking about their royalties here. I'm talking about what happens to all those unsold paper (paperback and hardbound) books. Their covers are torn off and sent back to the publisher, and the BOOKS ARE THROWN AWAY INTO THE TRASH! They throw the books away and the author loses money on them through lost royalties, lost publicity, and lost readers. The book publishers won't allow the book sellers to even send them to libraries. Everybody loses out.

So this week, do the writing community and some lucky authors a favor. Go buy some of Border's inventory; get yourself some new books to enjoy and help make this loss a little less in the long run! Happy reading!