• About
  • Blog
  • Works

Eva Acharya

~ Screenwriter/Author

Eva Acharya

Tag Archives: impromptu

Shorty short: Dinner at 6 

05 Friday Jun 2015

Posted by Eva.A in Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

creative writing, fiction, impromptu, inspired, prompts, short stories, stories

Eric looked at the grey sky. Then his watch. Then back at the sky. It was a miserable day whichever way you looked at it, and the worst part was, there was well over 12 hours of it he had to endure. For God’s sake, how was he going to avoid the commotion?

As he stood there on top on his narrow steps down leading to the footpath, he wondered. Couldn’t he just slip back inside the house, change back into his comfy trousers and hoodie, call his work and feign contagious flu, then brew a cup of milk tea, slump on the couch, watch old episodes of Friends and pretend the world outside his door didn’t exist?

Instead, he was dragging his feet on the ground, eyes barely looking up for fear of seeing the flood of pink, or huddles of couples giddy as teens hooking up for the first time. Ugh! He thought. Stupid, silly people. Didn’t they know what was waiting for them at the end of it all? And yes, there was going to be an end. Either the relationship would die, or one of the two will go first. Either way, doomed! Just to be left with an ache in your chest no amount of binge drinking foul tasting beer, or hitting the scene will fix.

The whole 15 minutes to his work, Eric kept his head down, the music loud and angry in his ears, and a chant in his head, ‘She is dead to me. She is dead to me.’ He forgot the number of people he bumped into thus. But it must have been the effects of the day, but no one seemed to mind that he walked into them, sliced past them, or plain out spun them around. They just smiled, wished him a wonderful day and continued, bewitched.

By the time Eric got to work, the place was maxed with customers, laughing, giggling, whispering, making goo goo eyes or making out. Ugh! ‘She is dead to me,’ he muttered, causing a lady waiting in line to order coffee frown at him.

‘Hey Eric, got any plans for tonight?’ Mickie asked, rattling around the coffee bar as he spotted Eric. Eric shrugged, got behind the counter, chucked on an apron and said, ‘I think I’ll go out the back today.’

Mickie grabbed him by the shoulder. ‘Not gonna work man. I want that handsome face out here where customers can see you, today of all days. Now get on the register.’

Eric forced a smile and approached the register. ‘What can I get for you?’

‘Where can I get me I one of you?’ The old lady winked her wrinkled eye, giggling like a school girl when Eric gave her half a smile. ‘I’m only kidding. How about a cup of flat white and you for dinner tonight?’

Mickie laughed, pouring a shot into a cup. ‘Don’t do it lady, not unless you want to be a rebound.’

The lady giggled and oohed. ‘I don’t mind,’ winking once more at Eric.

‘One flat white coming up,’ Eric gave her a hard stare and her change back. Then he turned to Mickie. ‘What the hell you doing man, embarrassing me like that?’

‘Oh come on. I’m just trying to fix you up. No one should be alone tonight man.’ Mickie’s cheerfulness dropped several degrees. He handed a couple of takeaways over the counter and dropped his voice to a whisper. ‘Mrs Mackerel,’ nodding towards the old lady sitting in the corner table still smiling at them. Mickie smiled back. ‘She lost her husband of 50 years this year. This is the first time she’ll be spending today alone. Where’s the harm in trying to make her smile?’

Eric felt low. So low. Here he was wallowing in self pity over a one year old relationship. He grabbed Mrs Mackerel’s coffee and walked off.

‘Here you are, your coffee,’ he placed the cup in front of her and returned her smile, ‘and your date for tonight. What time shall I pick you up and where?’

The smile that lit her face, it was all he could see for the rest of the day. It was what made the day fly by, and before he knew it, he was knocking on the door of her granny flat. He held out the bouquet as she opened the door, wearing her Sunday best.

‘How do I look?’ She asked. ‘Wonderful.’ He replied, taking her hand in his. ‘You look wonderful tonight.’

[Today’s prompt : it’s Valentine’s Day. Don’t mention love, Cupid, roses, February, Valentine or heaven.]

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Shorty short: Shovel 

01 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by Eva.A in Story of books

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

creative. creatuve writing, impromptu, prompted, shortstory, story

(The following story is prompted by ‘it was a misty night’ line.)

I never thought I’d end up here. A shovel in hand, a dark raincoat supposedly keeping me safe from the downpour. In the middle of a forest with barely any light to see the ground where I stand. How did I end up here? I turned to stare at the body just a stretch way from me. A shiver coursed through my body. Never ever had I thought I’d be the one digging the shallow grave, slipping and sliding on the muddying ground. 

I could occasionally hear the vehicle on the highway meters away. Every time one whizzed by, I’d be in a state of panic, afraid they’d hear the sound of the shovel hitting the wet, squelching ground. I was a law abiding citizen for heaven’s sake, not the cold blooded murderer I suddenly felt I was.

I worked through the straining muscle aches curtesy of a hard gym work out with Clive this night before. When the hole was big enough, I found myself in it, pulling the corpse till it pinned me to the bottom of the pit with its weight, forcing me to struggle to free myself.

I stood, covered head to toe in mud. Where had I ended up? This morning, I had been just another newshound chasing my headlines, and now… I resumed the dirt moving, unable to allow myself that thought. The sound of the rain hitting the coat provided some sort of solace, something I could focus my mind on, and I kept shoveling and shoveling the dirt till a small hint of a mound formed. 

I stared at it. What had I done?

I sat in the car for ages. Couldn’t possibly bring myself to get out. Before I knew it, I was sprawled across the back seat, twisted like a pretzel, half falling into the gap between the seats. A hard knock had rapt on my window, startling me awake. Somehow, it was morning. I hit my head on the window handle hard as I went to get up. I looked out the window and there was Clive, staring at me through the glass.

 ‘You’d rather sleep in the car?’

 I straightened and struggled to get out of the car, scrambling to free my feet of the raincoat I had used as a blanket. We had had a fight last night before I left work. ‘I must have dozed off.’

 Clive’s eyebrows rose high. ‘In the backseat?’

 ‘I was really tired,’ I offered by way of explaining.

 ‘Why do you look like you went mud wrestling last night?’ He eyed me from toe to the top of my hair. I went rigid. How did I look? Was I looking suspicious? I mean, yes, I had muddy clothes and all, but no one would pin a murder on me, right? Right?

 ‘I went to interview for a story outback, and the tyre got bogged in the downpour,’ I lied. Big deal. I wasn’t about to tell him the truth, whether he was my soul mate or not. 

 ‘Why didn’t you call road side assist?’ 

 Shit! My phone! The last I remember of my phone was when Clive had called me in the middle of my digging session. What did I do after that? I patted myself down, every pocket I had.

 ‘You lost your phone?’

 I looked up, utterly panicked. ‘Yes.’

 ‘Where did you last use it?’

 An image of being pinned down by the very thing I was trying to bury sprung to mind. Shit. 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Gallery

Poem: Gaggle of Bloggers

19 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Eva.A in Poetry

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

blog, blog followers, bloggers, blogging, community, creative writing, fresh, friends, fun, impromptu, inspiration, musing, poem, Poetry

Cubby, cubby, she’s gone all a hiding suddenly and there sits on the window Buffalo Tom Peabody with a pal …

Continue reading →

Gallery

Trouble writing? Here’s what you need to know.

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by Eva.A in Writing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

arcticle, author, bitesize, blogging, creative writing, diary, famous authors, fresh, growth, impromptu, inspired, joseph heller, quotes

This gallery contains 1 photo.

I don’t know about most of you, but I know I’m struggling to write at the current moment. If you …

Continue reading →

Gallery

An ‘Article’ on Myself? – Such a tricky task. HELP!

11 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by Eva.A in Story of books

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

arcticle, article, author, bitesize, blog, blogging, confession, diary, impromptu, In Strange Company, interview, life, literature, musing, self-promotion, shameless, story-telling

Nowadays, ‘writing’ or the world of a ‘writer’ isn’t exactly spent behind the pages, in the gloom of a dark …

Continue reading →

Gallery

Poetic posse – Bloggers and Friends

09 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by Eva.A in Poetry

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

bloggers, creative writing, enjoyable, friends, fun, impromptu, musing, new, poem, Poetry, thanking fellow blogger

This one’s for you, Lilly for enjoying the offerings with unabashed glee of children young showing a weary traveller on …

Continue reading →

Gallery

Poem: Medusa, She.

04 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by Eva.A in Poetry

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ancient witld, experimental, goddesses, gods, imaginative, impromptu, lore, medusa, myth, mythology, poem, Poetry, port

I pray for miracle such you won’t believe those few magic moments unhinged and we see your gaze widen amazed …

Continue reading →

Gallery

Poem: Scared Glory

30 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Eva.A in Poetry

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

beach, creative writing, desire, dream, emotion, healing, impromptu, judgement, Poetry, twilight

I walk a mile along the shore sand sliding between my toes, there are people about jumping up and down …

Continue reading →

Tips and Anecdotes on becoming an Author

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Eva.A in Writing

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

advice, arcticle, author, author blog, author interview, author radio, blog, confession, creative writing, getting out there, how to write, impromptu, inspiration, marketing, public-speaking, publishing

At present, after couple of months since the release of my first novel and a total of 3 interviews with radio/newspaper, I feel I can say I am semi-successful. So with that in mind, I think it’s suffice to say I have learned a few things along the way. Thus, this is going to be one of those posts where I reveal to you a secret to success! You ready?! Are you sure you want to do this?! Or do I need to break out the famous Jack Nicholson dialogue about being able to handle the truth?

Here they are! (In no specific order because I am typing on an iPhone and writing whatever comes to mind first.)

1) Write what grabs your interest! – seriously, you don’t know how important this is. I tried writing a book in a genre I wasn’t very savvy with a while back. I got writing because I thought ‘who doesn’t like a murder mystery?’ But what I hadn’t accounted for were these: my age!, my experience in the language, my limited forensic knowledge, the fact that I hadn’t had much practice, and the fact that I myself was going to lose interest in the topic very soon. Why did I mention age? Well, I was 12 at the time, trying to write in English which I was still learning, and all those crime shows hadn’t aired yet for me to collate enough knowledge to make the plot believable, and I wasn’t a big crime reader. Pretty soon, actually 50 pages-in kind of soon, I lost interest in the topic. I literally threw the project in the bin and am to this day slightly embarrassed that I ever thought I could do it. In my later tries I found myself finishing a project, and getting faster and faster with each. That’s because I was writing what I liked, and I had a bit more age and practice under the belt. Don’t give up hope, but it is almost all about the timing.

2) Draft and Edit several times: this one doesn’t really need much explaining. What we write initially is only the blueprint of the story, and drafting is actually building the story into one strong, attractive building one edit/draft at a time. Please do edit as much as you can, but I do recommend you try to hire the services of an actual editor. I know this from experience because we as writers are too close to our own work that we accidentally miss few mistakes; they may not be grave mistakes, but even little ones such as ‘to’ instead of ‘too’ can feel like an eyesore to the alert reader.

3) Send to publishers/agents or self-publish: this is entirely up to you. I know while growing up, all I could ever dream about was to get it published the traditional way through a publishing house. Kind of felt like there was some prestige involved; something that made you feel like you had achieved. I did the publisher/agent circuit, but as a previously unpublished author, both these parties are slightly reluctant to take new clients on. If we can get our foot stuck in their doorway, then great! If not, keep going. With eBook publishing something that is available to you as an author to provide you with a fairly cost-efficient way of self-publishing, why wouldn’t you give it a go? You never know who might find it and the rest is history. HOWEVER, in saying that, do not let yourself slack off and publish sub-par material that could do with few more edits or drafts. It’s all about respecting our readership, I guess.

4) Cover page and blurb are a must: This is a no brainer, right? Yup! These two elements are probably what gets you across the line in terms of whether a reader will buy/read your book or not. Make sure these are the best they can be. I should know. I tend to judge a book on both these aspects! If one or the other doesn’t work, isn’t the best it could be, I will immediately judge the quality of the book inside, as do most of us. BAD! These two are your marketing sentries! Make them as fit for the job as you can. Personally, for In Strange Company, I spent a total of couple of weeks just to hone the blurb that I had taken few months to think about, then I got people’s opinion on a few different drafts. After all this, I took the best elements out of each and formed a new one. As for the cover of the book, I think it took a bit of researching the look I wanted for the art work, then actually painting it, and then taking that art work into a layout that worked for the book. All in all, there was a hell of a lot of time spent on these two elements. Why? Because, they are IMPORTANT. I’ve since had a whole lot of comment on the quality of the cover page. That’s what you want. So spend some time developing the ‘look’ of the story.

5) Get reviewed: I’m slowly working on this. This is a tricky field. You can’t obviously force people to do a review of your work after reading it. Some will be generous and would gladly oblige. But other times, we are literally just holding our breath. The first review I got saw me jumping up and down for a few minutes. It was exciting to know that not only had someone bought a copy of the book but finished it as well, and left me a review to tell me how they found it. I can’t give you much advise on this other than to ask people who have read it to review. Or there are also reviewing sites out there where you can submit your work for them to review. It is almost like sending your book out to publisher/agent and waiting to hear either an acceptance or a rejection. But all we can do is try, right?

6) Get yourself out there anyway you can (Ps: please avoid doing anything dangerous. When I said anyway, I mean within a safe limit.): Radio, newspaper, local notice boards, social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and whatnot. Nowadays there isn’t a single person who isn’t hooked up to at least one of these ‘worlds’. Use them to your advantage. Keep sending messages out there that you have a wonderful book out there that people should be getting their hands on etc. Contact your local newspapers and radio stations. They are not that scary and usually welcome a chance to talk to a local about such things. They are always looking for a story, so why not give them something new they can write about? That’s how I got myself on two different radio stations, and newspapers. Self-advertising at this stage is your new best friend, especially if you are self-published (but don’t tell you current human best-friend that). Use this friend to get yourself recognised within your local community first. If you can’t market yourself to your locals, you will no doubt find marketing yourself to others a lot more harder. Once you break the local market, then it’s all a little easier to approach the bigger fish.

7) Don’t be shy, and if you are, learn how to act: I’m chucking this one in just for fun. Really, I mean what I say though. I’m a little shy, which is quite odd because within my own circles, I’m a very confident young woman. I don’t know where this shyness comes from – actually I do know. I am always worried how I am perceived etc. So I’ve begun to think ‘confident’ when I’m approaching media for a little help. I mean, why will they want to promote someone who can’t even speak a word without going red, right? So yeah, pretend you are confident. You’ll be surprised how much strength and confidence it really does lend you.

I think that’s all for now. If I think of anything more, I’ll post it. I may have written things you have read many a times, but like my previous post on advice, this is a good one, so take the ones that suit you and discard the rest.

A person is a writer when they have penned an ocean with their words – an ocean that is able to suspend a reader’s reality as salt to the sea. An author however, goes beyond the duty of writing itself, to tell the tale of the seas!

-Eva Acharya

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Career Choice

17 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Eva.A in Story of books

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

arcticle, bitesize, blog, blogging, career, career choice, childhood dream, choice, confession, diary, funny stories, impromptu, lottery, lottery winner

I have recently spent hours pouring over very boring words (I can’t believe I just said words were boring)…Let me rephrase. I have been attempting to read a textbook for a Uni assignment and the book is written rather lack-lustre. Suffice it to say that I have been struggling to finish it.

Then I came across this little cartoon/comic within the pages and had to laugh.

You know what, I wouldn’t mind a career change to be a lottery winner! Who else here wants that?

SO…this has led me to (procrastinate) do a quick questionnaire: What were some of the careers you as a child wanted, or growing up dreamed of being, but now, as an adult, realise how foolish it was?

When I was a young girl there used to be an architecture student in the flat below. She used to build little model homes for assignments, and I was very interested at that time in drawing and decided that I too wanted to be an architect – cause they get to draw and build shit! I was all for drawing and building.

My bubble was burst a few years later when I realised it involved a whole lot of mathematics which I was devastatingly bad at.

What was your career of choice growing up, and why? And why do you feel silly about it now?

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

Search

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Follow Me

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Top Posts & Pages

  • About

Facebook

Facebook

Blogs I Follow

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,776 other followers

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

C.M.F. Wright has a website!

radhikasreflection

Everyday musings ....Life as I see it.......my space, my reflections and thoughts !!

अल्फ़ाज़

alfaaz • a castle of façade of make-believe

The Bipolar Writer Mental Health Blog

A Collaborative Mental Health Blog

Discover

A daily selection of the best content published on WordPress, collected for you by humans who love to read.

Paper Plane Pilots

Crashing into ink-stained purgatory since 2012.

ultimatemindsettoday

A great WordPress.com site

abeccasart

Abecca's Art

Thomas M. Watt

Dream your Reality.

my personal thing

writings from an unknown

Feb's World

"My pen was a life raft in the middle of the ocean, it was the only place I could ever be free." - Pete Wentz, GRAY

Author Mark W Sasse

Writing. History. Drama. Culture. Life.

Kelee Morris

On writing, marriage, motherhood, romance and sex...

The writer's blogk

A NEW AUTHOR'S TURBULENT RIDE

Eliot's Tears

original poetry, once a day

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Cancel
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
%d bloggers like this: