Writing Unleashed with Laura M. Harkins

The silliness is spilling out of me today. I've got my Dexter's Laboratory t-shirt on and exciting ideas for my WIP skipping around my mind making me caffeine-jittery to the point I'm knocking things over in my apartment. Granted, the inability to stand up on my two feet is nothing new, I can barely contain the the surge of passion. So, before I destroy everything I own, I thought I would sit down and share something I stumbled across on Tor.com (I'm a huge fan of the sci-fi website) and, then, get to writing. Last week, I wrote about serialized fiction and whether it had a place in our literary world anymore on the Bucks County Writers' Group blog. Then, I came across the first few chapters of Catherynne M. Valente's middle grade novel The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There . Tor.com serialized the first 5 chapters of the sequel to Valente's first Fairyland book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making .

Do we really need an excuse to have fun with books? I think not.  From what I understand, this unofficial game of International Book Week, possibly started on Google+, asks you to grab the closest book to you, open to page 52, and post the fifth sentence on the page. Do not include the title.  "There's no harm in flirting." Hint. It's one of these.  Post your fifth sentence in the comments below! 

Winning free books rocks my socks. I love it! My favorite part is walking into the vestibule I share with my downstairs neighbor to find a brown box with a mailing label addressed to me. I giggle. Then frantically futz with my keys to get two sets of doors open to get into my apartment, grab the scissors from the knife block, quickly cut open the box, and gently pull out my books. Butterflies fill my stomach with the weight of the book in my hands, the smell of the paper, the intricate world, fascinating characters, and thought-provoking story waiting to be discovered. The whole point of becoming a writer for me was to pass on the wonderful experience of diving into a book and getting lost in the author's imagination and words. I want give readers a story they'll enjoy. I'm still in the crafting process. In the meantime, I have a few new additions to my library courtesy of mshatch over at mainewords . Thanks! I can't wait to start reading.

I dreamt last night. And in this dream, I found myself in a leather jacket leading the investigation of a heinous murder case that took place in a high-rise apartment building. It was my first case as a detective and I had to prove myself. In true Laura fashion, it took me 10 minutes to find a walkie-talkie that worked and I got stuck in the elevator trying to reach the 11th floor with no success. I woke up when I not only couldn't get to the 11th floor, but also couldn't get off the damn elevator. Thoughts bounced around my head as I laid in bed...could I do this in real life? No. I'm the farthest thing from an authoriatrian. Then I thought how that might segue into my stories. I tend to gravitate towards writing stories with amateur sleuths, characters that aren't tethered to strict rules that police must obey. So, it might be time to push through the comfort zone and try giving one of the characters in my WIP a more authoritarian role to contrast the main charact