The End of #WorldsEnd -- *sniffle*

If you haven't already, scroll down to my blogroll on the side-margin, and find the blog titled A Beginning, an End, and all that Lies Inbetween.  Now read the title of the latest post.  Yep!  That's me.  My story finally went live on Wednesday night.  Oh my gosh what a thrill ride!  Minutes after J tweeted that it was published, my twitter exploded with commentary from other writers.  It was so much fun.  I've never publicly aired a story before, so this was a whole new world for me.  It felt strange to know that others were reading something I had written.

Oh, and J wrote a very sweet bio about me too...check it out here:  Introduction to Gumball by Jodi Leigh.  

AND for a complete list of all the #WorldsEnd stories, including author bios, check out this entry by my twitter pal, Rob Kristoffersen (us #WorldEnd-ers call him Huggy Bear): #WorldsEnd - The Compilation.

The story I wrote, "Gumball," should sound familiar, because I used the story of Elijah's endless childhood search for a free gumball as the inspiration for my story.  Something about the way he never gave up his search for that stupid gumball, and how his faith was rewarded in the end, seemed to be the perfect symbol of hope for the #WorldsEnd series.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I did write a part 2 to the story.  I don't have a name for it, so for now I'm just calling it Gumball: Part 2.  After reading the story, J mentioned that I was creating an entire world, and that I should keep the gumball traveling from story to story until I've created a book.  Shannon reiterated this same point as well.  I love the idea, but hate to interrupt my current WIP with a new project.  Although writing short stories IS a lot easier for me than trying to flesh out an entire novel, so maybe I'll give it a shot.  If I take it one story at a time, it could be a lot of fun without the same pressure as my DoT manuscript.  We'll see.

About my new[ish] blog, It Makes a Sound.  I never announced it because I wasn't sure what I was doing with it yet.  So far all I've done is post a few poems and short stories from my old blog, and then the two Gumball stories.  I'm thinking I might merge my Glazey art blog with this one, turning it into my personal space for both paintings and writing.  The problem is I know myself, and I'll probably go months in between entries.  That's why I'm not advertising the blog--it's too much pressure. 

Okay, enough rambling from me.  I'll just sum up this post by saying that the #WorldsEnd project was an amazing experience, I befriended the most awesome people, and I feel so blessed that I got to be a part of this project.  A shout-out to Joshua Hewitt for an ingenious idea that brought so many writers together. 

Oh, I almost forgot!  With no further adieu, here is The Gumball: Part 2 (did you catch that rhyme there?)....

Ragnarok

 
Maybe this is what Ragnarok would look like if it were real?  I swear this picture is a perfect replica of where I live.  Minus the ginormous planet loitering in the distance.  
 
#WorldsEnd has really taken off.  I almost feel sorry for J--his blog has been completely monopolized by this series.  Plus with all of the bios he has written, I'm sure it has left very little time for him to pursue his own writing.  But the work he has put into this project is really paying off.  The word is spreading, with authors all over the place perpetually intrigued by the idea of having a variety of writers create stories geared toward one compelling prompt.  Take this, for example:

Josh Hewitt Made Me Do It

This is a blog entry written by writer David Eccles regarding #WorldsEnd.  Even though he isn't technically part of the project, he is a fan who has followed every story, and even decided to create his own unofficial #WorldsEnd tale (the link to that story is available on his blog post).  I really like this entry because he does a great job of explaining the project.  Plus he includes this awesome graphic which I told him I was going to steal:
 

 
 
A week and a half ago, a New York Times bestselling author posted a link to #WorldsEnd on twitter because her friend was one of the project contributors: 
 

‏@JoshilynJackson20 Apr

My friend Heather Truett's story is live, offering some hope at the end of the world. A nice way to end a crap week: http://hewittwcc.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/counting-sunsets-by-heather-truett/ …

 

That was pretty cool.  Other tweets say stuff like this:

 

‏@eisparklz25 Apr

I'm becoming addicted to the #WorldsEnd stories that @the_j_hewitt is posting. The wait in between is tortuous!

 

Or this:

 
‏@jlizhill26 Apr

#FF @the_j_hewitt because you don't want to miss the great series of short stories he's hosting. #WorldsEnd

 

The tweets go on and on.  Just click on that last #WorldsEnd link and see for yourself.

 

I could not be more thrilled to be a part of this project.  The #WorldsEnd-ers have slowly evolved into their own little sub-network within the twitter writing community, and I have to say, these are the coolest people.  I've never met a group of tweeps with so much personality.  I have a feeling that the relationships created through this project will last well-beyond the final piece.

That being said, I now [sorta] know when my story is going live.  Part 3 offcially started tonight, beginning with a thoughtful and chilling piece that J himself wrote.  Part 3 consists of six stories total, and mine ("Gumball") will be the last one...roughly about three weeks from now.  You can check out the intro to Part 3 here (and don't forget to read Josh's piece afterwards):

          Part 3: Down Among the Dead
 
So, I now have to concur with Mr. Eccles--Josh Hewitt made me do it.  But I'm glad he did.

World's End

I have to post about this because it's pretty cool. 

You may have noticed a new blog recently added to the blogroll called, "A Beginning, an End, and All that Lies Inbetween."  The author of the blog, J. Hewitt, began a series some time ago called "World's End"--or, as known in the twittersphere, #WorldsEnd.  Here's what it's all about.

I was drawn in by this project from the moment I discovered it, for three big reasons: 1) I think it's creative as all get-out, 2) I love reading different spins on one topic--it's fascinating to hear all of the different "voices" and perspectives, and 3) I love dystopian literature.

I also find it amazingly awesome that a writer would use his own personal blog as a platform to display other's work.  He even goes as far as to include an author's bio for each story published.

So of course, I had to get in on it.  From my understanding, J (as I have dubbed him) had already accepted submissions and had enough material to publish a new story every two days for about a month, but I still decided to write a story.  He read it, loved it, and the rest is history.

I'm not sure when mine will be featured, but I imagine it will be some time since I was late getting in the game.  Until then, I am thoroughly enjoying following his series.  Check it out (side-margin)...it's pretty addicting.  So far "Serenity" has been my all-time favorite.  One of the more recent ones, "Last Laugh" contained a few grammatical errors and some repetition of words that left me feeling a little underwhelmed...until I discovered that J. had decided to take a break from the "grown up" stories to feature one written by a talented Jr. High kid in a small group he runs.  Now I'm pretty impressed by the story.  This kid's got insane talent if he's already writing at this level.

I decided to write a sequel to my story just for the fun of it.  Ironically I love the sequel possibly more than the original, but most likely I won't submit it to the #WorldsEnd project.  I don't want to push my luck. 

Now I need to get my head out of the end-of-the-world gutter and get back to working on my Dot manuscript.