Monthly Archives: January 2015

1K a Day – “They Help Me”

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Third in the 1K a Day Motivational Series, in which I talk about something that happened in the previous week that could have or did prevent me from writing a minimum of 1,000 words on a given day, or possibly talk about something that provided support to get me through the day.

This week I’m going to talk about my writing friends, Robert and Kyra. You see, I’m not on my journey alone. The two of them are fellow writers, aspiring authors with the same need to tell stories. They are my hype crew, my cheerleaders, my co-conspirators. And I am all of those things to them! Continue reading →

1K a Day Challenge – Week Three

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It’s January 25th, 2015. It is time for the Week Three update!

Days 18 through 24 have been successes, with a minimum of 1,000 words per day written. There were no major events that just kept me from getting the words in this time, save for Day 24 in which I didn’t plan my time around a birthday party, but more on that in the motivational series! Continue reading →

1K a Day – “But I Got Sick”

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Second in the 1K a Day Motivational Series, in which I talk about something that happened in the previous week that could have or did prevent me from writing a minimum of 1,000 words on a given day.

This past week, I came down with what I have to assume was the Hantavirus. The flu-like symptoms started last Wednesday during the workday with general fever, myalgia, fatigue, and an inability to focus. By Thursday afternoon I was ready to go curl up in a ball and never move again, and by Friday morning it hurt just to breathe. As I was contemplating the possibility of a doctor’s visit, I spent a lot of time resting and not very much time doing anything else. I left work early on Thursday and didn’t go in at all on Friday, but those things did not lead to greater productivity as regards my publishing as I spent all that time in bed being miserable and hating life. And possibly rats. Continue reading →

1K a Day Challenge – Week Two

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It’s January 17th, 2015. I have been hard at work for over two weeks now on my 1K a Day Challenge and it’s time for another update.

I am pleased to announce that Days 11 through 17 have been successes, with a minimum of 1,000 words per day written. I’ve been sick with flu-like symptoms (that have thankfully yet to progress to real flu) for the past couple days, but I managed to come through it without missing a day, despite really wishing to. More on that in the 1K a Day motivational series next Wednesday. Continue reading →

The Things We Love May Fight For Us

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Rated PG-13 for some strong language and tense situations, with some disturbing imagery and sexually suggestive themes.

6,400 words.

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 The Things We Love May Fight For Us

by Rick Cook Jr.

Tracy woke in darkness, buried under the crushing weight of corpses. She tried to cry out, to struggle, but couldn’t move, couldn’t use her power to save herself. Where was Shane? What had awakened them?

She shifted and tried once more to break free of the bodies of her companions, managed to thrust a fist up into nothing. A hand grabbed her by the wrist and yanked, so that she came tumbling up out of the bodies into harsh red light.

They weren’t corpses. They were her friends and enemies, piled and forgotten into a box last year when Olivia had grown too old for them. A box of forgotten toys. Continue reading →

1K a Day – “But I’m Too Tired”

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For those of you familiar with my 1K a Day challenge for the year of 2015, I present to you a weekly series. Once a week I will endeavor to write a nice, short blog post with something that occurred that week that attempted (or possibly even succeeded in) tripping me up and causing a failure. This could be poor time management on my part, getting pulled over by a cop who was stung by a bunch of angry bees and he just wanted to beat someone, House of Cards Season 3 being released (this one worries me), or perhaps an invasion of ultra-intelligent mice intent on global cheese supremacy.

Regardless, I feel certain that every week, I’ll do something or something will happen that will needlessly complicate my 1K a Day Challenge, and the point of this series is to talk about the variety of ways in which routine can be broken, how to combat it, and how to weather a social life while still working a full-time job and keeping your hobby moving every single day. Continue reading →

1K a Day Challenge – Introduction and Week One

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Last year had some ups and downs and I did not weather the downs nearly as well as I would have liked. Months would pass and I would peck away at random stories or ideas, never getting anywhere, never completing anything, not especially liking stuff I did write. December in particular was a very bad month, as my professional career had me traveling back and forth to Mississippi and working some long hours. Add to that of course the family requirements of the holidays and a need to sometimes just do nothing and suddenly the end of the year was here and I was looking back at 2014 wondering what happened. Continue reading →