Twinepathy (Part 1): The Beginning

Hullo, everyone! Here’s that surprise I mentioned yesterday. It’s been over a month since the end of Avengers’ Isle, which was a ton of fun, and it seemed like all of you enjoyed it, too. Rather than start a sequel (which I was tempted to do after watching Age of Ultron), I decided to take a story I was planning and turn it into a serial story for your enjoyment. I present to you part one of Twinepathy. Enjoy, my dear friends! If you like it, share!

Note from future C.B.: Instead of clicking through all these parts, you can find the full novel on Amazon now! You can also find the paperback on Barnes and Noble online.

Hello, my name is Albany, and I have a telepathic connection with my twin sister, along with the ability to read minds.

Well, that may not be the best start, but I’m pretty proud of it. It makes this sound like it’s going to be an awesome story. Which it is. But the beginning… well… I promise it’ll get more exciting than this.

“Go fish.”

Denver, my older brother, moaned and drew a card from the small stack. “How can you guys beat me at everything?”

Brooklyn, twin sister extraordinaire and social butterfly, gives him a mischievous grin. “You’re just too obvious.”

Denver gives me a helpless look, and I shrug. “I’m losing, too.”

“And if I win…” Brooklyn studies her hand. “You have to treat me to dinner, Denver.”

He makes a moaning sound. “Okay, fine. But not tonight. You know I’ve got a date.”

Brooklyn makes a face. If there’s one thing she dislikes, it’s Denver dating. She would definitely prefer to only have to share him with me and Mom and Dad. It doesn’t matter to her that Ezra’s a sweet, slightly awkward girl that Denver’s gone head over heels for. It also doesn’t matter to her that she hardly does anything with him, anyway… but I digress.

“Two,” Brooklyn says to me. I mutter something under my breath and hand a card to her. She sniffs the air. “Your cookies are burning.”

I fly into the kitchen. I’m no cook, but I had to try the bacon cookie recipe I found. I mean, hello, bacon and cookies! My two favorite foods just have to be amazing together. I should’ve known I’d burn them. I can’t cook anything.

I pull out the extra crispy cookies just as the doorbell rings. “You should get that while you’re up,” Denver calls. I roll my eyes. I’ll be he and Brooklyn are laughing. I hate checking the door. Technically, since Mom and Dad aren’t here – they’re on a date – Denver should answer the door, since he’s the oldest. But of course they’ll make me do it. I check the cookies. Yep, they’re burnt enough that no one will want to eat them, not even me. I’ll have to beg Mom to try the recipe for me. What a waste of bacon and cookie. I sigh and wipe my hands on a towel before heading to the door.

I peer out the peephole and don’t see anything until I look down. There, on our doorstep, is a little girl in a ratty red dress, hair tangled and face smudged. She looks around eight years old, maybe a little less. I send a mental image of her to Brooklyn before opening the door.

“Hello,” I say, gazing at her. I notices she’s not wearing shoes, and her dress looks fairly new, just dirty and torn. “Who are you?”

She looks up at me with haunting blue eyes – hollow, scared, lost. Her mouth opens, as if she’s going to speak, but an odd expression crosses her face. She wobbles, then crumples to the ground, out cold.

Well, what do you think so far? Thoughts, comments? Comment below! Your comment could be the difference between the continuation of this series… and the end. No pressure…

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Please Help Me Yet Again!

Hey, everyone! As you may or may not know, I am horrible at naming inventions. Horrible. Almost as bad as I am at coming up with them. But, nevertheless, I actually did come up with a couple of inventions, and I’m looking for some help naming them.

First off, there is the… weird saddle-shaped flying machine. I am currently calling it a “transporter”, but I’m looking for a catchier *cough*smarter-sounding*cough* name. Basically, it’s the first flying machine the fantasy world I’m writing in has ever seen. It’s shaped like an English saddle (more specifically, a dressage saddle… if anyone knows what dressage is…)…

saddle

…like so, except it’s solid metal, and it goes down farther (the size of a 5.563′ teen guys’ legs, basically), and it the sides go all the way back. And… um, it flies. Any name ideas would be greatly appreciated. 😀

Second, I have these cell-phone-like devices. Like miniature Skype devices. They’re used to communicate. And it’s pretty easy for me to explain what they look like, because they’re basically pocket watches that have been repurposed and refitted with a small circular screen and a little buttons. And… I already edited a picture of what the outside looks like.

metalengraving1.2

Help! Any ideas? Share below! What do you think of the inventions (and my pocket watch Photoshop engraving skills)? Do you know what dressage is? Comment!

Tales From The Writer’s Desk: A Little Help Here!

You step into the office you’ve become so familiar with, eyeing the book room. You want to get back to some more stories, but Bri said she needs to talk to you first. “You wanted to see me, Bri?” you ask.

Bri looks up from her laptop and stops humming. She pauses the song playing. “Yes, I do. Have a seat.”

You sit down in the interview chair, a little nervously. “What was that song? I didn’t recognize it.”

Her face flushes, embarrassed. “The Song of the Cebu. It’s – it’s a VeggieTales song.”

You hold back your laughter as Bri quickly continues. “Anyway, I need help. I just finished that series of interviews with the main characters of the Teen Warrior series and I have a huge list of other people to interview. I don’t know which one to start with, so I need you to help me decide which ones to do next. I’d like for you to pick out some of the ones that sound interesting to you. And I need some new questions, too. Do you think you can help?”

Please comment below with suggestions for interview questions! Your question could appear in a future interview. And vote on the poll for who you think should be interviewed next. Choose your three favorites, and feel free to comment on why you chose them! See the previous interviews for reference:

Slade     Iris     Wilson     Ellis     Haven