I decided to share an excerpt from my short story so everyone could see what’s in store for them if they purchase the $.99 short story off Amazon.

Again, if you have an IPhone, IPad, IPod touch, Blackberry, Android operating device, or a PC, you can purchase the short story. You can find the story here.

Here’s the excerpt. Enjoy!

About a mile or so down the road, we found an old rest area. We weren’t sure if it was open, but we felt the need to stop nonetheless. A small patch of woods crept out from the Arkansas hills, surrounding the bathroom area. The trees weren’t thick, but they gave an eerie dark feeling to the place.

We noticed the lights were on and the door was wide open. After a few minutes of sitting quietly in the car, after the rain stopped, we decided to get out.

Erica splashed water on her face to calm down, while I went to piss in the stall. I shook with panic, my mind flashing back to the moments we hit the man. Erica mentioned going back to check on him.

“It’s only a few miles back, I think. Maybe less,” she thought. “Fuck! What are we going to do?”

“We should have checked on him,” I said. “Why did you speed off like that?”

“Kristen, I was frightened damnit.” She turned the faucet off.

It was then I heard his footsteps as he came in behind her. I figured it was another traveler, coming in to stretch their legs from a long drive.

Instead, I heard Erica scream and the mirror crack. I pulled my shorts up quietly and peered through the sliver in the stall. The man had turned Erica against the mirror and pushed her into it.

You can buy the book on your PC, Blackberry, IPhone, IPod touch, IPad, and any Android device. You can find it here.

If you could please write a review after reading, it’d be deeply appreciated.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me thus far: Ritchie (my boyfriend), Tammy (a great friend), Stacy, my family, all my former co-workers, Creative Writing class members, and everyone at Bloggers. Without you guys, this wouldn’t have happened!

I figured I’d give everyone a head’s up on what’s going on with my short story. So far, it’s currently available for people to purchase in the UK! I am not sure how to promote to people in the UK. I hope they read this post, I guess.

Anyway, I have contacted KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) support and asked why it isn’t available for the US. I hope to have a response from them sometime today or tomorrow. I appreciate everyone’s patience on this, and I hope it doesn’t deter your interest of the short story.

Thank for all your wonderful support!

My wonderful boyfriend, Ritchie, did the cover art for me. You can find it below.

Doesn’t it look amazing?

So, about the story, it is a horror short story I wrote during my Creative Writing class at school. I decided it was such a successful and well-reviewed story by my teacher and peers, that I’d dabble in self-publishing and use it as my first victim.

If you’re interested, please check it out. I promise you will not be disappointed. If you don’t have a Kindle, anyone with an Iphone, Ipod Touch, an Ipad, or an Android-operating device, will be able to purchase the story through the Kindle App found in the App Store. Please leave a review on Amazon and let me, and others, know what you liked about the story.

No, this month has been hellacious, sure, but it’s been revealing as well. I’ve learned about myself, my relationship, my life, my friend and family, and my work these past few weeks. Despite being the shortest month in the year, I was able to stuff so much stuff into February that it’s ridiculous.

I am smarter, stronger, and more in-tuned with myself than ever before. It’s been great. Not everything going on in February was roses and sunshine, but I came out a better person for it.

So yes, I joke and I say, “Can I have a do over?” But in reality, I wouldn’t turn in this month for the world.

One day, at work, I volunteered to take on the morning shift for the 4th of July. I thought it would be fun because I would get to hang with my best friend, Stacy.

That day, I put the idea in my head that I needed to clip my toe nails. Yes, I repeat: I wanted to clip my toe nails AT WORK. See, I usually wore flip-flops to work. Living in Tulsa, OK at the time, it was usually warm and sunny. And I thought it would be easy to simply clip my toe nails.

At my place of employment, we shared cubicles with one another. Meaning, the early shift would have to swap out with the afternoon shift and the afternoon shift would leave it to the night shift. Now, this was a holiday, meaning not everyone who normally worked would be coming in. There was this guy, let’s call him Mr. Kiss-Ass, and he always sat in the same spot everyday. I decided to sit in Mr. Kiss-Ass’ spot since he wouldn’t be there that day.

As the time came and I decided to clip my toe nails, I popped off one flip-flop and placed my dirty, weathered foot on the desk of the cubicle and commenced in clipping my nails. My friend Stacy sat wide-eyed and shocked. At the time, I found it hilarious. A) I got to clip my toe nails. B) I got revenge on the Mr. Kiss-Ass who was always praised for simply knowing how to kiss the boss’ butt.

This morning, as I walked towards the bus, I realized: “Yes, I really did that.” Still somewhat shocked, I called Stacy for confirmation. “Yes, Jonnie, you really did that.”

I wanted to know where the day’s supervisor was. I wanted to know how I got away with this. In fact, as I sit here writing this, I remembered there being a camera in place over the call center. Did nobody catch me doing this? Is this not a way to get fired?

I’m proud to say that I would never, EVER do this again. I couldn’t believe I really did this in the first place.

But yes, people change. Sometimes, they change dramatically and quickly. It’s only been a little over two years for me. I’m so glad that skanky past is behind me. Good riddance, you dirty hooch!

PS- My feet are actually well taken care of now.

Why can’t people just say “Will there be snow?” I know what it means. She knows what it means and so does everyone else. It doesn’t mean just will there be snow falling from the sky. More than likely, we will know snow is coming down. Even if we don’t, we will ask “Is it snowing?” or “Will it be snowing?” That’s not the same as “Will there be snow?”

Instead, these mindless zombies begin babbling on about accumulation of two to three inches of snow, acting as though they’re the intelligent ones for using such a fine, educated word. I wonder if they look at the screen on the weather channel and say to themselves, “Oh, what a big word. I should use it in speaking today.”

I am subject to the same habits. My boyfriend hates when I substitute the word “utilize” for the word “use”. I do say it to attempt to sound smarter, but not to impress anyone. I simply don’t want to sound like an idiotic hick from Oklahoma incapable of saying a word with three syllables, so I attempted to increase my vocabulary somehow.

In the end, I guess we really are destroying the “English” language. Personally, I think it’s just evolving. Sure, it used to be something so grand and old-fashioned and posh. The grandeur of it all has left me feeling cold, honestly. The books of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens are unappealing to me. However, I am not against reading them or reading to learn from them. They have their place in literature. People actually took care of their words and used them wisely back then. Meanwhile, we aimlessly throw words out of our mouths because we’re unsure of how to communicate as intelligent human beings.

I’ve gone on ranting when all I wanted to do was comment on the annoying use of a word by fellow coworkers. Instead, it turned out to be a rant about literature, language, and the careless utilization of words.

What? I couldn’t help it.

i rolled up the hill with the large black boulder
i overcame the sadness, i became a little older
a brief glimpse of happiness shined in my face
then the clouds came around and took it all away

just took it all away and it never came back
and i sit and i wait awhile until i get back on track
but i wonder if it all falls apart for a reason
you might as well call me out and say it’s treason

i wonder, yeah, i wonder if that’s just how it goes
does it really ever stop, no, no one ever knows
and i cry, yeah, i cry so hard and i bleed it all out
i cry, yeah, i really do cry and i scream and i shout
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh!

the big black boulder kept rolling on by
i couldn’t stop it, didn’t dare stop it, so i let out a cry
no one heard, no one saw, i was completely alone
still no one comes by and i’m left on my own, yeah

i sit atop the black boulder and i think, think, think
all my thoughts aflutter but i sink, sink, sink
deep within myself and i wonder if at all it gets any better
the happiness, she ran along, and i went ahead and let her

i wonder, yeah, i wonder if that’s just how it goes
does it really ever stop, no, no one ever knows
and i cry, yeah, i cry so hard and i bleed it all out
i cry, yeah, i really do cry and i scream and i shout
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh!

push and push and push
go and go and go
do and do and do
grow and grow and grow

i want it all to stop
i call out to make it stop
please let it stop
Stoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop!