An excerpt from the next novel

Working on the first page is often the hardest part, as I like to write first pages that both convey things about the main characters and hook the readers.  Here is a sneak peak of the first page from my next novel "The Catch to Release." 

Let me know if you're hooked?

     Addison Weller pushes the steel bar to open the underground garage access door and ushers the Honorable John Errington ahead of her.  The fine hairs on the back of her neck stand up.  She listens and hears drops of water pelting the concrete floor.  Her eyes follow the sound to where condensation drips from an overhead vent above the cars parked near the wall.   A prescient tingle taps lightly over her spine. Reaching her left hand inside her jacket, she puts the tips of her fingers on the butt of her FN 5.7 pistol.  She places her right hand lightly on the back of the Honorable John Errington. 

      A chauffer watches them over the hood of a limo sixty feet to their left.  Weller notices he is immaculate in a gray suit, white shirt, and silver tie. His face is as smooth and regular as milk, until he reaches inside his jacket. One of his brown eyes darkens and squints in an aim, as he pulls out a Sig Sauer P299.  Weller does not hesitate.  She draws her heavy FN 5.7 smoothly. Her left forefinger brushes the safety off as her gun slides over the crisp linen of her suit vest with a soft rasp. She tosses her head to clear away a dark brown wisp of hair in her site-line as she levels the gun. Adjusting her own aim to the poor lighting and the lack of breeze underground, she strains to hear over the adrenaline roaring in her ears.  As she fires, she takes one long sure step forward, bringing her own body between John Errington and the Sig Sauer’s speeding bullet.  

This fight isn't fair.

I am David,

      And You, 
The social Goliath.

Our rows

      Shatter bones,

       Batter and break

                                  Hearts and heads.

We accuse,

     Punish and convict

                                         One another in a bath

                                                                                Of All kinds of sins.

But Emotions

                      Are like winds

                                              Without cardinal directions.

You never

   Conquer me.

I never

          Secede you.

We are two waves

                              of the same breeze

                                                             On one sea

In a vast cosmos of larger oceans.

I am David and you are Goliath,

                       Only in an ant’s eyes.
We cannot be distinguished from the skies.

All that you do to me

                                  you do to yourself as well.

We forget

To enjoy
This disappearing

 Moment

 For all that it is worth
In anger's blackhole flare.

This fight isn’t fair
Because,

We are both,

                    Already won,

                                         one.

We cannot diminish

     Either of us,

Only shuffle

     The balance.

Our primal ability to love

Is unimaginable, 

Unassailable.

There is

Unquenchable ferocity
In our existence.

This fight isn’t fair

Because there is no contest,
Only contexts shifting like shadows
Beneath a multitude of lights,

Davids and Goliaths

On a grain of sand,

Called earth,

On one vast beach,
Called the Milkyway.

And here

Time is

A tide,

In out in,

And around Again.
We begin,
Began,
Before fairness even got started.

Free to fall on my face ...

As an artist, I feel the need to remain experimental and fall on my face on a regular basis.  In that spirit, I've decided to try to mix two of my great first loves: spoken-word poetry and techno.  The resulting song is a mix of one of my poems, "All the lights are flashing."  Please take a listen on Soundcloud and feel free to start the belittling commentary (or moral support):
https://soundcloud.com/lacey-schmidt/all-the-lights-are-flashingmp3

Blacklight Blackheart

Smartphone DJ in hand

No text can asunder

Her piratical plunder

Of the dancefloor denizens

She is a blacklight blackheart.

Take a spin,

She’ll proctor the gamble,

on her Win-a-Sin

wheel.

Any deal

Guaranteed

Paid in steel

And leather,

Stilettos optional.

She shivers the Timbres,

And rattles the bored.

A blacklight blackheart,

Bearding gigolos

And whatever else goes,

Arrogant alone,

Any braying bark,

Without condone

On a sea of sound.

Her hips a hit-and-run,

Broad side to a full-figure attack.

Her lips a Jolly Roger stun,

The kiss a hempen jig,

On a storm waltzing rig,

That will leave you unstrung.

Be wary, be smirched,

Believe there be treasure,

But be sure you were told.

She is a blacklight blackheart.

Eleven books that still shape my writing.

These eleven books continue to haunt me in different ways.  This is not a list of "great" works, or the "right" books to find inspiration--but it is a list of books I found to be ground-breaking and thought provoking, which is always a good place to start if you're looking for inspiring reads.   
Not in any particular order:
1. The Dark Tower - Stephen King
2. The Stranger - Albert Camus
3. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
4. Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett
5. The Just-so Stories - Rudyard Kipling
6. Written on the Body - Jeannette Winterson
7. Hardcore Zen - Brad Warner
8. The Survivor Personality - Al Seibert
9. Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl
10. The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath
11. Smoke From This Alter - Louis L'Amour 
Please share some of your suggestions in comments.

Writing Resources for Aspiring Novelists

A friend recently asked me for resources that might help one plunge into novel writing... I'm still navigating the path myself, but I thought I'd share my list to date for all of you other writing fools. In order of usefulness to aspiring novelists:
1. nanowrimo.org
2. Chris Baty's book "No plot? No problem."
3. John Dufresne's book "A guide to writing fiction."
4. Writer's Dreamkit software (for doing the story-boarding work before writing the book, to iron out those plot holes).
5. Liquid Storybinder software (for actually doing the writing--it is more versatile and complete than Microsoft Word and exports to Word or PDF easily).

My Novel finds a Publisher

I'm proud to be publishing my novel, A Walk Away, with Affinity eBook Press NZ in May 2015.
http://affinityebooks.com/
Please stay tuned for previews and updates!

Poetry for the masses...

You can find a collection of all of my poetry for sale now on Amazon for less than it costs to buy a thimble full of coffee at your favorite coffee shop.
Buy the book here.

Details:

The Nightshade Lexicon $0.99 (Yes, that is 99 cents!)

A complete book of worthless poetry for the common hominid. Even the kids are bound to enjoy a madcap line or forty-two! Good on a rainy night or with fried goat. Please do not pickle. No harm was caused to trolls, vampires, warlocks, demons, angels, pixies, or even parasites during the production of this poetry. Thanks for reading, and welcome to the nightshade lexicon...speaking a dead tongue in tiredly hopeful ears right now at one low price!
For those of you without a Kindle device, please note that you can download a free Kindle reading app for your laptop, computer, iPhone, iPad, or Android device and read any Kindle book that way too. For those of you who wish to read in the tub or swimming pool, freezer-style zip-lock baggies are a great waterproof covering for your e-reader of choice.