Here’s what I came up with for this month’s Atlanta Writers Club’s 50-word prompt contest. I am still working on short-form fiction like this. It’s fun to challenge my literary muscles in various ways, and this monthly, single-word prompt is a surefire way to do so.
The word prompt was “joy.”
My heart skips a beat as the lights flicker with surging electricity. The other watchers flinch, cringe as smoke rises from his convulsing limbs.
I lean in.
Wish I could smell him sizzle.
Living, he made me feel unclean. Reusable.
Dying before my eyes, he makes me feel pristine joy.
Tonie and Avery may not agree on what constitutes a suitable employment opportunity, but friends can stay friends (and more) while holding different perspectives, right? 😉
LGBTQ+, gay men, best friends, first time, unintentional prostitution, hot dogging
Girth (sorry, I meant “length” ;D)
About a 30-minute read. Just a sip of sensuality!
Setup
Avery has been on furlough for months after starting a new job with the federal government in Atlanta. He’s too stubborn to take handouts from his parents. Tonie, his well-off, insanely hot, cam boy best friend has tried to help out as well, even encouraging Avery to become a sex worker himself. Avery compromises. He tells Tonie that he’ll let him find something temporary that he can leave as soon as the government opens back up, and it absolutely cannot be cam work. Tonie takes the deal.
And Tonie will deliver.
Story Cover
Where to Read
The story will be made available at TeneshaLCurtis.com and WriterwerxUniversity.com for free for Fans and Apprentices.
As noted above, subscribers will be given access on other platforms at later dates.
Samples will be released to the public after that, including a $1 full download at WriterwerxUniversity.com, Amazon.com, and similar platforms.
Becoming a Fan
Becoming a Fan of mine means becoming a Patron who subscribes to my content. You can achieve similar status on sites where you already have a subscription, such as Medium, Kindle Unlimited, Behance, or Deviant Art. However, there are special perks that direct subscribers receive only at TeneshaLCurtis.com that ends up getting you more for your money, such as exclusive discounts on certain merch and invitations to private events.
If you truly enjoy what I produce and want more of it, want to support me as an artist, or want to boost your karma to try to garner some good favor with the universe, starting your subscription today is a fantastic way to go!
Becoming an Apprentice
My Apprentices are writers who I am guiding through the authorship process virtually. Apprentices get early and exclusive access to special books and tools related to writing, including enhanced authorship lessons at WriterwerxUniversity.com, beyond what’s available for free on the public version of the site.
Apprenticeship is for people who see what I’m doing in my writing career and want to start their own. My focus for Apprentices is not merely on entertainment through my fiction and education through my nonfiction, but to support them so that they can avoid many of the mistakes that I made as a new writer.
Free Newsletter
There is a free newsletter that you can sign up for. I will email you when I have a special announcement for Fans and Apprentices and you’ll get a once-monthly digest of blog posts from TeneshaLCurtis.com. These are posts that you are welcome and encouraged to share with your followers and other social connections. It’s a great, free way to show your support for me and my work.
Please keep in mind that people who don’t open these emails will be removed from the list automatically after a couple of months of zero opens. After all, if you’re not seeing the content or deciding not to open them, the emails aren’t really doing you any good.
I have a black lab/ Australian Shepherd bitch named Jake (bet you can easily guess why! :D).
She was born August 1st, 2010. Even though this makes her nearly 70 years old, she still acts like a puppy most of the time. Sleeping, eating whatever she can get her snout on, begging for pets and scratches, and generally making my life a tornado of misery as only lab mixes can! 😀
My husband, on the other hand, seems to actually like Jake (for whatever odd reason) and spoils her to no end. It’s like a favorite pastime of his.
Every year, Jake gets more and more gray in her mostly black coat. And her penchant for napping gets stronger. At this point, Jake is somewhere around the 30th pet that I’ve cared for in some capacity or owned, but she was my first real pet of my own.
I picked her out of a teaming cloud of puppies barely three months old in Bullitt County, Kentucky. All the girls were black with touches of white. All the boys were white with gray patches lined with silver. As much as I admired the male coats, I had to stick with the color I love above all others!
A shoe box, handshake, and heartworm medication dose later, I was riding in the back of my mother’s car, her then-boyfriend driving, and taking the little bundle of piddle home with me.
She was blessedly quite and subdued at first, as any dog would be, I suppose. But it wasn’t long before she was trying to eat shoes and paint my carpets with various bodily secretions.
I can’t say I miss the puppy days much, but they’re kind of back again. Just a little more subtle this time. The accidents aren’t as frequent, but take place more often than in her adult years. She sleeps a lot. But I hope that’s because we’ve cared for her well and she’s lived a good long life. She’s learned not to be so chew-happy or unnecessarily noisy (strangers on the property still get the Cujo treatment!). All that’s great. It means she’s learned and grown.
And I think that, in caring for her, we have, too.
Here’s hoping we see a few more good years with the old pup! ♥
Don’t forget to spread the word to your fellow readers and writers!
What is the Atlanta Self-Publishing Conference?
The ASPC is similar to the Atlanta Writers Club’s traditional conferences, except that it caters specifically to indie authors and the niche challenges they face in our industry.
Who can attend the ASPC?
Anyone at all! While the conferences of the Atlanta Writers Club are meant only for AWC members, you can become a member and buy your ticket at the same time—no matter where you live, write, work, or play! How convenient is that?
When does the ASPC take place?
The next Atlanta Self-Publishing Conference is scheduled for April 29th, 2023 from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. (Atlanta time / Eastern) at the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel.
Can I buy a table to sell my books at the ASPC?
You can! Just submit your application by clicking here.
I just thought of this concept this morning. While I normally put ideas like this in a folder for future use, I figured that some of my fans might want this sneak peek into how extemporaneous versions of my pieces look. With no crafting or editing completed, this is essentially how the idea came into my head. Talk about unfiltered!
Timeline for Full Novel
I’ve got quite a bit on my plate now, but I’m excited about nurturing this concept from this tiny seed of an idea into a full novel at some point in the next year or two.
So, while Fans only have “God Alow” to read now, keep your eyes peeled for God Alow to be available to the public soon! 😀
Fun Fact
“Alow” (rhymes with “hello” or “below”) is a dated term meaning “below” or “under” (i.e., below decks).
I asked Midjourney to show me cupcakes with a book genre attached (ex: cupcakes, dieselpunk) and the results are nothing short of scrumptious. Just for fun, I asked for cupcakes that reflect me, LaTosha McCauley, Bobby Nash, KaMara White, Merethe Walther, and Julie Olivia, too! ♥
