Last weekend, I read about a short story contest requesting a 1,000-word Valentine-themed story. I had been thinking about writing a short story lately but never got around to doing it, so I thought why not? There is no sample of my fiction writing anywhere yet, so this was the perfect opportunity. Of course, since I’m the one to complicate things, I went for a five-character, three-POV story which was kind of challenging to squeeze into one thousand words, but somehow, after bouncing some ideas off my editor Christie Stratos, I did it. What I didn’t do was read the contest’s terms thoroughly; it was open only for US citizens. Total bummer, but only for a second, as the main reason I decided to enter was to create a short story that I’d be able to share which I had done, so no actual regrets.
As I was considering various options as to where I could publish it, I was followed by Writersky on Twitter. Writersky is a platform where a writer can share complete works or ongoing WIPs, excerpts, chapters, anything! Now there was an idea! It turned out to be super user-friendly, and my story was up in minutes. Two days later, it has reached 350 views, the Writersky people have seriously promoted it on Twitter, I linked it to my Facebook page earning much needed Likes, and it looks like I have one more reason to be happy on this year’s Valentine’s Day.
If you’d like to read how two Valentine gifts that are completely wrong end up spreading the love, read Web of Love and find out. Caution: there’s a spider lurking about.
MM Jaye's HEAs 
Reblogged this on CHRISTIE STRATOS.
Thank you so much for reblogging this post, Christie! You’re a gem!
An excellent post and an even more excellent short story Maria! Well done! I thought it was delightful and quite different to the usual gooey stuff that is normally branded with the Valentine’s Day stamp 🙂
Thank you, Effrosyni! You’ve been truly supportive as always!
Wow, just wow… I don’t think I could have pulled that off so well but you managed it gloriously. I usually dislike Valentine’s things (except the chocolate) your short story though, very nice indeed and unexpected.
The spider was a bit much but I have arachnophobia, so that’s a personal ‘eep!’ of mine. It was fantastic though. I tip my hat to you and your manipulation of the five character, three-pov. You pulled it off!
Amazing Maria! Simply amazing! 😀
Awww, Jinny, thanks for the encouragement! I came up with the idea and wrote it in a single day, and since there is no sample of my writing anywhere, I said “Go for it!” I posted it on Writersky, but you’ve mentioned Wettpad, am I wrong? I published it there this morning as well. So much to learn…
Actually, I would suggest using StoryWrite. It’s a little complicated, but it’s well worth it. I’m still getting the hang of it. Wattpad, as fun as it’s been finding stories on, unless you snag a big audience somehow is really difficult to use. I’ve had an account since 2012 and it’s still cricket town. StoryWrite, however, will not let you make new stories/chapters without reading and commenting on other people’s stories/chapters. You might want to check it out.
Jinny, thanks! I just found about Wattpad and Writesky the past week. I had not idea about StoryWrite. Sounds interesting. I’ll alert my tweeps. Thanks again, and have fun tonight!