Second Crusader Challenge

So here is the second crusader challenge:

Write a flash fiction story (in any format) in 100 words or less, excluding the title. Begin the story with the words, “The goldfish bowl teetered” These four words will be included in the word count.

If you want to give yourself an added challenge (optional, and not part of the judging criteria), see if you can write the story in your own genre (eg if you’re a horror writer, write a horror story; a romance writer, a romance story, etc).

So science fiction it is then ...

The goldfish bowl teetered on the edge of the command console as gravity reasserted itself. Lieutenant Xjansh shot out a pseudopod and caught it, sulphuric acid swirling against the containment field that sealed the top. He carefully slid it back into its recess and re-activated the vacuum clamps. A series of lights blinked on as the bowl went back on line, their cool blue glow illuminating a goldfish with a face like thunder.

“Which one of you numbskulls can’t read plain Vargzush?” the fish roared. “’Off’ means no power ... anywhere.”

The duty ensign blushed green. “Sorry Captain.”

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Book Blurb Friday and a video of me!

This is advance notice of a new meme which starts on Friday 4th March, hosted by Lisa Ricard Claro. BOOK BLURB FRIDAY gives us the chance to let our imaginations run wild and write a book blurb inspired by a book cover photograph. Don't miss it!

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First Crusader Challenge - If you haven't read my entry yet go HERE

I know I only posted my challenge entry yesterday, but for those of you who have read it, I thought I would let you in on the little fib.

1) Yes, my family do despair of my tendency to spout forth
2) I do love lemon sorbet, anything orange, ginger, syrup sponge .. actually anything edible. I did think about adding in something I don't like as my fib, but I couldn't think of anything!
3) Generosity? I do try!
4) As for doing a bit of contortionism, I have only ever found one other person who could do it, and now I find that Claire Gregory and Jai Joshi can both do it! I promised pictures ... so if you are feeling brave ...

5) So that just leaves our dream house. Yes I would love to design it ... but I would rather leave it to the professionals to build it.  We re-roofed, re-wired and plumbed our first house, including installing central heating (including boiler) bathroom, kitchen and utility room. We replaced the rotten floor, built a new sash window for the kitchen and took out a chimney breast. It was a year of incredibly hard work. I have no burning desire to do it again! But we do have a love of the mountains and the sea

Well there you go! Now you know the truth!

First Crusader Challenge At Last!

The Challenge 

In 300 words or less, tell us: 

· one secret 
· one lie 
· one interesting quirk 
· one annoying habit 
· one of your best character traits, and 
· one of your favourite things in the whole world. 
The post can be in any format, including poetry (for those poets among us), but must include the random words, “bloviate,” “fuliguline,” “rabbit,” and “blade” (tee hee).

Actually the first challenge was to get round to following every single crusader, both on blogs and Twitter (those that tweet anyway), which I have managed to do.

On to the next bit:

I love facts. I love putting facts together and drawing logical conclusions. The trouble is that I tend to bloviate as I announce these deductions as fact. The family have learnt to roll their collective eyes and to say, in terms, "Yes Dad, fount of all knowledge!" Do you think there might be a smidgen of sarcasm there?
My secret ambition is to design and build our dream home, somewhere with either mountain views of heather, bracken, sheep and rabbits or with views across the sea or an estuary where we can watch the fuliguline visitors.
I can touch my right ear with my right hand. Go on try it, but not like that. Go round the back of your head, under your chin and back up to your ear. Can you do it now? (No liability for personal injury can be accepted) Photos can be supplied, but it's not a pretty sight!
I adore lemon sorbet. I love anything orange, or ginger... oh and treacle sponge with custard. Hang on a minute while I have a moment of wistful rapture. *sigh*
If you put a blade against my heart and forced me to admit to any positive character trait, I guess I would have to say generosity - sharing my time, my abilities and whatever good fortune I might have.

There might possibly be a little tiddly lie in there somewhere - any idea where?