BE SAFE. BE HAPPY. HAVE FUN.

- Love Kate

A Pocketful of Poppies - Part Four

I had not planned on updating this story for a while but inspiration struck me today and part four of A Pocketful of Poppies is now up on Fictionpress. Please read it and let me know what you think. I am really liking this story even though I am still unsure about it. Thank you in advance.

Justin

The Year 2008

The new year is almost upon us, as hard to believe as that might seem and I cannot believe the year that myself, this blog, and my stories have had. I was able to accomplish many good things in 2008.

I wrote my first interracial relationship story, Ghetto Gospel, my first family drama, The Waverly Myth, my first supernatural mystery, The Flower Girl, and I wrote my longest story, and my most popular one to date, The Prettiest Thing - which is being posted once again on Fictionpress for those who are interested in reading it. I also wrote two short stories that I am extremely proud of: Piper’s Hidden Kiss and Raven’s Ridge.

I dealt with self-doubt, as I always seem to suffer from, and had a complete lack of confidence, which resulted in me taking down some of my works-in-progresses and taking a short break from writing. I lost many readers this year for one reason or another but gained others and I kept some of my most loyal friends/readers who have been with me since the beginning.

I am excited for 2009 and I already am brainstorming about a follow-up to The Flower Girl titled Soldier Boy, which will be about Simon Fowlers, the son of Alice and Brookston. I also plan on continuing with A Pocketful of Poppies, The Beginning of Eden and The Winter Solstice.

I am also going to try to get some of my works published. I was thinking of perhaps putting together a collection of short stories. One of my close friends would like me to send her a manuscript and she is going to see what she can do for me. Even if nothing comes of it, I am excited to be taking this step and am happy with whatever the outcome may be. At least I am giving it a try.

As many of you know, I love to write and even if I never become a published author, I will still have you all to write for and I could not be more grateful for that and for you. I have some of the most loyal fans considering I am just a mere web-writer but I thank you from the bottom of my heart for a fantastic year and here is to hoping for an excellent 2009.

Love Kate

The Flower Girl - Chapter Fifteen

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday. I wish things would finally calm down but one of my best friends is getting married and I am flying out to Palm Springs, California for the wedding on January 3rd. I am excited to see her but I have the greatest fear of flying - just like Olivia from More than Anyone - if anyone remembers that particular chapter from the story.

Chapter fifteen of The Flower Girl is now posted on Fictionpress.com. Please, if you have time, read it and review it for me. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much in advance.

LOVE KATE

The Flower Girl - Chapter Fourteen

I know everyone is so busy lately but please go to Fictionpress and check out chapter fourteen of The Flower Girl for me. Please read it and let me know what you think. I would be forever grateful. With this story reaching its climax and then conclusion, I really want people to let me know what you think. Thank you very much in advance.

DSotM - Chapter Five

Please head over to Fictionpress and read chapter five of Dark Side of the Moon. Let me know what you think of it. Chicago was slammed with ice and snow last night and I am driving to my parents home in Ohio so today should just be tons of fun in the car. Today is definitely the kind of day I just want to stay inside and read a book. Oh, well. What would the holiday season be like without horrible weather and pain-in-the ass drives? Have an excellent day.

Need You Around

If it isn’t obvious, I absolutely love music. I am always jamming or having it playing in the background no matter what I am doing. Music, because I cannot live without it, has also become a main part of my stories – almost becoming like a secondary character in some cases. My favorite musical genre would have to be what is considered to be classic rock from the 1960s and 70s but I am also a huge fan of the alternative rock scene of the 90s.

Below, I have posted Need You Around by Smoking Popes – a classic song from that alternative golden age that, in my opinion, fits in perfectly with Justin and Poppy from A Pocketful of Poppies. Give it a listen and let me know what you think. Just a fun rock song that I think really works with these particular characters and their story. Remember that if you have any song suggestions, I love to hear from you.

A Pocketful of Poppies - Part Three

Part three of A Pocketful of Poppies is posted on Fictionpress so please read the chapter and let me know what you think of it. I hope this version of Justin and Poppy is interesting. Hate it or love it? Just let me know. Thank you.

Fallon and Leah Theme

I have been on a Jeff Buckley kick lately and I was listening to his 1994 album “Grace” and the song Mojo Pin came on - one of my favorite songs by him. I kept listening to it on repeat and for some reason, I started thinking about Fallon Waverly and Leah Kutcher from The Waverly Myth. I have posted the song below if you are interested in listening to it.

Also, I am in the middle of writing chapter three for A Pocketful of Poppies but I just wanted to make sure that there were people still interested in reading another chapter about Justin and Poppy. Please let me know. Thank you. I hope you enjoy the song. Jeff Buckley has such a haunting, beautiful voice.

The Flower Girl - Chapter Thirteen

Part thirteen of The Flower Girl is posted on Fictionpress so please head over there and read it for me. Also let me know what you think if you want. Thank you very much to Michelle for the banner of Hawkin she made below. As most of you know, I love the artwork everyone makes for me and I always feel so honored that anyone would take the time and make anything for me.

DSotM - Chapter Four

Chapter four of Dark Side of the Moon is now posted on Fictionpress so please read it and let me know what you think. Thank you. I hope everyone has had a good weekend.

A Pocketful of Poppies - Part Two

Inspiration struck me and I had more ideas for Justin and Poppy in A Pocketful of Poppies and part two is now posted on Fictionpress. Please read and review and let me know what you think if you want. You know I always love hearing what you think of my updates.

Justin

Poppy

Poppy

I was working on the second part of A Pocketful of Poppies because I had more ideas for this story that I wanted to write down and I went onto one of my favorite websites, Flickr, to find a particular picture I had in mind to help with inspiration. Instead, I found these three pictures of a bedroom that someone had posted and I immediately fell in love with the setting. I also immediately pictured it as Poppy’s bedroom. The second part of the story takes place a lot of the time in her room and I wanted to have it imagined in my head. I think these pictures are perfect for Poppy.

I write every day. I love it and it truly makes me happy when I can sit down and create an entire world from my imagination. I might be posting before the holidays. I cannot help myself. I am not sure though. I do not want to promise anything. I know how busy everyone is with this insane holiday season.

Poppy and Justin, even though they are fictional, mean so much to me. It all started with Poppy and Justin. If I do update, is anyone interested in reading a second part to A Pocketful of Poppies? Let me know. Thank you.

Poppy

An Announcement

I know everyone is exceptionally busy with school, work and the holidays. Therefore, I will not be updating any of my stories until probably after the new year. Hopefully, by then, life for all of us will have slowed down considerably. Thank you and I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday.

~ Love Kate

A Pocketful of Poppies

I just posted a completely random one-shot about Justin and Poppy named A Pocketful of Poppies on Fictionpress. Please read it and let me know what you think of it if you want. Thank you in advance.

Poppy

Justin

DSotM - Chapter Three

Hi everyone. I hope you are enjoying your Sunday. Chapter three of The Dark Side of the Moon is posted so please read and let me know what you think if you want. Thank you to 7 Years for suggesting Sometimes (I Wish) by City and Colour for Turkish and Meg. It is the perfect song for the couple. You can listen to it below. Now, I am going to go take a nap. Thank you to everyone in advance.

The Flower Girl - Part Twelve

Please go to Fictionpress and read part twelve of The Flower Girl. As always, let me know what you think. I have been sick for the past couple of days so I hope it is up to par with the previous installments. Also, to 7 Years, thank you for the song suggestion for Turkish and Meg. I have been listening to it on repeat since you talked about it and next time I post the next chapter of Dark Side of the Moon, I am also going to post the song since I think it is perfect for that couple. Thank you to everyone in advance for reading and reviewing The Flower Girl for me.

DSotM - Chapter Two

Dark Side of the Moon, chapter two, is now up and ready to be read on Fictionpress so please head over there and give it a look for me. Let me know what you think. I really am enjoying Meg and Turkish and this idea I had. I am glad I went through with it. Also, I am working on the next part for The Flower Girl so hopefully, that will be up soon as well. Thank you very much.

Dark Side of the Moon

This concept has been stuck in my head for a couple weeks now and I wanted to start writing it since my mind refused to forget about it. There will either be two or three parts. I have not decided yet. Dark Side of the Moon, a companion piece to The Flower Girl, follows the beginning of the relationship between Turkish Forster and Margaret Lombard, Molly’s parents, and it is now posted on Fictionpress.com. Please check it out for me and let me know what you think about it. Thank you very much.

Young Meg

Young Turkish

The Prettiest Thing

If you are interested, I have been editing and posting The Prettiest Thing on Fictionpress. I have been combining chapters to make them much longer and changing a few things - though not too many things. Please read if you would like. At the moment, I have posted chapters up until Nick and Connie find out about Lyla and her car accident. I hope everyone has a good Monday. Thank you.

Ella Scott

A Pocketful of Poppies

As usual, my mind is running in twenty different directions but I cannot seem to help myself. If the post below is any indication, Justin Aldridge and Poppy Sheppard have been on my creative mind lately. Wonderwall was the first romance story I ever posted and my writing has improved much since then. I have always wanted to give Justin and Poppy a story that they, in my opinion, deserve.

A Pocketful of Poppies by Kate
Justin Aldridge has a gun being pointed at his face and he doesn’t know if the person is going to pull the trigger. Possibly about to die, instead of his life flashing before his eyes, he thinks of Poppy Sheppard, the only girl he has ever loved and her heart that he broke.

The first chapter would be of Justin when he is an adult and a police detective - an introduction to the man he has become - and the rest of the story would be a flashback to when he was in high school and met Poppy for the first time.

I do not know when I will post the first chapter. I am working on it as well as my other stories but I am excited about this one. I think I can make Wonderwall a much better story than what it currently is. I will, of course, let everyone know if/when the story is posted. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I still sometimes cannot believe how awesome all of you are to me.

Justin and Poppy

Please read the unfinished story below. It is of Justin and Poppy and would be an exert from Wonderwall - a missing scene from the story so to speak. This just came to me randomly and though I have to finish it, I am interested in seeing what everyone thinks about it. And I found the most beautiful, perfect pictures of Poppy Sheppard - more of which I will be posting later. Although Wonderwall is one of my - in my opinion - worst stories, it was the first one I ever posted and Justin and Poppy have always had a special place in my heart because of that. Also, please read part eleven of The Flower Girl if you want and let me know what you think. Thank you very much.

..XX..

A Pocketful of Poppies by Kate

She had the saddest smile he had ever seen.

Even when she was laughing, even when she looked as if she was happy, he saw something in her eyes; in her face. Where there should have been a brightness in her eyes, when her smile should have overtaken her entire face, that never happened. He would wait for it but it would never appear like it did for most people.

When Poppy Sheppard smiled, it passed across her pale pink lips like a ghost, barely appearing, barely staying, barely taking the time to fully form before disappearing.

Justin Aldridge normally wasn’t the type of person to watch those around him. He had a small world and it consisted only of his friends, basketball, school, his mom and plenty of ready and willing girls eager to be with him. He didn’t pay attention to anything around him but for some reason, Poppy Sheppard had caught his interest.

He watched her in the cafeteria as she sat at her usual table with her tight circle of friends. They were loud, boisterous, always joking and making fun of one another, and she never seemed as if she fit in with them. She smiled and laughed along with them but when Justin truly started watching her, he noticed that she seemed to always be so far away when she did so. Her eyes never lit up. Her smile was faint, brushing over her face.

Justin watched her, wondering what would truly make her smile.

Before he started watching her, Justin had never noticed how beautiful Poppy Sheppard was before. Her long, brown curly hair, tumbling down to almost the small of her back, her dark brown eyes, pale rose lips, pale skin. When his eyes seemed unable to leave her, he didn’t understand why he had never noticed her sooner than he did. He had been going to school with Poppy since they were both in kindergarten but he didn’t first see her, truly see her, until they were juniors in high school.

He started watching her in their shared English class. She didn’t talk a lot but whenever Mr. Gardocki called on her to answer a question, she always knew the answer. Most of the time, she spent the forty-minute class period staring out the window. Justin sat in the row next to hers, a couple seats back, and he began passing the time in class by watching her watch the world outside.

She wasn’t like the other girls he surrounded himself with. Her hair wasn’t dyed a bleach blonde and her skin wasn’t tanned to an unnatural shade of bronze. She didn’t wear clothes that left nothing to the imagination. She wore jeans and tee-shirts and hooded sweatshirts with Converse or Puma sneakers. She dressed for comfort instead of for fashion and Justin really didn’t hang out with girls who did the same.

The girls he knew wore outfits that made them look so much older than seventeen and eighteen years old. And though their short skirts were easy to maneuver around while in the backseat of a car, Justin was intrigued with Poppy’s complete lack of sluttiness.

He was the most intrigued by her smile though and the fact that she never seemed to actually produce a real one.

Justin didn’t talk to her. They were in two completely different social circles and he didn’t know if he had ever actually talked to her before. He wanted to though and he was Justin Aldridge. He could talk to any girl he wanted.

Already though, he knew that Poppy Sheppard was different.

He supposed that he had had preconceived notions about her. She was a nerd, a bookworm, a genius, a skater – mainly because of the others she hung out with. Of course, before he started watching her, Justin hadn’t thought much of her at all. She was just another face in the crowd, another girl that went to the same high school. Someone he didn’t know but knew of.

The rain had pouring down all day and Justin got out of basketball practice around five o'clock when the sky was completely black and the rain poured down in thick torrents that made visibility weak. He ran across the parking lot towards where his car was parked. His mom had told him to wear his raincoat that day but like most stubborn teenagers, he hadn’t wanted to and his sweatshirt was completely soaked and plastered to his body by the time he unlocked his car doors and slid in the front seat behind the wheel.

He sat up slightly, looking at his reflection in the rearview mirror, rubbing a hand through his dripping wet dark shaggy hair. He needed to get home and change his clothes. The basketball season had its game opener in three days and the last thing Justin, the team’s starring point guard, needed was to go and get sick because he refused to listen to his mom and wear a stupid raincoat that day.

He drove carefully, his windshield wipers on at full speed but the street in front of him was still too hard to see. He wasn’t sure how but he managed to see a flash of red walking down the sidewalk. Slowing the car down, he peered out his window, trying to see who was stupid enough to be walking through that storm.

He stopped the car completely when he saw dark brown curls sticking out from underneath the hood and he rolled down his window.

“Poppy?” He shouted out, trying to be heard over the low rumble of thunder shaking off in the distance.

The person stopped walking and turned her head. He smiled when he saw that it was her. Lucky guess.

“What are you doing?” He asked, sticking his head out the window.

“What does it look like?” She shouted back. “I'm walking home.”

“Couldn’t one of your friends give you a ride?”

“Not today, they couldn’t,” she said with a shake of her head and then began walking again.

Justin put the car in reverse and slowly followed her. She stopped once she realized what he was doing and turned her head to look at him again. He smiled at her.

“Let me give you a ride.”

She stared at him for a moment as if she didn’t quite comprehend the words he had just spoken and he smirked. It was a bit strange. Justin Aldridge, a boy she didn’t even know, offering Poppy Sheppard a ride home.

“If you haven’t noticed, Justin, we are heading in two opposite directions.”

He smirked a bit wider. “I don’t mind. Let me give you a ride. It’s pouring and it feels pretty dry in my car.”

Poppy hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip, looking up the street for a moment. Justin watched her as she pondered his offer. He really didn’t know why he only started noticing her. In English class, her answers to questions asked were always well-thought out and intelligent even though it looked like she was a thousand miles away when her name was called. And that sad smile of hers… he didn’t know why but he was almost becoming obsessed with that ghost-like smile and his determination was growing.

For some reason unknown to him, Justin wanted to get her to give him a real smile. He didn’t even know her and yet, getting a smile out of her was his newest goal.

“Come on, Pops,” he said, using the nickname he heard her friends use towards her. “No funny business. Just a ride wherever you need to go.”

Poppy gave him a doubtful look. “Somehow, I think you are incapable of getting a girl in your car and just giving them a ride.”

“Oh, I give plenty of them rides,” Justin grinned and then laughed when she rolled her eyes in disgust. “Come on.”

She looked at him for a moment before sighing heavily and Justin grinned again. He leaned over the seat, unlocking her door as she crossed in front of the car to get in, sliding into the front passenger seat. She knocked the hood of her red raincoat back from her head and he immediately directed one of the heat vents towards her so the warm air blew directly onto her.

“Thanks,” she said softly and he saw the perpetual sadness on her face had returned.

He shifted the car back into drive and pulled into someone’s driveway so he could turn around. “Where do you live?”

“Covington subdivision,” she answered, scrunching the ends of her wet hair and he nodded, heading in the opposite direction of which he was originally heading.

“Comedown” by Bush was playing through his stereo at the moment and Gavin Rossdale’s voice sang softly through the speakers. Justin kept glancing over at her, debating whether or not he should try talking to her. He talked to dozens of girls ever day but this was different. Poppy Sheppard was different. He would actually have to make an effort with her. He couldn’t just use who he was as a way to get ahead with her. Poppy wouldn’t fall for his typical “I'm Justin Aldridge” line.

He wet his lips with the tip of his tongue, his fingers tightening slightly around the steering wheel. “You coming to the game on Friday?” He asked.

Poppy glanced at him before staring back out the windshield. “Basketball, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know. My friends and I… we aren’t really into school sports like that,” she said softly and he smirked.

“That’s obvious.”

Poppy looked at him. “What does that mean?”

“Your friend, Brady, he’s always surrounded by his own stratosphere.” Justin shook his head slightly. “You sit anywhere near some of your friends and you can get high.”

She stared at him for a moment and then shrugged. “Just something they do. Doesn’t mean I do it.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that you did it,” Justin said, looking at her again, slowly easing the car to a stop at an intersection with a red light.

Justin

Poppy

The Flower Girl - Part Eleven

Part eleven of The Flower Girl is posted now on Fictionpress.com so please check it out for me and let me know what you think. Below, there is a picture of the tree without roots in the ground which is introduced in this newest part. And also, Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I am very excited. If you have time, please read The Flower Girl when you can. Thank you.

The Flower Girl - Part Ten

I just posted part ten of The Flower Girl on Fictionpress.com and I really do like this chapter and the insight into Hawkin it gives. Please check it out and let me know what you think. Also, it was so strange but when I went to go see The Dark Knight, the trailer for Watchmen showed before it and they played “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” by Smashing Pumpkins - one of my favorite bands of all time. A few days later, 7 years emailed me and let me know that that was the perfect song for The Flower Girl and I could not agree more. The words, the mood, the music itself fits the elements of my story so also, please listen to it posted below. Thank you.

Molly and Hawkin

Thank you so much to Michelle who made the video before for The Flower Girl.

“Hello Kate, The Flower Girl is one of my favorite stories, so I made a video slide show for it. I hope you like it! Thank you for writing such an amazing story!”

It was so weird because I was writing part ten of this story and all of a sudden, this video pops up in my mailbox so thank you, Michelle, for taking the time to make it. Please, everyone, watch the movie and let her know what you think. I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Fallon and Leah

Thank you very much to Ashley who made the video below for Fallon Waverly and Leah Kutcher of The Waverly Myth. “Kate - I hope you like the short little slideshow I made for my favorite couple, Fallon and Leah. They are my new personal favorite that you have created and I am hoping to make a video for them eventually if I can find clips.”

Please watch and let Ashley know what you think. Thank you.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The Beginning of Eden - Chap. Three

Chapter three of The Beginning of Eden is posted on Fictionpress.com and ready to be read and reviewed. Let me know what you think of it if you want. Thank you.

Quick Note

I know I have been updating like crazy and I know that most are too busy to read anything but I also updated The Prettiest Thing on Fictionpress. I have combined chapters and added and edited some things. AFF has been giving me problems lately so I am not sure I will update there anymore. If I do, I will let you know but my new stories are on Fictionpress.com now. I will try to slow down with updating though and give everyone a chance to read whichever update interests them. Thank you.

Winter Solstice - Chap. Two

Chapter two of Winter Solstice is now posted on Fictionpress.com. What does everyone think of this story so far? All four main characters are now introduced and chapters will be longer from now on. I am having fun writing this story and I hope some are having fun reading it. Please let me know what you think of it. Thank you. Also, part nine of The Flower Girl is also posted if you are interested in reading it. Thank you very much again.

Libby

The Flower Girl - Part IX

I was completely bitten with the inspiration bug today and updated part nine of The Flower Girl, now posted on Fictionpress. I love the way this chapter turned out so please read it and let me know what you think of it. Thank you very much.

Winter Solstice - Chap. One

So, I got so excited for this story that I wrote the first chapter yesterday because I wanted to get it posted and see what people thought. Chapter one of Winter Solstice is on Fictionpress.com so please head over there and check it out for me. The first chapter is a bit shorter than my usual lengths but this is just an introduction of sorts. I am really excited for this story and I hope it turns out the way I have it planned in my head. Thanks a lot everyone and enjoy your Sunday. I bought this amazingly warm fleece blanket from Target yesterday so at least, today, I am a bit warmer. How is everyone else?

Story Idea

Hi, everyone. I hope everyone is having a good Saturday so far. It is freezing here and I am trying to stay warm while watching Lifetime movies - which can be rather addicting. I have a new story idea now that The Waverly Myth is completed and I want to post the summary as well as character pictures to see what others think. Please let me know in the comments section if this sounds good or not. The story would take place in a span of 24 hours and would focus on four main characters and their intersecting lives and stories.

Winter Solstice by Kate
A lot can happen on the longest night of the year. Meg, Lou, Libby and Tom are four complete strangers, living completely different lives. But on this night, their paths will cross in the most unexpected of ways, giving each other just what they need and what they have always wanted.

Meg

Lou

Libby

Tom

The Waverly Myth - Chap. Twelve

The twelfth and final chapter of The Waverly Myth is posted on Fictionpress.com so please, read it for me. I am extremely proud of this story and though I lost many readers along the way, thank you to those who stuck with it for me. I am not sure what I will be updating next. I have been writing constantly with this story and Ghetto Gospel and I have been losing a lot of people who used to enjoy my stories so I think I am going to take a break and hopefully, I will come back with a story that everyone will love. Thank you very much and Happy Friday (finally)!

The Waverly Myth - Chap. Eleven

One more chapter to go before this story is finished. The end is very near and I promise to give this story as happy a ending as possible. Please read chapter eleven of The Waverly Myth now on Fictionpress.com and let me know what you think of it. Thank you very much.

Mike and Harlow