A quick thank you.
A quick thank you to all those that have been following me this last week, reposting and tweeting my posts as well as checking the website for updates. I thank you so much and seeing numbers like I have been seeing put a fire underneath me to work harder and faster because there are people waiting to read the next part of the story. Knowing that their are readers out there wanting to know what happens next and seeing the hits on the website and social media really encourage me. So again, thank you.
Nicholas K.R. Clausen.
Nicholas K.R. Clausen.
From the classroom
As some of you may know, and some may not, I am currently in school for my Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. What comes with that is a lot of writing that you guys have never read. I have to write everything from short stories to novellas and even plot out full on novels. I was working on a piece today, only a little bigger than 500 words, and I thought it was not half bad. We will have to see what my Professor thinks about it. I decided to post it here and if you guys seem to like it, I will post more of my classroom writings here. Hope you guys enjoy the short story, Jessica's Bonfire.
The fire had begun to die, the brightest flames started to dwindle to nothing more than embers and ashes. It was time, but Jessica stayed a little while longer.
She lifted the cigarette to her cheap, Maybelline rep lipstick covered lips for another drag. It was a matte 695 Divine Wine-red lipstick if anyone cared, but no one ever did.
No one ever noticed Jessica, but they would after tonight. The flames from the bonfire she had made in her backyard finally extinguished completely. The coldness of the Autumn night air crept in like monsters waiting for the light to go out in your room before sneaking out of your closet and from under your bed.
Jessica pulled her new American Eagle hoodie, bought just for tonight, a little tighter around her large midsection. The kids at school called her Biscuits, but her mom said she was perfect the way she was. She had tried to tell the kids at school what her mother had said, but they didn’t listen. No one ever heard her.
Jessica could feel her adrenalin pulsing through her veins with every heartbeat, and she tried to prolong what was about to happen a little while longer. She knew what she had to do, but she didn’t necessarily want to do it.
Why hadn’t they all come to her bonfire like they said they were going to?
Why hadn’t they tried to be friends with her?
Not a single person showed up, and she had gone on to Facebook to see why not. That’s where she found Sara Jinkins’s posts about the Standing Up Jessica Party. She had kept it a hidden group and everyone that Jessica had invited to her bonfire had gone to Sara’s party instead. A party that was nothing more but a giant middle finger to her.
Jessica felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes, but she knew she couldn’t cry, not yet. It would ruin her new make up she had begged her mom for. She would cry, not until everyone else was crying first.
She pulled the cigarette up again, but as she put it to her lips, she watched the glow of the burning tobacco claw its way to the filter and go out, just like the fire. Just like her hopes for a normal life.
With nothing else to do and nothing else to hold her back, she knew it was time for her to leave and pay a little visit to the Standing Up Jessica Party. She just hoped they wouldn’t mind her plus one.
“Let's go.” Her voice cracked with fear, pain, humiliation and half a dozen other teenage emotions. She turned on her heels and marched through the dirt, following the path that led back to her parent's house where her 2001 Ford Focus was waiting.
As she walked, her feet tossed dirt over the pentagram she had drawn in the soil and the smears of blood that had come from her hand.
The fire was dead, and almost all light was gone, but there was enough for Jessica to see the shadow begin to follow after her.
“They will remember me after tonight.” She said to herself.
The fire had begun to die, the brightest flames started to dwindle to nothing more than embers and ashes. It was time, but Jessica stayed a little while longer.
She lifted the cigarette to her cheap, Maybelline rep lipstick covered lips for another drag. It was a matte 695 Divine Wine-red lipstick if anyone cared, but no one ever did.
No one ever noticed Jessica, but they would after tonight. The flames from the bonfire she had made in her backyard finally extinguished completely. The coldness of the Autumn night air crept in like monsters waiting for the light to go out in your room before sneaking out of your closet and from under your bed.
Jessica pulled her new American Eagle hoodie, bought just for tonight, a little tighter around her large midsection. The kids at school called her Biscuits, but her mom said she was perfect the way she was. She had tried to tell the kids at school what her mother had said, but they didn’t listen. No one ever heard her.
Jessica could feel her adrenalin pulsing through her veins with every heartbeat, and she tried to prolong what was about to happen a little while longer. She knew what she had to do, but she didn’t necessarily want to do it.
Why hadn’t they all come to her bonfire like they said they were going to?
Why hadn’t they tried to be friends with her?
Not a single person showed up, and she had gone on to Facebook to see why not. That’s where she found Sara Jinkins’s posts about the Standing Up Jessica Party. She had kept it a hidden group and everyone that Jessica had invited to her bonfire had gone to Sara’s party instead. A party that was nothing more but a giant middle finger to her.
Jessica felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes, but she knew she couldn’t cry, not yet. It would ruin her new make up she had begged her mom for. She would cry, not until everyone else was crying first.
She pulled the cigarette up again, but as she put it to her lips, she watched the glow of the burning tobacco claw its way to the filter and go out, just like the fire. Just like her hopes for a normal life.
With nothing else to do and nothing else to hold her back, she knew it was time for her to leave and pay a little visit to the Standing Up Jessica Party. She just hoped they wouldn’t mind her plus one.
“Let's go.” Her voice cracked with fear, pain, humiliation and half a dozen other teenage emotions. She turned on her heels and marched through the dirt, following the path that led back to her parent's house where her 2001 Ford Focus was waiting.
As she walked, her feet tossed dirt over the pentagram she had drawn in the soil and the smears of blood that had come from her hand.
The fire was dead, and almost all light was gone, but there was enough for Jessica to see the shadow begin to follow after her.
“They will remember me after tonight.” She said to herself.
New Cover! New Title! New Book Coming soon!
Book 3 is out and ready for your to read!
e-copies $3.99 Paperback $15.99
News
A new blog?
We are making a new section here on the website where I will review books, movies, and other things pop culture. Let me know if there is anything you want to know my take on.
Ummm.. the website looks different.
Yup, the website looks different. And, incase you haven't noticed. The url has changed as well. Welcome to the Nicholasclausen.com website. With The Dragon Riders of Arvain nearing the final book, I thought it would be a good idea to change the direction of the website and make it a little more focused on what all is about to happen. Looking to the future, not the past here.
Time to post on the Blog, Its all about Reading.
I love reading, a lot.
Q & A with Nicholas K.R. Clausen
Each week we are taking your questions and asking Nicholas. If you have a question for him, please fill out the Question Form below and we will do our best to make sure that it gets to him and that it gets answered. This weeks question is-“Where do your ideas come from?”
Answer- From the same place all ideas come from, my mind hole. Everyone has one and they are filled with great ideas and terrible ones. They grow and weaken as the seasons change. They are fed and starved just like any living thing. Some times the only thing on my mind is dragons while at other times, other things that will hopefully be put to paper and given life one day.
Answer- From the same place all ideas come from, my mind hole. Everyone has one and they are filled with great ideas and terrible ones. They grow and weaken as the seasons change. They are fed and starved just like any living thing. Some times the only thing on my mind is dragons while at other times, other things that will hopefully be put to paper and given life one day.
New Contest!!
I think it is about time for another contest, but this one is going to be a little different. I am thinking that instead of doing a typical contest, how about we just do an E-Copy bonanza? We make the E-Copies for The Clash of Land and Sea free for a weekend, how does that sound? Hit me up on twitter and let me know.
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If you have any questions or would like to submit any original art work for our Gallery please send an email to
DRidersofarvain@hotmail.com |
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Meet the Author-
Nicholas was born in Fort Knox Kentucky. His parents were both in the United States Army at the time so moving around every few years quickly became a part of his life. This gave him the gift of being able to call the whole world his home. The only constant that he found on every base and every new home were his books.
At a young age Nicholas quickly became lost in the world of literature, always veering off towards fantasy and science fiction. As he grew older stories filled with adventure and in breathtaking faraway places began taking root in his mind. It wasn’t until later on down the road that he began to give life to these adventures. In 2011 Nicholas began to pen the story that would be called The Dragon Riders of Arvain.
amazon.com/author/nicholasclausen
Thank you for doing me the honor of taking the time to read my novel. I hope that you have found it enjoyable and that you will join me in my further adventures as we continue on with The Dragon Riders of Arvain series.
Sincerely,
Nicholas K. R. Clausen
Sincerely,
Nicholas K. R. Clausen