  Action/Adventure
This week: Oh! Itchy! Creepy! Edited by: Legerdemain  
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Oh! Itchy! Creepy!
If someone prompted you with the word BUGS, you'd probably think of spiders. Okay, well I do. What came to mind were cobwebs, spiders, spooky mansions and tarantulas. A sort of Halloween theme of the mind. But since this is the Action / Adventure newsletter, let's talk about insects of the adventuring sort.
Take a simple hike nearby and bring home a generous sampling of critters to discuss. Tick, chiggers, mosquitoes and fleas. Many people have had to deal with them on our person, or on our pets after adventuring. Think about how a tiny insect could have an impact on your writing. Ticks can give humans and pets Lyme's disease. The first sign of this is a bulls-eye rash and a fever three to seven days after being bitten. If not treated, this disease can sometimes manifest moths to years later with problems like Bells-Palsy (loss of muscle tone on one or both sides of the face), swelling of the joints or arthritis. Chiggers cause the scabies rash on humans and mange on dogs. When a chigger bites, it leaves the feeding tube stuck in it's victim (wonderfully icky, right?), and the rash forms around the tubes. Mosquitoes are generally whiny and annoying, but some people are allergic to the saliva the mosquito injects when it bites. Their bites can transmit malaria, West Nile virus, yellow fever and various causes of brain infections. The good news is fleas rarely transmit diseases...they just multiply like crazy and make everyone and everything itch from their bites. Now think about lice and bedbugs...all of this and I haven't even touched on spiders. You'll have to research all that on your own.
Now these are just a few common insects, think about your action / adventure character and what locale they are in. What are the most common insects that would be bothersome? What uncommon insect could cause illness, disorientation or even unconsciousness? How could you use that in your plot line? Feverish humans are often delusional and misunderstand the situation they could be in. How could that be used? Maybe revealing information they didn't want exposed? Perhaps bringing in a medical team would add more dialog and dimension to your scene. Small as an insect might be, they could have a big impact on your story.
So when you get done scratching...write on!
This month's question: Have you used insects in your stories? Which kind?
Send in your reply below!  I appreciate feedback, thanks!
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Excerpt: Many a night Troy would lie in bed and cringe with fear as Goldilocks was eaten by the three bears, or the big bad wolf ended up with a stomach full of Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother, or the three little pigs would end up homeless, or worse yet, they wound up in their wolf’s stomach. Troy sometimes wondered if it was the same wolf who was committing these heinous acts, so he asked his dad one time. Mr. Campbell didn’t answer; he simply smiled, shut off the light, and walked out the door.
Excerpt: “Madame,” she said, “my only duty is to grant you three wishes.” Her expression said she wasn't used to being greeted in such a manner.
Excerpt: An unfortunate large grasshopper, which had jumped the wrong way, ended up partially trapped in the thick fibers of a black widow’s nest. I watched as it valiantly struggled and sought to fend off the approaching black widow.
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#1544479 by Not Available. |
Excerpt: “I was just having a snack while I finish my book, only there was something gross in my strawberry yogurt. Ew, look, it was a bug.”
Excerpt: As soon as her flesh made contact with the caterpillar’s spines, she squealed. Ernesto looked up to see his wife shaking her hand, trying to remove the creature. Tears began to roll from the corners of her eyes. “It stings,” she shrieked as several more dropped onto her from above. He whipped off his shirt and began slapping at his wife until the caterpillars were knocked onto the ground. She managed to shake the one on her hand free and, clutching each other protectively, they made a dash for the house heedlessly crushing caterpillars under their feet. The odor quickly permeated the area and had them reeling, but they made it inside and Ernesto locked the door behind them.
Excerpt: And summer meant this, lying in the grass, watching the world pass so slowly by, staring into the glass jar at a little insect and wondering what it must feel to live like that. It was called a seventeen year locust for a reason. Seventeen years this insect spent as a juvenile, burrowed deep under the ground, having no real life at all. Seventeen years, longer then he's been alive. What it must feel to sleep for that long and then awake, new and grown.
| |  | The Bug (13+)
Insects spread a virus creating a pandemic of vampires.
#888872 by Kotaro  |
Excerpt: Jason looks at his hand, “I got it. It was sucking your blood.” He shows me his hand, a delicate yellow insect like a miniature origami, is squashed there. My mind plays back the fossil Archaeopteryx. My mouth hangs open wordless.
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This month's question: Have you used insects in your stories? Which kind?
Send in your reply below!
Last month's question: What are some of your greatest death scenes?
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Action/Adventure: July 24, 2013 Issue [#5804]
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