Wednesday 10 April 2013

An A-Z Story - I


Incredibly, we're approaching the halfway point of the Challenge. Hope everyone's still feeling inspired!

My theme is as follows: each day I will ask for words beginning with that day's letter, which I will randomly select five from to use in a sentence in an ongoing story. That sentence will be posted the next day when I'll ask for words for the next letter. So my Z sentence will appear on May 1st.

Thank you for the impressive selection of H words yesterday, 223 in all. Here are the five which I had to integrate into my story:

Headache (suggested by Scribbles From Jenn)
Harried (suggested by Elizabeth Seckman)
Horrendous (suggested by Mel)
Hilarious (suggested by Jean Davis)
Hemp (suggested by lostinsidethecovers)

So now we have:


Angels had always had a certain ambiguity, being both human and divine, reflected Acatour with an acute sense of malaise as he looked down on the arable fields of medieval England. A bird flew past making a belligerent shriek, unnerved it seemed by a boggart; Acatour descended, thinking it would take a brainiac like him to unravel the poor soul’s beginnings and why it had not reached Heaven.
     York Cathedral hove into view, shrouded in wooden scaffold as part of the local bishop’s campaign of restoration; but before he could challenge a carpenter over whether any of his colleagues had fallen to their doom, his presence was announced by the crawdad he’d eaten back in 20th century New Orleans repeating on him. He wiped dribble from his chin as the remains of the crustacean narrowly missed the workmen to land in the dew of the graveyard, berating himself for his debauched and unangelic behaviour the previous night; why did that dame have to desert him? The effervescent Ella had always been eager for exciting adventures, but when he’d asked her to accompany him on this esoteric time travel mission, she’d called him a crazy drunk and left.
     It did sound rather fabulous, in the true sense of the word, he thought to himself as he descended further before landing on an empty area of scaffold, all the better for making himself visible; next to him was some viscous fluid, making him think that any fall from this precarious structure would surely be a fluke. Stepping away from the gel-like substance, he felt something watching him and turned to see a Gardengoyle on the wall next to a carved bunch of grapes, which caused the gregarious sounds of the workmen to die away as two thoughts rang clearly in his head: what was it doing here, and did he detect guilt in the creature’s eyes?
     That horrendous stare was starting to give Acatour a headache when a workman with a harried expression shimmied up onto the platform via a hemp rope, his arrival causing an apparently hilarious reaction in the Gardengoyle.

I await your inventive I words! You can offer as many as you like, and they can be as obscure and outlandish as you like (feel free to use a dictionary for inspiration). The more words you suggest, the more chance you have of one being picked. It doesn't matter if you suggest the same word as someone else (as I know not everyone always has time to read all the comments); each will count as its own entry.

A couple of people asked yesterday what I planned to do with the story after A-Z has finished. Well, it will probably be a bit short to publish, but I really like Acatour and I'd like to feature him in more stories. I like the idea of a slightly cynical, hard-bitten angel, travelling through history solving crimes, who has very human foibles like alcohol and women. He's probably a renegade from heaven, a maverick angel who wants to do things on his own terms. And he wouldn't have materialised without all your help, so thank you!

54 comments:

J.L. Murphey said...

Inquisitive
Inquiry/ inquire
Instinct
Interesting
Innate
Irate

Dee @ A Deecoded Life said...

I like Angel Detective Acatour!

Invisible
Incredible
Instantaneous
Intelligent
Insiduous
Icing
Indescribable

Elise Fallson said...

I'm going to offer up Matthew MacNish's word he posted for I, Incubus!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Elise's suggestion is good. I offer inky.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

itinerant
invincible
idea
ignorant
illicit

Sally said...

iguana
itinerant
ice cream

Shell Flower said...

I love that you've discovered a new character through this story.

Innovation
Irradiate
Industrious
Irie
Insomniac
Istanbul
Irish
Implications

Jean Davis said...

Oh yay, one of my words made it in the story. :)

Indigo
Idiot
Ignores
Icicles

Ella said...

imp
ingenue
intrigue
idea
ingrown
inflate
infringe
ice storm
ice
iconic


Great job Nick!

Bish Denham said...

interrupt
interpret
irresistible
irreverent
Irish
irksome
ice
iPad
illegible


Kate said...

I totally love this idea for the A to Z Challenge. Now for some i words. Hmmm...
iridescent
indisputable
incinerate
insipid

ilima said...

invisible
ice cream
illegal
irksome
iguana
illustration

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Nick ... Italy, Indigo, Indian ... and on and on ... cheers enjoy your selection .. Invisible too ...

Cheers Hilary

Cassie Mae said...

OH! I'd definitely go out and get this story if you elaborate on it :)

I words may be hard. Lemme see...

Imagination
Imagery
Inkling
Ithica (I swear that's a word, lol)
Illusion
Inept

Mel said...

This is getting better and better!
Ingenious
Igloo
Industrial
Infomercial
Imp

cleemckenzie said...

Half way! I can hardly believe it, but thanks for reminding me that I stand a chance in finishing.


As to those I words: Incubus, Inaccurate, Icy, Inconsolable

jaybird said...

Can't believe we are halfway through! Great job on the story.

Imp
Ink
Ice Cream
Ireland

Al Diaz said...

instill
inspiration
interrupt
incredible
invincible

Unknown said...

Intrinsic
Insane
Ill-advised.

Julie Flanders said...

I want to know what the gargoyle found so hilarious.

Instinct
Illicit
Igloo
Ingredients

Unknown said...

Just stopping by to see how you work all those words in. Well done!

nutschell said...

invincible
indigo
inept
:D
great post!
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Clare said...

I like Acatour, and look forwards to see you working him into other writing.

Great job again today.

For I I offer:

Inspiration
Insipid
Insignia
Immortal
Immoral

Mark Means said...

I'm liking this flash and maverick angels always make for interesting protagonists :)

My "I" words:

Iron
Inventive
Impetuous
Inquiry
Ivory

Cynthia said...

inventions
independent
igloo
ignorant
inception

Christine Rains said...

That would be awesome to see a bigger story with this renegade angel! Here are my I words: idiom, igloo, immune, indulgence, and ivory.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Thank you for using my word on Tuesday. Sorry I didn't come by until today.

I'll give you a fun one today - Ithaqua. It's a Lovecraft creature also knows as a Death-walker or a Wendigo.

Samantha May said...

Awesome, as usual! I cannot believe we're almost half way there either.

Igloo
Isotope
Iridescent
Immobile
Isle
Ivory
Indigenous

Carol Kilgore said...

igloo
ice
ickiness
ivory
itch
Indianola
inch
into
I
it
ischemic

Jackie said...

illogical
instantaneous
inert

That's all I can think of. :/
Great story so far, Nick!

Gwen Gardner said...

I'm still thrilled for Gardengoyle getting picked yesterday! They're such awesome creatures.

Indispensable
Inter-dimensional
Independibus
Icky
Immortal

Tyrean Martinson said...

Impressionable
Immersion
Immense
Imagine
Invitation

Nick Wilford said...

Thanks for the influx of words, everyone! :D

Rebecca Green Gasper said...

What a great story so far :) Very creative!

Unknown said...

Wow, my word made it in your story, thanks! Of course I love it. Although I am sorry Acatour got a headache, too.
Jenn @Scribbles From Jenn

immerse
impossible
I
idiosyncratic
igloo
India
illegible
ice

Heather R. Holden said...

Wow, it's almost the halfway point already?! Crazy!

itchy
illness
icy
icicle
inferno
infinity
infamy
irksome
illusion
iffy
invincible
interview
island

Unknown said...

I can't think of any useful words, but I like all the alliteration in your story. Keep writing! :-)

Unknown said...

You get the prize for the most original theme. What a fun idea! So my vote for I is idea.

Anonymous said...

this is such fun :)
itinerary
idol
invisible
ink
insurgent

Anonymous said...

Here I was all ready to give you juxtaposition for J. Instead I'll give you inkfish for I. Incorporate an octopus in tomorrow's story and wrap the whole thing up in a giant ocean's bow:)

loverofwords said...

je ne sais quoi
jest
jilt
joust
I think your theme is kinetic.

Carrie Butler said...

I love that this theme created a character in your mind. :D

infinite
instant
idiocy

Kathryn Thornton said...

I like your take on Acatour. If I read that character description I would read the book.

invincible
incessant
Inebriated- since you said he likes to drink.

Krista McLaughlin said...

It's turning out so well! :)

Inspector Gadget


Yep, try using that one. :)

NV said...

I know it's late, but I'll try to squeeze some in:
ill
Irk
Incongruous
Incognito
Impervious
Impossible!
Island
Implement

Anonymous said...

Iridescent, impetigo, inexplicable, indigo, importance

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Interesting
igloo
ink

Rhonda Albom said...

Fantastic story. And this is so much fun.

Igloo
interesting
impossible
invisible
idiot

Tara Tyler said...

insidious
ironic
indubitably
insatiable
incompetent

but i think im too late foe today...

love it!

Ciara said...

Half way done? It's spring break this week, so that gives me hope. I fell way behind.

I is for Infectious.

It's the name of my son's band.

Michelle Wallace said...

Almost halfway there! Go Nick go!

Inspiration
Imagination
Iridescence
Insatiable
Innovative

Writer In Transit

Grammy Staffy said...

What a cleaver way to do this challenge. I would add independence to the list.

Nick Wilford said...

I'm running late today, but just about ready to select my I words from this impressive inventory. Thank you all!

Anonymous said...

inebriated
influx
Icarus
idol
incident

:-)