Sunday, November 24, 2013

Terribleminds : FLASH FICTION CHALLENGE: 200 WORDS AT A TIME, PART ONE

“Omega squadron…welcome aboard the T.A.Corvette-Niblack. I’m Commander Harden. We’ll have a formal briefing tomorrow at 0830. For now get acclimated to the Niblack.  I’ll have my X-O escort you pilots to the mess hall…we rescued eight slaves from the Altair 7 mining colony…they are helping out in the mess hall until we can transfer them to a colony.
     “One last thing …all you new pilots…when you finish your meals; raise your hand…do not… leave …until a steward clears your plate…no talk or eye contact with them…If they ask for your forgiveness…you nod your head… again; don’t… leave… until they take your plate. “ The Colonel chewed his lip, and wiped his eyes. “Or I’ll flush you out of a airlock.”

     “Why forgiveness, Sir?”

     “They were mining slaves on Altair 7…most of their families died of starvation…they’ll sit down and finish your food for you. But…the waste…they are ashamed… of the hate they feel towards you… Squadron dismissed!”

     Commander Harden flipped the intercom switch and walked over to the nav. Station. He was reviewing the course projections when Col. Markson of the newly arrived squadron walked over as well.

     “Altair 7 was a mechanized mining operation.”


     “It reduces waste.” Harden replied.

Janet Reid...flash fiction contest 11-22-13 runner


Friday, November 22, 2013

I love writing contests alot!

I love my alots.
I love my alots a lot!


The alot is the creation of Allie Brosh whose new book Hyperbole and a Half generated a fist fight here at FPLM when one copy turned up early and we all wanted it.

And I know you all will want a copy too cause it's, after all, alot of book!

So, let's have a writing contest!

Usual rules:
Write a story with 100 or fewer words. (Every word counts, including the title if you use one; you don't have to)

Post the story in the comments column of this blog post when the contest is open.

The contest opens at 9am Saturday 11/23 and closes at 9am Sunday 11/24.  All times are Eastern Shark time.

[Make sure your entry appears!  There should be no lag time between posting your entry and seeing it appear. If you do NOT see your entry, tweet to me @Janet_Reid and I'll try to help you.]

Do not post anything BUT entries in the comment section, ok? If you want to offer kudos or observations, wait till the results post on Monday. (your comments will just get deleted and you don't want that)


Use the following words in your story:

lot
heroic
caring
alert
flammable
So this is my entry....sorta based on the book concept Runner...by Patrick Lee. (I loved his Breach trilogy)


No one chooses their lot in life… it’s a genetic crapshoot.

The five man squad flanked her. They herded her with flashlights mounted on semi-automatic rifles. She dodged their lights… like she was flammable, protected by darkness.

The girl; weak but alert… was a delicate porcelain figure in a blackened landscape, scrambling for her life.

He watched… thought of his wife and daughter that he couldn’t save last year.

Without caring about his safety… wasn’t heroic just instinctive, he swept down.  He felt the caress of angel’s feathers, as he took the girl under his wing.

Then they ran.

Runner

Another Janet Reid blog flash fiction contest

Friday, November 15, 2013

The paint yourself into a corner writing contest

Yes, the painting continues.
Yes, I'm out of my mind.
Yes, I've repainted one wall...one ACCENT wall...six times.
Yes, this is getting out of hand.

When things get out of hand it's time to have a writing contest.

Usual rules this week: write a story with 100 words or fewer.  Post the entry in the comments column of this blog post. Comments will open when the contest does: 7am Saturday 11/16/13. The contest will close at 7am on Sunday 11/17/13.

Use these words in the story:
straw
butterfly
wing
sage
peach

You must use the entire word but it can be part of a larger word if you elect:

Strawberry is ok; SS Trawler is not.
Butterfly is ok, butterflies is NOT

Bonus points if you know what the common thread is for those words.

If you need a mulligan, delete your entry and repost. Only ONE entry per person is allowed.

Questions? Tweet to me @Janet_Reid or ask on the Facebook page where the contest is posted


Results:



(5) french sojourn 12:35pm

“Elmer, you can’t un-ring a bell.” Lloyd said.

“Say I was to go back… like twenty years, and yank out them strawberries by the sage bushes over ta Fred’s backyard. And… perhaps I planted a peach tree they-ah.”

“Well there’d be a fuckin peach tree they-ah, it’s called the butterfly effect Elmer.”

“Then I could change history...wouldn’t have to worry bout the possibility of a time line paradox?”

“Elmer…Einstein’s Closed time like curve wouldn’t allow it.With all due respect to your Appalachian American heritage…there ain’t no way you can wing it back to your prom night… and un-kiss your sister.”

The contest submittals are getting better as I feel my writing is improving...but there are so many great writers out there. Real fun to now look for some of the regular contributors.