Just sending…………….

Add mine, add yours, hugs, hugs, hugs …

pensitivity101

National Hug Day was in January, but in today’s current state with many in isolation, self imposed or not, those living alone, those with no family close by, or those that just need a sense of physical contact, I am sending you Hugs by the ton.

Take your pick.

View original post

What Makes a Story Great?

It's been a discussion on several different platforms lately. What is it that makes a reader ignore the obvious problems and gush about a story? What is it that takes a story from good to great? If I knew for sure, I'd be writing like that all the time. Well, I am, but it's about …

INFECTED!

Wanna say something about it? Read on …

Things in the Well

Call for Submissions

LOOKING FOR:
The next Things in the Well anthology will be Infected and I’m after dark, highly memorable (even moving!) stories of infections, viruses, and other similar apocalyptic conditions… They don’t all have to be bleak, and happy endings or optimistic tones are even encouraged!

WHAT I DON’T WANT:
No ‘isms’ of ANY KIND will be tolerated. If you have to discriminate against any group of people, make sure it’s the character’s PoV and not your own! Keep gore to the minimum required for the story/effect and don’t let the story suffer for the fact you want to include graphic violence, torture, body horror, sex, etc. These can all have their places in the story (it is an adult theme!) however will not carry a poor story…

WORD COUNT:
Enough to make the story memorable, intriguing, suspenseful, meaningful, and no longer. Whether that’s 500 words or 10,000…

View original post 441 more words

Flash Fiction – Gothic-ish

From Fandango's Flash Fiction Challenge-57. Frontage A few minutes is all I need. When all the lights go out, I go in, fix the alarm, go around the rooms, put new dreams in their heads with a drop of the drug on their tongues. It hides the mind from what's waiting for deep sleep.I never …

WRITER’S WORKSHOP I, Week 1, The Fastball

It’s up to week 2 now, but start here:

Go Dog Go Café

Something to think about:

My stepfather, a custom home builder, taught me the basics of carpentry: “measure twice, cut once.” Sounds simple enough, but it takes discipline and an investment in time to slow down and repeat the measurement, and the power saw can be unforgiving. Many are the boards wasted by a few mismarked millimeters. The lesson stuck with me, and I think about the concept often in other areas of my life, including my writing and editing.

For this prompt, I encourage you to slow down and measure twice. We are writers. We have stories to create. That creation requires an investment in ourselves, a belief in our ideas, a commitment to the hard work of writing so that we may communicate our creative babies effectively to others. In the words of Henry Miller, “open up…discover what is already there.”

Every man, when he gets quiet, when he…

View original post 189 more words

Submissions Call : The Half You See

Do you write short horror stories? Read on, Poe …

HorrorAddicts.net

Dark Ink Books, the home of Tom Savini’s and Kane Hodder’s official
biographies is proud to announce an open call for submissions for its newest
thematic horror fiction anthology.
“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”
-Edgar Allan Poe, The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether
For this submission period, we are asking for literary horror stories that
contain major plot elements of nightmares, illusions, hallucinations,
delusions, or waking dreams. Quality of writing, adherence to call
parameters, originality, and alignment with other stories selected for
publication are the determining factors in selection or rejection for this
anthology.
Working Title: The Half That You See: Nightmares, Deliriums, and Illusions
Submissions will be accepted April 1, 2020, through April 30, 2020, only.
Response time: Decisions will be emailed before June 1. If a submission is
held for more than three weeks, it is likely being considered for…

View original post 324 more words

This Sublime Darkness FREE for a few days…

Want a scary story to hide you from the dark? Read on …

Things in the Well

This week we are celebrating the nomination for the Bram Stoker Awards of Greg Chapman’s short story ‘The Book of Last Words’ by making the collection FREE for five days from Amazon. This is the kindle version, and includes some of Greg’s amazing artwork as well as his distinctive story-writing, so grab yourself a copy and, if you’re a voting HWA member, vote for Greg’s story!

View original post

Smashwords in March!!

My page is here, but there are many other Indie Authors who may pique your readerly interests. Have a look, check out the discounts. And spread the word! Readers: Where to Find Books Smashwords Read an Ebook Week Catalog - This is the hub of the action, where you find nearly 80,000 multi-format books regularly priced at free …

Itchy

Not the scratchy kind. This Itchy is a bloke in a story. The one I submitted for Outback Horrors by Things in the Well. The email came, and I ignored it for a few minutes, responded to some other stuff, kept glancing at it. Clicked on the tab to open it, read it -- The …

Outback Horror Subs closed for now…

Looks like I beat the close day by a claw … will let you know how it goes, but I can’t wait to see what comes of the anthology!

Things in the Well

Due to an overwhelming response, I’ve had to close the submission window for Outback Horrors Down Under... I will reopen later in the year if we’re still in need of excellent Australian and New Zealand tales of terror! (Steve)

View original post