2015 WORD COUNT = 32653
words
I haven’t really been what I’d call ‘a writer’ this week.
Only two contests entered. Still, it’s the calm before the storm. The next few
months should hopefully be busier as one project I’ve been involved in comes to
fruition while another I’m desperate to start on gets closer.
ANTHOLOGY
I have a bigger and more specific post planned for next
week, but I’ll just say that the FlashDogs second anthology is due for release
in less than two weeks.
If you enjoyed the last one then this one is going to
impress you tenfold. With two books making it up, that include stories based on
four different prompt photos, and all linked to the solstice, it’s going to be
an eclectic mix of raw talent for your reading pleasure.
CAMP NANOWRIMO
Every November I attempt (and in most cases succeed)
NaNoWriMo. The challenge of taking an idea and getting it past 50,000 words in
just 30 days is both terrifying and exhilarating.
Last year I added another large chunk of word count to my
year by venturing into CampNaNo territory. CampNaNo is a little less ridged
than its bigger brother. It’s a world where you can choose your own word count,
a world where you can stray from novels and write anything in any format you
want.
I enjoyed working on my novella, TATTOO, back in July
2014, so I thought maybe I would give it another go this year. The relaxing
nature of Camp means it acts as a kind of warm up to the main November event.
But what will I be writing, I hear you ask. Well, I’ve
mentioned a couple of times in the last few months that I have something planned
for my Micro Bookend contest creations, Chris and Mike. This year’s CampNaNo is
that plan. As with the FlashDogs Anthology, this project will have its own
dedicated post in the upcoming weeks, a post where I’ll talk about how it all
started and where I see it all going.
OTHER
Other than that I’m just trucking along. I plan to write
a couple of short stories over the next few weeks when I’m not planning for
CampNaNo. Hopefully I’ll have the links to them on Wattpad when they are
readable.
Until then, enjoy the sun, get psyched for the Anthology,
and take a peak below at last week’s Flash! Friday story as well as the last
three weeks’ worth of ‘Chris And Mike vs’.
See you in seven.
FLASH! FRIDAY
This week we had to include a farmer as the main
character. Enjoy.
THREE ASIANS WALK INTO A SHOP
Three Asian gentlemen have been
window shopping for a good fifteen minutes now. While my ad girls dance their
dance for them, I stay behind the counter, reading the paper, being all
patient. Like Papa used to say, ‘let ‘em
come to you.’
Eventually they build up the
courage and enter the shop.
“Afternoon, gentlemen,” I says.
“Anything I can help you with?”
They confer like they’re on a
quiz show before the short one in the middle speaks up. “We like to buy some
women.”
I grin because my bank balance is
about to get bigger. “You’ve come to the right place. Please, follow me.”
For some reason I bow because it
seems like the thing to do. Oddly enough, they all bow back. I take ‘em through
to the back and then on down to the basement. Hunching over the keypad, I enter
my old man’s birthday, opening the door to the farm.
Lining both sides of the dingy
room are twelve bio pods. Each one contains a synthetic woman, some still in
the early stage of accelerated growth. My beauties.
“Gentlemen,” I says. “You can
take off the self, or order from scratch.”
That’s when the short one utters
my two favourite words.
“How much?”
MICRO BOOKENDS
CHRIS AND MIKE vs THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN MOLAR
“Fear is our weapon,” said the man in the grey suit. “You
can’t win.”
Chris punched him again while Mike kept watch at the end of
the alley.
The man spat blood and looked up at Chris, laughing. “I’ll
never tell you where he is.”
Chris noticed something then and smiled. He punched the man
again and this time something golden shot out, landing next to Mike’s foot.
“Is that his tooth?” said Mike as he picked it up.
“Sort of,” said Chris. “It’s more of a key.”
“To what?”
“To a floating prison.”
“Floating?” said Mike. “So I guess we’re flying?”
CHRIS AND MIKE vs THE CHOICE OF TWO DOORWAYS
“Soap?” said Mike. “What do I need soap for?”
“To clean out your ears,” said Chris. “Don’t you hear that?”
“All I hear is the freezing wind, approaching prison guards,
and you telling me that one of these doors means certain death. Which is
crazy.”
“One door offers safe passage to the prison interior, the
other leads to an undisclosed death.”
“Like a fatal security measure?”
“Exactly,” said Chris as he slid the golden key into the
lock of the left door.
“Wait!” said Mike. “How do you know it’s that door?”
“Don’t you hear the music?” said Chris. “My Dad loves
opera.”
CHRIS AND MIKE vs SCUM AND VILLAINY
“Under no circumstances do you hurt my father,” said Chris.
“Which one is he?” said Mike, as he picked up a hardback bible
from a bookshelf
Lined up in front of the pair were seventy-nine very angry
prisoners. They looked hungry. For violence.
“I’ll deal with the degenerates.” said Chris.
“Who you callin’ ‘degenerates’?” said a scar faced man with
an out of date moustache.
Chris sighed. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing phoenix
tattoos on each forearm. With a simple incantation, the fiery birds left his
skin.
The colour drained from the prisoners and they fled en masse.
Only one man remained. Chris smiled. “He’ll be the only
taker.”
Last Thursday’s entry got an Honourable Mention, the first
award a ‘Chris And Mike vs’ story has got since the very first episode. Here’s
what judge Jessica
Franken had to say about it.
“I was already smiling after just reading the title. Oh, scum
and villainy: you are no match for Chris and Mike! This is a compact, complete
story that, at the end, launches the next scene in the reader’s mind. I love
that the question posed in the second line hangs in the air until the last
line. It’s fun to imagine how Chris and Mike got into this situation; great use
of in media res. Favorite details include Mike’s bible weapon and the
prisoner’s out of date mustache, a fun morsel that tells us he’s been in prison
for a while. Also, I want Chris’ tattoos so bad now.”
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