by Naomi L. | October 15, 2014 | Blog, Creative Writing, What If? Writing Prompts |
Who’s ready for Halloween? In the spirit of the year’s spookiest holiday, here are some “What If?” Writing Prompts set to the general theme of horror. What sorts of creepy tales can you spin from these ideas? Good luck!
What if… you looked in the mirror and it wasn’t you looking back?
(Submitted by: TJ Bar from Writer’s Carnival)
What if… Halloween turned into everyday life?
(Submitted by: Anisa, one of the founders of Writer’s Carnival)
What if… the monster you thought was living under your bed when you were a kid turned out to be real?
What if… there were an immortal spider in your house that only grew larger the more you tried to kill it?
What if… a magic spell forced you to spend a day in the life of a monster?
Have fun writing your own twists into these horror stories! Happy Halloween!
If you have any “What If?” writing prompt suggestions (for any theme), please feel free to share them in the comments below. Ideas I like may be featured in future “What If?” posts, with full credit and a link to your blog (if you have one)! Also, if you’ve written a piece based on an idea you’ve found here, be sure to link back to the respective “What If?” post. I would love to see what you’ve done with the prompt! Thank you!
by Naomi L. | April 18, 2014 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
Her skin glows a pale blue-green in the moonlight.
Her eyes shine like emeralds, hypnotizing anyone who dares to gaze into them.
She sings ethereal melodies that melt the coldest of hearts.
Her voice lures the unwitting into her company.
The razor-sharp claws and teeth are what keep them there forever.
Based on a writing prompt from Writer’s Carnival: Make Me a Monster!
Using no more than five sentences, create a new monster. You can make it as silly or scary as you want.
It’s not the most original creation, but it was still fun to imagine. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
by Naomi L. | November 22, 2013 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
(What If? Exercise: Read the description here.)
I was a fool to think we could slay it.
She trusted me with her life, and I failed.
I was so sure we had it cornered.
I heard the growling before she did.
But she saw the teeth first.
I tried to save her.
It was too fast.
I blacked out.
She vanished.
Forever.
This piece is based on What If? Exercise 93: “Ten to One”. The exercise is to write a 55-word story in which the first sentence has ten words, the second has nine, etc., until the last sentence has only one word. The objective is to show that precision and thrift in writing can produce surprisingly powerful results. I hope you enjoy what I’ve written. Thanks for reading!
Back to the story
by Naomi L. | November 1, 2013 | Flash Fiction, J.C. Wolfe's Writing |
I could have sworn it was a bird.
When something big and black crashes hard enough into my window to shatter it, the first thing I think is it must be a bird.
But those leathery, featherless, bloodstained wings are not bird wings.
No, most of the birds around here know the tint of my windows, but blinded by the sun, that poor bat never saw the glass coming.
Based on a Halloween prompt from Writer’s Carnival: Things that Go Bump in the Day.
In no more than 4 sentences or 12 lines of poetry, write about a frightening occurrence which happens while the sun is still shining. What kind of terrors lurk in broad daylight?
Hope you enjoy what I’ve written! Thanks for reading, and Happy Halloween!
by Naomi L. | October 18, 2013 | Blog, Indie Writer Spotlight |
Hello, dear readers! Today I’m sharing a special post, as it marks the beginning of a new segment on my blog: the Indie Writer Spotlight! Though it won’t be a regular segment, posts will be up on Fridays and will feature independent authors and their books in the world of self-publishing. With so many writers trying to get their work out there, it’s great when we can support each other!
Kicking off the Indie Writer Spotlight is an interview with Jennifer M. Zeiger, one of the authors of the upcoming short story anthology Midnight Abyss. Jennifer and I have been in touch for the past few weeks, and I sent her some questions about the new book. Here’s what she could tell me about Midnight Abyss. Enjoy!
About Jennifer M. Zeiger
Jennifer M. Zeiger lives in the beautiful state of Colorado with her husband, dog and two cats. She graduated with her Bachelors in English in 2008 with minors in Accounting and Recreation. She loves writing fantasy in particular but will read just about anything.
Interview with Jennifer
Me: What can you tell me about the book itself?
Jennifer: The book’s titled Midnight Abyss. It’s a mix of horror and dark fantasy short stories with a few poems thrown in too (It’s Midnight in the Abyss. Do you know where your Darklings are?). If you can’t tell, we’re having a lot of fun with this. =)
Me: Who are the collaborating authors, and where are you all from?
Jennifer: Okay, this one’s going to take a minute. There are nine authors all told. We have Anisa A. Claire in Vancouver and Kelleigh in Seattle who are the masterminds of all of this.
Then there’s Doug Langille in Nova Scotia who, thankfully, knows the techie stuff.
Gregory K Shipman’s up in Alaska. He keeps us all laughing when we start taking things too seriously.
Shaun Adams charms us all with his British accent since he’s from the Isle of Wight in England.
Raymond Tabaygo’s a hero of mine. He’s in New Jersey and he’s 66 years old and still writing. I love it.
Matthew X. Gomez is in Maryland. Although we’ve all helped with the editing, he’s definitely the one willing to cut your writing to pieces. It’s great.
Then, to finish this all off, there’s Theresa Briscoe Tschetter and I in the old west. She’s in Wyoming and I’m in Colorado. Theresa, even though she’s had some trouble with internet since we’ve started working on this, has made a massive effort to stay involved and upbeat. As for myself, I feel like I’m along for the ride and it’s a great adventure. =)
Me: How did you all meet?
Jennifer: Except for Anisa and Kelleigh, I think all of us met on Writer’s Carnival, which is a workshop site for writers. We’ve never met face to face. It boggles my mind how, in this day and age, such collaboration can happen without actually meeting.
Me: What made you decide to write a short story anthology together?
Jennifer: I received a message from Anisa asking if I wanted to take part in writing this anthology. I think the idea came about because we were all familiar with each other’s writing off of Writer’s Carnival and we all liked what we saw.
Me: And why did you decide to write in the horror and dark fantasy genres?
Jennifer: Those are the two genres we all like to write in. Well, fantasy for me is the genre I prefer, so dark fantasy was a bit of a challenge, which was great. Plus, we decided to launch the book on Halloween, so those two genres fit the theme.
Me: How long did it take you all to put the book together?
Jennifer: I received the email at the end of July asking if I wanted to be a part of this. Honestly, we lagged during August. Then about mid September, we realized, ‘oh dear, our deadline’s fast approaching!’ So we all kicked it in gear and have been working furiously since the last couple weeks of September. So when all is said and done, we put in about six weeks to finalize the stories and put the book together, which is wicked fast but we’ve managed to come up with a book we all love.
Me: Was it difficult coordinating your efforts, since most of you live so far apart?
Jennifer: Yes and no. Sorry, that’s an awkward answer.
Yes, because we’re working through messages and the occasional Google Hangout. There’s a lot of information getting thrown around: slogans, covers, order of stories, editing details… I could go on for a very long time. Let me just say, Dropbox is awesome.
But when I really look at how much we’ve figured out in a very short period of time, I have to say the group’s fantastic. There could be a lot of bickering but there hasn’t been. We all want this book to be the best set of short stories that we can produce and we’ve worked really hard to make that happen.
Me: How did you feel while working on this book?
Jennifer: Oh Lordy, that’s a loaded question. Personally, I’ve never been published before, so I’m thrilled-out-of-my-mind excited, I’m scared so bad my hands shake if I think about it too long and I’m breathless trying to keep up with all the details. But overall, I’m blessed to be working with such great people and following my dream at the same time.
Me: And how do you feel now that it’s all done?
Jennifer: Wow, that was a wild ride! And still is. Unlike with traditional publishing, we don’t have a marketing team working with us, so we’re still working on getting the word out. That work won’t be done for a while, but having a finished product feels amazing. Holding a hard copy book with my name on it, indescribable.
Me: When can we expect a full release of the book?
Jennifer: Oct. 31st to coincide with Halloween.
Me: Where can we find out more about the book?
Jennifer: Facebook: Midnight Abyss
Twitter: @AbyssMidnight
Goodreads: Midnight Abyss (I believe we’re going to do some giveaways for reviews here, so that’s definitely something to look forward to.)
Tumblr: TheMidnightAbyss.tumblr.com
My blog: Jennifer M Zeiger
We’ve set the book up with Amazon’s CreateSpace. So if you’re looking for a copy, you can find it there after the 31st.
Thanks so much for the interview, Jennifer! And thanks to you readers for joining us in the Indie Writer Spotlight!
Midnight Abyss comes out October 31st. Be sure to check it out this Halloween! Thanks for reading!
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