Back in February, the international competition group Globe Soup sponsored
a 7-Day Story Writing Challenge. Each participant was given the theme “A Twist
of Fate” and one of twelve randomly assigned genres:
Western, Paranormal, Thriller, Magical Realism, Chick-Lit, Historical,
Horror, Dystopian, Crime, Romance, Science Fiction or Fantasy.
I was assigned the CRIME genre. We were then given 7-days to write a story
of no more than 2,000 words.
One of the conditions of the contest was that the entries be judged
anonymously and could not be published elsewhere until the winner was
announced.
Well, the winner was announced this week and, although I did not win the
£500 First Prize, my short story Roses are Red WAS chosen as a
finalist in the CRIME Genre category! My regular reader (he knows who he is)
will recall that I was also named a finalist in my first attempt at writing
crime fiction last fall, so this small victory was particularly gratifying. I am trying to get this story published in a magazine, so I am withholding the posting of it on this website.
Roses are Red is a noir style murder mystery set in 1948 Brooklyn.
I just wrote a short story for the Spring 2022 contest run by Short Fiction Break magazine and The Write Practice writing community. The theme of the contest is Happily Ever After. The word limit is 1,500 words so it is literally a 7-minute read! (You’re not that busy are you?)
My story, The Final Question, was published along with the other contest entries in Short Fiction Break magazine here:
Once you are on the Main Page look for the greenbox that says “SEND MY READERS’ CHOICE VOTE HERE” and then select The Final Question from the drop down menu.
Voting Closes April 25.
If you know someone who you think would enjoy my story, feel free to forward this message along. Constructive comments are always welcome!
Thanks in advance for your consideration. I hope you like my story, let me know what you think!
I started listening to podcasts a couple of years ago when I first discovered the brilliant Revisionist History, hosted by the incomparable Malcom Gladwell. In his podcast, Gladwell takes us on a journey through overlooked and misunderstood events (or persons, ideas, songs, etc.) from the past and reexamines them to figure out whether “we got it right the first time. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance.”
Gladwell tells the stories in his own engaging way, weaving tales to make the historic characters come alive, to make them relatable to the listeners of today.
There are tons of good podcasts, of course. This American Life is another one. In this podcast, Ira Glass and his fellow correspondents explore a weekly topic in detail through four different stories on the same theme. The conclusions reached are often surprising and always interesting.
What we learn from both of these podcasts is that it’s all about the story telling. Whether truth or fiction, it’s all about the story telling. Stories help us understand our own lives as we negotiate our daily existence.
A podcast that I recently found that specializes in story telling itself is Read Lots Write Lots – A podcast for those who love to write. In each episode, Deidra Lovegren and Russell Norman talk to a guest writer about their personal writing journey. I urge anyone who is interested in writing and story telling to listen to all of the episodes (Thirty as of this morning). Each interview is unique and illuminating.
Which is why I was thrilled and excited to be invited to be a guest! Yep, I am Episode 27. The interview was so much fun and Deidra and Russell clearly did their homework, having read my stories and prompting such an interesting and enjoyable conversation.
This past December, I entered another Globe Soup 7-Day Contest. As with previous competitions, each participant was given a theme and randomly assigned one of twelve genres.
In this contest, the theme was “A Christmas Like No Other.” I was assigned the DYSTOPIAN genre (Think: A Clockwork Orange, 1984, Fahrenheit 451) . We were then given 7-days to write a story of no more than 2,000 words. Once again, this was my first try at that particular genre.
Well, the winners were announced last month and, although I STILL did not win the £500 First Prize (I’m working on it!), my short story Kristoforo made the LONG LIST of entries, falling just short in the DYSTOPIAN genre category!
As I previously mentioned, I’m refraining from posting some of my stories onto this website until I am sure that it won’t be published commercially (many magazines consider posting on an author’s own website to be “published” and so won’t consider it), but if you would like to read it, give me a shout and I am happy to share via email.
Meanwhile, shortly after the Christmas winners were announced, the next 7-Day competition was announced and I wrote my second CRIME story, a detective story. The winners of that challenge will be announced around April 30. I’ll keep you posted!
Late last summer, I entered a story into another competition sponsored by the international competition group Globe Soup. As with previous contests, this wasa 7-Day Story Writing Challenge in which each participant was given a theme and randomly assigned one of twelve genres:
In this contest, I was assigned the FANTASY genre. The theme was “Knowledge is Power.” We were then given 7-days to write a story of no more than 2,000 words.
As before, this was my first try at writing a story in my assigned genre.
Well, the winners were announced last week and, although I STILL did not win the £500 First Prize, my short story A Wizard’s Journey was given HONOURABLE * MENTION as Runner-Up in the FANTASY genre category!
I am in the process of polishing this story for possible commercial publication, so I don’t want to post it here on my website (many magazines consider that to be “published” and so won’t consider it), but if you would like to read it, give me a shout and I will send you a copy.
Back in June, the international competition group Globe Soup sponsored a 7-Day Story Writing Challenge. Each participant was given the theme “Cheating” and one of twelve randomly assigned genres:
I was assigned the CRIME genre. We were then given 7-days to write a story of no more than 2,000 words.
One of the conditions of the contest was that the entries be judged anonymously and could not be published elsewhere until the winner was announced.
Well, the winner was announced this week and, although I did not win the £500 First Prize, my short story The Craftsman WAS chosen as the winner of the CRIME Genre category! This was my first attempt at writing crime fiction, so this small victory was particularly gratifying.
I was looking for something to read for my upcoming vacation at the beach and came across a book called Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style written by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., posthumously (now THERE’s a neat trick!), and Suzanne McConnell, a former student of Vonnegut and a wonderful writer in her own right.
Back in the day at Plainfield High School, Mrs. Ruffino assigned us Slaughterhouse-Five to read, a brilliant novel that led me to discover Breakfast of Champions on my own. Ever since then, Vonnegut has been one of my all-time favorite writers. His voice really speaks to me and his story is very aspirational. If you had asked me then which writer’s style I would most like to emulate, I would have quickly said “Kurt Vonnegut.” That answer is, of course, patently incorrect. I take solace now in the fact that I was just a stupid high school student at the time. What did I know?
The foundation for Pity the Reader lies in a series of New York Times articles sponsored by the International Paper Company in 1980. Each piece was a two-page spread written by an expert, with bold points as “headlines” and further explanation beneath each. These were illustrated, “How To,” articles, such as “How to Make a Speech” by George Plimpton and “How to Enjoy Poetry” by James Dickey. Vonnegut wrote “How to Write with Style.”
Among the eight excellent points on “How to Write with Style,” was:
“5. Sound like yourself”. Ah…so here is why we don’t want to write “like” anyone else! We must write like ourselves. We must find and nurture our own voice.
(FYI, another point in “How to Write with Style” was: “2.Do not ramble, though,” so I won’t.)
I can’t wait to get deeper into this book. I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, does anyone here have a favorite book? Who is your favorite writer?
I just wrote a short story for a contest run by Short Fiction Break magazine and The Write Practice writing group. The contest is in honor of the 10th Anniversary of The Write Practice so the theme of the contest is Anniversary. The word limit is 1,500 words so it is literally a 7-minute read! (You’re not that busy are you?)
My story, Of Paper and Tin, was published along with the other contest entries in Short Fiction Break magazine here:
Once you are on the Main Page look for the green box that says “SEND MY READERS’ CHOICE VOTE HERE” and then select Of Paper and Tin from the drop down menu.
Voting Closes August 1.
If you know someone who you think would enjoy my story, feel free to forward this message along. Constructive comments are always welcome!
Thanks in advance for your consideration. I hope you like my story, let me know what you think!
I received a hardcover copy of Maurice Sendak’s brilliant book, Where the Wild Things Are as a gift for my sixth birthday. I was too young of course, to appreciate the nuanced underlying commentary presented by Mr. Sendak, for me it was just a great story about a boy named Max.
You know the story: Dressed in his wolf suit, Max acts out and generally misbehaves, creating mischief as children will do. When he threatens to eat his mother up, she banishes Max to his room without any supper. Pouting, the boy sails away to a faraway island inhabited by frightening beasts, the Wild Things. When Max threatens to eat THEM up, he is hailed as the king of the Wild Things (the most wild thing of all) and enjoys a playful rumpus (<<< Love that word) with his newfound subjects. When he is done with the rumpus, Max sends the Wild Things off to bed without their supper and decides to go back home where he can be with someone who loved him best of all. Upon returning to his bedroom, Max discovers his supper waiting for him, and it was still hot.
Oh, by the way, Maurice Sendak told this story in only 338 words.
What really captured my imagination at age six were the wondrous and amazing illustrations by the author. As I look back now, I have to ask: how can something be realistic and surrealistic all at once? Genius.
Maurice Sendak was born on June 10, 1928 in New York City and passed away on May 8, 2012 in Danbury, Connecticut from complications due to a stroke. Happy birthday, Mr. Sendak!
Initially banned from libraries when it was published, Where the Wild Things Are belongs on every child’s bookshelf. Maybe on adult’s bookshelves, too.
I just found out that my story, La Fuente, was shortlisted as one of the Judges’ favorites in the recent Spring Contest held by Short Fiction Break Magazine. Even though La Fuente didn’t win a prize, I was tickled nonetheless. There are some really good stories in this contest!
Links to all the stories can be found on the contest website:
Robert Burns: Chapter Next 