Flash Fiction Challenge: Og and the Fire Leaf

Og hunts alone now. It is hard to kill animals alone. Mostly, there are berries.

Some of the berries make thunder in Og’s stomach. The thunder wants out. Og squats in the bushes.

Then Og uses the fire leaf by mistake. Now there is burning where Og sits. So much burning that Og screams. The screams bring the spear-mouth and Og must climb the big tree. The spear-mouth can not climb the big tree, but there was something else in the tree. Not a good day for Og.

In 250 words or less, tell us a story incorporating the elements in the picture. The 250 word limit will be strictly enforced.

Please keep language and subject matter to a PG-13 level.

Use the comment section below to submit your entry. Entries will be accepted until Tuesday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time.

On Wednesday morning, we will open voting to the public with an online poll for the best writing entry accompanying the photo. Voting will be open until 5:00 PM Thursday.

On Friday morning, the winner will be recognized as we post the winning entry along with the picture as a feature. Best of luck to you all in your writing!

Entries only in the comment section. Other comments will be deleted. See HERE for additional information and terms.

Congrats to Mandy White

Mandy White is the readers’ choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge.

The winning entry is rewarded with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.

Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:

Continue reading “Congrats to Mandy White”

The Essentials of Writing Great Horror

Guest post
by Caroline Gebbie

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” H P Lovecraft

Since we first gathered around campfires we have told stories to elicit emotion and one of the most basic emotions is fear. Writing great horror is about invoking that fear in the reader, it can be done in much the same way as you would elicit other emotions in any story. The elements you need to create that feeling of horror include characters, plot, setting, point of view conflict and theme. Continue reading “The Essentials of Writing Great Horror”

Featured Author: William Hertling

William Hertling is the author of the award-winning Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears and A.I. Apocalypse, near-term science-fiction novels about realistic ways strong AI might emerge. His books have been called “frighteningly plausible”, “tremendous”, “must read”.

These technothrillers are based in realistic technology because he’s worked in the tech industry for nearly twenty years, and holds more than a dozen patents in computer programming and network.

He’s also written articles about the future of robotics and artificial intelligence and how to predict the future.

He’s been influenced by writers such as Charles Stross, Cory Doctorow, Walter Jon Williams, and William Gibson.

William Hertling was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up a digital native in the early days of bulletin board systems. His first experiences with net culture occurred when he wired seven phone lines into the back of his Apple //e, creating an online chat system.

He currently resides in Portland, Oregon, and is working on his third novel, The Last Firewall. By day he works on web and social media for HP. Follow him on twitter at @hertling or visit his blog williamhertling.com.

Continue reading “Featured Author: William Hertling”