#Writober Day 8: Hungry Tree In The Military Cemetery

Tree eating military gravestone
photograph by Maria L. Berg 2017

This tree takes me straight to Poltergeist only these gravestones stayed in the cemetery.

Any of the Poltergeist movies would be great for those of you doing the RIPXII Peril on the Screen challenge.

#vss: very short story

He blamed the trees for his losses; roots tripping his men; branches scratching. The trees seek punitive damages beyond the grave.

#OctPoWriMo

Theme: How Could I Know

The prompt at OctPoWriMo.com suggests the poetry form called Joseph’s Star. It’s a syllable line rule ( Syllables are 1, 3, 5, 7, 7, 5, 3, and 1) poem like a haiku but it creates a diamond shape and you can repeat the pattern in as many stanzas as needed. I like these poetry form prompts.

How

could I know

a large tree would grow

when the bird dropped the seed cone

while flying over your stone

out of all the dead

and find life

there.

How

did its roots

find food in old boots

of hallowed ground deep with you

do I dare imagine, too

reaching searching first drink

inside the loosened

seems of the

box?

How

could I know

it would cradle you

suck in your essence like food

lift you through its veins of wood

make you one with it

are you a

tree?

 

#FlashFicHive

Develop a story inspired by a word cloud.

FlashFicHivewordcloud
#FlashFicHive Day 8 Word Cloud by Anjela Curtis

I think some of these words will work nicely with today’s prompt. Until now, I hadn’t thought of a nest with eggs in that tree. Or maybe our protagonist finds a bag full of money in a hole in the tree, or under the limb holding the grave stone or . . . Ooh, this is a treasure trove of ideas.

#RIPXII Peril On The Screen

Because my whole face and head have been invaded by the mucous monster, I spent my Saturday in bed feeling sorry for myself. To feel like I accomplished something, I decided to tackle The Peril On The Screen challenge.

Horns – * * * * (Four Stars)

Horns was not what I expected. It was much better. It had elements of dark comedy and a rich mystery wrapped up in religious symbolism and a truly horrible premise. It even had some Stand By Me moments with flashbacks to the main players as childhood friends.

Swiss Army Man -* * (Two Stars)

This movie was a disturbing, fantasy portrayal of necrophilia. Though I liked the imaginative arts and crafts and am impressed by the obsession it took to raise the bar for fart jokes,–That bar has flown to an unimaginable new height–I felt icky and worried for the writer, director and producers when the film ended.

Watching Horns and Swiss Army Man back to back, I was impressed at how Daniel Radcliff brings his characters to “life” (Ha! Ha!), and wondered if, in trying to get away from Harry Potter, he hasn’t made some odd choices.

The Cabin In The Woods – * * * * (Four Stars)

When I watched this movie before, I may have only caught part of it, or been distracted because, though I knew the plot and remembered the monsters in their cubes, I did not remember that the cast included the likes of Thor, Jamie from Zoo: Season 1 and the Alien huntress herself- Sigourney Weaver.

This movie is so fun. It is a lesson to writers that any trope, no matter how over used, can be seen in a new and create way.

#Writober Day 7: The Upside-down

People walking in a rocky sky
photograph by Maria L. Berg

What would life be like if gravity worked backwards somehow? Or there was no gravity as we understand it? Or a race of people whose heads pulled downward created an earth in the sky? What story does this image say to you?

#vss

Last night, I had fun writing a very short story (a story in one tweet of 140 characters or less) for each of the #Writober images so far. I hope you’ll go back through the posts to read them or look for them on Twitter.

Here’s today’s: I loved the idea of dancing on the ceiling, but now my anti-gravity ray’s stuck and I can’t get down.

#OctPoWriMo

Today’s prompt: Then I went too far.

This prompt brings up the idea of a line that can be crossed. Who defines that line? Do I define it? Is it defined for me?

I tend to toe along those lines, like Douglas Baldwin of the Seattle Seahawks making his ballerina catches, pointed toes somehow magically in bounds while the rest of him is flying outside the line.

So at what point is far, too far? And is too far a bad thing as it tends to connote?

The Point Of No Return

Exhaustion overwhelms my limbs

Past the point of no return

As waves of hope, the light dims

Once seen, cannot be unseen

Proof of life in humming hymns

There is no raising dead

Why am I compelled by whims?

Breaking through the barrier

Chance of rescue by minute slims

There is no going back

Balancing poorly on earthly rims

This time I’ve gone too far

 

#Slam Words

Last night I discovered another poetry challenge on Twitter. Here’s I prompt that is up there now:

slam words

Great for #Writober, don’t you think?

I don’t know the rules of the game yet, but last night, I ran across a one word prompt. It was the archaic word gleed, meaning: a glowing coal. Here is the poem it inspired me to write:

A gleed, Swept by the wind,Settled in my cuff,Penetrated my favorite shirtPressed against my skin,Irritated then burned,Sizzled and scarredMy rapt smile In your gazeWas the only pain fel

#FlashFicHive

Share Lines or a Premise

flash fic day 7
graphic by Anjela Curtis

Premise for today’s flash fiction: There is a pocket of civilization near the center of the earth where gravity works backwards. Where people walk with their heads pointed down toward a sea of molten lava.

#JustCreateChallenge

justcreate day 7

Is there a silver lining after your character has gone too far? Can they find the bright side of no longer walking on the ground? I think this could work with today’s prompts.

Happy Reading and Writing!

#Writober Day 6: Abandoned Amusement Park – Scooby-Doo Where Are You?

Today’s inspiration is a location with a theme. This series of images is from an abandoned amusement park. You can choose one image from the series, several images or all of the images to inspire your story. I find photography of abandoned places fascinating. How is it that beautiful buildings crumble when humans stop coming to them? It’s as if the walls and ceilings are held up by human breath and attention. I know there are more practical reasons, but  . . .

photographs from an abandoned amusement park

And don’t forget to head over to #pessimisticmoustache while you’re on Twitter. There are so many fun things to describe in these pictures.

#vss: very short story

Obediah could tell the voices he heard in the abandoned haunted horrors ride were ghosts of carnies because they were always yelling at him to keep his hands inside the ride.

#OctPoWriMo

Today’s prompt: While I was pacing the room

Pace has many meanings other than walking nervously back and forth. It makes me think of rhythm and speed, of the idioms set the pace (show leadership) and put through one’s paces (make to show off a skill). So, though the phrase While I was pacing the room brings to mind a specific image, the idea of pacing can mean many things.

 

The Still Ferris Wheel

 

The blinking lights a staccato dance in the night

Dings and whistles a frenetic pacemaker on the fritz

All on a mission to get the blood pumping and stomach swirling

 

The Ferris Wheel had once slowed the frantic pace

Showing the amused the big picture

 

Now still, abandoned

Each new leaf sets the pace

Slowing the race toward the inevitable

 

#FlashFicHive

Today is good practice for #PitchWars and writing loglines. Write a bunch, like 20 or 30 until you find the best one that: Introduces the protagonist, the antagonist and the conflict. Have fun with it.

flash fic day 6

This is a great exercise to get today’s story ideas flowing. Let’s see:

The Sasquatch Squad has heard a rumor that Bigfoot has been hanging around the abandoned amusement park. Could the Squatch be squatting in the funhouse? Imagine him in those warped mirrors. That would be funny.

Well, that is 35 words and I didn’t get to the plot. I’ll try again:

Brie thinks she is brilliant. No one ever comes out to the abandoned amusement park and her parents will never look for her here. Finally free from their constant judgement and nagging, she feels like she could live here forever. But when night falls, she sees a light glowing in that horrible Scaredy Cat ride. She hears two distinct voices. Maybe great minds think alike and they are kids on the run too. Or maybe they’re not like her at all. She decides to investigate in the daylight.

Again, fun but that’s 88 words. A 25 word summary will be a challenge. What else have I got?

The rolling clouds dissipated as quickly as they appeared leaving behind a glowing, triangular ship in the abandoned “Cool Zone”. Though Brie had come to the park to be alone, she had her fingers crossed for friendly alien.

Back down to 38 words. I don’t know if it’s all the mucous from this stupid cold making me feel like a kid home sick from school, or my original mention of Scooby-Doo in the title of this post, but my story ideas appear to be for kids today.

If you end up writing some flash fiction for kids this #Writober, I recommend sharing them over at The Story Den. My friend Christopher Bailey created this website for kids to read and share stories.

I hope you’ll head over to #FlashFicHive and share your 25 word summary of your story and right here in the comments as well.

Happy #Writober Writing and Reading!

 

#Writober Day 5: Why is there always a cabin in the woods that isn’t mine?

Cabin in the woods

Ahhh, The Cabin In The Woods, not only a great movie in its own right, but also the setting of my favorite horror comedy Tucker & Dale vs Evil.

The cabin in the woods in today’s photograph was built in 1888 and is located inside Mt. Rainier National Park. Before you get to Paradise, there is an area called Longmire where strange bubbling wells were visited for therapeutic purposes, but have all been abandoned.

What is your cabin in the woods story? Does it include stereotyped teenagers and aliens or a serial killer? Or is it a Lovecraftian tale of psychological torture?

#vss: very short story

I had always wished for this; complete isolation in a cabin in the woods. My neighbor had the same wish; and larger teeth and claws.

#OctPoWriMo

Today’s theme: Finally I understand

I Reap What I Sow

Slowing down, eyes to the ground, I discover

Tiny shoots creeping, reaching slowly, grow

Trying, testing, churning, always more to learn

Patience in attentive silence harvests triumph

Produce, ripe, plump and plucked, continues to transform

Mulching, composting, burning with next year’s vision

Tastes combining the known and unknown spark delight

 

#FlashFicHive

Stronger Noun/Verb Swap

flash fic day 5

In May of 2015, I discovered a fabulous book called The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier: How to Solve the Mysteries of Weak Writing.

While reading it, I was inspired to write about finding and replacing weak verbs. I included many links to stronger active verbs. I recommend giving it a look to help you with this challenge.

Happy Writing and Reading. I hope you’re enjoying #Writober.

October Pairings (#OctPairs): Wooden Jigsaw Puzzles and Spooky Movies.

Little shop of horrors.jpg

I was writing my morning pages at the end of September (hard to believe that wasn’t even a week ago) and started thinking about things that go together with Halloween movies and books. I remembered an October when I manufactured artifact puzzles. I would put on scary movies while I separated the puzzle pieces and boxed them up.

I no longer work with the day to day of the business, but I still love the puzzles and recently designed the pieces for The Scream by Edvard Munch. So for my first October Pairing, I want to talk about which movies I think go well with my artifact puzzle designs. If you are a puzzle lover, like me, or are having a gathering for The Holiday,  you should have enough time to order a puzzle for Halloween.

starry nightArtifact Puzzles – Van Gogh Starry Night

Everyone knows this image. It’s a poster in a dorm room. So I tried to give it a twist. I swirled and whirled all of the signs of the zodiac into this puzzle then added the symbols, too.

If puzzling with the kids, I would pair this with Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and once the kids have fallen asleep I would put on Zodiac and Suspect Zero.

garden of deathArtifact Puzzles – Garden of Death

I love this image. This puzzle was one of my early designs. It includes a multi-piece monster plant and a Jack-o-Lantern. It’s a perfect pairing with Little Shop Of Horrors.

My mom gave me a great Halloween noises CD that came with a DVD of the 1960’s version of Little Shop of Horrors (1960) and I was happily surprised by a young Jack Nicholson (as pictured in the lead image).

 

creature ladder

Artifact Puzzles – Justin Hillgrove Creature Ladder

This image makes me smile. It’s fun. It’s whimsical. And monsters. I designed some of my pieces to represent these monsters, then their neighbors became their own monsters, and so on . . . The puzzle is a monsterfest!

This is a shorter puzzle, so the first time, during family fun-time, I would pair it with the monster squad

then after the kidlets have gone to bed, how about going full Cryptid with laughably horrible films like: Loch Ness Terror and Abominable

Or a Bigfoot comedy like Strange Wilderness

Artifact Puzzles – Waterhouse Lady of Shalott

Waterhouse_Lady_of_Shalott_edge_1024x1024

The Lady of Shalott is a ballad by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Like his other early poems – “Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere”, and “Galahad” – the poem recasts Arthurian subject matter loosely based on medieval sources.

I find this image haunting. So while working this puzzle, after the kids have gone to bed, I recommend:
An American Haunting and my mate’s personal favorite The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Edvard_Munch_-_The_Scream_-_Google_Art_Project_1024x1024
And of course, The Scream – you can sign up to get an email when it’s in stock!

It’s not available yet, but I worked hard on it because I love it!

At first the movie pairing is obvious:
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Scream 4

But then you’ll notice the symbolism and want to watch TrollHunter.

#OctPairs

There you have it. My first offering of October Pairings. I hope you find the same joy in movies and puzzles as I do. When I started making these puzzles, I was surprised how they became the center of every family gathering. They bring people together, and they’re fun to do alone.

What fun things do you think pair up well? Let me know at #OctPairs on Twitter. Or here in the comments.

 

#Writober Day 4: It was a dark and scary night

 

I love the eerie silence of today’s image. It screams, “Something nefarious is about to happen!” If you look very carefully, you are not alone. A person and a dog are up ahead. Are they walking toward you or away from you? Do they scare you, or will they come to your aid? I can’t wait to hear about the stories this image inspires.

#vss: very short story

The neon sign pulled me along the dark, silent sidewalk with its promise: Come Get That Action. However, the sign wasn’t meant for me. Hungry, pale lurkers awaited my arrival.

#OctPoWriMo

Today’s prompt: Between Clouds & The Water

Over at the OctPoWriMo website, today’s post poses a great question: Where does poetry hide? I think this works well with our visual prompt.

The Great Escape

Late at night on the glowing screen

Deep in cryptically labeled folders in folders

Tempests of swirling, spilled passions

Words that escaped frontal lobe prisons

Tunneling and burrowing through sewers

Risking life to leap walls

Razor-wired barriers of rules and fears

To be squirreled away for private eyes

This is where poetry hides.

 

#FlashFicHive

Retweet Storm: Post lines at a hashtag & quote-RT to #FlashFicHive

When I’m on twitter, I head over to Free Writing Events @writevent to find out about the day’s hashtag games for writers. They are a great editing exercise.

day 4 fic hive

Note: There’s a typo in the “Visit” honeycomb. It should say @writevent like my link above.

wed write events.jpg

Themes:

#WackyWed – make us laugh

#1LineWed – Light

#WFWed – Amusing

#WhyIWriteWed – Thanks

#TalesNoir – Horror/Genre mashup week

#WineWords – Smooth/Soft

#WeirdWriters – Vacation

So, there are a ton of options for publishing a line from today’s great #Writober story. Have fun sharing your lines!

While you’re on twitter, don’t forget to head over to #pessimisticmoustache and to share your isms to describe that street.

#JustCreateChallenge

Today’s image also works well with the #justcreatechallenge over at authorapril.com. Yes, I have found yet another great event for #Writober. April L. Taylor offers two prompts each day; one for writing, and one for an art project. Today’s prompts are about Setting and Perspective! Perfect, right?

 

I hope you find today’s prompts inspiring.

Happy Reading and Writing!

#Writober Day 3: Cheritas, Parageusia, and Flying Elephants-Oh My!

Black and white layered photography negatives create images of flying elephants
Joan Fontcuberta Aerofantes 1941

Disney’s Dumbo aside, I think flying elephants would be terrifying. The encompassing shadows they would cast; the constant fear of “droppings.” A world with flying elephants would be a scary world indeed. Are these angels down from heaven with an ominous message? What story does this picture tell you?

#vss: very short story

The new hybrids of the flying, alien elephant and the domestic breeds were much larger than expected. Life on earth became unpleasant.Most humans lost the sense of smell.

#OctPoWriMo

Today’s prompt: Taste of Metal

A metallic taste in your mouth is a type of taste disorder known medically as parageusia. Common causes include new medications, pregnancy, and food allergies. In rare cases, metallic taste can be a sign of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease. – from Google

Form: Cherita

Cherita (pronounced CHAIR-rita) is a linked poetry form of one-, two-, and three-line stanzas. Cherita is the Malay word for “story” or “tale” – from Poets Collective

 

With the preconceived notion that an elephant never forgets,

Would her parageusia be misdiagnosed
As a peanut allergy?

Ignoring the possibility of Alzheimer’s
How would she report, or debate upon contort
Winged elephants think all things taste like metal.

 

#FlashFicHive

Backstory show & tell: protagonist

Day 3 fic hive

In my poem, I made the Mama flying elephant my protagonist. Will she be the protagonist in your flash fiction story? What is her backstory? How will that backstory affect her baby?

Feeling inspired? Happy Writing and Reading!

#Writober Update

 

 

I wanted to add a few things to the line-up for #Writober. While reading Slade House: A Novel by David Mitchell for #RIPXII’s Peril of the group read, I had another idea of how to use the #Writober 2 pinterest board. Each image could be a scene in a continuous story. You might end up outlining your @NaNoWriMo novel.

Just discovered #Writober and feel like you’re too late, or feel like you can’t participate because you don’t have enough time? No worries. I stumbled upon the challenge late last year and wrote most of my stories in one weekend. The only limits to the #Writober challenge are the ones you creatively place upon yourself to get your stories written.

The way I did #Writober last year (and I’m doing it again), was I created an Open Office (Word) document and named it #Writober. I then typed a number for each day/image and for the images I had story ideas for, I wrote a title and notes, or just started the story. That way I could jump around whenever inspiration struck. I’m a non-linear thinker and this works for me. I look forward to hearing how the #Writober challenge works for you.

October Pairings: #OctPairs

I had another idea that I thought would be fun for #Writober: October Pairings. Every Wednesday this month, I’ll be posting about things that combine well, like Halloween candy and scary books, or Halloween movies and hot beverages.

I hope you’ll post your ideas for good October Pairings on twitter with #OctPairs.

 

trick-or-treat-book-blog-hop-banner_5_orig

If you have written a scary book and would like to promote it by giving it away on Halloween, head over to Trick-or-Treat Reads.

If you haven’t written that book yet, but love to read scary stories, don’t forget to Trick-or-Treat for books on Halloween.

Have you planned your costume yet? What are you dressing as this year? In the past, I have had my costumes inspire my stories and my stories inspire my costumes. I hope #Writober inspires you.

Happy Writing and Reading!

#Writober Day 2

How did it go yesterday? Did you find Day 1’s image inspiring? Did you start #Writober with a bang? Jump in with both feet? Or is today the day? If you are starting today, Welcome, I’m glad you’re here.

Here’s our visual inspiration for the 2nd of #Writober:

A woman standing face first against a wall. Hands are coming out of the wall and holding her.
Art by Tullius Heuer from Last Laugh Magazine #007 May 30, 2014

This image reminds me of the Peter Jackson film with Michael J. Fox The Frighteners. It definitely lends to ideas of ghosts and a haunted house, but what else could it be? And are those hands giving a hug, or is this the moment before something sinister?

#vss: very short story

A luring voice, full of love and understanding pulled her in. Hands came from the wall like a warm, encompassing hug. She was never seen again.

Can you think of any isms to describe the wall, the hands, the woman? Head over to #pessimisticmoustache and play along.

#OctPoWriMo

Today’s theme is: We write because we must

On the OctPoWriMo website it also suggests that today be a shape poem and has a link to Shadow Poetry. This is a great resource. On the Poetry Types page, there are charts with links to examples of traditional and invented poetry types to explore.

Humans Need Stories

Shape poem in the shape of a hand

 

#FlashFicHive

Mix and Match story prompt
graphic by Anjela Curtis

Can this challenge work with our #Writober 2 image? Why not? The woman can be an elementary teacher. She’s going to need to take that dress to the laundromat. She could save some lives while stuck in traffic on the way to said laundromat.

Or, those arms coming out of the wall could be trapped Oompa Loompas who definitely can’t read cursive. When she gets them out of the walls, she kicks them out of the house. They have nowhere to go and in a dark alley are mistaken by animal control for nutria rats and taken to an animal shelter. The person who runs the animal shelter tries to help them integrate into society, but in the process, they spend all of his money.

And to use all of the elements? Let’s say as part of joining society, the Oompa Loompas end up in the elementary teacher’s classroom to learn to read cursive only to find out that she doesn’t teach cursive anymore. Eventually, frustrated, homeless and unable to pass for humans, the Oompa Loompas sneak back into the elementary teacher’s walls and they all live happily ever after (or they “haunt” her until she goes insane) .

I hope you feel inspired. Happy Reading and Writing!

#Writober Day 1: Let autumnal writing commence!

Here it is, the first day of #Writober. And here’s Day 1’s inspiring image:

A destroyed typewriter and a hand surrounded by rubble
Margaret Bourke White photography

 

I used a random number generator to help me order the photographs for #Writober 2, so there isn’t any significance to this being the first image. However, this image may be timely. It could be the aftermath of  an earthquake, a hurricane or a volcanic eruption, but for my story, it’s the result of something supernatural. What story do you see in this picture?

Don’t forget, you define your story parameters. You may like to write micro-stories, flash fiction of any length up to 1,000 words, or you may want to writer longer fiction. If you will be publishing your stories on Wattpad, or your blog or website, please link to them in the comments, so we can read them and gush about how great you are.

#vss: very short story

Knowing his words held power over events, he typed the end with a flourish. Only his hand remained.

#OctPoWriMo

Day 1 prompt: How did I get here?

This prompt pairs well with our image, don’t you think?

Out of Hand

How  did my power of mind get so out of hand?

Did the frantic pushing of fingers to keys finally erase the world?

I remember thinking, “Stop there are lines,” but did I cross,

Get to the other side leaving only rubble behind.

Here I have no hands nor words.

#RIPXII

cover of Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard ChizmarFor Peril in the First, I picked up a copy of Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard T. Chizmar from the library. I have wanted to read this story since I first saw the cover reveal. I love this cover and as a seamstress and button collector with many magical button boxes, I thought this story would be perfect for me.

If you love buttons, their beautiful colors and designs, their history and function, like I do, get ready for some disappointment. This book isn’t about buttons at all!! Gwendy’s Button Box is a box that has mechanical buttons to push that open drawers and supposedly make other things happen.

After I got over the initial shock of the button bait-and-switch, the book lured me in. So far, it’s a fun R.I.P. peril.

#pessimisticmoustache

Please head over to  Twitter and join me in today’s game of #pessimisticmoustache. I made my play. Now it’s your turn.

Welcome to #Writober.

I hope you have a great day of writing and reading.