Sarolta Bán There are nearly three dozen calls for submissions in November. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission ...
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Sarolta Bán There are nearly three dozen calls for submissions in November. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission ...
Micro Monday - A Story In 99 Words
I Dare You
“Run Spook Alley - alone, midnight, on Halloween.” I said. “Easy.” Amy said. She ran, I waited. I heard something but saw nothing, the police found not a trace. Half a century later, everyone still talks about the girl that vanished. They say her ghost walks the alley each Halloween night, searching for a way back to life. There is no ghost; I am the figure they see each year. I walk the alley filled with guilt, why did I make her do it? I search for the spirit of my missing friend, whispering her name into the night.
Pop over to the October book fair to pick up some fantastic novels all on special offer!
Last chance today to grab a FREE copy of The Foundling. Click over to Amazon, load up your Kindle and scare yourself even more over Halloween... if you dare.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074G19W3Y/ref=sr_1_16…
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074G19W3Y/ref=sr_1_16…
images from http://www.markmenjivar.com//projects/you_are_what_you_eat
Don’t tap on the aquarium glass! [video]
Jimmy Lawlor November is a great month for free writing contests. There are more than three dozen this month. As always, every form of ...
The only way to get better at art is the work at it. The Draw This Again drawing challenge is a perfect example of how hard work can produce great art.
The Foundling
The Foundling is FREE to download on Amazon Kindle 25/26/27 October. Nancy and Ray Cooper's lives are turned upside down after finding a baby abandoned on their doorstep. Following a sequence of devastating events they are forced to question whether this mysterious child is somehow responsible. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B074G19W3Y/ref=sr_1_16… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074G19W3Y/ref=sr_1_16…
The Foundling
Hi folks, promo time again for this little fella. Zip over to Amazon .com or .co.uk to grab your free Kindle copy today!
if you have no choice but to wait, just pretend you’re being patient.
Micro Monday - A Story In 99 Words
Sleeping Beauty
I watch you sleeping and still find it hard to believe you said ‘I do’.
I run my finger gently over your cheek and you stir a little. I chuckle to myself and do it again, this time pushing the hair from your forehead. You open your eyes and scratch your face, then sit bolt upright and your body pushes straight through me.
You wake the man next to you. “He’s here again! I felt him.” You scream.
“Shh, it’s OK, it was just another bad dream.” he tells you.
But you and I both know that it wasn’t.
‘Hi! Hello! It’s me here. Here. Here.
Great little read from Sravani Saha
Flash back Friday - The Witness
It always seems to be dog walkers that find dead bodies. We’d gone out early on that crisp October morning and were on our way home when we spotted it. I remember there being a faint smell of fried food in the air.
He was lying face up, eyes wide open staring up at the clouds. I wondered if he had watched his spirit rise up and go to heaven or roll over and take the highway to hell, but who was I to judge? I didn’t know him but that’s not to say it didn’t have an effect on me, and Shelly, she was really shaken up. It was hard enough being the ones that discovered him, but finding him so close to our home was more that a little disturbing. We both suffered some restless nights that first week.
It was quite exciting though, there was lots of coming and going at the house, and lots of phone calls. The police came and took statements, they wanted to know our full movements and exact times. Had we heard or seen anything the previous night? Did we know the man from somewhere? Then the door to door enquiries began, the papers got involved and a journalist came over too, but nobody seemed to have any reason or motive to kill him. The funeral came and went, we didn’t attend but we did walk by the church during the service and take a quiet moment to pay our respects. He must have been well liked, there was a good turn out.
It was almost a week later that the cat came back home, she’d been missing since before the incident. Claudia hated strangers coming into ‘her’ house, and with all the comings and goings of the last few weeks it wasn’t surprising that she’d taken herself off somewhere.
She entered the room silently, stopped for a moment and looked around. Then with effortless grace jumped up onto the arm of the sofa. I watched her from where I lay on the floor as she nestled herself into position, tucking her front paws into her chest. Her tail hung over the side, just the very tip of it twitching. As cats go, she was beautiful - and boy did she know it. Pure white cats were always admired. She squinted her green eyes half closed and turned her head slowly to face me.
“It wasn’t you, you know.” she said.
“What wasn’t?”
“That found the body. I found him first.”
Knowing that she had my full attention she turned her head back to centre.
“What do you mean?” I asked, jumping to my feet.
“I mean, I found the body before you did.”
“But why didn’t you say something?”
“Because I couldn’t get in the house. That stupid woman had locked the cat-flap again.”
“That ‘stupid woman’ has been worried sick about you all week!”
My words meant nothing, Claudia was a law unto herself.
“When did you find him?”
“He was alive when I saw him first, I watched it happen.”
“What?” I could hardly believe what I was hearing. “Why didn’t you do something? You might have been able to save him.”
“Do what, exactly? I could hardly call an ambulance could I? Besides, he died instantly.”
“What did you do?”
“I ate some of his burger.”
“You did what?”
“Don’t look so shocked, you would have eaten all of it.”
“Not if I’d just watched him die I wouldn’t! What did you do after that?”
“I sat on his chest.”
“You’re unbelievable!” I paced back and forth, trying to understand her awful way of thinking.
“He was warm, for a while anyway. I was trying to be practical, I was locked out in the cold remember.”
“Don’t try to justify yourself. Oh no... your hairs will be all over him!”
“Relax, you stupid dog. They’re hardly going to hold me responsible.”
“Was there a murder weapon, what actually happened?”
“He was drunk and was stumbling along chewing on a burger. A gang of youths came out of nowhere, they took his wallet and punched him to the ground. No weapon but he cracked his head when he fell which finished him off instantly.” she said flatly.
“That’s so horrible. We have to tell someone, maybe we can help the police find them.” I rushed towards the door hoping she would follow.
“Who do you think you are, Lassie?”
“But we have to do something.”
“We’re animals remember. Besides, I don’t want the hassle.”
“You’re so selfish!” I barked. “An innocent man has died, don’t you care?”
“Not really. You go to the police if you like, I’d like to see you try and explain it all to humans.”
“Why do you always mock me?”
“Because you eat my shit.”
I hated myself for that habit. Embarrassed that she knew my awful secret, I could only retort by calling her a bitch. I went back to my place by the fire and lay down.
“I think you’ll find that you are the bitch.” she laughed.
Stretching out one of her paws in front of her, she extended her claws and plucked at the sofa fabric. A quick reminder of the swipe across the nose she’d once given me, that narrowly missed my eye.
She stood up and arched her back before elegantly stepping down from the sofa. Her audacity left me speechless. Just before she reached the doorway, and knowing I was still watching, she stopped and licked her paw. “It was a good burger.” she said. Then just as silently as she had entered, she was gone.
With Halloween coming up, it’s time to flex those pens for the good of the spooky!
Write a Halloween-related story based on this picture.
Submit a story | View other prompts
Go Blasty!
Publishing any content online does not come without the risk of copyright infringement. After stumbling across Blasty this morning I was amazed to see just how many sites were offering free downloads of my ebooks. With a very convenient one click process I have now removed them from over twenty sites that were listed in Google search results. (Bitter sweet was the discovery that there appears to have been several thousand downloads of Beach Lanes and it was quite highly rated!)
Blasty removes infringing links of books, music, and other intellectual property, it’s free, easy to use and I highly recommend it. Thank you Blasty!