Saturday, November 24, 2012

Winner 55 Word Challenge

Winner 55 Word Challenge
Week Thirty-Six
 
 
Sorry I am late posting this. My internet connection went down yesterday before I got a chance. A huge thank you to Lisa Shambrook for her photo inspirations and for judging. It wasn't an easy thing to come up with a winner. This is what Lisa says:
 
Honourable Mention @writesidemama gets an overachiever award too, I imagined an older brother wanting retribution for the loss of his siblings ted!





Honourable Mention @PurpleQueenNL Beautiful imagery, especially the use of light, for the valiant Prince Llewellyn.





Honourable Mentions tie @Klingorengi and @hlpauff for putting into words the tragic death of a bear...(never was keen on Paddington myself!)





 

My winner is @lissajean7 'It was a grizzly scene...' great opener for the bear tragedy, and I love that she referenced the gun in the picture, not that it helped poor teddy!
 
It was a grizzly scene. Cotton stuffing skipped in the breeze. A plastic eye rested nearby. The "fur" shell was sliced from shoulder to hip. It was shameful that he’d been tossed in the street. Ted E. had fought valiantly, but a squirt gun was poor defense from the ravages of a toddler with scissors.

Great job Lisa! Grab your badge and DM your email to me so I can send your gift card.
 
 
Thank you to everyone that entered!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

55 Word Challenge Week Thirty-Six

55 Word Challenge
Week Thirty-Six




Welcome back to #55WordChallenge. The guest judge and artist this week is Lisa Shambrook. Lisa has contributed some great photos to help inspire your muse. 

For those that are uninitiated, the 55 Word Challenge is a contest to write a story in 55 words or less. Not an easy task, but fun and I have been blown away by some of the entries. See for yourself, all the past contests can be found here.

The challenge begins at noon Eastern time every Wednesday and ends at noon Thursday. The story is based on one of three photo prompts and can be written in any genre you choose. My only request is no porn. I don't want to hear graphic details. If it is erotic, make it titillating, not obscene. I know that can be done and done well.


The story is to be posted in the comment section below, along with your twitter handle or email address, so I can contact you if you are the winner. If you don't want to list your email address, send it to me at jezri@writing.com. I promise I won't distribute it, but if you are the winner I need a way to notify you and to send you your prize.



And what does the winner get? This purty badge for one. For two, a gift card for $5.00 from Amazon. (The prize will be rewarded within about week and sent to your email.) Also, I will be offering a monthly prize to the story I liked the best between the winners. That will be announced at the end of the month who gets this.













If you are an artist that would like to have your work featured, let me know!


Photo Prompts:
Llewwllyn

Stained Glass

Teddy Suicide




Lisa describes herself as a writer and dreamer in equal measure, with her head in the clouds... she writes, scrapbooks, crafts and photographs. And loves dragons.
Lisa blogs at www.thelastkrystallos.blogspot.co.uk and loves writing Flash Fiction, which features largely on her blog. After having had to remove an image she used on her blog to illustrate her fiction, she turned to creating her own photographs for use. She has recently started a Flickr account and has decided to place the photographs under a Creative Commons license so any bloggers can user the images on their blog providing they link back to the original picture. You can find her Flickr page here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastkrystallos/




 

Friday, November 16, 2012

Winner 55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-Five

Winner 55 Word Challenge
Week Thirty-five


The high and mighty Ferengi has spoken:


Honorable Mentions:

Ruth Long –
@bullishink I do loves me a good werewolf tale. This story fit the picture nicely and was a fun read.

Rebekah Postupak –
@postupak This story had some excellent evocative phrasing and conveyed the character’s emotions very clearly.

SJHolliday
SJIHolliday – I liked the descriptive words here that lent the story a lifelike and tactile quality of realism.



Winner:


Anna – @annaban The swirling poetic flow of this piece was sheer genius. The story particularly appealed to me as much for what it said as for the unsaid blanks it left us to fill in. In micro-fiction, the art of showing enough without room to show it all is tough. You did it wonderfully.
 
 
Blue eyes veiled with thin sheets of ice,
Small violet lips wore such winsome smile,
Droplets of white water quivered on her pale, luminous skin

"I’ll take care of you,"
She promised sweetly.

The laid-back town called Silkwaters
Lost another one of their men
Crimes were rare here;
The main cause of death
Was drowning.
Anna, DM your email address and I will send you the gift card and book. You also can snag the winners badge from the top of the page.
 
Thank you everyone for your entries!


 

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-Five

55 Word Challenge
Week Thirty-Five

 
Welcome back to #55WordChallenge. The artist this week is Larisa Koshkina, whose amazing talent I found on PublicDomainPictures.Net. The judge is my husband, Jeffrey Hollar. His book, Keldane the Cursed, a YA fantasy book, has just been released today so todays prompts will be geared towards the magical side.
For those that are uninitiated, the 55 Word Challenge is a contest to write a story in 55 words or less. Not an easy task, but fun and I have been blown away by some of the entries. See for yourself, all the past contests can be found here.


The challenge begins at noon Eastern time every Wednesday and ends at noon Thursday. The story is based on one of three photo prompts and can be written in any genre you choose. My only request is no porn. I don't want to hear graphic details. If it is erotic, make it titillating, not obscene. I know that can be done and done well.


The story is to be posted in the comment section below, along with your twitter handle or email address, so I can contact you if you are the winner. If you don't want to list your email address, send it to me at jezri@writing.com. I promise I won't distribute it, but if you are the winner I need a way to notify you and to send you your prize.


And what does the winner get? This purty badge for one. For two, a gift card for $5.00 from Amazon. The prize will be rewarded within about week or so, (sometimes I run a bit behind) and sent to your email. Also up today is a Kindle Edition of Keldane the Cursed.
 
I will be offering a monthly prize to the story I liked the best between the winners. That will be announced at the end of the month who gets this.
 
If you are an artist that would like to have your work featured, let me know!


Photo Prompts:
 


 
 
 
Jeffrey Hollar was born in Lima Ohio. Developing a love for reading in his early life, Jeff read anything and everything he could get his hands on.  Graduating from Lima Sr. High in 1980, he joined the army where he found a career in communications. Jeffrey remained in the army for 14 years, traveling the world to places like Germany, Turkey and England.
Jeffrey moved around the United States as well, living in Arizona, Iowa and Missouri before moving back to Lima where he met his wife.   Jeffrey works in the security field during the day and writes by night. He also has a love for cooking and practices his culinary skills on his family.  You can follow him on twitter and facebook.
 
Shameless Plug:
 
Did you ever wish you had the ability to use magic and cast spells to do anything you wanted to? Well, so does Keldane. Unfortunately, just being the son of the most powerful magic user the world has ever known doesn’t come with any guarantees. It’s not without very good cause he’s known to his classmates as Keldane the Cursed.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Winner 55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-Four

Winner 55 Word Challenge:
Week Thirty-Four


Sarah has spoken and I have the list of HM’s and a winner for the challenge this week.  Before I get to that, I want to thank everyone that entered. I know it has been hectic this month, everyone is doing Nano… but some of you managed to find time to stop by and leave 55 terrific words! Thank you.
I am in need of an artist and/ or judge for next weeks contest. If you are interested, please let me know. Even if you don’t consider yourself an artist but have some photos you would like to contribute, that would be great. They just have to be your photos.
Okay… drumroll please….

Honorable Mentions:




Winner:

Last night I swear I saw the moon combust in meteors. A banshee caught the blue debris. Her words were echoes but they said, "Now... I'm at rest." I offered to still seek revenge. She screamed; I knew I shouldn't have brought it up. When she disappeared, I hoped she had a chance at peace.

55 words

Thank you again! See you all next week.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-Four

55 Word Challenge
Week Thirty-four

 
Frustrated Sarah
#55WordChallenge this week is being judged by my daughter, Sarah Sprague. The artwork is hers… she’s talented, I know. She is a Senior in High School and studying Multi Media. She is thinking about a career in animation and I am sure she can do it. She can do anything. Ok, mama proud moment done. Moving on…

For those that are uninitiated, the 55 Word Challenge is a contest to write a story in 55 words or less. Not an easy task, but fun and I have been blown away by some of the entries. See for yourself, all the past contests can be found here.
Zombie Sarah
The challenge begins at noon Eastern time every Wednesday and ends at noon Thursday. The story is based on one of three (four this week) photo prompts and can be written in any genre you choose. Stipulations: NO PORN. Also, per Sarah’s request… she doesn’t want anything that kills off babies or children. She says if you want to slaughter teens and adults that is fine. Isn’t she funny?

The story is to be posted in the comment section below, along with your twitter handle or email address, so I can contact you if you are the winner. If you don't want to list your email address, send it to me at jezri@writing.com. I promise I won't distribute it, but if you are the winner I need a way to notify you and to send you your prize.


Thoughtful Sarah
And what does the winner get? This purty badge for one. For two, a gift card for $5.00 from Amazon. The prize will be rewarded within about week or so, (sometimes I run a bit behind) and sent to your email. Also, I will be offering a monthly prize to the story I liked the best between the winners. Octobers winner was @BlanchardAuthor.
 
 

Magnets will get mailed out this week. I am making a trip to the post office Thursday. If you are on the list to get a magnet and have not sent a maling address, send it to jezri@writing.com. If you send it after I have mailed the magnets out you will still get a magnet, you will just have to wait until the next time I go to the post office.

 
Photo Prompts:
 




 
Okay... now get writing!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Winner 55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-Three

Winner 55 Word Challenge:
Week Thirty-Three
 

Honorable Mention:
@RGraceAllen: Jeff says this was a nice mix of horror and erotica, if not a bit freaky
He appears from the stone in the graveyard bearing his name, born from cold rock. Yet his flesh is warm. She’s felt him hovering over her body, giving her ghostly fits of ecstatic pleasure.
“Did you bring the knife?” His voice is barely a whisper.
“Forever,” she answers, and plunges the blade into her heart.
 
Overachiever:
@LastKrystallos: Jeff says the vivid description of this story almost made him feel as though he were on the train.
The train’s cold, hard, easy-to-clean stainless steel fittings were a godsend. My stop approached and I clutched my bulging bag on clenched knees. The bag jerked, I held it close; beating hearts were such a pain, but I needed at least one for the wife…who waited patiently beneath the swirling fog of headstone seventy three.

55 Words

Winner:
 
@Angelique_Rider:  Jeff says, this is one of these stories that matched the picture perfectly. Even if I hadn’t seen the picture, if I’d read the story and then found the picture somewhere I would have thought of this story.
Who Is The Monster Now?

They watched in shocked horror as the Monsters killed their family. Mother had told Constance to use her powers of invisibility to protect the two of them when the first Creature began to break through the door. From the shadows, the two unusual children watched as the Humans murdered their parents, laughing demonically.
Winner of the #55WordChallenge Bumpersticker:
 
@BlanchardAuthor: This one gave me a chuckle the first time I read it and when I went back to look at the past month winners it still made me smile.
I remember the abandoned church in the grounds behind the school. Everyone was convinced it was haunted. Everyone but me. So, I took the dare, and I went inside. I found out, I was right, it wasn’t haunted. At least, not until I met the mad priest and his axe. Now, it’s haunted by me.
Ok, that’s it for this week. Robin, I believe I have your email still and will send the gift card out next week.  Chris, I will need your address to send you the bumpersticker. You can send it to jezri@writing.com. Put 55WordChallenge in the title so I know…  I’ve been getting a lot of junk mail lately. J See you all next week. I have a guest judge and artist lined up… my daughter.