The brief of the AWC Furious Fiction—June 2021 short story competition was as follows: Each story had to include (word for word) the following SEVEN descriptions at any point in the story body: THICK AS HONEY SILENT AND STILL GOLDEN GLOW HEART-SHAPED DELICATE PERFUME SOFT AND DOUGHY RAZOR-SHARP *** Waiting Room I’ve been in my fair share of waiting rooms
Read moreYou come home and find the house is empty; your parents appear to have moved away, and taken everything with them. You don’t trust your neighbours, so you don’t want to go to them…** Lost and Found The sound of the thunder above me only added to my bad day. The rain hadn’t started but I knew it would show
Read moreThe brief of the AWC Furious Fiction—May 2021 short story competition was as follows: Your story had to be set during a storm. Your story had to include the words MOTHER, APPLE, YESTERDAY Your story had to include the phrase: SIT/SITTING ON THE FENCE *** Lost and Found The sound of the thunder above me only added to my bad
Read moreIn an earlier blog post, I talked about my decision to try a new type of virtual run challenge, the Conqueror Events, as well as my completion of my first and second Conqueror Virtual Challenges, the English Channel and the Inca Trail respectively. I have since completed my third Conqueror Virtual Challenge – Mount Fuji. The Mount Fuji Challenge is
Read moreWrite about a scene that most people wouldn’t consider worthy of attention (and so it is virtually invisible to them).** The Next Clue I’m standing in a queue behind people I’ll never know in a beige office building, following the orders of The Madman. I’m sick of this psychopath screwing us around, but now the stakes are too high and
Read moreThe brief of the AWC Furious Fiction—April 2021 short story competition was as follows: Your story must begin in some kind of queue. Your story must include the words CROSS, DROP and LUCKY. Your story must include a map. *** The Next Clue I’m standing in a queue behind people I’ll never know in a beige office building, following the orders
Read moreA wild animal from your dreams becomes ‘real’ – can you tame it?** In July 2020, the Australian Writers’ Centre encouraged writers to submit a 23-word story inspired by the image above. More than a year later (due to falling behind with my writing projects), I’ve finally written my 23-word story, which can be found below. *** Elephant in the
Read moreIn July 2020, the Australian Writers’ Centre encouraged writers to submit a 23-word story inspired by the image above. More than a year later (due to falling behind with my writing projects), I’ve finally written my 23-word story, which can be found below. *** Elephant in the Room An elephant in my sleep, now one in my living room. I
Read moreAwakening to the terror of the same old day (Harvey Pekar)** 19 Words on COVID-19 Wake up, eat up, sit up, sit down, keep busy, keep writing, keep quarantining, repeat…for God knows how long. **Reference: Marsden J 1998, Everything I Know About Writing, Pan Macmillan, Australia.
Read moreAround March-April 2020, when social distancing and border lockdowns were enforced for the first time in Australia, the Australian Writers’ Centre encouraged writers to share how they felt about COVID-19 in 19 words – no more, no less. More than a year later (due to falling behind with my writing projects), I’ve finally written my own 19-word micro story about
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