Today’s prompt is to write a story about a character who can’t wait to leave town, inspired by Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem Travel: . . . there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take, No matter where it’s going. This time, my story features a spy, who needs a way out. *** The Last Train … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #17: The Last Train →

Today’s prompt has an interesting backstory you can read in full at https://storyaday.org/2021-day-16/ , but the quick version is that a character’s mundane activity is changed by seeing a message on a sign. My story is about an unusual cowboy, who takes a road less traveled. The whole last scene wound up more rushed and … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #16: The Clockwork Cowboy →

We’re halfway through the Story-A-Day May challenge, and fittingly the challenge prompt of the day is to write about a character who’s at a halfway point (of any sort). This time I wrote an adventure story, starring a cryptozoologist having the best, and worst, day of her life. *** The Cryptid Conundrum Sasquatch was real, … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #15: The Cryptid Conundrum →

Today we have a haunting challenge prompt, to tell a story about a character engaged in a mundane, everyday activity who encounters a ghost. Mine features a lowly pirate, who’s troubled by a very unwelcome and persistent visitor. *** Walking the Planks The pirate ship lay becalmed on eerily still seas. There wasn’t so much … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #14: Walking the Planks →

Another day, another challenge prompt! This time, it’s to write from the perspective of a character who’s not human or animal (but vegetable and mineral are acceptable, or any sort of inanimate object). In order to keep mixing up genres, and experimenting, I decided to attempt a Wuxia story. Apologies in advance to any fans … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #13: Immortal Stone →

The challenge prompt today, from storyaday.org, is to write about a character who tells a story within the story, to avoid a disaster — like Scheherazade did. My story is based on an idea I had for a full novel, which never quite took off. *** Final Confession Even the tightest shackles barely fit Kavon’s … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #12: Final Confession →

Today’s prompt from storyaday.org is to write a story of exactly 100 words. Since my daily goal has been a minimum of 1,000 words, I decided to write 10 interconnected vignettes of exactly 100 words. Each vignette focuses on a different character in a busy, fantasy-style tavern, on a rainy evening. I think this is … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #11: Tavern Tales →

Nearly 1/3rd of the way through the monthly challenge, and well over 10k words written! I’m really happy that I’ve been hitting my daily goal so far. Today’s storyaday.org prompt is to write a letter to your 14 year-old self, answering fears, concerns, questions and insecurities while offering reassurance. But that might get a bit … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #10: Letters Not Yet Sent →

Today’s storyaday.org prompt is the classic challenge of writing a six-word story. However, since my goal is to write a complete 1k word story each day this month, I decided to use my six-word story as the title for a full-length flash. *** When Pigs Fly, Pork Prices Rise On that fateful day, Farmer Brooks … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #9: When Pigs Fly, Pork Prices Rise →

Beginning week two of the monthly challenge, today’s prompt from storyaday.org is a little more specific than the previous ones: In a mysterious valley, two rival abbeys of nuns and monks serving the same strange god play a secret game unbeknownst to their superiors. When the stakes for the game become souls, how can the … Continue reading Story-A-Day May #8: Mind Games →