55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-Three

55 Word Challenge

Week Thirty-Three

 

#55WordChallenge this week is being judged by my husband, @Klingorengi. He has chosen some photo prompts perfect for today. Happy Halloween!

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, I will be offering a monthly prize to the story I liked the best between the winners. This months winner of the #55WordChallenge Bumpersticker will be announced Friday, along with the Winner and Honorable Mentions.

BUT WAIT!

This is the last day for Coffin Hop and I have some additional prizes for you. I am offering this Jezri's Nightmares Coffin Hop 2012 magnet to all #55WordChallenge participants. (to be mailed out at the end of the coffin hop.) To receive the magnet, I will need a mailing address. You can send that to me at jezri@writing.com. Put Coffin Hop in the subject line.

BUT THERE'S MORE!

I am offering a copy of Undead Ahead: Zombies to one participant. To qualify, you need to work in at least 2  prompts. Not an easy task. Jeff calls this the Overachiever Award.

Ok, so on to the prompts!

Photo Prompts:

 

 

Jeffrey Hollar is a strange mixture of Klingon and Ferengi. His dual sides are often at odds... it is sometimes joked that his Klingon half would love to rip your spine out while the Ferengi in him would sell it to the highest bidder. Visiting Earth in the guise of a human, Jeff works in the security field during the day and writes novelty human stories by night. While here he married a human woman, whose delusions have led her to believe she is a Trill. Truth in fact is the voices in her head have driven her to insanity and she writes down whatever they dictate. Those dictates led to the two co-authoring a book, Undead Ahead: Zombies, the first in a series of shorts. The purchase of this book will help fund their plan to one day conquer Earth and set their son up as the Supreme Ruler of the Universe.

Winner 55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-Two

Winner 55 Word Challenge

Week Thirty-Two

 

 

Thank you to Erik Gustafson for judging this week and for inspiring our muses. He didn't have an easy time choosing, there were so many wonderful entries. Please check out his book, The Fishers, it is free on Amazon and Smashwords. He also has several other books that I am sure you will enjoy, including Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon, which one person will win today. So here are the results...

Honorable Mentions:

@vatrask  From a lonely hill at the edge of the earth, under a velvet sky and a fingernail moon, the tribe of lost souls danced their last; for when morning came the pied piper would rise and from his feigning slumber play a tune that nobody could resist, taking them all back to their skyward homes.

@annecmichaud  I touched the moon with your soul, it escaped after I scrapped it off your bones, and while it flew through your skin, your screams died in the night.

touched the sky when I died, after you shredded me to pieces, years of love and hate, now we are one.

@ChessnySilth From a lone house perched by the woods, came a gurgling scream.

Day turned to night; the crescent moon illuminating the scene of horror below.

Daybreak filled the sky with fiery colors, and a new voice echoed through the valley.

It was an infant, wailing for his mother’s breast, having fought his way to freedom.

 

Winner:

@writesidemama:  Each month, on the night of the cat-eyed moon, you can hear the woodwinds play. If you happen to live in a cabin across from the hills, you might even see them dancing. Beware being caught watching, though, or they will forever haunt your soul.

This story also included all 3 prompts and is the winner of the Over Achiever Prize. Writesidemama, you can DM your email address to me or send it to my email, jezri@writing.com,  for the  $5.00 Gift Card and also I will be sending you Erik’s book, Fall Leaves and The Black Dragon. Please put  Challenge in the subject line if you email.

EVERYONE that entered, if you would like the Jezri’s Nightmares Refrigerator Magnet, I need your actual physical mailing address. Send them to jezri@writing.com with the subject line, Coffin Hop. If you didn’t enter and would like a magnet, check out my interview with Dan Dillard for another opportunity to win it. I also have other giveaways for the Coffin Hop so be sure to check out each day.

If you are an artist and would like to contribute to a challenge, or if you would like to judge one week, let me know, I am always willing to pass the axe onto someone else.

Thank you and see you all next week!

P.S. Be sure to check out the Zombie Run. Only a few more days left to enter.

55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-Two

55 Word Challenge

Week Thirty-Two

Welcome back to #55WordChallenge and my first post for #CoffinHop 2012. Todays guest artist and judge is Erik Gustafson, author of Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon.

 

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, 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 the #55WordChallenge bumpersticker.

BUT WAIT!

 

This is the Coffin Hop and I have some additional prizes for you. (Please hold the applause.) I am offering this Jezri's Nightmares Coffin Hop 2012 magnet to all #55WordChallenge participants. (to be mailed out at the end of the coffin hop.) To receive the magnet, I will need a mailing address. You can send that to me at jezri@writing.com. Put Coffin Hop in the subject line.

 

BUT THERE'S MORE!

 

I am offering a copy of Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon to one participant. To qualify, you need to work in all 3 prompts. Not an easy task. (You can thank my husband for that bit of inspiration. I think he refers to it as an over-achiever award.)

Ok, so on to the prompts!

Photo Prompts:

 

 

Erik Gustafson is a horror writer, working on his third novel. He spent 20 years in the United States Air Force, where he lived all over the world, including Iceland, Germany and in a tent for a year in Saudi Arabia.

 Always an artist at heart, he produced many paintings during his adventures. After his service, he settled down with his family (wife, two great daughters, 2 cats and a little white fluff dog) in small town Iowa, where he loves to volunteer at the antique carousel. Now he helps people with intellectual disabilities reach their potential and teaches psychology classes at a local college.

 He switched from a paint brush to a pen and is now a horror writer by night.

 He has had short stories published by Visionary Press, The Horror Zine, Crypto and Co., and various horror anthologies. His novels include “Fall Leaves and the Black Dragon” and the soon to be published “The Dark Trek Home”.

 Stop by his blog and say hi!

http://eriktiger.wordpress.com/my-writings/

 

Winner 55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-One

Winner 55 Word Challenge'

Week Thirty-One

 

Honorable Mentions:

@caramichaels: I’m not sure if I could go down those steps either. I don’t know what was chasing her, but they would have to be pretty scary to get me moving.

@Klingorengi:  Leave it to Jeff to kill someone off in the most inconvenient of locations. Here’s an idea… toss her out the window.

@Tollyit: I loved the ending. I wonder if she’s still screaming, sitting inside an insane asylum.

Winner:

 

@DavidALudwig: OMG, this one made me laugh and gave me chills. Great writing.

 

TIME AND TIDE

 

Grated steps chattered under foot and carefree voices ricocheted off the walls.

 

“See guys? Was spending the night in the old lighthouse genius or what?”

 

Dawn broke with gentle warmth over the rocks. Young spirits were high, until they found the decayed husks of their cars.

 

“Joe, just how long were we down there?”

 

“Damn.”

 

Thank you everyone for entering! See you next week and don’t forget to enter the Zombie Run!

55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty-One

55 Word Challenge

Week Thirty-One

Welcome back to #55WordChallenge. No guest artist or judge this week, (if you would like to judge or have photos to contribute, let me know) so I will be judge, jury and executioner.

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, 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:

 

Winner 55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty

Winner 55 Word Challenge'

Week Thirty

 

Great stories this week! Thank you everyone. I wish I could pick you all, but I can't. But to me you are all winners. (I know, yadda, yadda, yadda.) Talk is cheap. So here you go...

Honorable Mentions:

@debc: Wow, I could imagine his joy. Hope he made it.
@RGraceAllen: Sad and poignant. I felt the sorrow.
@LurchMunster: *snort* Can I come in or was I too sinful when I was alive? Loved it.

 

Winner:

@BlanchardAuthor: This one needs no explanation. I love the irony at the end.

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.

 

@BlanchardAuthor

55 words

 

I think I have your email addy from the last time you won… (this is the second time, right?) but just to be sure, please DM me.

Thank you everyone for entering! See you next week and don’t forget to enter the Zombie Run!

 

55 Word Challenge: Week Thirty

55 Word Challenge

Week Thrity

Welcome back to 55Word Challenge. Are you ready to write because I have some fun pictures for you today.


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.

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, 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.

 

 

 

 

Photo Prompts:

 

 

 

Shameless Plug:

 

 

The Zombie Run:

 

Write a Flash Fiction story, 500 words or less, and post it in the comment section here, along with your twitter handle or email address. I need to know how to contact the winners. The story can be any genre, but it must include zombies.

 

The Second Wave: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale:

 

A young woman, Fran, seeks refuge from the cold in an Ohio farmhouse. Wanting to forget the past several months and the horror she has witnessed, she convinces herself that she is safe, at least for the moment. Relaxing and enjoying the winter scene, she falls asleep and wakes to a new nightmare. Soon she learns that what happened at the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse wasn't the worst of it. There was more to the virus that created the monsters that now ruled the earth. The infection was mutating and what was coming next may mean the end for all those left alive.

Show More

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Winner 55 Word Challenge: Week Twenty-Nine

Great entries this week! Didn't I say the pictures would be great?

Winner 55 Word Challenge:

Week Twenty-Nine

 

Honorable Mentions:

 @Angelique_Rider: I loved the trip into Wonderland and of course the extra effort to include all 3 prompts.

@klingorengi: I've been in the deep south... it can be a scary thing.

@tollykit: I loved this story, a sort of Grass is always greener, but from a demons perspective.

 

Winner:

@lejamez: I thought that this was poetic and beautiful.

Beauty

 

Thirteen steps down to the basement

She lies with eyes gazing off to the distance

Pushed, fallen or simply resting

 

Cooling skin on a cement floor

Tears pool at the corners of her eyes

Breath slows as life leaves

 

Beauty is found where beauty has fallen

Peaceful in death as life

 

words 51

@lejamez

 

Laura, DM me your E-Mail address and I will send your gift card to you within a week.  :-)

Winner of the Jezri’s Nightmares Bumpersticker:

@PurpleQueenNL

No! Please no, not back in there, please no!

I want to come out, I’ll be good.

I won’t cry, I won’t laugh, I won’t eat, I’ll just sit here okay?

But not in there okay?

Not in the dark again okay? Not with the monster?

It hurt so much last time.

 

Miranda, DM me your mailing address, (I won't give it out,) and I will send you your Bumpersticker.

 

Thank you everyone for entering and I look forward to reading your entries next week!

 

55 Word Challenge: Week Twenty-Nine

 

55 Word Challenge

Week Twenty-Nine

Welcome back to #55WordChallenge. Today's guest artist is one of my favorites, DaStafiZ. Trust me, he has some amazing art and is the cover artist for Undead Ahead: Zombies, a collaboration between my husband, Jeff Hollar and myself. You are going to love his work.

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, 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. (The winner from last month will be announced at the end of this weeks contest.)

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

Photo Prompts:

 

 

GFXer and darkartist Stafis aka. DaStafiZ has spent the last decade amazing people with his dark, and oft times paranormal-erotic, horror art. His work has been featured in Grafix-magazine, deviantART and many Clanpages.

Born in Greece, Stafs lives in Kronprinzenkoog / Germany. You can contact him at info@grafix-szene.de

 

 

Shameless Plug:

 

The Zombie Run: To celebrate the upcoming release of the first collaboration between Jeff and myself, I am hosting a month long contest. The Zombie Run began Oct. 1st and will end Oct. 30th, when Undead Ahead: Zombies is released. Prizes and fun to be had by all... just watch out for all the Zombies.  

 

 

 

Jezri's Halloween Nightmares: A collection of 14 stories, perfect for the Holiday, along with bonus material. Collection includes, The Bainbridge Witch, The Vampire Bureau, Ol’ Jack, Witch’s Brew, The Dress’s Curse, Retribution, Trapped, The Dragon’s Claw, Hide and Seek, A Prank Gone Too Far, Temptations, Dare, Ageless and Reverie, A Graystone Manor Short.

Bonus Material gives you free sample reads of Progeny, The Second Wave: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale, Blood Lust and Undead Ahead, a collaboration of stories by Lisa McCourt Hollar and Jeffrey Hollar. Available on Amazon, BN and Smashwords.