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New stories you’ll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.
Gender-Flipped Villain Pitch: Dr. Zin (Jonny Quest)
It's been a minute since I last wrote a gender-flipped villain pitch, and while I have been focused on Beyond the Gates, the road to the 2025 Stanley Cup, the upcoming NFL season, and a few Villainess Reviews, my wheels have still been turning when it comes to gender-flipping villains. I've written three pitches, but I still have so many ideas. It was a matter of which one to write next, and making sure I had the best actresses in mind.
By Clyde E. Dawkins5 months ago in Geeks
10 Things You Learn Fast As a New Writer
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” — Stephen King There’s a lot of commentary in the writing community about what it means to live the writer’s life. It’s a little bit different for everyone, but there are a lot of commonalities that almost all writers can resonate with.
By Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA5 months ago in Writers
Please Don't Leave The Light On
Straight, strong, and mud-like coffee keeps us going as we navigate the blinding white, hard-packed gravel road, heading north. We have crossed the sixtieth parallel and use peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches thickly spread on rye bread, along with long strands of red licorice, to stave off hunger without stopping for breaks. For amusement, I stick one end of a string in my mouth, and he takes the other end. We chew it until our cheeks touch. No worries about refrigerating a sandwich with mayonnaise in it, in these cold, below-zero temperatures. The quart-sized stainless thermos of java is shared between us; I drink from the lid, and he slurps out of his oversize Alaska Railroad mug. I've never drunk so much coffee in my life, but we want to get to Anchorage and are driving nonstop from the Lower 48. It's a good thing we both have young bladders and can hold off for five to six hours before taking a potty break.
By Andrea Corwin 5 months ago in Fiction
For Future Fiction Fun
Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts — The Exercise: Buy a notebook to use for just this one exercise. Then, on a regular basis, perhaps at the beginning of your writing time, or before you go to bed, write for ten to twenty minutes addressing each of the following subjects: * List in detail all the places you have lived - one place per page. (This is a good way to begin because it gives the entire notebook a concrete grounding in time and place.) You might even want to get very specific, say by recounting all the kitchens or bedrooms. * Next, recall if you were happy or unhappy in those places. * Consider your parents' relationship, from their point of view. *List important family members: brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts, cousins. What were the dynamics of your nuclear family, your extended family? (Some of these subjects may take several twenty-minute sessions. Leave space for unfinished business.)
By Denise E Lindquist5 months ago in Writers
Confessions of a Former Alcoholic Part 15
You may have heard this term before in the liberalism movement, but the human brain is distinguished from other animals by its will and ideas. I especially don't want to hear any religious terminology regarding my former faith anymore. Because after learning the realities about my former faith, I became disgusted with it and chose my own group.
By TheNaeth5 months ago in Confessions
The Complications of Queer Dating in a Heteronormative World
Aaron and I bonded through proximity. He worked at a sunglass kiosk at the mall; I worked at an engraving store that was, conveniently, directly across from him. During lulls, it felt like we could chat about almost anything. On breaks, we would grab one another food or a soda. Some people who worked at the mall thought we were a couple. I was one of those people-or at least I felt like we were on a romantic path. But there was one prodigious, meddlesome, elephant-in-the-living-room problem.
By Edward Anderson5 months ago in Pride
Love story gone wrong
It was a beautiful day, full of pleasant surprises, until he called, that is. At first, he sounded concerned, but that wasn’t the reason he dialled her number. There was always something Adam was unhappy about and there was always someone to blame. Anastasia was exhausted, mainly from the weight of her thoughts. He always expected her to lighten up in his presence, regardless of what was going on in her life. She had a CT scan earlier that week and she was really nervous about the results. She barely ate anything, anxiety was wreaking havoc with her nervous system. Anastasia needed Adam to be there for her, but he was preoccupied with his own problems, or the lack of. After few days of silence, she summed up the courage and reached out to him. Instead of affection he gave her a cold shoulder. She didn’t pay him a visit that week because she was anxious and tired. After another attempt to connect with him, she gave up and blocked his number. It was painful, knowing that he didn’t care about her as much as he said he did. The silence was deafening. There was a growing distance between them, a lot of things were left unsaid, on both sides. Adam always put himself first, not matter what was going on in her life. He said she meant the world to him, but when she needed him the most, he left her out in the cold.
By Sasha Chaply5 months ago in Fiction
Get Out of My Head
When I first heard it I was mesmerized. Maybe it was the backbeat that captured my brain or possibly the syncopated rhythm that snaked its way into my every thought. The melody was definitely captivating. Whatever the reason, I was ensnared in its clutches, and the song had no intentions of letting me go.
By Mark Gagnon5 months ago in Fiction
