Category: Contest

‘As It Ends’ Was Shortlisted for the Reedsy Contest!

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Hey, everyone! Sorry for being so quiet on here lately, but life has been so busy! Anyway, I’ve been shortlisted for the Reedsy contest again! This marks the second time I’ve been shortlisted for the contest. Of course, I’d love to win the contest again, I’m still really pleased at being shortlisted!

If you haven’t already, you can read As It Ends here, or over on my Reedsy profile.

Sally didn’t see the nukes explode.

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If you’d like to read my previously shortlisted story, What Did We Do? click here or here. And if you’d like to read my stories that actually won, you can read The Things That Do Not Float here and here, and Astro Naught here and here.

Check back tomorrow to read my latest entry! I feel as if I’ve broken new ground with this most recent piece…

Read ‘As It Ends’: My apocalyptic entry for this week’s Reedsy contest!

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https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/joshua-insole/

You know the drill, folks! It’s Reedsy time! This week had the theme of ‘the plot thickens’. Whilst on the topic, Reedsy have just released a randomised plot generator — head on over, and give it a go! It’s a lot of fun!

I chose prompt #3 — “It kicks off on a yacht with the delivery of an important letter.” I took some liberties with the definition of ‘letter’, but I don’t think the guys over at the Reedsy team will mind too much. The title of my story is As It Ends. Click here to read it on WordPress, and click over here to read it on my Reedsy profile.

Sally didn’t see the nukes explode.

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I struggled a bit to find the time to write this piece — what with NaNoWriMo going on, to write for, and all that. I managed to find the time, somewhere, but I didn’t spend as much time on this as I usually do. Nevertheless, I’m still kinda proud of it, if only for the sheer volume of writing I’ve been doing since the start of November!

Well, until time — I hope you like the story, and I hope you have a great week! See ya!

‘Play It Again, Daddy-O’: My short story for the November BlogBattle!

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Well, here we are again! Another month, another #BlogBattle prompt. The word for November is ‘harp’. At first I was a bit baffled as to where to take the prompt, but after the first idea floated to the top of my mind the rest slotted into place rather smoothly!

“Take it away, man,” said the first.

“Play it, daddy-o,” said the second.

“Gotcha,” replied the third.

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I tried to avoid writing a chase scene again, as I’d done a few of those already for the … I quite like the direction the story took. Perhaps we’ll visit this world again, at some point in the future? I feel that there’s potential here.

As always, check out the other bloggers’ stories when they get posted! They’re always great!

 

‘Shine a Light’: A Story in 99 Words

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Dusk dissolved into the hungry night. Night fed into dawn. Dawn became day.

In the space of 24 hours the planet had undergone a revolution. The cold light of day shined upon the smoking ruins and gore-strewn streets, revealing the new world.

Watery grey light washed over the city. The horrors that had been obscured by shadow were now unflinchingly illuminated. That which had been denied or debated was held under the microscope. Stony truth thudded down.

She picked up her satchel and set off, listening to the moans of the dead sighing through the streets like a gale.

 

photo of skyscrapers surrounded with clouds
Photo by Aleksandar Pasaric on Pexels.com

 

Written in response to CarrotRanch’s October 31, 2019, prompt: Day of the Dead.

‘What Did We Do?’ Was Shortlisted for the Reedsy Contest!

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So, I didn’t win the Reedsy contest this week, but I’m not going to grumble, considering I’ve already won it twice! (Three times would definitely be nice, though…) However,  I received an email telling me that my story What Did We Do? was very well received, and was actually shortlisted for the prize — so I’ll take that as a sort of win, in any case.

If you haven’t already, you can read What Did We Do? here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile.

The dogs were the first to sense it. Without them, who knows how it would have all turned out? Maybe it would have all been over within a few hours.

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And if you’re interested in my previous stories which won the competition, they’re called The Things That Do Not Float and Astro Naught. You can read the former here or here, and you can read the latter here and here.

Have a nice day, everyone!

‘I Am the Groundskeeper’: My entry for the Halloween edition of the Reedsy contest!

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Well, Halloween has been and gone! And what a great one it was! This week’s Reedsy theme was naturally focused on Halloween. I chose prompt — “Write a story about someone spending the night in an old Victorian home-turned-hotel on Halloween.”

The title of my short story is I Am the Groundskeeper, and — as always — you can read it here on WordPress, or over here on my Reedsy profile! The story is set in one of my favourite places in the world — rural Wales. I had in mind the countryside around Llanon, Aberystwyth and Aberaeron.

The knife doesn’t slip in easily, I have to really force it.

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Hope you like the story, and I hope you had a great Halloween! I know that I did!

Until next time, peace out!

Read ‘What Did We Do?’ My short story for this week’s Reedsy contest!

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https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/joshua-insole/

Hey guys! Hope you’re all well and getting ready for Halloween! I know I am — pumpkin purchased and ready to carve! I also hope you’re enjoying the Bite-Sized Halloween stuff — the conclusion is rapidly approaching!

This week’s Reedsy theme was armchair detectives; I chose prompt — ‘Write a story about a character with a sidekick.’ I have to admit, I didn’t really stick with the theme, as I had a really cool horror idea that I wanted to pursue! After all, these prompts are meant as guides to kickstart your writing. The title of my story is What Did We Do? As always, you can read it here on WordPress, and over here on my Reedsy profile.

The dogs were the first to sense it. Without them, who knows how it would have all turned out? Maybe it would have all been over within a few hours.

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Hope you like it! And remember: always trust your dog’s instincts!

Until next time…

‘Watching Jeremy’: My bleak entry for this week’s Reedsy contest

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Well, here we are again. It doesn’t seem quite right that we’re halfway through October 2019 already, does it? But as they say, time waits for no man. As with last week, you’re getting twice the Josh today — Bite-Sized Halloween and a short story!

This week’s theme was ‘childhood meets adulthood’. I chose prompt #4 — “Write about a parent who sees pieces of a family member’s (or their own) personality in their child — whether this brings them comfort, terror, or something in between.’

I wrote my story in a frantic rush once I’d read the prompt. Sometimes I have to think about the story a bit, before putting words on paper. This was not one of those occasions… The words came rushing out of my fingertips in a frenzy. I feel as though the story is quite a bit darker than my usual fare, even though it’s not straight-up horror. It’s called Watching Jeremy, and you can find it here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile.

Dad had killed people. Before, I mean.

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I hope you find it to be an entertaining read, despite its dark tone. Writing this was one of those rare experiences where you don’t even think about what you’re doing, it just… happens.

You should definitely check out some of the other entries over on Reedsy’s site — there’s really something for everyone, regardless of your genre-specific tastes.

Until next time…

‘We Take the Wolves’: This week’s Reedsy entry!

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Yes, yes, I know, I’m breaking my rule regarding posting more than once a day — but sharing my short stories is kinda the whole point of this blog, and I’ve only got 20 days or so to wrap up that Bite-Sized Halloween story I’ve got going… So, today, I’m afraid you’ve got double the Josh. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing, I’ll leave you to decide…

With that said, I hope you guys have had a good week! I’m feeling much better now, after last week’s period of writing whilst in the grip of a fever… This week’s theme was Peanuts. As in, the comic strip with Charlie Brown and Snoopy, not the salted snack!

I chose prompt #3 — “Write a story about someone who is unexpectedly wise.” I knew straight away where I’d take this prompt, and I think I’ve kinda gone back in a horror-ish direction, after straying away from it slightly with my recent entries. The title of my short story is We Take the Wolves, and (you know the drill!) you can read it here on WordPress, or over here on my Reedsy profile.

When the werewolves first attacked, we didn’t stand a chance.

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As always, I hope you like the story! I had fun writing it, but then, that’s no surprise, is it? Wouldn’t be much of a writer if I hated doing this thing! If you get the chance, check out the other entries over on Reedsy — there’s always some brilliant work happening, over there.

Until next time, have a good’un!

My entry for this week’s Reedsy contest: ‘A Village Under the Purple Moon’!

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Well, hello there! Fancy seeing you here. How’ve you been? That good, huh? Well, actually, I’ve been quite ill, but it hasn’t stopped me from working. I’ve done some writing, but it was done whilst in a state of delirium, so…

This week’s Reedsy theme was the literary classic, Little Women! I chose prompt #4 — “Write a story that uses flowers as a symbol.” As mentioned, I wrote this piece whilst not entirely here on Earth. I found the finished thing on my desktop, once I’d recovered, with only a vague memory of writing it. I tweaked it a little, once I was better — but for the most part, I left it as it was. I think it’s got a ‘woozy’ sensation to it, probably imbued from my fever! The title of the story is A Village Under the Purple Moon, and you can read it here on WordPress, or over here on my Reedsy profile. It’s a kind of fantasy story, which I never really write — so that’s a first!

Marianne felt the eyes of the townsfolk upon her; hatred intermingled with fear. Although they’d never know it, the people of Maydale had played a role in their own demise.

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As always, I hope you enjoy the piece! And remember: never exile a witch!

If you’d like to read Astro Naught, my winning entry for last week’s Reedsy contest, you can find it here on WordPress, or over here on Reedsy, where it has been published!