Tag: PostApocalyptic

Read my quirky little entry for this week’s Reedsy: ‘Frank’

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

Hey, guys! So, here we are, the final day of NaNoWriMo! But… I’ll be making a post about that another day. Today is Reedsy short story contest time! The final Reedsy during NaNoWriMo! I’ve found it a little bit exhausting to maintain all my side stuff alongside NaNo, but I’ve made it!

This week’s Reedsy theme was ‘All the Fixin’s’ for Thanksgiving! As a Brit, I don’t really know what it’s exactly all about, but I was more than happy to pen a story under the theme, nonetheless! I chose prompt — “Write a story about a family dinner that includes someone unexpected showing up.”

The title of my story is Frank, and, as always, you can read it here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile!

We all thought that Frank was dead. Had we known that he wasn’t, we would have killed him again.

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I wrote this piece in a really short space of time, due to my NaNo commitments — it came together in the space of an hour or so. I think it’s got quite an off-beat vibe! I hope you all like it!

Stay tuned for more posts as NaNo comes to an end!

‘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!

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

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

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…

Read ‘Two Wheels to the Coast’: This week’s Reedsy short story!

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Hey all! Hope you’ve had a good week — it’s flown by! This week’s Reedsy theme was centered around road trips!

I chose prompt — “Write a story about a family road trip.” I think my story straddles the boundary between my horror and non-horror pieces of work. I’m quite pleased with it! The story is called Two Wheels to the Coast, and you can read it here.

Enjoy the short story! And think: how would you and your family fare on a road trip without a motorised vehicle?

Have a good weekend!

P.S. Bite-Sized Horror is back tomorrow!

‘Good Boy’: A story in 99 words

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During the days they walked, the man and his dog, searching for food, clean water, and shelter for the evening. They also searched for other survivors in the rubble, but were yet to find anything alive.

At night, they hid, and took refuge from the things that stalked the twilight for prey. They slept sporadically, huddled together for warmth.

They shared each other’s food and each other’s company, refusing to surrender that last ounce of hope. They held on to their reminiscences, remembering the good times.

But they could not erase the awful memory of that blooming mushroom cloud.

 

person holding black and tan dog
Photo by Matheus Bertelli on Pexels.com

 

Written in response to CarrotRanch’s September 5, 2019, prompt: true grit.

I won last week’s Reedsy contest with my story ‘The Things That Do Not Float’!

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Hey everyone! Happy Friday! Last Saturday, I made a post about once again entering the weekly Reedsy short story contest… it turns out that I won!

I was really pleased to hear that the team over at Reedsy enjoyed my story — it’s always nice to know that somebody out there liked your work. If you haven’t already, you can check out my winning entry here on WordPress, titled The Things That Do Not Float. Reedsy also published the story on their site and on their Medium blog.

So, a massive thanks to the Reedsy team for hosting these weekly contests (I look forward to the new prompts every Friday!), and thank you for picking The Things That Do Not Float as the winner!

Head over to Reedsy’s site to learn more about their weekly contests.

‘The Things That Do Not Float’: My entry for this week’s Reedsy contest — it’s not horror!

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Hey all! How’s everyone doing? This week’s Reedsy theme was based loosely on their recommended 100 books to read in your lifetime.

I chose prompt — “Write a story about a teenager visiting the place they grew up.” Surprisingly, I didn’t write a horror story. This wasn’t intentional, the story simply went in a non-horrific direction rather naturally. The title of my short story for this week is The Things That Do Not Float, and you can read it here.

“Shaun jumped from the cliff’s edge. With each passing second, he felt the temperature drop and the pressure rise. The sensation of the movement was faint; if he closed his eyes, it felt as if he weren’t moving at all.” Continue Reading

I rather enjoyed writing this slightly unusual (for me, at least) short story — I hope it is as fun to read!

P.S. Bite-Sized Horror is back tomorrow!