My good friend Leander — an awesome Austrian with a velvet voice — narrated ‘A Heart is Not an Orange’ from my collection, ‘A Chance of Rain’!Check it out! Oh, and Happy Halloween! 
Tag: ShortStory
I Hit 100 Reedsy Short Stories!
I’ve been a huge fan of the Reedsy Writing Competition for years. In fact, I’ve been a member of their site since they began hosting the contest. I’ve won it on three separate occasions, and several other stories got shortlisted. (Not bragging or anything. Okay, so I’m totally bragging.)
Well, today, I hit 100 short stories submitted to Reedsy! It was a piece written for both this month’s Camp NaNo and for the Reedsy prompt, “Write about a community that worships Mother Nature.” The title of the piece is Daughters of the Earth (but it will be a chapter within my upcoming book, This Place Is Dead). You can read it over on Reedsy’s site.
If you don’t know the site, I can thoroughly recommend it. Not only is it a great resource with lots of other professionals. It’s a superb motivator to get you writing on a weekly basis. Come and join us!
So, here’s to 100 stories, Reedsy! Here’s to 100 more.
‘Slashing Through the Snow’: A Christmas Horror Story
Hey, guys and gals! Sorry I’ve not been on top of things lately, but I think you’ll understand, considering the current circumstances.
For this Christmas, I’ve penned a little horror story! It’s called Slashing Through the Snow. It’s not serious at all, just a little goofy thing I scribbled down. Hope you like it! You can read it here.
Here’s to a socially-distant Christmas, and a slightly better New Year!
My Final Story to End the Halloween Season: ‘Unlucky for Some’!
…and here we are! Reedsy story number five! I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey — along with the daily Bite-Sized Horrors. I’ll now return to our regularly-scheduled programming! I know it’s not much, but I hope my little shop of horrors has at least given you a grin or a chuckle during these trying times. 🙂
This one was written for the prompt, “Write about a group of witches meeting up on Halloween night.” The title of my short story is Unlucky for Some, and you can read it here on WordPress or over on my Reedsy profile!
‘Homeowner’s Association’: A Halloween Story About an HOA (Obviously)
And here’s the third story for Halloween! There’s two more to come after this one — that’s right. Bingo! For the first time ever, I’ve written a story for every single prompt for a Reedsy contest. What can I say? Halloween just inspires me. 🙂
This one was written for the prompt, “Write about a vampire or werewolf who moves into a quiet suburban neighborhood.” The title of my story is Homeowner’s Association, and you can read it here on WordPress or over on my Reedsy profile (as always!).
‘Bridgemoss Guardians’: A Short Story About the Childish Magic of Halloween
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’ll explain the absence at a later date, but for now — Halloween fun! I hope you’re all enjoying the Bite-Sized Halloween posts! This story was written for this week’s Reedsy contest (along with a few others, but we’ll get to those in due course) Spooky Season. This one’s for the prompt, “Start your story with two characters deciding to spend the night in a graveyard,” and it’s called Bridgemoss Guardians.
You can read it here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile!
‘Montis Absentia’: A narrative experiment
Well, hello there! How are we all doing this fine Saturday? Keeping well? Social distancing? Grand.
You might’ve noticed I’ve not reported on my Reedsy stories in a while, and the reason for that is I’ve started a bit of an experiment! I’m aware that, as a writer, I’ve got more than enough short stories to my name, but no complete novel. I thought to myself, as I’m in the throes of wrangling a full-length manuscript (more info on this once it’s closer to completion), yet write one Reedsy story a week, I could try to weave my Reedsy pieces into material for a full-length.
So, that’s what I’ve been doing for the past four weeks. This experiment is still ongoing (and I imagine it’ll take a year or so to complete). The experiment is this: I’ve got a vague idea for a story, so, when each Reedsy prompt comes out, I use that prompt as inspiration for the next chapter. I have no idea how this story is going to end, or where each chapter will go every week. As I said, this is an experiment! I may end up realising that it just doesn’t work. But, for the meanwhile, I quite like this idea and I’m going to give it a go!
Well, that’s enough blathering on about the initial idea, Joshua, tell them about the story. The title of the story is Montis Absentia, and Pt. I was written for the contest Introductions. I chose the prompt, “Write a story about two people meeting during unusual circumstances and becoming fast friends.” You should know the drill by now. You can read the story here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile!
The two sets of headlights intersected each other in the midnight’s blackness, shades of yellow and orange sliced through the inky gloom.
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I’ll be uploading each part on a weekly basis. So, I hope you think this idea is as cool as I do (and, really, that I feel excited is the most important thing). I guess we’ll see how it goes, eh?
Until next time, guys!
‘In the Dark of the Zombie City’: A story of an intense discussion
Hey, everyone! How’s everyone doing this fine *checks notes* September afternoon? This next one was written for the contest, In On a Little Secret. I chose the prompt, “Write a story about a meeting of a secret society.” The title of my short story is In the Dark of the Zombie City, and you can read it here on WordPress or over on my Reedsy profile.
“So, the first item on our agenda is killing Ethan.” Lilly looked up from the sheet of paper on her judge’s desk. “Are we all in agreement?”
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Well, that’s all for now! Until next time, guys. 🙂
‘Eye to Eye’: A story of reconnection
How is it September next week? Where has the time gone!? This next one was written for the Reedsy contest, Second Chances. I chose the prompt, “Write a story about childhood sweethearts coming across one another after many, many years apart.” As you can probably guess, I took it in a rather weird direction… The title of my story is Eye to Eye, and you can read it here on WordPress or over on my Reedsy profile!
A glimpse was all I needed to recognise my childhood sweetheart; I’d never forget those killer’s eyes.
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Well, that’s all for today! Until next time, guys. 🙂
New short story: ‘Lights Shined into Pried-Open Eyes’
Hey, how are we all doing? I hope you’re all well! 🙂 Sorry for the brief pause (it seems it’s becoming a habit, as of late!), but I spent the week at my in-laws’ for my partner’s 25th. Lots of food, hiking, and drinking. I’m back now, however!
This next one was written for the Reedsy contest, In Reverse. I chose the prompt: “Come with us,” two burly men in gray suits say, grabbing you by the arm and handcuffing you. “You know what you did.” But you have no idea. The title of my story is Lights Shined into Pried-Open Eyes, and you can find it here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile.
The plasma glow from the television was the only source of light in the apartment. All the curtains were drawn — they always were, day or night.
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Joshua G. J. Insole 