Toffee-coloured toadstools

Dozens appeared in our lawn this week. Never seen before but apparently harmless, for all their ‘alien invasion’ characteristics. And I’ve discovered a new writer too – Benjamin Myers – who beautifully and poetically writes tales of gruesome, stomach churning events within a rural landscape. None of the coming week’s words appear to offer the opportunities for bloodshed that ‘butcher’ did, yet I am sure  each of you will bring your own brand of poetic queasiness to bear. And thank you for it.

And despite my ever-present gratitude to Antonia and Patricia for their stalwart and ever-entertaining attendance here, I nominate Bill’s last-arriving ‘Dockside’ for the number one spot this week.

Words for next week:  elaborate mend zebra

Entries by midnight Thursday 3rd November, new words posted on Friday 4th

Usual rules: 100 words maximum (excluding title) of flash fiction or poetry using all of the three words above in the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction or noir. Serialised fiction is, as always, welcome. All variants and use of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever social media.

Writing and inhabiting new worlds

I’ve spent much of this week with my head in the seventeenth century, reading textbooks and novels of the period to enable me to pick up the voice of my narrator, and have been pleasantly surprised how easily I’ve invented likely-sounding phrases for her and her peers. It strikes me it’s somewhat akin to writing Fantasy, and also that I’m going to have to read something very different to re-enter the world of modern-day murder as required by my current works in progress.

And this week’s entries here well-demonstrate the practised writer’s facility for creation. I look forward to Patricia’s knitting together of her Kursaal world, to Antonia’s Captain a-sail on the high seas and add my plea for Bill to deliver a little more Emilio. This week’s winner, for her orphaned stockings and Princess Rosebud’s endlessly intriguing adventures, is Rosie, with William a brave runner-up for his paean to his absent muse.  

Words for next week:  corrugate, seventeen, butcher

Entries by midnight Thursday 27th October, new words posted on Friday 28th

Usual rules: 100 words maximum (excluding title) of flash fiction or poetry using all of the three words above in the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction or noir. Serialised fiction is, as always, welcome. All variants and use of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever social media.

Fine meat for one and numb poison for another

In truth, for me, Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prej’ is more comfort food than meat for me, a book I can pick up and read with enjoyment any time, despite having read it countless times before. Yet there are many, many writers who other folk rave about but whose style of writing leaves me cold. So it is very good to see that within this small but varied band of Prediction participants, each of us is well-entertained, week after week, by the others, despite our variety of voices.  And for her conjuring up a ‘shy shadow’ in this latest well-voiced instalment of her Captain’s tale, I declare Antonia this week’s winner.

Words for next week:  orphan, pen, traipse

Entries by midnight Thursday 20th October, new words posted on Friday 21st

Usual rules: 100 words maximum (excluding title) of flash fiction or poetry using all of the three words above in the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction or noir. Serialised fiction is, as always, welcome. All variants and use of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever social media.

Marmalade, monsters and man-eating flowers

Nice to have a week off and come back to so many differing choices of favourite. Finding I won by a whisker was very gratifying – thank you! – but it hasn’t made choosing this week’s winner any easier.

So good to learn a little more of Rosie via her comments, and by reading others' I don’t think there’ll be much dissent if I name Patricia’s ‘Felo-da-se’ as the best of a very good rest.

Words for next week:  conjure shadow shy

Entries by midnight Thursday 13th October, new words posted on Friday 14th

Usual rules: 100 words maximum (excluding title) of flash fiction or poetry using all of the three words above in the genres of horror, fantasy, science fiction or noir. Serialised fiction is, as always, welcome. All variants and use of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever social media.