Cornish Clouds and walking words

Simple derivation of title this week - I’ll be spending the weekend in a penthouse in Cornwall in the company of 7 or 8 other writers from one of my on-line groups members of which refer to themselves as Cloudies.

As ever, I was struggling to chooses a winner from the oh-so-closely-matched in merit but have to say, firstly for the evocation of its title and secondly for the purple tigers , I unhesitatingly vote Rosie’s ‘The Adventures of Rosebud, Pirate Princess #61, The Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome, this week’s undoubted winner.

Words for next week:  appease crochet lodge

Entries by midnight Thursday 2nd February, new words posted on Friday 3rd

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.

‘The decent obscurity of a learned language’

Often the hardest thing about this weekly posting is the title which is when I resort to a dictionary of quotations. Today’s is from Edward Gibbons (1737-1794) and begins ‘My English text is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in (the decent obscurity ...)’.  Obscurity is what Jeffrey appeared to several of us to deliver last week, albeit it thought-provoking, and was something I was guilty of as well, with my mis-remembering one of the prompt words and forgetting to change the dates.

Less ambiguous is my choice for this week’s winner who, outstandingly, is Zaiure for her breathtaking fifth instalment of ‘Regrets’. Patricia is a close runner-up, for the double whammy of ‘He Who Hesitates ...’ and ‘Fortune Favours’. As ever, thanks are due to you all for participating and for commenting.

Words for next week:  adamant marinade tiger

Entries by midnight Thursday 26th January, new words posted on Friday 27th

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.

Cats and Captains, Corvids and Clowns

How did the group get its name?  As Antonia explained, it was started by Lily Childs as Friday Prediction, back in 2010. You only need have a look at Lily’s ‘Feardom’ blog to see the scale and breadth of words  she regularly used (memo to self: must try harder!)  Although ‘Friday’ was dropped, I am loth to lose ‘Prediction’ it in case it prevents long-lost members finding us again.

It’s one of those never-lost members who pips the rest of you at the post this week – Antonia for yet another solid episode of The Captain’s adventures in Infinity  181 – but the rest of you are snapping at her heels, giving us all an excellent week’s entertainment.

Words for next week:  devastate essence joint

Entries by midnight Thursday 19th January, new words posted on Friday 20th

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.

Seeking specific tunes

And so begins another year ... two short stories submitted; a beta-read novel revised and I’m back to plot-wrestling #4 in my Luke Darbyshere series. Question is, is 2017 the year I get them up and available on Lulu? Answer, as ever, who knows? 

But today, for Prediction, a delicious double helping of entries! 
I declare the winner of the final post for 2016 to be Patricia for her ‘One of these nights’ - a perfect example of tight, intriguing writing which leaves the reader to do much of the work. 
And the first for 2017 is a joint award to the Owens family. The hard-boiled of Bill’s ‘Simply a beastly evening’ such a delicious contrast to Rosie’s perfectly-titled ‘Look, a Shiny!’

My thanks, as ever, to each of you for your contributions and your comments – I sincerely hope you’ll keep them coming in 2017.

Words for next week:  chary, float, torch

Entries by midnight Thursday 12th January, new words posted on Friday 13th

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.