Byron’s comment on the seasons

“The English winter – ending in July, to recommence in August”

It hasn’t felt that bad, but this year’s July does seem to have had a dearth of blue skies.

Thank goodness, then, for Prediction, which this week was chock-full with off-the-wall ideas and epic offerings, my favourite of which was Perry’s ‘Beachhead’ which sent my mind travelling way beyond the words.

Top place this week, however, for its small-scale setting but colourful and vastly entertaining characters, goes to Terrie’s SAS diaries entry 116 – thank you both.

Words for next week: coin peacock twitch

Entries by midnight Thursday 6th August, words and winners posted Friday 2nd

 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 uses of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever.

Blurring of the days

Antonia said it – ‘Good Reads’ – and this another week of an excellence we have got so used to I initially took Terrie’s ‘Brain-fried’ as a straight-forward apology instead of the brilliantly prompt-led piece it was. 

As usual, what I name ‘winner’ for the week is not an indication that others are in any way less accomplished or entertaining, just the one I pick on has some particular hook that catches my attention. This week Patricia managed it twice, with ‘In Plain Sight’ and ‘First appearances’

Words for next week: greed  state usurp

Entries by midnight Thursday 30th July , words and winners posted Friday 31st

 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 uses of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever.

Small but perfectly-formed

100% top quality this week, so I’m going to permit myself to indulge in my liking of the Scottish accent, and the knee-jerk reaction to anything with crows in it, and name David’s ‘On A Cold and Frosty Morning’ my undoubted favourite. Which is not, of course, to say I didn’t gain a great deal of enjoyment from reading each and every one of the others – thank you all. 

And thank you too for the endorsement of the importance of this group – I was enormously pleased to see three of us coincide here around 16.53 on the fifteenth,  and aim to keep it going as long as I am able.

Words for next week: deviate  emery  stunt

Entries by midnight Thursday 23rd July , words and winners posted Friday 24th

 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 uses of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever.

Back to Hot Chocolate, I fear ...

and yes, I know I’ve used it before, but when the lyrics are so appropriate …

Nevertheless, I’m well aware that at the Prediction it’s a beverage vigorously stirred with a liberality of horror – something which doesn’t come as easily to me to write as it evidently does to many of you. This week we’ve had several varieties: David’s haunting, Patricia’s chilling, Jim’s gruesome and John with a double dose of insidious and stomach churning which earns him this week’s number 1 spot.

Words for next week: blaspheme fizz ugly

Entries by midnight Thursday 16th July , words and winners posted Friday 17th

 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 uses of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever.

This week stalled

Despite flow charts and spreadsheets, re-writings and a new starting  point, my current novel has refused to make any progress this week, thus my inability to add scenes – i.e. no reason to write – is making me bad-tempered. All the more reason, therefore, to thank you for the encouragement given by your comments on what I did post here.

I’ve said before, I’ve no interest in “winning” because, as most of you know, that’s not, and never has been, the raison d’être of this site. I assume, like me, participants primarily welcome the opportunity to exercise writing muscles by attempting to match in quality the best of what appears here and thereby entertain. Motivation is personal. As host, my weekly obligation is to choose three words and to name those who particularly entertained me. This week (and remembering Jim won last week) I name three who regularly contribute do so; all very different, all superb: Terrie for ‘SAS Diaries entry 112’, David for ‘Sisters are doing it for themselves’ and Patricia for ‘Collared’.

Words for next week: amuse decrepit platform  

Entries by midnight Thursday 9th July , words and winners posted Friday 10th

 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 uses of the words and stems are fine. Feel free to post links to your stories on Twitter or Facebook or whichever.