Last Friday I mentioned that I was trying to write something for Molotov Cocktail’s Flash Monster contest, but that I wasn’t sure I had what I wanted. Well, last night I wrote another thing I enjoy and this time I’ve submitted it. As I said before, if you’re associated with Molotov you should probably wait on reading this. If you’re not, enjoy!
So, The Molotov Cocktail has a monster themed flash fiction contest, and I want to post an entry. I’m not sure that this is the piece for me to submit (and, obviously, you Molotov-associated folks shouldn’t read this until later), but it’s the piece that came to me over the course of this afternoon. I hope you enjoy it.
I’m not trying to foster excitement by withholding posts from you (unless you prefer that narrative, in which case I am). I’ve been busy with school and life and both of those things happening at the same time for the past week or so, and so I’m afraid I missed yesterday’s post. I might miss tomorrow’s as well, but perhaps I can salvage that.
On the plus side, I ran a good game of D&D 5e last night for my campaign group that had been waiting 3 months for a session, and I should have a 1st draft outline of a longer Barium Deep piece up here sometime soon. But until then, I’m afraid you’ll have to bear with me and wait. Hasta luego.
This is the first time that I’ve not written one of Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenges since January (with the exception of the times when I’ve been working at summer camp without internet, but even then I think I got lucky and he didn’t post a challenge). I feel weird, honestly. I had ideas for this week’s challenge, but I’ve been so busy for the past few days…
Instead, I offer you the newly edited version of Barium Deep. It hasn’t been deeply revised, and there are more changes to come, but I think I’ve managed to improve the piece’s clarity and presentation. Let me know if you like it!
In the course of writing an exercise piece for class, I ended up writing what might work as a short scene for my Miska story. It’s a bit odd, given that I changed narration style, but the core conflict feels right. I hope you enjoy it!
I have been driving around with my brothers today, on our way to visit our mother for a big party / art show of hers. To make up for my delayed post, I’ve overdone Chuck Wendig’s “come up with a title” challenge for this week; instead of giving you only one title, I’ll give you, um, fourteen. Or maybe sixteen, though I suppose at least four of them are either variations or jokes of some sort. Oddly enough, I found it far easier to write too many titles than to write just one. As long as I thought I only had to write one, I felt kind of stuck. Once I knew I was writing “lots,” I felt free to write whatever the hell came to mind. It worked pretty well, I think. Go past the break to read my list. Quality not guaranteed.
Today’s post is brought to you by the caffeinated musings which have distracted me from my homework and encouraged me to write world background material instead.
The setting of For The King! is largely lacking playable non-humans at the moment. There are a few dwarves or elves who might be somewhere in the realm of Duval, and there are some gnomes and halflings and others scattered around, but most people, in most places, are human. The orcs and half-orcs mostly live to the northwest of the kingdom, generally part of the large nomadic tribes which roam through those sections of the Trade Lands. Heck there are centaurs too, but they generally stick to the lands northeast of the kingdom of Duval, and don’t have much direct contact except with traders who venture out onto the northern plains.
And yet there are remnants of dwarven architecture throughout the center of the kingdom of Duval, and historical records definitely suggest that they used to live in the area. So… where have all the dwarves gone?
More Star Citizen related art, just because.
I wrote this piece for terribleminds, because my last piece was 1000 words too long for this week’s space opera challenge. This piece sticks with Barium, but is set many years after the previous one. At least ten years after it. In case you’re confused by the multiple names, Bury’em = Barium = Barry, and Casi = Cesium. Enjoy!
Gorgeous artwork by George Hull, for the game Star Citizen
I didn’t write the following bit of space drama with the above image in mind, but it’s a beautiful fit anyway. What follows is another piece of “middle grade” fiction, one that holds true to the more classically action-adventure oriented stories that I usually like to tell. Enjoy!
(Note: There’s now a great deal of other Barium Deep material here. This is the edited version of this same post, and this is the collection of other posts linked to Barium Deep.)
Remember how I mentioned being dissatisfied with my work on Wednesday? As you might gather from the title, I wrote another 500 word piece rather than use either of those two. I am, as ever, somewhat dissatisfied, but I still like this one. It’s… fun. And somewhat painfully reminiscent of my childhood. Enjoy.
Fistful of Wits 