Gift Card

Milk Wood

She loved adventure! She hated books. But the damn gift card said "Books". At the bookstore, she looked lost. So, the bookseller said, "We have some mystery packs." Well, OK... "A mystery pack, it is." When she opened the pack, it was... let's just say a surprising pack. You had to call a series of phone numbers to get the pick-up locations. The first one was called "Whispers Among the Gravestones" and the pick-up point was the local abandoned cemetery. Who would've thought that books could be so interesting after all? She would take some pepper spray, just in case.

100 Word Stories

Moxie Madness November

 

As a community, the Virtual Writers moved on from the writing event we sponsored for so many years and started our own Moxie Madness.

I'm proud to say that we've kept the same enthusiasm and perseverance. We've managed to achieve our goals, and those of us who didn't are now much closer. We met daily to work hard on our work in progress at our in-world home, Milk Wood, in Second Life. Harri, our fearless leader, once again, organized an amazing series of workshops to keep us motivated. It worked! And there was even a pep talk *cough cough* posted in the Virtual Writers blog.

See you in April for more Moxie Madness!

Mr. Right

 

Silver Sea

Mr. Right lived in the lighthouse across the street. The place was hideous and no one ever visited it. Mr. Right was the typical know-it-all. When proven wrong, he'd blatantly lie. Everyone hated him, everyone except his neighbor who'd often ask to see the gallery because, as he said, "he enjoyed the fresh air". And he tried, he tried many times. Mr. Right knew the neighbor wanted the lighthouse. Some plan to increase the flow of tourists and become the mayor. It turned out, Mr. Right wasn't Mr. Stupid so he never stood alone on that balcony with Mr. Ambitious.

100 Word Stories

Arrested

 

Avydia

"He was arrested for playing awful music on the freaking harp."

"What's that?"

"Crappy music?"

"No. That word..."

"Harp?"

"Yes."

"It's that musical instrument!"

"Ah. What happened to the harp?"

"What do you mean?"

"He was arrested. And the harp?"

"How do I know what happened to the harp?!"

"Was it a big harp or a small harp?"

"It was an I-don't-care-harp." "

"Testy, just asking."

"I'll have to bond him out."

"Why?"

"OMG, have you been paying attention to anything at all? The gold is in the harp."

"Now I'm confused, how can that be an I-don't-care-harp then?"

"OK, bye."

100 Word Stories

The Scorpion

Tatti Soup

It was on the news. They had finally killed him. A candle was lit in a memorial of sorts by the people, just in case. The Scorpion wasn't happy. When he blew out the candle, no one reacted. It was the wind, they thought. But when he kicked the memorial setup, everyone scattered. Respect, he thought, respect. He was THE Scorpion after all. The kicking seemed to work. So, he kicked a trashcan nearby but the damn thing hit him on the face. A few kids started laughing. The nerve. Being a ghost is such a difficult thing these days.

100 Word Stories

Blood Test

 

Misali

She was in the tub. Went for a swim, someone joked. The blood test was inconclusive. Are you sure it was a person? He nodded. Melted in that tub, someone joked. It wasn't funny. Where did he get the blood from then? The wall. Plenty of it. The acid took care of the rest. And now? Now, it was in their hands. That's why you're cops, he said, I'm just the coroner. Well, the blood wasn't hers. It was his. That damn pocket knife he used to slit her throat first. Good thing no one noticed that he kept saying she.

100 Word Stories

Safe

Apassionata

You'll be safe, he said. But nothing was further from the truth. I wasn't safe at all. The irony, the sarcasm, the criticism, the mockery. Day after day. I was not safe. When I left, I left for good. I walked away and became invisible. I changed my name. I hid myself among strangers. My looks, my job. Everything changed. The day he knocked on my door, I just had to get rid of him. The strangers understood. The cops are still looking for him. He's in the Madden's crypt, in Mrs. Madden's coffin. He'll be safe there... or not!

100 Word Stories

Get Me Out of Here!

Slaughterhouse

 The very moment the Ferris wheel started rotating, there was this weird grumbling sound, followed by a sharp metallic groan. He yelled "get me out of here" to no avail. His blood pressure hit the roof when he heard a snapping sound. That was it, he was going to die. The wheel tilted to one side and crashed against the rocks. Yes, "thank you, god, I just broke my back, my legs and an arm, but I'll be fine". Why, you may ask. Well, insurance. A fortune. He never told anyone about that wrench he had stuck in the engine.

100 Word Stories

Moxie Madness Checklist!

 

See you at Milk Wood!

Moxie Madness Workshops

 

Milk Wood

All scheduled events take place at the Forest Coffee Bar (unless otherwise stated) or in the writing room at Book Island (Sundays at 12 noon PT). Please be aware that the clocks go back in the US on the 3rd November and on the 27th October in the UK, and we go by Pacific Time (PT), also known as SLT in Second Life®.

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*Write What Haunts You - Hosted by Robinette Waterson

Friday 1st November, 2024

8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT

People have themes that fascinate them, which they come back to again and again. These themes influence what books they read, movies they watch, topics of conversations with friends, the kinds of vacations they take, the artwork they are drawn to, their daydreams, and their nightmares. In this workshop, Robinette will show you how you can access these ideas so you stay excited and motivated for 30 days and 50,000 words.

About Robinette: Robinette Waterson is a writer of Victorian steampunk erotica, historical novels, and assorted ephemera. In Second Life®, Robinette role plays in historical sims, generally playing a strong-minded woman with a zest for life.

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*Memoir: Interrogating the Past - Hosted by Keykey Underwood

Tuesday 5th November, 2024

8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT

Although memoir tells stories in the first person through the lens of the author’s personal experience, it’s not really about the writer. Find out what memoir is really about. This workshop will discuss types of memoir, why we write memoir, character and time in memoir, and perhaps, some legal and ethical considerations.

About Keykey - Keykey, a native Clevelander, is the former director of The Chautauqua Writers Center in Chautauqua, New York. Her debut novel, Painting Bridges, (Bottom Dog Press, 2013) was praised by Michelle Ross, book critic for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, as “an introspective, intelligent and moving novel.” Her second novel, Resurrecting Rain (Golden Antelope Press, 2020) won a Royal Palm Literary Award from the Florida Writers Association and was a semi-finalist for a Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award under the title New Moon Rising. Her poetry chapbook, Missing Persons, (Ward Wood Publishing, 2013) won the London based Lumen/Camden prize and was cited by Times of London Literary Supplement (November, 2014) as one of the best small collections of the year.

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*Do I know you? - Hosted by Wolfie Wolfgang

Thursday 7th November, 2024

8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT

Do I know you? Do I really?

Join novelist Colin Bell as he leads a creative workshop encouraging writers to experiment and play with characterisation. During the session he will consider some of the characters in his own work. Would he recognise them at a party, down a dark alley, or as a stranger on a train? We will also do some writing exercises to see how these ideas could work for us. Whatever your level, you can improve how you present your characters. If I know you then I might remember you too!

About Wolfie - Television producer-director Colin Bell’s poetry collection, Remembering Blue (2019) and his novels, Stephen Dearsley’s Summer of Love (2013) and Blue Notes, Still Frames (2016) are published by Ward Wood Publishing. His third novel, Over the Hills is a Long Way Off, will also be published by Ward Wood. His poetry has been published by Acumen, Cinnamon Press, Frogmore Press, Shot Glass Journal, Soaring Penguin Press, The Fib Review, and a number of anthologies in the US and UK. Several of his fibs have been set to music as the song cycle, Fibonacci Poems (2017) for tenor voice and piano by American composer Tim Risher. In 2020 he was made Musepie Press’ Featured International Poet and his Fibonacci poetry has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. A Producer-director of arts documentaries and then Executive Producer, Music and Arts, he has made arts programmes for ITV, BBC, Channel Four, and for broadcasters in the USA (WNET and Disney), in Japan (NHK) and Germany (WDR). Colin Bell’s website: https://wolfiewolfgang.com/

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*Finding Your Historical Fiction Voice - Hosted by Finn Bookmite

Friday 8th November, 2024

8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT

Finding your historical fiction voice

• Are you a “wouldst thou” or a “would you”?

• Do you feel that writing the fourteenth century in modern vernacular is justifiable?

• Should someone have told Shakespeare that Ancient Rome didn’t have striking clocks?

• Is it important that the reader finds out the complete process of making a toga from shearing the sheep to the exact type of seashell needed to make the dye?

In this not-totally-serious talk, we shall look at what readers want from a good historical novel, and what jars their senses. We shall examine things like vocabulary pitfalls and the eternal conundrum of pleasing the history buff while not overloading the story with our research!

We shall do this in a spirit of kindness – especially towards me – and collaboration by looking at all the things I got wrong! Our one aim is to open up a way forward for anyone who wants to write historical fiction.

About Finn - Finn has loved the ancient world since reading her first Greek myth, Theseus and the Minotaur. After reading Classics at Oxford, she taught at a British boys’ school for twenty-five years, but then her family moved to Qatar. There wasn’t much call for Latin teachers, so she became a prison visitor, animal rescuer and writer of historical novels and poetry. Now she is back in the UK, and a full-time author.

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*Discovering Your Characters - Hosted by Ercila Robbins

Saturday 23rd November, 2024

8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT

Did you ever want to start your novel with a full description of your character? Where did he come from? What does he look like? What is motivating him? What is his goal? What are his strengths and weaknesses? How does he treat his mother? Well, don’t. Don’t ever begin a novel that way. Writing a character should be like meeting someone on a street corner and then working up to becoming friends. Developing a character takes time, pages, and chapters. Let’s talk about character building, from the ground up, one scene at a time. You don’t know anything about this person until they tell you or you watch them engage with others. Neither should your reader.

About Ercila - Retired criminal attorney and author of six crime novels – and more in the works. Ercila is also a former journalist and newspaper editor, and a published poet. She is a mother, grandmother, and veteran.

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*POSTPONED

Maintaining a #WritersLife like a boss, even when life takes a detour - Hosted by Emz Maizie

Sunday 24th November, 2024

8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm GMT

Keeping your writer’s life active even when your personal life spins out of control. How to maintain a healthy work-life-writing balance without burning out.

About Emz - Author, artist, voice actress, and editor, Emerian Rich is best known for being the Horror Hostess of HorrorAddicts.net, an internationally acclaimed podcast, now in its 19th season. She runs HorrorAddicts.net Press and has major roles in two non-fiction magazines. She is the author of the Night’s Knights vampire series, has been published in over 40 fiction anthologies, has 90+ nonfiction credits, and writes romance under the name Emmy Z. Madrigal. Find out more at http://emzbox.com.

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See you at Milk Wood!