We have fiction from the pens of Icy Sedgwick, Laura Eno, Carrie Clevenger and Dan Powell. Grab a drink, kick back and enjoy!

A Black Night In The Churchyard by Icy Sedgwick

A small rock scuttled across the medieval stones. A fox looked up from his foraging near the gate. His amber eyes saw the Black Knight sitting on a low tomb. The knight kicked his feet against the faded inscription, and fiddled with his gauntlets. He cast his gaze around the lurching gravestones. He no longer saw the names; he knew each and every one of them. He knew their dates of birth, and their dates of death. He occasionally invented stories for them to keep himself amused.
Read on…

“Under The Sea” by Laura Eno

Chronos had just stepped out of his kitchen with an apple when Death materialized in his living room.

“Excuse the abrupt entrance, but I came to warn you—”

A second being solidified, this one dripping on the new shag carpet. Chronos watched a Chilean sea bass flop around on the floor for a moment before raising his eyes to greet the unexpected visitor.

“Poseidon, always a pleasure.” He grit his teeth in an approximation of a smile. “What brings you here?”

“You know very well why I’m here, you snarky timepiece.”
Read on…

“Second-Sight” by Carrie Clevenger

He’s hummin’ a little tune as his ears follow that clickety-clack of his walking stick . A white extension of his black self. Dark-leathery skin contrasts with the brilliant white stick, with them red stripes. His nostrils flare. Bertha has fresh pie waiting at the diner already. Coffee. The papery scent lettin’ him know the Sunday edition is waiting in his customary spot.
Read on…

“VE Day” by Dan Powell

Praise Wisdom.

I/We stand, my Conglomerates and my sentience, on the final arc of our war with planet designate Earth. I/We observed this hive of humanity across both space and time, watched what they were, what they are and what they will become unfold across focused oneirospheres. Where prior learning undertaken through the Martial Conglom had found humanity to be barbaric, witless race capable only of developing their culture into a horde that would spread it’s contagion into the stars, it took our multi-facet Conglom of Librarians to truly plumb their depths. Pride boils my breast not a little that it was my Caste and Conglom who discerned the true nature of these human beings. So long have I spent with my brain in their books that I discover their idioms invading my thoughts. This process of synaptic restructuring is not displeasant.
Read on…

“The Flip of a Coin” by Benjamin Solah

She stands, all of a sudden frozen, listening for it but can only hear the drip drip of where she’s been.

In one hand, she grips the loaded pistol tighter wondering if it will be of any use anyway. And when she opens her other hand, the coin says tails. She darts to the left down the cavernous tunnel. Read more

“Too Much Rope” by Carrie Clevenger

“Did you see the way he looked at you?” Don said, his extra-white dental bleach job nearly blinding his date. Don had a way with women even though any of them could hardly stand to look at him. His wallet proved to be an aphrodisiac, and if that wasn’t enough, his penile pump made sure the lucky lady would never slip away unsatisfied. Laurie was fairly unchoosy about who was paying her car note. The big stiff one was merely a bonus in the situation. Read more

“We’ll Get the Next One” by Jen Brubacher

I let the red wine roll over my tongue, delicate tartness washing at the inside of my cheeks. Not too shabby, I thought. The scent of it was full and sweet. Then my wife told me it was poisoned. Read more

“Chaos and Chance” by Icy Sedgwick

The silver coin flashed in the air, a disc of light that flipped and landed in her waiting left palm. Her right hand gripped the revolver swiped from Sarah’s antique shop.

Temper flared behind her eyes as she stared at the coin. Instead of looking down at the profile of the Queen, she saw only the ring of dolphins on the ‘tails’ side of the 50p. Read more

“Mary Kelly” by Jason Coggins

Mary Kelly placed the gun on the pillow of her bed. It didn’t look like a flint-lock. It looked more like iron plumbing than a bleeding pistol. The penny was passing queer as well. She turned it between her fingers. It were no farthing; Queen Vic’s jowls didn’t grace either side of it. Read more

“Kaleidoscope” by Paul Servini

Lucy couldn’t help wondering if a third of a bullet would kill. That would save her having to chose who would die. She stared at the newspaper lying in front of her. Now or never. The words began to swim around in her mind, the letters kaleidoscoping, creating in her mind new forms but always coming back to that law inscribed in stone which was to govern her day. She’d never been one to set much store in horoscopes, but today was different. Today, it spoke to her heart, urging her to action. The toss of the coin confirmed what she had to do. Read more

“The Aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion” by Tony Noland

“I say, Artie? If you’re not otherwise occupied, we’re almost out of cartridges. Think your dad could spring for some more? Him being Lord Yaxley and all?”

Arthur Wilberforce “Artie” Wooster drew a bead on the last of the rebellious Chinamen fleeing across the yard, squeezed the trigger and dispatched the bugger. His friend Harry’s sense of humor was more dryly British than most Englishman’s; it came from trying too hard. Read more

“Balls of Fire” by Tony Noland

The scar tissue makes a little map of Australia over my heart, an island of wrinkled pink skin in an ocean of black hair. I’ve seen some of the guys at the gym, looking at it sidelong in the shower. I know the rumor is that it’s a gunshot wound. I can’t say I’m sorry to have that rep, especially as it’s hard to figure a guy like me as a player. A guy like me? Nah, I never been shot. Not with a gun, I mean. Read more

“Survivor” by Laura Eno

The final taping of America’s latest reality show, Survivor: Continent, played to an unprecedented audience of 700 million worldwide. The numbers had remained steady throughout sixteen weeks of airtime. Ecstatic sponsors engaged in bidding wars for fifteen-second spots. Read more

“Shiny” by Tina Hunter

It glittered… no, twinkled really… just sitting there in the lamp light. It’s funny how you forget such simple pleasures when you’re running.

“Alright Dodger, time to pay up.”

“Right,” I said. I pulled a few more coins out of my pocket and put them on the table with the shiny silver one I’d been staring at. “It’s not closing time yet is it?” I asked Celeste.

“Not exactly but it might as well be for you.”

She pocketed the coins before I could ask, “What do you mean by that?” Read more

“Ophidian” by Annie Evett

Salinas tongue glid across her full red lips, its tip tantalisingly tasting the air. Her slanted eyes shot sidewards to the trembling man hanging in the centre of the room. Sunlight streamed in from the open door she had flung open moments ago.
With the fluid grace of an oil slick seeping across tranquil waters, she slithered over to him and pressed her body against his. Lifting her head she slowly breathed in his scent.

“Luck, it would seem, has taken a fancy to you Jerone.” Read more

“The Truth of the Matter” by Rob Diaz

“Heads – I let my twitchy trigger finger have a good time; tails – you get to explain.” She held the gun up next to my head and flipped the coin. We watched it spin, reflecting the light of the fires surrounding us. As it came to rest in her left hand, I let out a sigh of relief.

Tails.

Without removing the gun from my forehead, she said, “You’ve got one shot, punk. If I don’t like what you’re saying…” She let the implication of her unfinished sentence hang in the air. Read more

Some writers are inspired by the [Fiction Friday] prompt at Write Anything and others contribute to JM Strother’s #FridayFlash via Twitter.

We hope you take the time to enjoy the varied and entertaining array of stories on offer.

Stand Alone Shorts

Carrie Clevenger’s “Night Life”

Tony Noland’s “Problems with the T.P.S. report”

Laura Eno’s “Death by Chocolate”

Icy Sedgwick’s “Allergy” – it’s such a lovely day for a spot of the Plague…

Emma Newman’s “The Bean”, plus a competition!

Chris Chartrand’s “The Lunar Gate” – Not all fears are irrational

JM Strother’s “Who Ya Gonna Call” - preadolescence boys and a haunted house. Oh boy!

Annie Evett’s “Cipher of the Heart” – where does a writers inspiration really come from?

Jason Coggin’s “The Ballard of Jimmy Economy.”

Serials

Tony Noland’s Just Enough Power series, “Just Enough Power Episode 9″

Carrie Clevenger’s Crooked Fang

Emma Newman’s Split Worlds, “The Audition”

Jodi Cleghorn’s Dirk Hartog, “Blood Sports”

Some writers are inspired by the [Fiction Friday] prompt at Write Anything and others contribute to JM Strother’s #FridayFlash via Twitter.

We hope you take the time to enjoy the varied and entertaining array of stories on offer.

Stand Alone Shorts

Dan Powell’s “The Taste Of Youth”… Keep young and beautiful.

Tony Noland’s “Grow, garden, grow”… Pretty plants, behind a locked door.

Carrie Clevenger’s “Pale Horse”… An addict’s thought-process.

Laura Eno’s “Martians Don’t Eat Corn”.

Paul Servini’s “Close Encounters”.

Emma Newman’s “‘Her Fall”.

Jen Brubacher’s “Kid”.

Icy Sedgwick’s “Strictly No Digging” … in which advertising has some surprising effects!

J.M. Strother’s “Not a Christmas Miracle”. Why wait until Christmas to talk to the animals?

Jodi Cleghorn’s “Greenman Ridge”… the edge of technology and love.

Christopher Chartrand’s “Dark World.”

Serials

Emma Newman’s Split Worlds, “The Shopkeeper Returns”.

Carrie Clevenger’s Crooked Fang.

Jodi Cleghorn’s Dirk Hartog, “3 Welcome to the Blood Derby.”

From Captain Juan, Annie Evett’s “Tranquilitas Amini”… a part of the puzzle in Dante’s Stewardship.

For the next three weeks your editors will be answering a series of probing questions from their victims writers. Jodi answered question 1 yesterday, and now it is Paul’s turn…

Q: How did you choose which authors to invite to participate? Not so much someone like Annie, with whom Jodi and Paul had both collaborated with already, but with some of us you had very little exposure to our fiction writing when you approached us.

The first anthology was intended to be composed of writers who either Jodi or myself had worked with before. Annie and Dale were fellow writers on Write Anything, and both Paul S and Rob were long-standing commenters on the site and participants in [Fiction] Friday. Jasmine was a personal friend of mine whose work I had looked over before. There were a further two writers who we had worked with before, but who had to withdraw.

The other writers, and I’ve just realised this, were all recruited by me! Jason had been following our Captain Juan story, and I had been following his Moult World stories. Tina and Emma were both late replacements for the writers who had to pull out of the project. Tina and I had been following each other’s blogs for some time, and I became aware of Emma through the Editor’s Unleashed forum. She was asking questions about podcasting, as she had an idea to start recording chapters of her (now soon to be published!) novel. She had just launched her Short Story Club when the need for a new writer arose. As the Club had a short turn around, I knew she could handle the pressure.

For the new anthology we were fortunate to have all of our writers return for the sophomore run. Our freshman intake this time around saw us cast our net wider and recruit from writers who had been following the Red Book and who had asked to take part (or were hoping to be asked) and also personal recommendations from other writers—something I pay a lot of attention to.

Some writers are inspired by the [Fiction Friday] prompt at Write Anything and others contribute to JM Strother’s #FridayFlash via Twitter.

We hope you take the time to enjoy the varied and entertaining array of stories this week.

• “He said it was the last photograph they had of the world the way it used to be”, in “Somewhere You’ve Never Been” by Jen Brubacher
• Where your treasure is, you’ll find your heart, in “Bequest” by Paul Servini
• “Preach it, brother. Preach it”, in “This Little Light of Mine” by Tony Noland
• A tale about a boy, a ball and someone sinister in the woods, in “The Golden Ball Trick” by Emma Newman
• ‘Flash’, in the traditional sense, in “Trade” by Carrie Clevenger
• Chronos and Death travel back in time, in “Time Slips By” by Laura Eno
• It’s probably just the wind, in “Beyond the Door” by Icy Sedgwick.
• The self destruction of guilt, in “The Pain in Waiting” by Annie Evett.
• Sometimes it just feels good to be a dog, in “Sparky” by Jon Strother.

Chinese Whisperings

Before pursuing writing full time Edwina travelled widely, spending extended periods in South East Asia. She has worked as a teacher in a maximum security detention centre for young men, special schools, and in the mid-nineties established an English language school in Cambodia.

Edwina holds a masters degree in Creative writing from the University of Queensland and has had short stories published in literary journals such as Griffith REVIEW, Asia Literary Review, Hecate and Island Magazine. Her debut novel, Thrill Seekers, will be published by Ransom Publishing (UK) in mid-2010.

Edwina was one of the first new writers to be approached, thanks to a personal connection with Chinese Whisperings editor Jodi

Jodi is a member of my writing group here in Brisbane, and I was interested to see her working through the Red Book. I like the idea of linking with other people’s characters.

Read Edwina’s full bio and enjoy more of her writing at Food for the Writers’ Spirit.

Tomorrow we introduce our final male writer Benjamin Solah to the Chinese Whisperings family.

Chinese Whisperings

Annie juggles motherhood and sharing her message through writing projects, line drawings and community workshops. Fiction is her passion, indulging in the sensuousness of descriptive narrative and the emotional drive of her misunderstood characters.

Annie explores themes in humanity, feminism, spirituality and sharing her journey as a woman and mother in all her outlets of creativity. She refuses to be tied down to any one genre, preferring instead to go where her characters lead her.

Annie was thrilled to be asked to return to the Chinese Whisperings project, as the experience the first time round enabled her to grow as a writer.

I was so traumatised by the editing and critique experience in 2009 that I lined up immediately to volunteer for 2010s edition. I found that I learnt so much from being under the grindstone; of having the tight time pressure and expectations that words and ideas began to flow directly from the source. There simply wasn’t the energy or time for Ego to attend the party.

We didn’t really need to ask Annie the second time; when we first floated the idea she immediately volunteered to sign on for a second tour of duty.

The extended idea of the web of stories, further intensifying the intrigue of this anthology has excited me. The line up of talented, passionate emerging writers has forced me to bring my standards to the next level.

Read Annie’s full bio, enjoy more of her writing at Annie Evett’s Bookshelf and read an extract of Kraepelin’s Child from The Red Book).

Tomorrow we welcome back Jason Coggins.

Like fellow Canadian Jasmine, Jen now lives in London, England, but remains a Canuck through and through.

Jen has participated in six of the last eight National Novel Writing Months, and in addition to her NaNo novels has written three and a half other books. Her staple genres are mystery and suspense, but she’s willing to give other genres a go, as she feels that the best stories are universal.

Jen provided the first review of The Red Book after its launch, and jumped at the chance to take part in the new anthology.

I see short fiction as something that can be incredibly powerful when done right, sometimes even more effective than a novel. So although I usually concentrate on novel-length fiction, I have great respect for short stories and I try to practice them as often as possible. While reading “The Red Book” I was struck by how each story built on the others and at the end I had a great picture of much more than just each character’s perspective. Together they were powerful. So when I was approached to participate in the next anthology, I couldn’t pass up the chance to be a part of that effect. I hope I do it justice.

Read Jen’s full bio and enjoy more of her writing at Scribo Ergo Sum.

Tomorrow we bring you a list of some of the finest short story writing available for free, for your reading pleasure.

Northern born and now London based, Icy has been writing for as long as she can remember, moving from wax crayons to digital publishing, via typewriters and creative writing classes.

She decided to become a writer when she was 16, and has spent the past decade honing the craft, writing short stories, flash fiction, and in 2008 she completed her first novel, a supernatural middle grade novel which she is currently redrafting.

When asked if she wanted to participate in this year’s anthology, it didn’t take Icy long to answer:

I said yes because I was really impressed by the outcome of 2009’s Chinese Whisperings, and I think it’s a fantastic concept! I’m a big fan of the short story, and it’s being used in such an interesting way. Writers by nature are solitary creatures, so it’s nice to be able to take part in something collaborative!

Read Icy’s full bio and enjoy more of her writing at Icy’s Blunt Pencil.

Tomorrow we welcome back Rob Diaz.