I wasn’t going to do MUST READs this week, I mean most are must reads already. Then I read one that I could not ignore or pass by. Timely and for a writer this one hits home. Make sure not to skip it. We had everything from humor to death, and drama to suspense. Two new members joining in, and good storytellers at that.

A Must Read designation does NOT mean an entry is necessarily better than the other entries. It means that entry clicked with me in some way in that moment I read it.

The order appearing is the order in which the entry was received.

GL below stands for the reading Grade Level. Harry Potter is a GL of around 5. Tolkien is around GL 6.5. Passive Sentence percentage is included as Active Sentences are considered the preferred form of writing by most editors and publishers. Active moves the story along. Passive is not always bad. Sometimes a story works that way, perhaps through the language of a person or the type of story. Even then, keep the percentage low.

The Prompt for the Challenge was:

You’ve just been handed a message that makes you drop to the floor, trembling uncontrollably.

• No more than a Word Count of 600. (SUGGESTED)
• Using the above scenario, create a scene of what the note is about, and why it makes you react the way you do. (REQUIRED)
• No external dialogue for this scene. (SUGGESTED)

NEW MEMBERS!

Coffins
Damean Mathews (Writing Is Life)
A family saga in few words. 686 words, 6.4 GL, and 5% passive sentence structure.
“My name is Damean Mathews. I an author with an immense love of the written word. This blog is here to help aspiring authors in their craft. I plan on giving as many tips as possible, sharing my own examples and experiences, and posting some of my work in order to get feedback and help give examples of various stages of work, etc. I am five times published in the Clinch Mountain Review and Jimson Weed, and due to my work in the Jimson Weed I served as Managing Editor for two and a half years, one of which was also spent as Head News Writer for the Highland Cavalier…[Click for more interesting information].” @MathewsMarvels

Messaged Received
Bré Sanchez (Writings of a Single Girl)
Not sure if this is part of an ongoing or not, but it has a lot of potential. Hooked in 345 words. 1.9 GL (Seems like higher.), 0% passive sentence structure.
“Single girl in her 20’s(ish), living in Dublin, sharing her thoughts and experiences.” @singleGRLbrain
 

Tonight You Die
TJ Paris (La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin)
To let the cat out of the bag or knot? Knot. Go and check it. You know TJ comes through with entertainment each week. 178 words, 5.1 GL, and 5% passive sentence structure. @Roccoco_a_GoGo

Just Friends (Part 4 or Jelly Legs)
Ritu (But I Smile Anyway…)
In the throws of guilt, embarrassment, and general day after insanity, Lara receives a message from the last person she expected. 696 words, 6.9 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @PhantomGiggler

Just a Little Slip
Teresa Smeigh (Writing is my Life)
A surprise awaits from a captured soldier and a family reunion. 811 words, 4.4 GL, and 4% passive sentence structure. @TeresaSmeigh

The Note – A Case for Sarah Bradley
KL Kaley (new2writing)
A police officer is up for a promotion when she receives an envelope with something inside that sends her reeling. 637 words, 4.3 GL, and 1% passive sentence structure.

Harper Lee is Dead…
MUST READ Bill Engleson (Writings)
A powerful inner turmoil and realization or disturbance. Depending on the reader, this story may bring about different feelings. 592 words, 4.2 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @billmelaterplea

A Child Remembers
Neel Panicker (NeelWritesBlog)
Trigger Warnings in this one for anyone with adult to child situation history. The story does get across the damage something like this does to a child mentally and emotionally. 654 words, 7.8 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @PanickerNeel

News
Jane Dougherty (Jane Dougherty Writes)
Another side of a story, one we sometimes don’t consider in our own actions. 406 words, 4.8 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @MJDougherty33

The Letter
Kat Myrman (like mercury colliding…)
Great story. Kat gives just enough and you can decide the meaning at the end. I think she writes that last part so well you must know the answer, but maybe I’m wrong. Kat can write! 422 words, 3.1 GL, and 4% passive sentence structure. @kat_myrman

Sentence
Athling (A Writer’s Life)
What do you do, what do you think when that times comes? 287 words, 3.7 GL, and 3% passive sentence structure.

Ronovan Hester is an author, whose debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling is available now on Kindle and in Paperback is ready to ship now. Click HERE to choose.

Click the image for Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling on Amazon.com.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

A LOT of great stories this week. The ones I have MUST READ beside are the ones I clicked with instantly. There are maybe three others I am itching to add a MUST READ tag to, but with some it is a habit so I thought I would spread it around this week.

A Must Read designation does NOT mean an entry is necessarily better than the other entries. It means that entry clicked with me in some way in that moment I read it.

The order appearing is the order in which the entry was received.

GL below stands for the reading Grade Level. Harry Potter is a GL of around 5. Tolkien is around GL 6.5. Passive Sentence percentage is included as Active Sentences are considered the preferred form of writing by most editors and publishers. Active moves the story along. Passive is not always bad. Sometimes a story works that way, perhaps through the language of a person or the type of story. Even then, keep the percentage low.

The Prompt for the Challenge was:

• Word Count of 500. (SUGGESTED)
• Take your favorite quote from a movie and use it as inspiration for your entry this week. If you want more direction, make it the last sentence in your piece. (REQUIRED)

NEW MEMBER!
Puzzle of the Stars
Inkbiotic
An inspired and well plotted piece. Linking the hobby/obsession to the later part is awesome. 625 words, 3.6 GL (but you feel like it is higher), 0% passive sentence structure.

Rick’s
Jane Dougherty (Jane Dougherty Writes)
Looking the title, then reading the story, I’m not certain if the name is where they are dining or the ‘afters’, but I think that may be the point. 690 words, 4.5 GL, and 1% passive sentence structure. @MJDougherty33

Just Friends (Part 3)
Ritu (But I Smile Anyway…)
Ritu has created a monster. Check out the comments on the story to see how she’s doing. 589 words, 3.7 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @PhantomGiggler

The Cave – Not So Safe After All
Teresa Smeigh (Writing is my Life)
Good pacing with this weeks edition to Teresa’s series. 532 words, 4.0 GL, and 5% passive sentence structure. @TeresaSmeigh

Ronald Rump-A Minor Roast
Must Read Bill Engleson (Writings)
Talk about some nice political satire … um … I think it was satire. Hmm, maybe it wasn’t all that much satire at all. 592 words, 4.2 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @billmelaterplea

The Devil’s Wife: Valentine’s Day on Earth
Geetha (Geetha Balvannanathan’s Blog)
A sweet story. Sometimes that’s a good enough description but it’s difficult to feel three little words can be enough sometimes. 581 words, 8.6 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @geethap2007

Hospital White
Must Read Clarence Holm (PrairieChat)
A powerful story of last moments, reunions, and new beginning? 614 words, 6.5 GL, and 2% passive sentence structure.

Called Home
Natalia Erehnah (Weaving Gold)
Okay, we have one of those you kind of wonder what’s happening. I mean that in a good way. 507 words, 5.5 GL, and 4% passive sentence structure.
@WeavingGold

The Sacrifice
Must Read Melissa Barker-Simpson (Author Blog)
Melissa is afraid she hasn’t done her quote justice. I’m not worried about the quote. The story is great. A nice range of emotion to capture the manic feeling in one of the characters. I thought the imbalance of the feelings was done nicely to give the reader the sense of imbalance as well. 633 words, 5.7 GL, and 1% passive sentence structure. @MBarkerSimpson

Nobody
Annette (Annette’s Place)
A good story to check out. A lot going on here in a short span of time, but someone it’s pulled off and doesn’t feel rushed. Very nice. 441 words, 5.1 GL, and 3% passive sentence structure.

The Interview
Kat Myrman (like mercury colliding…)
Kat speaks the truth for a lot of people over the past several years now. 717 words, 4.2 GL, and 5% passive sentence structure. @kat_myrman

Unattended
TJ Paris (La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin)
The scary thing I must confess today is … this story makes complete sense to me. 482 words, 11.7 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @Roccoco_a_GoGo

Ride or Die
Shida (876LoveR)
One wild ride later . . . 334 words, 3.9 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @Rebel_Shida

She was and is
Florence T (Meanings and Musings)
A story I think is probably true for too many of the good ones and opposite for the ones that the qualities don’t apply to. 392 words, 6.3 GL, and 4% passive sentence structure. @FTThum

Return of the Warrior
Must Read Michelle LuNato (Chasing Life and Finding Dreams)
The third part in a series, but a stand alone as well. Actually this is a good place to jump if you haven’t already. The uncle ended up looking different than I thought for some reason. 685 words, 3.6 GL, and 1% passive sentence structure. @MichelleLunato

Ronovan Hester is an author, whose debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling is available now on Kindle and in Paperback is ready to ship now. Click HERE to choose. . He shares his life through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, a new Friday Fiction Writing Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Thank you to those who do participate and appreciate those of us who put the effort in each week to come up with prompts, read them all, comment, collect links, and post them to share with our readers and friends.

A Must Read designation does NOT mean an entry is necessarily better than the other entries. It means that entry clicked with me in some way in that moment I read it.

The order appearing is the order in which the entry was received.

GL below stands for the reading Grade Level. Harry Potter is a GL of around 5. Tolkien is around GL 6.5. Passive Sentence percentage is included as Active Sentences are considered the preferred form of writing by most editors and publishers. Active moves the story along. Passive is not always bad. Sometimes a story works that way, perhaps through the language of a person or the type of story. Even then, keep the percentage low.

The Prompt for the Challenge was:

February 5th is National Wear Red Day, or Shower With a Friend Day. There are much more serious International Days the 5th is set aside for, but the challenge at this point in its growth is not a place to explore those quite yet. Although I’m not stopping anyone. If you know of another National/International Day you want to write about this week, go for it.

• Word Count of 500. (SUGGESTED)
• Some great stories were written last week. Continue those stories this week! (SUGGESTED)

OR

• If you are not writing a series then It’s National ? Day and you are in charge of the party. Create your own National/International Day and spread the news. (REQUIRED if not in the middle of writing a series OR doing the above Suggested Prompt.) You can always mention a national day in a series.

NEW MEMBER!

A Day at the Beach
ATHLING2001 (A Writer’s Life)
I good story of what reality can be. 303 words, 3.0 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure.

Down in the Dumps Day
Bill Engleson (Writings)
Not sure how many times you can say a man is a storyteller. This one hits on what many go through and dwell on. 496 words, 5.1 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @billmelaterplea

Wunnerful, Wunnerful
Must Read Clarence Holm (PrairieChat)
Clarence and his brother depart from the homestead in fine fashion … or do they? 1306 words, 7.5 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure.

Just Friends (Cont.)
Ritu (But I Smile Anyway…)
Ritu is the reason for the continue the story from last week part of the prompt. I wanted to see how she would handle the situation. Now I still want to know what would happen next. 538 words, 4.4 GL, and 2% passive sentence structure. @PhantomGiggler

The Cave Safe Zone
by Teresa Smeigh (Writing is my Life)
The ladies are caught in the act. What will they do now? 533 words, 4.4 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @TeresaSmeigh

Swan Song – Part Two
Must Read w/Last Weeks Part One or stand alone. by Kat Myrman (like mercury colliding…)
A nice flip-side to the story last week. Makes for a well rounded story and a complete short story. 495 words, 3.8 GL, and 1% passive sentence structure. @kat_myrman

National Oyster Day
TJ Paris (La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin)
If we’ve learned anything about TJ by this time is … we never know what to expect. The N.O.D. is no exception. Watch out, you know what’ll happen. 204 words, 8.1 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @Roccoco_a_GoGo

Hey! I too need my day.
Neel Anil Panicker (NeelWritesBlog)
Where have all the flowers gone … um, no, that has nothing to do with the story. Neel is a randomite. Not sure what a randomite is? Read on and you will. 497 words, 9.7 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @PanickerNeel 

Such pretty dolls.
Ruby Manchanda (Whispering Thoughts)
I wasn’t expecting that. What a cool take on the prompt. 499 words, 4.6 GL, and 2% passive sentence structure.

Family Tradition
Annette (Annette’s Place)
Um, what an delicious selection we have here. A real winner. 468 words, 4.1 GL, and 4% passive sentence structure.

Highway of Fear
Michelle LuNato (Chasing Life and Finding Dreams)
A well done story that will hit home with a lot of readers on different levels. 589 words, 3.5 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @MichelleLunato

Dancing with Shadows
Kim Russell (Writing in North Northfolk)
I went hunting for this one, which I don’t do often. Knowing Kim takes part in the challenge often, I took the chance and what an eerie piece. She pulls you in and then … 250 words, 7.4 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @kim88110

Ronovan Hester is an author, whose debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling is available now for pre-order on Kindle or the Paperback is ready to ship now. Click HERE to choose. . He shares his life through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, a new Friday Fiction Writing Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

Talk about a great prompt idea. This one, or something like it, may show up again. Wow. Some great entries. If you’ve never read the entries of these Fiction Reviews before, start with this one. They are short, and very good.

A Must Read designation does NOT mean an entry is necessarily better than the other entries. It means that entry clicked with me in some way in that moment I read it.

The order appearing is the order in which the entry was received.

GL below stands for the reading Grade Level. Harry Potter is a GL of around 5. Tolkien is around GL 6.5. Passive Sentence percentage is included as Active Sentences are considered the preferred form of writing by most editors and publishers. Active moves the story along. Passive is not always bad. Sometimes a story works that way, perhaps through the language of a person or the type of story. Even then, keep the percentage low.

The Prompt for the Challenge was:

January 22, which is Friday’s date, is Celebration of Life Day.

• Take a moment in your life of which you would celebrate and use that as inspiration for a no more than 750 word story, but don’t let that stop you if you are enjoying yourself and the story is going well. (SUGGESTED)
• If you are not doing a series, write the story as if the characters were animals living in the roles of humans. An example would be the policemen might be German Shepherds and other Police type dogs. (REQUIRED if not in the middle of writing a series.) OR
• Use the same experience for a story in one of the following Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller. (Required if not using the above.)

NEW MEMBER!
Bella’s Reward
Annette (Annette’s Place)
A new member and a first time ever fiction writer. A great start with Tiny Dance from Elton John as her song choice. I can see Elton in the story. 270 words, 4.0 GL, and 3% passive sentence structure.
“Hello! I am new to blogging and I have fallen in LOVE with it! I am 47 years young and have 3 grown son’s I adore. I am a fairly new grandma also of two kids. I simply believe they hung the moon! I was in… [read the rest of the story].”

A Must Read.Golden Earrings
TJ Paris (La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin)
TJ is insane. Certifiable. There is no doubt. No one can convince me otherwise. And it’s not because he chose Peggy Lee’s Golden Earrings. 293 words, 12.1 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @Roccoco_a_GoGo

Ludwig’s Friday Morning
Kim Russell (Writing in North Northfolk)
What a nice story. It sent me to the search engines to read about one of the characters. 358 words, 4.3 GL, and 10% passive sentence structure. @kim88110

Fear no Tear
Neel Anil Panicker (NeelWritesBlog)
An emotional charged piece. I think a lot of men go through something like this. Perhaps not the end result but the events through the story. 897 words, 6.1 GL, and 1% passive sentence structure. @PanickerNeel 

A Must Read. The Perfect Illusion-Part 4
Nandini Bharadwaj (Pages That Rustle)
I’m not certain I’ve ever had an error free entry before. Whoa. I recommend you listen to the song used for this one, even if you aren’t a fan. I did. Excellent. 292 words, 4.0 GL, and 3% passive sentence structure.

GateKeeper
1000hoursleft (Work in Progress)
You’ll never guess what this one is about from the title, and it may even take you several lines in to figure it out. 283 words, 8.7 GL, and 7% passive sentence structure.

Teenage Lobotomy
by Teresa Smeigh (Writing is my Life)
I haven’t even read it yet and I’m already scared by the title. Okay, it turned out better than the title led me to expect. There are no zombies in the story! 281 words, 2.1 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @TeresaSmeigh

Swan Song
by Kat Myrman (like mercury colliding…)
Different. Wonder if she’s ever seen Hudson Hawk? 294 words, 3.6 GL, and 2% passive sentence structure. @kat_myrman

Within the Sounds of Silence
Clarence Holm (PrairieChat)
Dude gone dark on me. Well done. 288 words, 5.2 GL, and 4% passive sentence structure.

Just Friends?
A Must Read Ritu (But I Smile Anyway…)
Well this is well done. Ritu keeps bringing the goods each week. 311 words, 3.7 GL, and 3% passive sentence structure. @PhantomGiggler

The Moon’s Death
Geetha Balvannanathan (Geetha Balvannanathan’s Blog)
Another take on celestial beings. Such a creative take on the prompt. It amazes me where a suggestion can take a person. 366 words, 6.8 GL, and 10% passive sentence structure. @geethap2007

When the thorn bush turns white.
A Must Read Ruby Manchanda (Whispering Thoughts)
This short story could be about a young man in many parts of the world … during so many different eras. I enjoyed the simple quaintness of this, if that’s the correct way of saying it. Something peaceful about it in a strange way. Strange because in a way it shouldn’t be peaceful. 239 words, 5.2 GL, and 5% passive sentence structure.

I don’t hurt any more.
Janni Styles (JanniStyles1)
Probably a story familiar to some in a life they know. A shame really, but true. You can call me Sheila if you like. I’ve been there. 300 words, 2.8 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @jannistyles1

A Chance to Heaven
Wes Hollifield (NearlyWes)
That was unexpected. An interesting ride to an interesting ending? 221 words, 5.7 GL, and 11% passive sentence structure. @Nearly_Wes

Another and here we are again.
A Must Read Florence Thum (Meanings and Musings)
Very nice. Not sure what else to say. 342 words, 3.3 GL, and 2% passive sentence structure. @FTTHum

Always Searching for Something
A Must Read Natalia Erehnah (Weaving Gold)
A very strong entry and part of a novel in progress. Great suspense and sense of urgency. 170 words, 4.3 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. Not a single grammar or spelling error of any sort, even stylistically acceptable errors. Impressive. @weavinggold

De Composition
A Must Read Bill Engleson (Writings)
Okay, this guy is a serious writer. But I knew that already. The way he links together the lyric and that ending … nice. 248 words, 7.0 GL, and 6% passive sentence structure. @billmelaterplea

Broken Heart Drive
A Must Read Michelle LuNato (Chasing Life and Finding Dreams)
If this woman doesn’t write a Contemporary Romance, it’s a waste. 455 words, 2.4 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure. @MichelleLunato

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out Valentine’s Day of 2016. He shares his life through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, a new Friday Fiction Writing Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

A Must Read designation does NOT mean an entry is necessarily better than the other entries. It means that entry clicked with me in some way in that moment I read it.

This week has some awesome entries. Very imaginative and creative. Some are stepping out into new areas, just as the challenge was intended to do.

The order appearing is the order in which the entry was received.

GL below stands for the reading Grade Level. Harry Potter is a GL of around 5. Tolkien is around GL 6.5.

Passive Sentence percentage is included as Active Sentences are considered the preferred form of writing by most editors and publishers. Active moves the story along. Passive is not always bad. Sometimes a story works that way, perhaps through the language of a person or the type of story. Even then, keep the percentage low.

The Prompt for the Challenge was:

January 22, which is Friday’s date, is Celebration of Life Day.

• Take a moment in your life of which you would celebrate and use that as inspiration for a no more than 750 word story, but don’t let that stop you if you are enjoying yourself and the story is going well. (SUGGESTED)
• If you are not doing a series, write the story as if the characters were animals living in the roles of humans. An example would be the policemen might be German Shepherds and other Police type dogs. (REQUIRED if not in the middle of writing a series.) OR
• Use the same experience for a story in one of the following Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller. (Required if not using the above.)

Celebration
Kim Russell (Writing in North Northfolk)
This could be an occurrence in many other countries, and I imagine some women would prefer it that way. 762 words, 5.2 GL, and 2% passive sentence structure. @kim88110

The Perfect Illusion-Part 3
Nandini Bharadwaj (Pages That Rustle)
Nandini gives us a fresh look at Vivian in this third part in her series. I’m glad she’s decided to continue on with the story. 748 words, 5.8 GL, and 10% passive sentence structure.

A Special Day to Celebrate
Clarence Holm (PrairieChat) Must Read
This week clearance gives a wonderful story based on true events in the style of using animals instead of people. The cool thing about this story is that you can actually visually see what’s going on in the story and there is some humor to it and the message as well. 422 words, 3.8 GL, and 0% passive sentence structure.

Surprise Birth
by Ritu (But I Smile Anyway…) Must Read
Somehow think our Ritu would know the viewpoints of the can’t in situation like this. Her imagination just keeps showing no limits. 760 words, 4.4 GL, and 5% passive sentence structure. @PhantomGiggler

Goober Picatsso
Bill Engleson (Writings) Must Read
This week Bill brings a great story humor, satire, you name it it’s in here is. A great take on how some people view themselves some of you may like it so you may not but it’s all good, right?. 748 words, 5.7 GL, and 3% passive sentence structure.

Surprise
by Teresa Smeigh (Writing is my Life) THIS ENTRY HAS BEEN DELETED FROM THE MAIN BLOG.
Teresa pulled in the animal with the thriller with the Boab tree in a very um, uh, smashing way. 865 words, 3.8 GL, and 6% passive sentence structure. @TeresaSmeigh

Milestones
by Kat Myrman (like mercury colliding…)
Kat reveals her 50th birthday adventure . . . with a typo. 671 words, 5.3 GL, and 3% passive sentence structure. @kat_myrman

Cycle of Life
Florence Thum (Meanings and Musings)
Florence steps outside her genre comfort zone this week with a Fantasy piece. She says she started in one direction but ended up someplace else. 795 words, 5.5 GL, and 12% passive sentence structure. @FTTHum

The King’s Dance
Michelle ‘Nato’ Lunato (Chasing Life and Finding Dreams)
Does Nato get her man in the end? Does she dance with the King? 637 words, 4.3 GL, and 5% passive sentence structure. @MichelleLunato

Life is Round the Corner
Neel Anil Panicker (NeelWritesBlog)
I imagine this is a very widespread case across different places and circumstances. 834 words, 4.6 GL, and 1% passive sentence structure. @PanickerNeel 

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out Valentine’s Day of 2016. He shares his life through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, a new Friday Fiction Writing Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

@RonovanWrites

 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2016

21 Entries this week and 21 unique entries at that. We have everything from Contemporary to Science-Fiction, and Middle Grade to Adult. I noted two as Must Reads based on either uniqueness or impact of story. All the stories were good and worth reading twice. I say that because I do read each one at least twice. I wouldn’t if the story was bad.

The order appearing is the order in which the entry was received.

GL below stands for the reading Grade Level. Harry Potter is a GL of around 5. Tolkien is around GL 6.5.

Passive Sentence percentage is included as Active Sentences are considered the preferred form of writing by most editors and publishers. Active moves the story along. Passive is not always bad. Sometimes a story works that way, perhaps through the language of a person or the type of story. Even then, keep the percentage low.

The Prompt for the Challenge was:

Ticks and tocks of essential time, sink the spirits lower than wine.

1. Include the above sentence somewhere in your work of fiction. (Required.)
2. Keep your word count at no more than 500 words this week. (Suggested.) Do NOT let your story suffer because of the word count limit. Remember, it is a suggested part of the prompt.

Tick Tock
Jane Dougherty (Jane Dougherty Writes)
Jane gives us a wonderful piece of fiction, capturing the feelings of the one remaining after all the years gone by. 298 Words, 4.5 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences. @MJDougherty33

Melancholy Through a Looking Glass-Part 2
Nandini Bharadwaj (Pages That Rustle)
I’m still wondering what is going on with this 14-year-old girl in the story. So many possibilities and that is part of the attraction of this piece. 37 Words, 6.1 GL, and 13% Passive Sentences.

Eternity
Wes Hollifield (NearlyWes)
Wes goes philosophical melancholy a bit with us in this story of a person wondering out to cope with a situation. 231 Words, 5.6 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences. @Nearly_Wes

Waiting
by Ritu (But I Smile Anyway…)
Having worked in a place mentioned in the story, I know exactly the feeling being given to us here. A little more agony would have been a true story rather than fiction. A good Contemporary story. 358 Words, 6.o GL, and 14% Passive Sentences. @PhantomGiggler

The Lesson
by Teresa Smeigh (Writing is my Life)
Last week a baby was kidnapped, and this week they prepare to get it back. 485 Words, 4.6 GL, and 7% Passive Sentences. @TeresaSmeigh

Old School Gumshoe
by Kat Myrman (like mercury colliding…)
AI love the way Kat used the prompt sentence this week. An excellent crime/detective short. Would be nice to see something come of it. 498 Words, 4.5 GL, and 4% Passive Sentences. @kat_myrman

Waiting
Kim Russell (Writing in North Northfolk)
A poem of life, time, existence, and whatever else you as the reader come up with. 76 Words. @kim88110

As Time flies still.
Geetha Balvannanathan (Geetha Balvannanthan’s Blog)
Wondering where she came up with this one. Very interesting story. Might make a good starting point to something more. 396 Words, 6.1 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences. @geethap2007

The Collective
Clarence Holm (PrairieChat)
A Sci-Fi piece of sorts, with temporal tendencies abounding, but never escaping. 452 Words, 5.1 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences.

Haste Makes Waste A MUST READ
TJ Paris (La vie est trop courte pour boire du mauvais vin)
When reading this, you’ll get the feel of a classic type of read with humor and word usage to challenge the mind and tongue. Incredibly original. 515 Words, 11.2 GL, and 15% Passive Sentences. @Roccoco_a_GoGo

Time Takes Us All
Lady Joyful (The Joyful Soul Creates)
Very good inner look at a child’s point of view of loss. 506 Words, 3.2 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences.

In The Attic
Solveig Werner (Solveig Werner~eclectic, multilingual…)
Some science fiction I think. I won’t say much more about that. We get to visit with two children in an attic, a creepy attic, in their grandparents home. You know that’s creepy for real. 965 Words, 4.5 GL, and 1% Passive Sentences. @SolveigJW

Some Wounds Even Time Don’t Heal
Neel Anil Panicker (AnilPanickerWrites)
A story found in the comments of the challenge, and by clicking the link above you will end up there. The story is one that is all too true in the world today. I’m not sure how people do things like this, but they do. 758 Words, 7.7 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences.

Superbia’s Story – The Fruits of Labour
KL Caley (new2writing)
With this offering a young man learns a very important lesson. 717 Words, 5.5 GL, and 3% Passive Sentences.

Barry Balloon Lungs Baker
Bill Engleson (Bill Engleson Writings)
Not sure if I was surprised by the ending or not. It could have gone so many ways. Bill left enough up to the reader’s interpretation to get them comfortable in their own thoughts and then gave the truth of it all. 496 Words, 4.5 GL, and 3% Passive Sentences.

Remembering the Ancient Past
Natalia Erehnah (Weaving Gold)
A different take on the prompt. Using one of her characters to make an entry in her Super-Secret Diary from her work Spinning Stardust. 265 Words, 7.2 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences. @weavinggold

Shared Pain
Michelle ‘Nato’ Lunato (Chasing Life and Finding Dreams)
Nato takes a turn from Romance to, well, I suppose if you look at this a certain way there is Romance in it. The romantic heart. 582 Words, 2.8 GL, and 1% Passive Sentences. @MichelleLunato

Time Lost
Florence Thum (Meanings and Musings)
A regretted moment, or a lost past? And the ending? You decide. 317 Words, 4.3 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences. @FTTHum

Ticks and Tocks
R. Todd (A Flash of Fiction)
Another unique take on the prompt. I didn’t see what was happening until almost the very end. 566 Words, 3.3 GL, and 1% Passive Sentences. @psibrone

Feverish-Part Three
by Melissa Barker-Simpson (Author Blog)
Mel ends her three part story with Maddison doing everything she can to help find the cure. 1103 Words, 4.9 GL, and 0% Passive Sentences. @mbarkersimpson

Trash A MUST READ
anghulinghugotero (anghulinghugotero)
I don’t believe in coincidence. Here is a story of fiction based on true places and people, if not the actual people of the story, but those living in the same conditions. This story is in the Philippines. What is strange is how this story mirrors a book I reviewed for my LitWorldInterviews.Com site. In that book is a city and a people living in the exact same conditions as the people in this story, but in Guatemala instead. No coincidences. Two stories coming for some reason. I also interviewed the author of the book and you can read the interview HERE. I don’t normally link to other people’s work in a review but this story hit pretty deep. 1658 Words, 6.8 5.4 GL, and 11% Passive Sentences.

Ronovan Hester is an author, with his debut historical adventure novel Amber Wake: Gabriel Falling due out Valentine’s Day of 2016. He shares his life through his blog RonovanWrites.WordPress.com. His love of poetry, authors and community through his online world has lead to a growing Weekly Haiku Challenge, a new Friday Fiction Writing Prompt Challenge, and the creation of a site dedicated to book reviews, interviews and author resources known as LitWorldInterviews.com.

@RonovanWrites

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