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  • Valkyrie

    2025 Anthology - Big Announcement!

    By Valkyrie

    Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Joyous Kwanzaa to all who celebrate! I'm still in a bit of a food coma from Christmas dinner, but I wanted to bring a reminder and also some important news for next year's anthology.  First, submissions for Carlos' tribute event are due tomorrow, so be sure to put the finishing touches on your stories and post the link in the thread in the Writer's Circle.  Second, I decided to do things a little differently this year, and instead of having a committee decide
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Featured Stories

Top Read Stories By Tag First Half of 2024

With the recent update to the Stories Archive, we can now provide a read report by story tags, like we do with the genres.  So, find your favorite tag and see the top read stories so far in 2024 with that tag! Top 10 Most Read Age - child Chanukah Gift by Altimexis Complete Dolphin Delivery by Carlos Hazday Complete HMS Belvidera by Mark Arbour Complete A Child's Haven by CLJobe Complete Family Struggles by Dahawk Complete Salvation
Prompts

Building a mystery!

If you know me at all, you know I love a good mystery story.  Dame Agatha Christie, Jonathan Kellerman, Joseph Hansen, Martha Grimes, Earl Derr Biggers, Dashiell Hammett, Robert Parker, Minette Walters, Joe Lansdale, Wilkie Collins, and many many more all come to mind.  There is something intriguing about a whodunit or even a whydonit.  They are also such fantastic period pieces, where you journey to another place and live in a different time.  You can read about Dave Brandstetter in the 19
Author Guess Who

Author Guess Who #22 - Reveal!

Time's up! Two weeks have come and gone. Now let's see who put their best guessing hats on. If you just so happened to miss the Author Guess Who interview for this month, make sure you click...   > > > HERE < < < ... to see what this month's mystery author had to say! Without further ado, time for the big reveal!   This author... has posted over three million words! This author... has over seventy stories for you to read! This author... is... 
Genre Deep Dives

Paranormal Deep Dive 3

Top Read Paranormal Stories since Feb 2024 Top 0 Most Read Paranormal - Cryptid Features creatures from folklore, mythology, or cryptozoology, such as Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, or Chupacabra. The narrative often revolves around encounters with these mysterious beings. No stories Top 0 Most Read Paranormal - Cursed Objects Focuses on objects with supernatural or cursed properties. The plot typically involves characters trying to understand or break the curse asso
Site Tech News

Stories 3.7 Software Update

It's that time again.  We've been working on a new update for stories as we get closer and closer to the major forum version change later this year. This update included a major rewrite of the recommendations page, expansion of the reading history system, addition of story awards (a blast from the long past), and some underlying work to prepare for the future. Recommendations It is now possible to view all recommended stories as we have added the ability to change pages.  We have also
Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap Up (Jun. 16 - Jun. 22)

Is it just me or is it dark in here ? Where is my menu bar? Well the say that things that don't change go stale, so keep that in mind at times when you hate change  Wait, Google is dark for me too! My Documents is empty 😮 WTF 😮  A bit of a surprise when I logged in tonight. I mean everything else I have is in dark mode, so why not GA, right? The thing is, I don't know what I did or if I can reverse it   I do have urgent matters to attend to tonight  so we are going to to do short and t
Prompts

A Hard Habit to Break

We are creatures of habit, and sometimes those habits can be a bit strange, especially to other people.  My best friend in high school preferred to walk on the right side of people.  If I forgot and walked on her right side, she would make me switch over to her left side.  It became a bit of a  joke between us, and it became a habit for me to walk on the left side of people, even if she wasn't around.  Over thirty years later, I still walk on the left side of people and feel uncomfortable if I w
Valkyrie

Valkyrie in Prompts

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Writing Tips

Please, Sir (or ma’am), may I have some more?

Short stories can be many things – a complete story, a character sketch, or an experiment in form. They are, by definition, short, which may leave some readers readying the torches and pitchforks.  @wildone asked a question in our last guest blog about what to do when readers are clamoring for more, and you want to continue the story, but not necessarily at that moment. It’s a great question and one I deal with on a regular basis since I primarily write short stories.  I’ve gotten quite adept at
Genre Deep Dives

Non-Fiction Deep Dive 3

Non-Fiction Top read Sub-genres since Feb 2024. Top 7 Most Read Non-Fiction - Autobiography is a self-written account of one's life. Takes stock of the autobiographer's life from the moment of composition. While biographers generally rely on a wide variety of documents and viewpoints, autobiography may be based entirely on the writer's memory. An Advent Calendar by Aditus Complete Pride Month, and other Haibun by AC Benus Temporary Hold Second Sight: Remember
Signature Feature

June Signature Feature: Spirit of Fire by Stellar

For some June is a month where it heats up, others it's a month of change... so this story is perfect! Then again, those are just a few tidbits on the surface, and if you've ever read a novel by Stellar, you know there's so much more underneath. Why not sink into this LONG story posted a few years ago? Length: 196,536 Description: With a life that is almost painfully normal and unremarkable, 16 year old Torsten has no reason to believe in anything out of the ordinary. Then, a ser
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