Valkyrie

It's definitely the theme for some people 🙄

For some reason, I thought of you when I typed in "alien capybara" I'm honestly a bit afraid of what you are going to come up with for this theme

GA features several writing events throughout the year, usually with a theme. When themes are announced, there are generally two reactions - yay, I love it! or WTF were you thinking? Participating in site events is fun and a great way to get your work out there and gain new readers. So, what happens when you want to participate in a site event but don't like the theme? I'm going to outline some tips and tricks to still participating, even if the theme doesn't "speak" to you. We've repeatedly said that the link to the anthology theme can be tangential - it doesn't have to hit us over the head. Let's take this year's anthology theme as an example. The classic definition of a Creature Feature is an old-school horror movie where the monster is the main feature of the film. If vampires, werewolves, or swamp creatures aren't your thing, you'd have to give this a hard pass, right? Wrong! Anthology themes are selected with the intent that they are open to multiple interpretations. What else can a creature be? Any kind of animal fits the bill. Add a wolf, blue bear, penguin, otter, or capybara to your story and voila! You've tangentially fit the theme! It doesn't have to be the main feature, either, since humans are creatures as well. So are aliens from another planet, but now I'm going off on a tangent. Alien capybaras? Enough of that. Another tip is to think about the theme and why you don't like it. Then think about how you could spin the theme into something you do like. Embrace the challenge of incorporating a creature into your story, even if it isn't the main feature. The idea of the anthology is to be inclusive, not exclusive, so if you have an idea you really want to write but you're not sure if it fits the theme, remember that tangential link and add a fluffy kitten or a flame-throwing unicorn and start writing! If you have any tips or tricks of your own, feel free to add them in the comments.

That was my first thought too LOL

Double vision can also be caused by drinking too much beer Seriously, though, I hope you get it figured out My question to Steve is, how do you know what kind of underwear @Krista wears?

Life is full of drama, whether we want it or not. It's been a drama-filled week for me, which why I may or may not have forgotten to write a prompt blog for today Let's start some drama! PT Prompt #289 Work/life balance is incredibly important, but not always easy to achieve. Your supervisor is relentlessly pushing you to work beyond a comfortable balance, despite you telling them no. Stand up for yourself and your co-workers. PT Prompt #290 Start an online argument that you actually win. Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection. If you check the subgenre ‘prompt’ in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

I'm not sure this is forgivable. 😁

Prompts are meant to inspire, so I would say this did its job. Sometimes they take us in different directions than we might otherwise think. Thank you for sharing. I'm intrigued to read the longer work.

I really want someone to write #288 😁

I considered you for this, but ruled you out because I believe you've written in the horror genre.

My initial thought was @Bill W, but then I thought nah... @Lee Wilson. Although coffee is one of the best smells on the planet *runs and hides*

Congratulations! Well-deserved!

Pass the Pigs is a game that has little plastic pigs that you roll like dice. You get points based on the position they land. A snouter - where they land on their nose - is worth the most, I believe 🐷

I love games. Board games, card games, word games... if it's game night, count me in! When I was a kid, we always played games when I visited my grandparents. Yahtzee was a favorite, along with Boggle. Later, we discovered Pass the Pigs. As a teenager, I played a lot of poker with my friends, usually with M&Ms as the currency. The different colors had different values, as did plain and peanut. The winner was usually the person who didn't eat all their 'money'. In college, my room was right across from the laundry room, so my friends all hung out in my room when they did laundry. I became really good at playing Rummy, although I swear A cheated Now, I have a shelf full of games at work and use them a lot in my therapy sessions. They're motivating, fun, and promote learning. Now, let's write some prompts featuring games. PT Prompt #285 It's game night with your best friends! One of your friends brings along a newcomer. How do they fit in with the group? PT Prompt #286 You invented a new game for fun, and now a big company wants to purchase it for millions of dollars. What's the game? Please include the prompt number either in your story/chapter description or title to help readers who would like to search for specific prompts. Also, please remember that stories less than one thousand words must be posted as part of a collection. If you check the subgenre ‘prompt’ in your story tags, then people/readers can find everything here: https://gayauthors.org/stories/browse/subgenre/prompt/

When I was in my sophomore English class in high school, we had a long-term sub that's one of my all-time favorite teachers. One of the reasons I liked this guy so much was because of this incident. One of the popular jocks was being a jerk in class, and the teacher called him a troglodyte. Jock said he didn't know what that meant, so teacher threw a dictionary at him and told him to look it up. Let's say that jock was not enthused upon reading the meaning a person who is regarded as being deliberately ignorant or old-fashioned.

I'm going under anesthesia on Monday. I really hope they don't use new car smell

I totally understand. I'm writing super slow at the moment too.

I'm glad to hear you will be able to participate in the anthology next year. FYI, the anthology theme changes every year, so the theme for 2026 will not be Creature Feature. The theme will be announced at the end of this year/early next year.

This plays perfectly into the blog I'm hoping to post next week

You're not behind at all. Most people send in submissions much closer to the due date. I've never had this many submitted so early, but I think it's awesome 😁

Oh man, is that all?