E.S. RayeI think I've actually stumbled onto a pretty fun little romance story here.
Using some of my pre-existing characters and settings worked well for Round 1. Maybe it will again for Round 2--this time with my 1930s era superhero, and a brand new villain!
Okay.
Three days to write a 1750 word romance.
Again.
As I have said in the past, romance is far from my wheelhouse. But I *think* I have an idea that might make this more palatable for myself, and may make for a pretty fun story, too.
Is this the year I break the curse and make it to the third round?
Got feedback on my #technoir short story "Lines of Demarcation" from the 1st Round judges at @nycmidnight's #ShortStoryChallenge2026. All three had praise for the world building of Cibus City.
But that's because I've been to that methane-drowned town before, in "The Stuff Legends are Made of."
It's starting to feel like home.
And Clayton Hart is starting to feel like a sister.
I think I've still got more of her stories in me. I can't wait to expand this one and find it a fitting publisher.
Yes! "Lines of Demarcation," my first round entry for the @nycmidnight #ShortStorychallenge2026 (and sequel to "The Stuff Legends are Made Of) earned 2nd place in my group! A personal best!
Round 2, later this week!
Round 2, later this week!
My @nycmidnight #ShortStoryChallenge2026 crime caper story has been submitted at EXACTLY 2000 words!
Now the truly hard part...
Waiting until April 7th for the results!
Good luck to all the other 5,003 participating authors!
#ShortStoryChallenge2026 story complete a day early (I got the deadline wrong), IVDD dog all medicated and resting, ill wife also tucked in for the night.
Time for a comfort movie (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back), and some hockey equipment repair work.
Despite the stress of the week, this short story has a deadline of midnight tonight, and I've got to cut the word count down by 33%.
Time to kill some darlings.
This story, whose word count is limited to 2k by the contest, is ballooning out of control. At this point it's looking more like 4k.
Editing is going to be awful, but I'm embracing it now. I'm even going to keep a longer version for submitting to magazines. I'm going to have to cut a lot of this wonderfully noir prose to get to 2k.
#writing #writer #shortstorychallenge2026 #scifi #scifinoir #technoir #neonoir
I'm thinking the scifi/noir world from my short story "The Stuff Legends are Made Of," with its violent, corrupt cops, damp, dingy city streets, and cynical anti-hero and "fixer" Clayton Hart is the perfect place for the story I've got in mind.