Thank you so much! I’m really going to miss these competitions 😥

Thanks Mikey!

The last day she saw Nan is a jumbled slideshow in Em’s memory: steaming cocoa on the stove; the rumbling dryer covering raised voices; Nan shrinking ever smaller as Em waved through a heart drawn in condensation on a car window, smaller and smaller still, until there was only the road.

#WriteCBC

Thank you ☺️ Yours is good too!

It was a house both abandoned and inhabited: window grime crusted into continents, one pane smashed by a child long-grown and maybe dead, hot pie steaming on the table. At night, polystyrene ceiling tiles hummed harmonies to distant lorries, and door handles turned with no hands on them. #WriteCBC

I put the papers back in the drawer at midnight. Hidden under the stack of journals, I spot the faded yellow cover of a school notebook, with a name on the cover that’s no longer mine. Deep down I hoped Jack might be nosy enough to find it one day, but he was far too polite. #WriteCBC

Sheffield, UK, English and I prefer ‘miaow’ because it feels more insistent than ‘meow’, like the cat opening its mouth wide and demanding to be fed. My cat-obsessed daughter spells it ‘meow’ though.

Thanks for the shout out!

She worries she has strayed too far ahead of him and as she turns a corner, a long-necked gilded virgin rises from her plinth like a great gold cormorant surfacing. Beneath her cape-wings shelter supplicants, hands pressed in prayer. Tara presses hers as if to join them. #WriteCBC

Amy is waiting to pick Mum up from church when the message arrives.
‘Possible maternal half sister,’ it says, ‘add to family tree?’
The tap of the old woman’s cane on the flagstones echoes closer and closer.
Amy shoves the phone back into her pocket before God can see.
#writeCBC

#100wordsaday I finished a SECOND chapter! This hasn’t happened in so long.

That does sound tricky. I guess you could write 100 words of what your characters would have thought of your course, if your head is still in that space. It would count as character development, right?

I think the multicoloured too - because real books come in lots of colours!

The darkness becomes beaks and bones and coal black wings and you recognise the half-rotted crow corpse you hid beneath the floor boards because you couldn’t resist the scratchiness of feathers filling your mouth. It is now many, multiplied. The unseen breather is whatever gave it life.
#WriteCBC

The air-con in the lab thrums an octave lower than on my salesfloor above. Disembodied hearts beat out a harmony. That, and the syrupy scent of blood, always make me imagine I'm entering the belly of a beast. But she is there, hands slick with gore, smiling. The lab is her safety. For now.
#WriteCBC

An agent’s guide to AT NIGHT, WE HIDE by Ann Littler

AT NIGHT, WE HIDE pitch PITCH FIRST LINE: It was so much easier to steal when I worked alone. A SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD SCAVENGER WITH A DANGEROUS SECRET MUST FIND THE MOLE BEFORE SHE BECOMES THEIR NEXT VICTIM AND THE ENTIRE RESISTANCE EFFORT IS COMPROMISED.

WHAT TE EXPECT • MORALLY-DODGY STEM FEMALE MC WHO CAUSES ALMOST ALL THE PROBLEMS • THERE'S SOMETHING OUT THERE, BUT WE DON'T • DYSTOPIAN MURDER MYSTERY • SLOW BURN ROMANCE •FOUND FAMILY KNOW WHAT • EVERYONE HAS SECRETS • CLOSE QUARTERS • UNEXPECTED VILLAIN • UNPUTDOWNABLE TWISTS • PLANNED TRILOGY

Comps: Dystopian vibes of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Thriller elements of Five Survive Close Quarters of The Stranded

May I proudly present to you my #agentsguide to AT NIGHT, WE HIDE, a YA Dystopian Thriller.

😒 A snarky, thieving FMC
😈 A very unexpected villain
👽 Stay hidden at night or die
🫦 Slow burn
☠️ Murdery mole
🌪️ Twisty AF

#Q #UW #YA #DS #T #ANWH
#amquerying #litagents #P2Ppit

A moodboard featuring images of Regency gentleman, a modern day young woman, as well as close ups of an old door, quill and paper, and a dust sheeted piano. The vibe is moody and poignant, with a dark and dusty colour palette.

TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE x THE LOST APOTHECARY

When a gay Regency aristocrat arrives in the present day, he meets a historian determined to uncover his secret past. He returns to 1811 with a choice: marry the woman history remembers or defy everything for the man he loves.

#P2Ppit #A #HF #W #Agented

A sky and cloudscape with sunlight on the left and thick rolling cloud on the right. Title reads 'Comps' and below are four different subtitles with corresponding books: Magic - The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart Politics - The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem Atmosphere - The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne Slow Burn - One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig (The Breath of Silence by M J Reynard)

Fearing persecution, a warrior keeps her magic secret, but risking exposure to steal a relic - she’s betrayed & imprisoned. A superstitious northman might help her escape but if they don’t trust each other – a vengeful witch will seize power & destroy the world.
#P2Ppit #A #Q #F

Petition: An independent evaluation of the Cass review on child gender services We believe that trans healthcare should be based on unbiased research that is peer reviewed. We think that the Cass review's findings have led to restrictive practices that are being directly felt by ...

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...

Ugh that sounds really stressful! I hope your knee heals soon 🤞

The flame grew wings; a head; a tail. A fire dragon flew from Ella’s hands to join its icy twin who stood before her.
She recalled Mum’s fear when she’d created them, one lonely snowy day when she was six.
“Don’t worry.” Ella embraced her. “At Christmas, even humans love magic.”
#5ActFestiveStory

Ella felt ice mix with the fire she held in her heart. It did not melt. The fire burned strong.
An ice-crowned figure took Mum’s hand.
“You knew this day would come,” he said gently.
“Arise, Ella, warm-hearted Queen of Winter. May your rule bring the Christmas mine could not.”
#5ActFestiveStory

“Jack Frost fears only fire,” Mum chanted between sobs. Ella ripped a branch from the Christmas tree.
They ventured out into the snow, makeshift torch blazing ahead. Ella glimpsed an icy face amid a tornado of snowflakes.
“Your father!” Mum gasped as their torch was snuffed out.
#5ActFestiveStory

“You wouldn’t know her,” Mum said. “Don’t matter anyway. Let me down fifty years ago. Let me down today.”
“She must be here in the village,” Ella said. “The road’s been blocked for days.”
“Nowt to do wi’ me if she is. Get yoursen home for tea. Leave me to my lonely Christmas Eve.”
#5ActFestiveStory

Ivy twisted her ring as she peered out the window to glimpse the card’s deliverer. Outside she saw nothing but an unbroken blanket of snow. She’d already known anyway, when she saw the robin perched in front of that familiar church. This card could only be from a ghost. #5ActFestiveStory

Thank you so much! Now to decide which of my stories is worthy of Kat’s attention…

a cartoon character holding candles and a skull with the words hail science below him ALT: a cartoon character holding candles and a skull with the words hail science below him

Day 6—geese a-laying—of our Christmas giveaway is a 2-parter! Firstly, writer/Pseudopod assistant editor Kat Day @chronicleflask.katday.com is offering THREE story criques up to 6k!

Remember to like AND repost this skeet to enter! The 3 winners will be chosen at random tomorrow at 5pm.

Day 1—a partridge in a pear tree—of our #12DaysofKindness Christmas giveaway had to be 4 copies of my award-winning bird-related short story collection, TURDUCKEN!
Like and repost this skeet to enter the giveaway; winners will be chosen tomorrow at 5pm by random generator!

Hey, if you're cisgender and you're NOT planning to abandon trans people to the wolves, go ahead and reskeet this.

This sounds wonderful, Christine. Good luck with the editors!