Coming Soon - February Femmes Fatales 2012

One day to go!

The wonderful work of sixteen authors will be published on The Feardom in this year's February Femmes Fatales dark fiction and poetry showcase. 

Put February 1st in your diary, then visit us every day of the month to read the most wickedly gorgeous writing by some amazingly talented women.

We'll be waiting...

Lily's Friday Prediction - On a Sunday!

What a monster this last ten days have been! Thank you all for your patience and wonderful support of each other. Unfortunately the infection is still stopping me from being able to breathe/sleep properly, and just when I think I'm on the mend, I plummet.

And as many of you might have noticed, Blogger is behaving like a spoilt bitch at the moment. I've been trying to comment on your mind-blowing entries all weekend and have been repeatedly thrown out or 'put on hold.' Just as I reached Reba's (RR Kovar) post this evening Blogger put up the barriers. I couldn't 'Reply'; I could add no more Comments.

I couldn't hold on any longer - HAD to announce the winner and post the new words, so my apologies to Reba, Michael, Tony, Phil, Kim, John, Nathaniel, MuckieDuckie, David and Asuqi - I have read all your entries, but it looks like commenting is rightly f*cked.

Winner of Last Week's Prediction Challenge
... and Guest Judge of the New One!

You are all astounding storytellers. Your imaginations have really run riot and I don't believe The Feardom has ever seen such a frenzy of fiction and poetry. Thank you, one and all for giving me such pleasure (I won't deny the self-indulgence.)

My winner - and the Predictioneer to judge your entries over the next TWO weeks (more later) is John Xero with the terrifyingly visual Testimony. John, I just loved how you threw us straight into the horror - and then, good God - made it worse! I actually gagged at the penultimate line then drifted into oblivion with the dreamy quality of the last.

Congratulations!! If you'd like to contact me I'll email you back about the judging side of things.

Every entry could be a runner-up but this week I'm choosing Rosie Smith-Nazilli's disturbing tale of familial massacre, Slaughter. A shocking and superbly-written glimpse into a dreadful state of war. Well done Rosie!

Words for 22 January 2012

Finally. Due to my mucking everyone about this week. my commitments and my health I'm extending the entry period for this challenge until Thursday 2nd February.

So with no more ado here are the new words:

• Follow
• Ballet
• Organ

All forms and tenses are acceptable for these words.

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have until 9pm UK time on Thursday 2nd February 2012 to enter.

The winner will be announced by our Guest Judge John Xero on Friday 3rd February. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

Good luck John! We're all behind you.

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Magenta Shaman - FREE - for two days only!

Not read MAGENTA SHAMAN yet? Quick - it's FREE for this weekend only! And at only 7000 words you can quickly read it over breakfast, on the train, in bed, on the loo...

Spread the word!

What's it about?

A natural shaman by birth, Magenta Sweeney travels through trance-induced realms to deliver souls from demonic threat.

But Magenta also has an earthly life in modern-day Brighton, a strange and cosmopolitan city caught between the rolling hills of England and the Sussex coast where she lives with husband Tom.

Every journey Magenta takes is unique. Her intricate knowledge of herbs and poisons guides her when to heal - and when to kill.

Yet before she faces each challenge she must meet with ancient and terrifying entities that will unlock her passage into other dimensions, but not without question - or sacrifice.

This first episode in the Magenta Shaman short story series finds Magenta’s relationship with Tom at breaking point as she takes greater risks to help those waiting for her. Under pressure from The Protegians, a mysterious group of earth-bound guardians, the shaman is sent on increasingly dangerous missions by their intermediary - a suave, arrogant man known only as The Judge.

Will Magenta survive the fight to expel a deadly demon from a foetid, volcanic pit? And will Tom stand idly by when he finds his wife's body, broken and lifeless on their bed?
                        ____________________________

Download it free from Amazon UK, US and all Amazon platforms this weekend only.

Reviews

Magenta Shaman is receiving a growing number of 4* and 5* reviews. Please let Amazon readers know what you think of the book by adding your own reviews. Oh, and tell your friends! Thank you.

Lily's Friday Prediction

I may be a bit quiet for the next six weeks. I wrote over 10,000 words towards the novel this week and want to bury myself in finishing it.

Today is the deadline for entries to February Femmes Fatales 2012 - which is very exciting! - but it's a lot of work so please bear with me.

Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers is receiving some wonderful horror fiction, including some crackers from Predictioneers - and I will be spending time scheduling these for posting over the next couple of months.

As you can see, I am somewhat committed time-wise (and need to go to work every day too!) So don't worry - I haven't disappeared.

Winner of Last Week's Prediction Challenge

And the winner of last week's challenge is... me! No, only kidding.

My (genuine) winner with his trademark, excellent use of dialogue is David Barber and The Package. This was a really powerful excerpt from, hopefully, something bigger. I often think Dave's work lends itself to scriptwriting - is that a consideration Dave? Either way, many congratulations!

Runner-up this week is Amber Taitague (MuckieDuckie) with the gloriously macabre Party Guest. I thought the twists in this piece uncoiled really well as we discovered the truth about Marie. Well done Amber!

Words for 13 January 2012

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: whoever wins this week's challenge gets to judge the following week! Don't let that put you off, on the contrary.

UPDATE 19 JANUARY: Please accept my sincere apologies. I've been very poorly all week and been off work. I am going to postpone my comments and announcing the winner/judge - as well as the new Predicition words - until Saturday 21st or Sunday 22nd. I hope you'll forgive me, fine friends. Thank you.

So what are we dealing with here?:

• Evacuate
• Ruby
• Blade

A colourful challenge, methinks.

Rules

Note: if you prefer you can now add your comments as a Reply to each other's individual entries. Please include their name in your reply though, as anyone subscribed by email simply gets your user name and your comment THROUGH. Thank you!

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have the whole week until 9pm UK time on Thursday 19th January 2012 to enter.

Winner - and the guest judge - will be announced on Friday 20th January. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

Let's start the year in the most wicked way you can think of... Fiction only - of course.

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Final Draw and Femmes Fatales

Links galore below!

Yup, Col Bury, David Barber, Les Edgerton, Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers, Dark River Press... and so many more in the mix on the last day of voting at Critters Best of Poll 2011. Please vote for your favourites - you have just a few hours left!

Thanks to those who've voted for me as best e-zine editor for TKnC (and mentions of The Feardom in there too!) I also have two stories in Their Dark Masters, Tales of Extreme Vampire Horror (a thrilling, chilling collection of terrifying tales of vampyre, edited by Mark Anthony Crittenden of Red Skies Press) in the anthology category at http://critters.org/predpoll/antho.shtml

You can read one of my bloody Dark Masters tales, WALLS OF FLESH right here at The Feardom.

_______________________________

The deadline for submitting to February Femmes Fatales is looming - Friday 13th January, ladies please. I have already received a wonderful array of dark, dangerous tales and simply cannot wait to make the final choices.

_______________________________

Exciting times...

Lily's Friday Prediction

A record number of Prediction Challenge entries for the first week of 2012! Well done everyone.

I hope you all have a successful writing year and that it brings you good health and happiness. It's not just me - but there seems to be a shift this year, in attitudes and intentions. Not your usual New Year's resolutions but a general feeling of 'I'm not putting up with this anymore' and of taking more control of our own futures. Like Ttofee's victim in last week's challenge, a finger up to the world that tries to tell us what to do.

Winner of Last Week's Prediction Challenge

I feel as though you have all beaten me around the head with pens, pencils, quills and a multitude of digits. How will I ever choose a winning entry from this amazing, brilliantly-written lot...?

But I have.

My winner is Aidan Fritz with the chilling, post-virus tale Daredevil. It really got into my bones and I loved the delivery and language. Congratulations Aidan!

I have two runners-up because I truly could not choose between them. First runner-up is Nathaniel Tower with Late Nights and Bloody Knuckles - lots of gasp-making twists in this gruesome story. Joint runner-up is Mr Col Bury himself with AGAIN. I was blown away by the telling of this tale and reactions of the killer; horribly disturbing. Well done both!

Words for 06 January 2012

• London
• Sham
• Collect
  (Collection/Collector etc and all forms/tenses of the verb are acceptable)

Enjoy getting your synapses around those.

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have the whole week until 9pm UK time on Thursday 12th January 2012 to enter.

Winner will be announced on Friday 13th January (what a day!) If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

Let's start the year in the most wicked way you can think of... Fiction only - of course.

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Plans... and a little piece of horror

Yesterday, the first day of 2012 I discovered I'd won a monthly writing challenge on Talkback, the online forum of the UK's Writing Magazine. Not only was that a great start to the year, but the piece I'd written was adapted from the novel I put to one side early last year. I'd been toying with picking it back up again, and winning the comp has given me the kick up the backside to finish it during 2012.

Wish me luck!

To celebrate this positive plan, I wrote the following horror drabble this morning. I hope you enjoy it...

Silence of a Bloody Drum

“Once you sign up you can’t back out.”

Boyd didn’t hesitate.

“Where’s the contract?”

“Nod three times and we have an agreement. Un, deux, trois...”

Pain seared through Boyd’s skull. Ear wax melted and dripped like water as the creature held him to its mouth and sucked the molten liquid onto its pointed tongue. It spat the clod onto a mound and immediately attacked the other side to repeat the process.

Boyd screamed.

As he left the room the demon added a further squat tentacle to its sculpture.

“Same time next week,” it whispered.

The words rang in Boyd’s ears.

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