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15 Writing Prompts from Lovecraft
In the spirit of Halloween, I decided my next prompts should be based on the short stories of H.P. Lovecraft. These spooky tales of unspeakable horrors are just what we need this time of year. (Plus I’m working on a Lovecraft-inspired project for NaNoWriMo this year.) Usually I paraphrase or summarize the myth or story for you before giving my two cents and a prompt. However, it seems wrong to paraphrase stories written as fiction for reading pleasure. There is no way I could capture the same emotions or do them any sort of justice. So, instead I will give a brief synopsis and move on to the prompt. I…
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Things Worth Reading: The Apothecary’s Curse
I was fortunate enough to meet Barbara Barnett at Capricorn 39 this past February. She was on a panel called Indistinguishable from Magic where they discussed the blurred line between some science fiction and fantasy stories. As part of the discussion she described her book and I knew I had to read it. She said she couldn’t firmly put it into any one category and she’s never even dreamed of trying. It has magic, science, history, and a touch of horror. How could I resist? I must say, it didn’t disappoint. While I have no problem firmly placing this book under fantasy, I can see where she was coming from.…
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The Mysterious Fate of the Metus
They hadn’t seen the cairn the night before. Captain Williams pulled up the collar of her wool coat as the wind buffeted her and whipped up tiny cyclones of powdery snow and ice that stung her face. The lookout had roused her as soon as there was enough light to distinguish shapes. Perhaps on a normal mission suspicion wouldn’t have arisen so soon. But here in this barren, frozen heath, any anomaly on the horizon warranted investigation. The sun was high enough now, attempting to inject some color into the monotone world of ice and snow, that they could see it was a stone cairn, simple pile of large gray-brown…
