PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox
The down-sizing ray gun had done its work.
“Up-sizing ray gun. I was aiming at the BBQ. Hit the bloody toddler toy too though.”
“Damn it, Q”
“Hey… it’s a work of art. Come on… I mean, look at it. Impressive, am I right?”
“What, exactly, am I meant to do with it?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure out something 00108.”
I sigh. “Don’t… not with the number. It’s Stef. The number sounds so bloody pretentious.”
“You’re supposed to be incognito.”
“We work in the same office. You know my bloody name.”
“Well. Right. Yes. So, Stef. Join me for lunch?”
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Ted Strutz
Music pounded.
The stage was set.
The audience was jumping.
Sero-five-hands stood in the wings waiting for the explosion of fireworks to announce his appearance. Mek-three-hands winked. “They seriously have no idea, do they?”
“They’re humans,” he shouted. “They think they’re the only ones in the universe.”
“Did you see the NASA report today. Not found any life… yet. It’s hilarious.”
“Focus, Mek. We’re about to go on.”
“They’re celebrating aliens every night we appear.”
“It’s our act. We need as many of these stupid humans to hear the word before we signal to the invasion fleet.”
“Wooooooooo, let’s go!”
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word Count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Amanda Forestwood
At the bottom of the stairs was a door.
An ordinary door as doors go.
What was different was that this door had no frame around it. Or walls. It was just a door. At the bottom of the stairs.
The was also a lock, located just under the round brass handle.
Why would you need a lock when you could just walk around the door?
Unless… The door led to something.
Each day I stood at the top of the stairs and pondered the door.
One day, I walked down the stairs and turned the handle. It wasn’t locked.
This is a Friday Fictioneers prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
This year I took part in “A Land Alive!”
A virtual exhibition of collaborations with visual artists, writers and other creatives.
This exhibition features two of my pieces of prose in response to stunningly beautiful artwork prompts. You can watch the video of the premiere below. Thank you to the amazing @PhDancersTeapot for running this glorious exhibition. (And I narrate my pieces too – so that’s my Aussie accent you can hear).
The exhibition video will remain available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QbnRJ8m0ZQ&t=1s for anyone who wasn’t able to make it for the premiere.
About the Book:
Recently widowed Mary feels something needs to change, but she is not sure what ? She decides to sell her home in Sydney, and move to a retirement village in sunny Queensland. Mary has always enjoyed her own company and struggles with the many personalities she encounters in the village. There are two things Mary won’t tolerate. Idiots, and nasty women. Unfortunately for her, the village is full of them. Has Mary made a mistake, or will she find something wonderful?
My thoughts:
This is a lovely story about growing old.
Poor Mary is left alone in her big old house when her husband of many many years passes away. She is feeling her age and the loneliness that hits upon being newly widowed. She knows she is reliant on her daughter to take her shopping and is feeling rather like a burden on her adult children. She also has the neighbor from hell. A nosy bossy woman named Gertrude who simply will not leave poor Mary alone. To escape the cold, the loneliness, her annoying neighbor, and the encroaching feeling of becoming a burden, Mary moves to a retirement village in Queensland to be closer to her best friend from her childhood. But the village is full of personalities of the not so pleasant variety. Bullies don’t just enter our lives at school or in the workplace. It seems even in old age we cannot escape them. There are also shocking secrets that are uncovered.
This story of growing older and coming to terms with our fragility. It is interspersed with memories of Mary’s childhood, adolescence, friendships and first loves. There are a few surprises along the way, new friends, old friends, some shocks and a bit of sadness. This is a beautiful story. An easy read that travels at a cracking pace. I loved it.
About the Book:
She is the irritation that turns his heart inside out.
Sharp, gorgeous, and skeptical, Grayson Wu is a top-notch architect who has built impenetrable walls around his unstable heart due to a betrayal he can’t soon forget. When an irritatingly beautiful woman threatens his foundation, he struggles to let her break down his barrier.
To resurrect his soul.
To reconstruct his heart.
To reset his life.
Determined, elegant, and versatile, Natalie Chapelle has courageously taken a city job well below her pay grade to save her family’s legacy. Though adaptable, she finds it hard to work with the arrogant and innovative designer who makes her want and hate him at the same time. When the tension between them snaps, she is tossed into his complex world, revealing more than she expected.
A man with more depth than the sea.
A mind more brilliant than the sun.
A lover more skillful than a surgeon.
As their romance builds, danger and dark secrets unfold that drive Grayson to sacrifice his heart in order to save the woman he loves.
The Innovator is an enemies-to-lovers, hidden identity, forced proximity, billionaire hero, and a suspenseful contemporary romance. It is Book Three in the WaterFyre Rising series but can be read as a standalone.
Caution: This book contains sexual content, profanity, and violence. Recommended for 18+
My thoughts:
Another fabulous instalment in the WaterFyre Rising series and another terrific Romance by Nadia Han. This one is an enemies to lovers story, and who doesn’t love that!
The tension between the two main characters, Grayson and Natalie, is hot and gripping. Natalie’s family business is in trouble. To discover why and to hopefully fix things, she has to look into the secret surrounding her father’s mysterious gift to her. She is forced to work in close proximity with a clever, sexy, confident man who taunts her like no other. His presence burrows into her head and into her heart. Grayson is the third of a male friendship group to discover the hidden truth about the dark mystery he and his friends experienced as children. He is also determined to discover the ownership of the building he needs to acquire for his newest business venture. It brings him into close proximity with a beautiful, strong-willed woman who refuses to fall at his feet and who draws his focus like no other. Their separate investigations bring them together time and again until the sparks between them flame into an inferno that will change their lives. A fun, sexy romance. Can be read as a stand alone or as part of a series. A terrific holiday read.
PHOTO PROMPT © Liz Young
It was dinner time at the local human settlement. Abby was helping the Johns to make dinner.
“It’s just John, love. Not Johns.”
Abby scowled, blinking her three eyes in sequence.
He just stared.
Abby sighed.
He didn’t get her signal. She was annoyed but not angrily so.
Stupid humans. They needed more limbs to speak properly. Everything they ever said lacked social cues and emotional meaning. So simplistic.
Moms said they didn’t understand because they didn’t have enough intelligence to express themselves properly.
“It smells,” she complained.
Johns … no John laughed. “Oranges are for after.”
Sweet last? Weird.
This is a Friday Fictioneers Prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
PHOTO PROMPT © Jennifer Pendergast
To settle her nerves after the frantic escape, Mama Cherry handed her a large book and some coloured pens. “Darling child, go sit in front of the fire. Make pretty pictures. I will talk to your uncles. You are safe here.”
Teena nodded and took the books from the elven woman, collapsing by the low flames. Distracted, she stared into the glass and watched the fire dance. Eventually, she flipped the pages and chose blue. Behind her, she heard the rumble of her saviours and the woman who called herself mama. Teena breathed slowly and created, safe for the moment.
This is a Friday Fictioneers Prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
The works sprung up as if overnight. Buildings, stations, stadiums, bridges, roads… every plain surface was targeted. But who was behind the works of art? Who could possibly do so much and not be seen in this day and age of technology, social media and widespread CCTV coverage.
It became wild speculation on every device. People went out with phone cameras held aloft, hoping to spot the culprits. But after the first spate of colorful appearances there was nothing but silence.
But little Jonny knew.
He’d spotted pointy ears, translucent wings and tiny paint brushes. He smiled but said nothing.
This is a Friday Fictioneers Prompt
You can read more FF prompt responses here
Word count: 100
© Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Solothefirst & Laurie Bell. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
About the Book:
The cost of magic has never been clearer.
Larissa’s inability to kill is a disgrace to her absent mother, Sword Matriarch of the Fair Lady’s order, a sisterhood whose purpose is to hunt down sorcerers corrupted by the Evercry and slay them. But Larissa hides an even more sinful secret: she is drawn toward magic, and it grows stronger in her every day.
Larissa keeps a stranglehold on her gift until the day of her graduation test, when her misuse of magic leads her to failure. Prepared to be cast out of the sisterhood, she is instead brought into the scorned caste of the darkkins, those who study and wield magic in the fight against the Evercry. In their halls she discovers that her proclivity for magic makes her powerful, and a little dangerous.
Gone for years, her mother suddenly sends word that she needs help to defeat a formidable sorcerer, help only Larissa can give. Larissa will do anything to save her mother, even travel with the girl who bullied her all through school. But as they battle monsters and mercenaries, Larissa must grapple with dark truths about the sisterhood and her heritage, and decide who she can really trust with her mother’s fate…and her own.
My thoughts:
Wow, this is an epic fantasy. An action filled adventure of high stakes with a full cast of female characters.
I loved every minute of this story.
The worldbuilding is glorious. This novel is such a unique and wholly new concept. The knights of the Fair Lady birth daughters to continue the fight to serve the Fair Lady in the endless battle against the Evercry. These girls train relentlessly and violently to become knights worthy of the Fair Lady. And what they are destined to fight is the darkness created by the use of magic. For magic leads to the Evercry. Generations of knights have fought their Evercry until one lives and one dies. Larissa is destined to become a knight. But she is also drawn to knowledge and magic. But magic, even a little of it, can corrupt. On the day of her graduation Larissa’s destiny comes crashing down. A new destiny is decided. One that Larissa finds she is far more suited to. Then her missing mother sends word that she needs Larissa’s help.
Determined to help her mother, Larissa must travel with the bully who nearly killed her to battle monsters, mercenaries and hidden betrayers to discover the truth about her family. And that truth might very well destroy her.
The history, the intricate worldbuilding, the magic, and the monsters are so well designed and described in this story by E.J. Dawson. This story feels epic and enormous and yet it flows effortlessly. It is thoroughly engaging. Larissa and her friends, her enemies and her teachers are so well drawn and layered with detail they feel wholly real. The depth of these characters lies in the subtle dripping of betrayals, lies, truths, secrets, love, honour, loyalty, strength, trust, hate, anger and desire as the characters learn and grow and change. What do you fight for? What will you kill for? This is a brilliant novel. Fans of high fantasy crossed with epic military fantasy will love this tale. I sure hope there is more to come.
Rambles, writing and amusing musings 