In Search of Perdition

This week I've launched something which people might like to partake in called the Trading Post. Basically, a chance for people to share their skills with each other in a supportive manner. Fancy someone proofreading your novel for you, can you offer them some marketing skills or website development? Hopefully you get the gist but more details in the post below this one and I hope that it is something which works well. Ok, on to the winners for this week. Slightly less entries than usual but the quality was as high as ever. And so hearty congratulations then to my winner who is..... ...  William Davoll  with Consort .  William - I thought that this was horror in the vein of the Hammer films of the sixties and seventies. Through your words we experience all the horrors of this demonic birthing and the twist of who the host is was excellently played. As John said, incredibly 'horrorful'. And speaking of John Xero , he is my  runner-up this week with Homesick . John - real

One of my favourite things about hosting The Prediction over here at Phlambler's World is the supportive nature of everyone towards each other. I wondered if there was any way in which we could take this even further and had a thought. Everyone here has such a variety of skills and talents. It occurred to me that maybe we could trade these skills and talents with each other. No money you understand, skill for skill, talent for talent. You want someone to proofread your novel, offer up your skills at doing some design work on their author website. You want some advice on how to self-publish on Kindle, offer up some advice on story plotting. So, in the comments boxes below, place what you would like someone to do for you and what you have to offer in exchange. Or if you just fancy helping someone out for gratis then just put an offer in as I'm sure people would appreciate it. Or make up your own rules for how to do this. I'll leave you all to work out how you want to exch

I'm a little bit excited as my short story The Harlot and the Bad Man has been published by Anachron Press and is now available on Amazon. Trifecta is set in the world of the City of Hell Chronicles where the great god Maurr has brought destruction to the earth which is now populated by giant ants. Mankind is definitely the second power here and despair is the order of the day. Trifecta follows on from Anachron's first anthology, the excellent City of Hell Chronicles , and I share pages with James Everington and Nina D'Arcangela who are both terrific writers and am grateful to editor Colin F Barnes for pulling this great little book together. My story tells of Father Josef Friedricks who takes care of a group of young survivors in an underground bunker. Tending to these waifs and strays, he tells them the story of Sophia: a mother who has to overcome terrible odds and deception. The story is more than just a tale to entertain the kids; it’s a tale of grit, horror, and

Away from The Prediction the football is moving into the quarter finals with Euro 2012 but the place where the competition is hottest is within these pages. Quality writing week in week out and so great to see the way that everyone supports each other with comments. As well as quality writing on The Prediction, don't forget to have a read of our collaborative story  Hunted  and build on the story as well. Anyone welcome to contribute. Right, on to the trophies for this week. Without further ado...... ....my  winner  is Antonia Woodville with Through a Glass Darkly .  Antonia - this was a kaleidoscope of images that just sent my mind into overdrive. Holding a mirror up to the world and then making us walk through to the other side. As I said in my comments, a mesmerisingly poetic piece which just deserved to win. My  runner-up this week is Cindy Vaskova  with her second entry Hear the Whisperer . Cindy - the way that you ratcheted up the dialogue in this piece, building the te

So often we hear Predictioneers telling each other that 'this has to become a much longer piece' or 'you must go away and expand upon this'. Back in December last year I posted this flash on Lily's The Feardom  which evolved to a 2,000 word piece called  Shipwrecked on Thrillers, Killers n Chillers . I would love to hear of any Prediction pieces (from here or Lily's site) you've expanded upon and where you've had them posted. I would highly recommend going to Thrillers, Killers n Chillers  with stories under 2,000 words and there are some great pieces to read there too. Keep an eye out for when submissions open again. And speaking of building on stories, a number of you have been taking part in the collaborative story I kicked off on here called Hunted . Have a read of the story so far and it would be great to see even more people getting involved with the writing! And now for the results of last week's Prediction challenge. Drum roll please.....

With so much water around this week, I've decided to do some plugging before I get into the important act of judging last week's winners. Firstly, Predictioneer David Barber is moving his site The Flash Fiction Offensive to pastures new. Go check out his current site  and see where it is heading. The stories on there are well worth a read and maybe you'll feel like submitting something too. Second plug is for my mate Colin Barnes' call for submissions to his latest anthology over at Anachron Press . Looking for cyber crime writing plus it's a paying market. I appear in his forthcoming anthology City of Hell Chronicles: Trifecta  released later this month. Finally, I've started a collaborative story at Phlambler's World. It's called Hunted  and you're all welcome to play. Should be a lot of fun! Right, on to the judging as I imagine you're all eager to know who my winner is this week. So, without further ado..... ....my  winner  is Sandra

A collaborative chain story for anyone to take part in. Please see the post below this one for the background to this and use that post to comment on this story as I want to keep the flow of the narrative uninterrupted throughout. Rules are: Be true to what others have written before; you just can't dismiss something because it doesn't fit where you thought things were going. Leave two posts between your last post and your next one to allow others to play. I'll start us off. See the comments section for the start of the story and then post your own additions in the comments section as the mood strikes you. Have fun!

In February 2011, I started up a collaborative chain story on the Geek Syndicate forums as a way to practice writing. Dion Winton-Polak, Paul Richardson and Andrew Clark all took up the challenge to write with me. There were just two rules: Be true to what others had written before; you just can't dismiss something because it doesn't fit where you thought things were going. Leave two posts between your last post and your next one to allow others to play. The final story is in full here  and it turned out pretty damn fine in the end if you ask me, especially seeing as none of us discussed the direction during the writing which took place over several months. As we have a number of Predictioneers here at Phlambler's World writing series as part of The Prediction, I thought it would be good to fire up a new chain story with the same rules as above. I will kick it off and let's see where it takes us and anyone is welcome to take up the story at any point. To allow t

What with the gorgeous weather and the forthcoming four day weekend (UK only - sorry international friends) I could have forgiven people for sitting back and relaxing. But I'm glad you didn't with yet more cracking entries for last week's Prediction. So, I've put on my judge's wig, and a mighty fine wig it is I must say, whilst I've scrutinised the offering from last week. Tough as ever but I have come to a decision. I have two  winners  this week as I have been flicking between the two stories for a good twenty minutes now and just cannot separate them in my mind. My first winner is newcomer  Dex  with his entry  The Killing Field .  Dex - I could envisage myself crouched down there in the cornfield with Peter as the reaper stalked him in the moonlight. Incredibly atmospheric and superbly written. My second winner is the originator of The Prediction Lily Childs  with her second entry of the week Lachrymosa . Lily - this was pitch perfect throughout an