The Snowflake Chronicles

Fantasy Newsletter Aug 2, 2023 Deadline Jul 31, 2023

Research

Editor's Picks

1. In an alien zoo Writer's Cramp
2. Forbidden Jocularity
3. A Whale of a Tale
4. The Cuneiform Chronicles
5. The Voice on the Back of the Wind
6. The shifter
7. The Clever Dragon of Nevebrook
8. The Hyperbaric Deep Underground Base
9. The Transformation of Hansel and Gretel

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Observing the World Around You

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Getting ideas from observations of the world around you.

Hook

Have you ever gotten an idea for a story from observing your personal environment?

About This Newsletter

Hi, I'm {suer:nfdarbe} your editor for this week's edition of the fantasy newsletter.

Letter From the Editor

Someone reviewed a poem I wrote a few years ago, and when I read it I had to smile. I had forgotten about "A Trick of the Morning Light" , but when I reread it, I remembered the tree. It was a stone pine tree that looked like an Ent-wife at certain times of the year. When I finished reading the poem, I remembered "Scarlet Stone" .

Both the poem and the story were inspired by items I found in the front yard of a house I used to live in. The rock and the tree were just ordinary things in my personal surroundings. There was nothing special about them until made one of them an ent-wife and the other a spy from another planet.

Are there things in your home or yard that could be used as the protagonist or the antagonist of a story or poem? Try this exercise: Get up, walk through your house, go outside and walk through your yard or down the street. Take notice of anything--ordinary or unusual--that catches your attention. Write a description of it, so that you can incorporate it into a science fiction or fantasy story or poem.

Have you ever looked at an item--such as a rock, tree, or some ordinary utensil--in your immediate surroundings and transformed it into a character in a story? If so, please submit it to the fantasy newsletter. If not, try the exercise in the previous paragraph, write a story about it, and submit it to the newsletter. Deadline: September 18, 2023. Content rating: 18+.

Editors Picks

In an alien zoo Writers’ Cramp   (E) In an alien zoo Writers’ Cramp #2300308 by JCosmos

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #2299530 by Not Available.

A Whale of A Tale  (E) An emotionally stressed school teacher finds adventure on her first day of summer break. #2300262 by W.P. Gerace

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #2300040 by Not Available.

STATIC

The Voice On The Back Of The Wind  (13+) At first, I'd only hear the wind--or the dog. #2299336 by intuey

the shifter  (E) a story of a shape shifter in a modern society #2298409 by emmittcarwell

The Clever Dragon of Neverbrook  (E) A brand new fractured fairy tale #2300219 by WriterRick

The Hyperbaric Deep Underground Base  (E) I don't understand why no one noticed this happening for so long. #2258448 by Jeffhans

Invalid Item  This item number is not valid. #2299244 by Not Available.

Submitted by Readers

Short Stories and poems  (18+) A collection of various short stories and poetry. #1670440 by BIG BAD WOLF is 35 on June 3

Activities, Groups, and Contests

Furries from Space  (18+) Alien furries have come to Earth to take you with them. What adventures await you? #1762944 by Nick Knight

Feedback "Fantasy Newsletter (July 5, 2023)" 

Annette writes: I have used mercenaries in my Fantasy stories, but I didn't see the need to research them. I understand that the official definition of mercenary is that of an illegitimate combatant who go after civilians for money. In movies, mercenaries are often not depicted as part of a group, but instead as extra-judicial operatives who get things done. Current examples on Netflix are The Gray Man   and the two Extraction   movies. Those are closer to the mercenaries that I write.

BIG BAD WOLF is 35 on June 3 writes: Sometimes a Merc is a Hero, sometimes they are a Villain, and sometimes, it's a question of who is writing the check.