Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

 

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

 

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

 

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

 

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

Once again, in lieu of a reader’s contribution, I offer instead a story idea for you:

LOCATION: At the beginning of the story, a small town in mid-western US.

MAIN CHARACTER: A woman no longer young, but neither is she old. She appears to be physically fit and is still sexually attractive. She has been working as the town librarian/historian for a few years. No one knows much about her past. She does not drive preferring to walk to and from her work and to do her shopping along Main Street. She lives in an apartment above the town’s hardware store.

CATALYST: The envelope that appears on her refrigerator held there by a magnet she does not own. The apartment windows and doors were all locked before and after she entered. She thinks she knows what is in the envelope: a business card with name information on one side and a note added to the reverse, listing a location not found elsewhere on the card.

THE DILEMMA: If she opens the envelope, her quiet life in her new home will come to an end. Even if she ignores the message—once read, there will be consequences. If she leaves it untouched on the refrigerator, there might be no consequences though that is not guaranteed. She believes she is now watched and her decision will be observed. Does she ignore it or does she open it?

WHAT SHE KNOWS: She is almost certain the destination on the back of the small card will be some place just outside Tibet. It is the area she predicted before she abandoned her former life. It could be that someone she once knew has been seen alive, or the body located. She has many skills not needed in a small town that would be required if she responds to the implied call to action.

OTHER IMPORTANT CHARACTERS:

Two teenagers from the small town who find the mysterious librarian a challenge they want to resolve.

  • The one who delivered the envelope and his superior.
  • The person who may or may not be alive somewhere in the Tibetan area.
  • The name (business) listed on the front of the card.

If you choose to accept this challenge for your next story, please let me know how you resolve or change it. Thank you and good luck.

 

 

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

 

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

 

Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.

Guidelines for submission:

  1. List Splintered Glass prompt which inspired the work in the text of your email.
  2. Submit material to be published as Microsoft Word document. Submission should not be longer than one page. Editing will not be provided, please be careful.
  3. Include two brief sentences about the author. Example: Michael Whozits is the author of A Book and The Curl, a blog. He is a retired pilot and avid surfer.
  4. Submission must arrive no later than the 3rd Wednesday of the month in which the Splintered Glass prompt appeared. Only one reader’s submission will be selected for any given month.
  5. Send submission to karoxby@gmail.com.

As there were no submissions this month, I present another story idea as a challenge for you—a mystery.

TIME: present day

PLACE: New York City brownstone or any similar structure in a large town

CIRCUMSTANCE: New resident in the middle of repairs following rain damage, discovers a skeleton in a wall.

CHARACTERS

The owner who discovers the bones, young and aspiring architect into restoring old homes, perhaps too focused in his fascination with old structures.

The detective(s). Is there a brilliant, or merely lucky amateur? Is the official representative from police or other investigative entity a uniquely interesting person?

The dead woman. Was she sealed in alive, dead from poisoning, knife or bludgeon? In my dream, she was pretty, alternately willful and silly, but ultimately an innocent.

The person(s) responsible for concealing the body. No hint here—might be self-preservation and done solely, or a family affair to hush up events they wish to leave unknown.

Note: in my dream, the girl had been dead for so long that it is unlikely any are still alive who were part of her life. But police could via DNA to trace the bones to the young woman. There was also a hint of a quirky detective, a chance for a bit of humor in an otherwise gruesome story.

Best of luck to you. Do let me know if you turn this into a story to suit yourself. Thank you.