Matthew Ledrew's Blog, page 26

“Starling” by Cristina Ozon | Short Story Winner

She didn’t know how long it had taken her to break free from inside the egg. The hard shell was translucent against the daylight, and taking aim at where it was thinnest, she pounded with her fists and feet until there was a tiny crack, a pinprick of light. With scrabbling fingers she clawed and ripped and fought, the crack became a spiderweb, shattering at last.



Exhausted, she pulled herself through the membrane, and took her first, sweet gasp of air. She dragged her body from the shattered shell and collapsed on the bottom of the down-filled nest. It took her a moment, staring up at the bright green canopy of leaves in wonderment, before she noticed them.

Three hideous chicks. Featherless, sightless, crooked blue veins visible beneath their stubbly rosy-pink skin. They stared blindly skyward, their gaping beaks spread, pink tongues wriggling as they chirped incessantly, seeking, demanding to be fed.

She hated them.

The first one was the hardest. The indignant squawking, sharp feet and soft skin, but oh it was so satisfying as one by one, she nudged them out of the nest, tumbling helplessly to the earth far below.

Silence at last.

She lay down in the soft feathers, waiting for mother bird to bring her food.

To read the second and third place entries and for more contests and opportunities, please subscribe to the Fantasy Files Newsletter.

For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.

Words © 2018 Cristina Ozon. Image © 2018 Kit Sora.

Winner: “The Starling” by Cristina Ozon | Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest

After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the June 30 2018 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Cristina Ozon with her story, The Starling!

Cristina grew up in Nova Scotia and splits her time between the beautiful Annapolis Valley and the bayous of Louisiana, where she finds inspiration in dark Southern Gothic. She has been writing for as long as she can remember, and this is her first published work of fiction. Her favorite genres to read and write are fantasy, sci-fi, and historical fiction. She believes that magic can be found every day, and is always on the hunt for her next story.

There were two judges for this month of the contest:

 

Ellen Curtis was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Her aptitude for the written word began at a young age, when she began filling paper with stories and other scribbles. Those scribbles eventually began to make more sense, and in 2008 she published her first collection of short stories. Since then, she has gone on to co-author the Infinity series with Matthew LeDrew, amongst her other literary endeavours.

[image error]Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.

Runners up include Nested by Julia Blackmore and The Chick Who Couldn’t Fly by Tish MacWebber.

The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of my home in the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.

The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). The second and third place entries will also be featured in the Newsletter.

Click here to see the next Kit Sora Photo Contest!

Flash Fiction/Photography Contest | Deadline July 15! |Engen Books | Kit Sora Photography!

Engen Books is proud to team with the imaginative and creative people of Kit Sora Photography to bring you the “Flash Fiction Photography Contest”!

Every month we’re going to upload one of the photos from the amazingly talented Kit Sora, a local Newfoundland artist known for her stunning work with props, lighting, and imaginative designs. Kit uses her art in a variety of fantastical settings, so we’re tasking the authors and creative minds of the Atlantic Provinces to write short fiction based on the subjects!

The catch: these entries must be short: a maximum of 250 words! Thus we have the Flash Fiction/ Flash Photography Prize from Engen Books and Kit Sora Photography. Every month Engen and Sora will select a winner from eligible entrants.

Winners will be crowned the prize-winner for that month and be allowed to use the title of “Prize/Award Winner — X Month” on their writing CV / resumé! Winners will be paid at a rate of 10 cents a word for their fiction and may be featured in an upcoming collection of Sora’s photography!

The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of my home in the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.

In order to be eligible, entrants must be currently residing in Canada and the work must not have been previously published. No more than five entries per photo, per author. Entrant must share the contest post on facebook / social media / twitter.

Do or Do Not: Anthony Bourdain, Star Wars, and Failure

Like so many, I was deeply saddened by the news of Anthony Bourdain’s suicide. He produced many great TV shows and pretty much created modern food culture with Kitchen Confidential. He was a once in a generation influence.

I was watching one of his final interviews where he made a point that I’ve been thinking a lot about ever since. (I highly recommend watching the full thing.) He said, “I’d much rather not make TV at all or make unsuccessful TV than competent television…I detest competent, workman-like storytelling…I’d rather fail.” At the face of it, attacking competency seems wilfully ignorant, but what Bourdain means here by “competent storytelling” is by the numbers acceptable mediocrity.  He’d rather take a chance at something different and fail. “There are shows where people are just going to hate it. They don’t like the style, they think it’s self-indulgent. But that’s the kind of failure I like. A powerful reaction one way or another is infinitely preferable to pleasing everybody.”

Bourdain’s preference for an interesting mistake as opposed to passable dross made me think about the controversy surrounding The Last Jedi, a film that has been heavily criticized for taking too many liberties with the source material. Many irate fans have gone so far as to start a fundraiser to remake the movie.

I agree TLJ has some issues, but how it deserves a remake as opposed to Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones boggles my mind. I mean, yes, the stuff on Canto Bight was a slog and it was frustrating that the series set up some red herrings with Snoke and Rey’s parents, but I loved what they did with Luke’s character, which is what seems to have pissed off most of these fans. And what I loved about it is that they totally subverted my expectations. And so ultimately, I would say that I prefer TLJ to The Force Awakens because while TLJ is in many ways a failure, it is an interesting failure, whereas TFA is just middling fan service.

And I think Bourdain would agree with me.

[image error]Bourdain would totally drink that weird green alien titty milk

 

“Sweet Sixteen” by Nicole Little | Short Story Winner

Bridget always felt a connection to her mother at the beach. Perhaps the rhythm of the waves caressing the shore reminded her of the rhythm of the womb; it was after all, the only memory she had of her.

Abandoned at the water’s edge, no more than a few hours old; her frantic newborn cries had attracted the attention of a pod of mermaids swimming nearby. She’d heard the story a million times: how their songs had soothed her and, how, wrapped in their gossamer tresses and lulled by the lap of the water, she’d fallen asleep in their arms. Enraptured with this tiny human, they’d persuaded Neptune to grant just one request. He had cupped the baby’s tiny feet and bestowed upon her a most precious gift.

And now she had returned to the threshold of the ocean that had nearly been her end but, in a peculiar twist of fate, turned out to be her beginning. On the cusp of her sixteenth birthday, she must choose, as so many have done before her, to walk upon the land or remain in the sea.

At midnight, breaking the surface softly, she’s surprised to see a solitary woman walking along the beach. She watches as she stops, places a single flower on the sand and walks away. Bridget’s breath catches but she knows now what she must do. Casting one last glance back at what might have been, she dives beneath the waves and returns to what has always been.

To read the second and third place entries and for more contests and opportunities, please subscribe to the Fantasy Files Newsletter.

For exclusive content and FREE books, be sure and check out the Engen Books Patreon.

Words © 2018 Nicole Little. Image © 2018 Kit Sora.

Winner: “Sweet Sixteen” by Nicole Little | Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest

After much deliberation, Engen Books is proud to announce the winner of the June 15 2018 Kit Sora Flash Fiction Photography Contest: Nicole Little with her story, Sweet Sixteen!

Nicole Little was born in St. John’s, although she traveled and lived in Australia for 5 years before returning to Newfoundland in 2011. She has run a home daycare and has 2 daughters, aged 2 and 7. When she was young she once told someone that she wanted to be a writer when she grew up and they laughed at her.  She has never stopped writing, just to prove them wrong. Sweet Sixteen is her first published work.We received over twenty submissions for this month’s image, all of them interesting in their own right. To find the winner we used a double-blind alternate-vote method, in which no judge knew the name of the person who had written any story. Each judge then compiled a list of their own personal Top Ten picks, and each entry was assigned a point title. The lowest entries were whittled down every round until only one remained!

There were three judges for this month of the contest:

Peter Foote is a Freemason and owner of the FictionFirst Used Bookstore, a bookstore located in Nova Scotia that ships used genre fiction and manuals worldwide. He is from Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia and currently resides in Kings County, Nova Scotia.In 2017, Foote endeavored to bring the Atlantic Canadian writing world together by forming a group known as the Genre Writers of Atlantic Canada (GWOAC) that seeks to cross promote and support authors working in the genre fields at any level, including hobbyists all the way up to experts in the field. The group is currently 189 members large and grows daily.

[image error]

Matthew LeDrew has written eighteen novels for Engen Books, Black Womb, Transformations in Pain, Smoke and Mirrors, Roulette, Ghosts of the Past, Ignorance is Bliss, Becoming, Inner Child, Gang War, Chains, The Long Road, Cinders, Sinister Intent, Faith, Jacobi Street, Infinity, The Tourniquet Reprisal and Exodus of Angels.

[image error]Kit Sora Photography. Kit Sora is an artist and photographer from St. Johns, Newfoundland. Her photography draws inspiration from fantasy, dystopia, and thrillers to create evocative imagrey that startles, inspires, and excites.Kit signed with Engen Books in 2018 as head photographer, producing the thrilling image for Chillers from the Rock and re-imagining the covers to the entire Black Womb series into the Coral Beach Casefiles series. Drew Power is a currently seated member of the Sci-Fi on the Rock committee. He was recently featured as the model on the cover of the bestselling collection Chillers from the Rock.

Runners up include Scales by Cristina Ozon and The Secret Sea by Robert McDonald

The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of my home in the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.

The winning entry will be featured on this website as well as on the Fantasy Files newsletter (click to join!). The second and third place entries will also be featured in the Newsletter.

Click here to see the next Kit Sora Photo Contest!

How to Blackmail Yourself into Finishing Your Writing | House Blog

Maybe you’re one of those writers who has no problem sitting down and writing a story from start to finish, or maybe you’re more like me and you get side-tracked multiple times before you can get to the end.

Although it’s romantic to think of yourself as a tortured writer who’s utterly desperate to finish that one big novel you have inside of you – which is so eager to come out, but can’t because you’re too weighed down by the massive ennui you feel just by existing – it’s much more practical to actually finish your darn projects.

Here are few problems that I’ve encountered while trying to finish a story/novel, and what I do to try to keep myself motivated*.

*

Problem #1:  But what about all the other ideas I have?

Sure, you have a million fantastic stories that you want to work on, and you could try working on multiple projects at the same time, but will you ever finish any of them at that rate?

 

Possible Blackmail Solution:  Refuse to let yourself write anything until you get that first project finished. Don’t take notes of the amazing things that suddenly pop into your head. The fear of forgetting all those plots points should jolt your brain into action and motivate you to write faster than ever before.

 

*

Problem #2:  But I don’t know happens next.

You think you’ve got it all figured out, but suddenly a character zigs when they should have zagged, or the situation has become more complicated than you originally thought, or you’ve realized you went about this all wrong, and you’ve no clue what happens next.

 

Possible Blackmail Solution:  You’d think that not knowing what to write would be punishment enough, but obvious it’s not or you’d get past this roadblock. Sit yourself down in front of your story and refuse to do anything until you figure out what’s next. No food, no drink, no bathroom breaks. No delicious macarons you baked earlier**. Until you finally figure out what to write, your butt and that chair are going to be the best of friends.

 

*

Problem #3:  But everything I write seems wrong.

That next sentence/scene/piece of dialogue eludes you, no matter how long you stare at the page/screen in front of you. Even though you know exactly what you want to write in a future scene, the present is tripping you up and holding you back.

 

Possible Blackmail Solution:  Get yourself a plate of the spiciest wings you can find and a tall glass of milk. Eat all the wings, but refuse to let yourself drink any milk until you finish writing the next scene. If you find it difficult to type through the tears, remind yourself that you can always fix it in the next draft.

 

*

Problem #4:  But it’s so sunny and nice outside. Why should I stay inside and write when I can go to the beach?

Winter in Canada sucks, and when the sun finally comes out most of us want nothing more than to run outside and bask in its warmth. But that’s not how writing gets done.

 

Possible Blackmail Solution:  Close all your curtains and block out the sun completely, also avoid garlic and crosses. You are a vampire now – a vampire with a deadline. Finish that story or never see the sun again.

 

*

Problem #5:   But Masterchef is on television…

If you don’t watch Masterchef, how will you pretend that you know everything about food? How else can you talk about flavour-balances or the mixture of textures with any kind of authority?***

 

Possible Blackmail Solution:  Blackmail won’t work here. The call of Masterchef is too strong. Go ahead and watch that episode, but by the gods you’d better to get back to writing as soon as the credits start to roll or you’ll be cursed with burning everything you make from now on.

 

*

Problem #6:   But I’ve got a blog post to write.

So it’s that time again… You planned on writing something early, but now the 18th of the month is almost here and you’ve got nothing to show for it.

 

Possible Blackmail Solution:  Find a song you dislike and put it on repeat. You can only stop it after you’ve written that blog post. If you start to like the song, you are allowed twenty seconds to wonder what’s happened to your life and how you got to this point, but then you have to get back to writing.

 

*

As always, remember to adjust your blackmail accordingly for maximum efficiency.

______

*In case you can’t tell, this is mostly satire.

**I made macarons earlier. It did not help with my word count. However, I did get my first draft of this blog post written because I blackmailed myself with the ‘no macarons until you finish’ option.

***This is an actual conversation I’ve had with myself.

Drawn to the Tides | Amanda Labonté

[image error]Drawn to the Tides

Amanda Labonté (Author)

Blood of the Sea

With the start of senior year approaching, Alex and Lia struggle to find their place in an ever-changing reality.

As Lia develops a new appreciation for human culture and norms, Alex learns more about what it means to be a human in the merrow colony. But integrating into a new world is not without its pitfalls. In his search to understand his place, Alex will come face to face with hidden truths about his past that could drastically affect his future.

Dive deeper into the mysterious, enigmatic world of magic and intrigue as Alex struggles to uncover what it means to be the blood of the sea.

Title Information:

ISBN:
978-1-926903-75-0


Release Date:
June 2018


Purchase:
Amazon.com

Amazon.CA

Amazon.UK


Price (CAD):
Print: $20 / EBook: $2.99


Page Count:
300



Related Titles



[image error]
[image error]
[image error]



Reviews

Be the first!

Chillers from the Rock | Anthology

[image error]Chillers From the Rock

Ellen Curtis & Erin Vance (Editors)

Twenty-five short stories written by a diverse mix of some of the best suspense and horror authors in Atlantic Canada, including both award-winners, veterans of their craft, and brand new talent. Edited by Erin Vance and accomplished genre author Ellen Curtis, this collection features the thrilling, creatively charged, astonishing fiction that showcases the talent, imagination, and prestige that Atlantic Canada has to offer. Featuring the work of Paul Carberry (Zombies on the Rock), Kelley Power, Matthew LeDrew  & much more!

Title Information:

ISBN:
978-1-926903-74-3


Release Date:
March 2018


Purchase:

 
Amazon.com

Amazon.CA

Amazon.UK


Price (CAD):
Print: $20 / EBook: $2.99


Page Count:
220



Related Titles



[image error]
[image error]
[image error]



Reviews

“Loved it,” – Peter Breau, author, It Came from the Public Domain.

 

Flash Fiction/Photography Contest | Deadline June 30! |Engen Books | Kit Sora Photography!

[image error]Engen Books is proud to team with the imaginative and creative people of Kit Sora Photography to bring you the “Flash Fiction Photography Contest”!

Every month we’re going to upload one of the photos from the amazingly talented Kit Sora, a local Newfoundland artist known for her stunning work with props, lighting, and imaginative designs. Kit uses her art in a variety of fantastical settings, so we’re tasking the authors and creative minds of the Atlantic Provinces to write short fiction based on the subjects!

The catch: these entries must be short: a maximum of 250 words! Thus we have the Flash Fiction/ Flash Photography Prize from Engen Books and Kit Sora Photography. Every month Engen and Sora will select a winner from eligible entrants.

Winners will be crowned the prize-winner for that month and be allowed to use the title of “Prize/Award Winner — X Month” on their writing CV / resumé! Winners will be paid at a rate of 10 cents a word for their fiction and may be featured in an upcoming collection of Sora’s photography!

The Flash Fiction Photography Contest is sponsored in part by FictionFirst Used Books, which specializes in previously enjoyed Sci-fi & Fantasy Novels, Roleplaying Manuals and Graphic Novels. It is run out of my home in the Annapolis Valley and open by appointment only. Their inventory is currently over 5000 titled strong and they ship within Canada, USA and Europe. You can find them on Facebook, here.

In order to be eligible, entrants must be currently residing in Canada and the work must not have been previously published. No more than five entries per photo, per author. Entrant must share the contest post on facebook / social media / twitter.