Two SWG Members on the Final Ballot for the 2014 Aurora Awards

This year, two of the members of the Stop-Watch Gang have short stories on the final ballot for the Aurora Awards.

If you pay the small fee to join CSFFA, you'll have access to the voters' package which includes free samples of all of the nominated works.

Voting closes at 11:59PM ET, Saturday, September 6, 2014.

"A Bunny Hug for Karl" by Mike Rimar was published in Masked Mosaic, Canadian Super Stories (Tyche Books).

"Living Bargains" by Suzanne Church was published in When the Hero Comes Home 2 (Dragon Moon Press).

Read "Living Bargains" on Suzanne's blog.

Click here for a full list of all the 2014 Aurora Award nominated works.

Background on "Courting Ice"

As part of Content Month I've posted some background on "Courting Ice" from ELEMENTS.

March is Content Month

Over at Suzanne Church's website, she's adding content all through the month of March, leading up to the big release of ELEMENTS on April 1st (in Canada).

So far, insights and fun facts have been added for stories:

Coolies

The Wind and the Sky

March of the Forgotten

Storm Child

Check it out!

Table of Contents for "Elements"

Over on her blog, Suzanne posted the Table of Contents for her short-fiction collection Elements. Over the next few weeks, she'll post content on the background, development, and/or characters from each story.

Writing Retreat Weekend 2013 Edition

This coming weekend, the Stop-Watch Gang will be partaking in their annual writing retreat. From roughly noon Saturday to noon on Sunday, various members will write like fiends.

As is tradition, we provide a few challenge prompts to inspire SWG members and those of you playing along with the home game.

For 2013, inspiration is drawn from the letter "S".

Using the five senses...
Taste – saffron, scallops, spinach
Touch – suede, syrup, steel
Smell – stew, sewage, scotch
Sight – snow, sign, syringe
Sound – sand, saxophone, siren

Using Words...

A quote by Socrates: "The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be."

A quote by Robert Louis Stevenson: "Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences."

A quote by William Shakespeare: "Go to your bosom; Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know"

Using visual prompts, follow the links below...

"Vice Admiral Sir George Anson's Victory off Cape Finisterre" by Samuel Scott

"The Girl" by Emily Shanks

"Pine Pavillion Near a Spring" by Shitao

Using auditory prompts, follow the links below...

The song "Shake Me Down" by Cage the Elephant

The song "Spaceship" by Puddle of Mudd

The song "Scumbag Blues" by Them Crooked Vultures

The song "Something to Remind You" by Staind

The song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (Alt. Version)" by Marilyn Manson

The song "Sofi Needs a Ladder" by Deadmou5

Feel free to post your word counts in the comments section below.

The Numbers are In!

After twenty-four hours of writing at Casa Church, the participating Stop-Watch Gang members' word counts are below.

Costi - 10,203 new words on a novel
Ian - 15,900 words edited on a novel, some of which were new
Mike - 4,850 new words on a short story (he had to leave 3 hours early)
Richard - 7,000 new words on one short story and part of another
Suzanne - 8,425 (mostly on a new short story, and over 1K on TMS novel)
Tony - 8,020 new words on a novelette

Those not participating at Casa Church will post their results later. (we hope)

Definitely a successful writing weekend!

Writing Weekend Prompts

Instead of our usual monthly critique session meeting, this month the members of the Stop-Watch Gang are participating in a writing weekend.

To motivate those who might be inspired by writing prompts, I sent along the list below. I was inspired by the letter "W". For all of you writers out there who might wish to spend the weekend writing, feel free to use these prompts.

Using the five senses…
Taste – wasabi, watermelon, waffles
Touch – wool, water, wicker
Smell – wildfire, waste, war
Sight – wilderness, winner, wrench
Sound – waves, wheeze, wreck

Using Words…

A quote by Virginia Woolf: “If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.”
(In other words, speak your truth, fellow writers, and write about what you know.)

A quote by William Wordsworth: “Fear is a cloak which old men huddle about their love, as if to keep it warm.”

A quote by H.G. Wells: “Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature’s inexorable imperative.”

Using visual prompts, follow the links below…

“Wolf Moon” by Andrew Wyeth

“The Wall” by Brett Whitely

“Wild Raspberries” by Andy Warhol

Using auditory prompts, follow the links below…

The song “Waste” by the band Staind

The song “We Don’t Have to Look Back Now” by Puddle of Mudd

The song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” by The Beatles

The song “Wild Wild West” by Will Smith

Feel free to post your word counts in the comments section below.