3/30/99
George, a professional alligator wrestler, takes a trip down under to conquer Mabwe, the fabled incarnation of the Aborigine crocodile spirit of courage.
3/31/99
Something mysterious is inside a box/warehouse/shipyard/etc. Three very different people speculate as to what's inside. Another person (who is in the know) overhears or watches them. Write all four perspectives and the interactions between them.
4/6/99
Pick an object in the room. Describe it in a purely literal fashion (no analogies or metaphors). Then describe it using whatever methods you wish. Which creates a clearer picture in your mind?
4/7/99
The midnight train. A man in Chicago takes the El at night and finds himself in the wrong place. He get back on soon after and finds himself on the same train. It takes him to a new wrong place. Over and over until he puts the pieces of the puzzle together. Bum (kind of oracle deal) on the train.
4/13/99
A man has lost his soul mate in the matrix. In reality she'll be killed if he jacks her out. Must find and lead her back. Consciousness held in Azima Corp Data Fortress, they're lockdowning personas for something sinister. AI fragment (he thinks it's a person) subroutine of a chaos prediction program becomes his ally in the matrix. It's in search of its own greater parts.
4/14/99
A kid with a jack o' lantern, the prize of the group. A bunch of kids play Ghost Hunter (ominous music rising for ten year olds). A ghost of a kid and his dog, died in the wilderness toy with them and mess up the game.
4/20/99
The great cavern. Undersea which contains organ music tub worms. Siren songs of sorts. Power can be harnessed for a weapon of some kind. Jam sonar, shockwave cannon, etc. Attack on peaceful kelp farmers. Mer or some like people knows ways of harnessing. Spy from them sent to prevent destruction.
4/21/99
A sailor on short layover in port is entranced by a seaside antique dealer. They hook up and she shows him around until the night before he is to depart she's killed when they frolic in a train yard. He's left with a few hours to ponder and mourn before he leaves.
4/27/99
Write down five things/people/places/whatevers you absolutely love. Then, write down five you absolutely loathe. Create a conflict situation w/ the protagonist containing characteristics of things you loathe and the antagonist things you love.
4/28/99
The underworld. Petrie, a grass mower at the Elysian Fields, is sick of the job his lowly demigod status gives him. He goes on a romp of drunken debauchery reintroducing to clueless souls the physical pleasures they forgot thousand years dead. This causes a reincarnation movement in Hades.
5/4/99
Couple stuck in ghetto apartment. Major fly problem. The go on a swatting rampage. They find the source of the flies to be a body (child, elderly, adult?) recently buried in the walls.
5/5/99
Sailor, stationed on a nuclear submarine, wants desperately to escape. His only chance is through the vertical tomahawk missile tubes during the brief pause between when the bay doors open and the missile actually launches. He has to snow job a military incident for this to happen.
5/11/99
Write a paragraph to a page (200-350 words) of descriptive narrative prose without adjectives or adverbs. No dialogue. The point is to give a vivid description of a scene or an action, using only verbs, nouns, pronouns, and articles. Adverbs of time (then, next later, etc.) may be necessary, but be sparing. Be chaste.
Steering the Craft by Ursula K. Le Guin pg 62
5/12/99
Slave cloning operation. Batch gets radiation poisoning. Mutations, disgusting physical ones, arise in maturity. But so does a light year spanning psionic rapport between all the brothers and sisters. Navakov on Corvalis IX starts the seed of rebellion and plans a getaway meeting spot.
5/18/99
Write down ten nouns that come to mind. Places them in a hat and draw one. Write a short story (200-350 words) utilizing the noun in some way.
5/19/99
An Indian Shaman who can "speak" with the gods has a crisis of faith when Missionaries present themselves to the tribe. He becomes especially disturbed as some of the tribes people convert to Christianity.