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glimmerofhob · 7 years

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2017/2018 Rules, FAQ, and Welcome!

Hiya folks! Welcome to the 2017/2018 round of the Glimmer of Hob fest! You may remember Sugoi Deer of last year. Well, I’m rebranding, and for the second Hobi fic fest, there’s a new name and a new format!

Instead of involving Livejournal at all, everything for the fest will be centered around Twitter/Tumblr and AO3. Prompts will be submitted via Google spreadsheet rather than in the comments of a Livejournal post. In addition, fics will be submitted via AO3 directly. Hopefully, this change will make everything more convenient for everyone involved!

Now that the change announcements are out of the way, time for some information about the fest for people just joining this year and those who need a refresher course!

PROMPTING RULES

Do not write a small novel as your prompt. Prompts should be succinct and open enough to give the writer room to play around. However, prompts also shouldn’t be so sparse that the writer has nothing to work with.

BAD PROMPT EXAMPLE: Hoseok and Yoongi are rutabaga farmers in the 1920s. They’re neighbors and occasionally competition with one another until a drought happens. They’re left with no choice but to join forces for survival. Yoongi moves in with Hoseok and one night during a storm that finally comes, they wind up making out. Things are awkward from there for a while until eventually they talk about what happened. They decide they’d like it to keep happening. They live together as partners in both business and romance until A comes along and threatens to buy out Hoseok’s farm and disrupt their entire way of life. The fic ends with Hoseok and Yoongi still living together and still farming and everyone is happy. (Way way too specific.)

BAD PROMPT EXAMPLE: Jimin and Hoseok are neighbors and smut happens. (Way way too vague.)

GOOD PROMPT EXAMPLE: To say Hoseok is an overachiever would be an understatement. He’s got this compulsive need to be number one in everything. So when Seokjin comes along and starts to take Hoseok’s glory at work, delegating him to number two spot, Hoseok sets a plan in motion to get back on top--and it might involve getting on top of Seokjin. (Just enough info for writers to work with without stifling their creativity.)

List your dos and don’ts very carefully. Don’t expect a writer to read your mind and know you want lots of hand-holding if you don’t specify that in your do section. If you know you wouldn’t want to read mpreg, specify that you don’t want mpreg. Not keen on angst? Specify no angst.

WRITING RULES

Don’t panic. This fest is meant to be fun, not stressful. If at any point you feel you can’t continue, let me know. It’s totally okay and because this is a fest and not an exchange, no one will even know unless they hear it from you!

There is a zero-tolerance policy regarding plagiarism. This includes works by the same author previously published elsewhere. This fest requires brand new original work. Any works found to be plagiarized will be removed and the offending party will be banned from future participation.

Follow prompts to the best of your abilities but especially follow the prompter’s “don’t” list. For instance, if your chosen prompt specifies no smut, do not add smut. Submissions that do not follow this will be removed.

Your minimum word count for this fest is 2000. No less, but certainly more if your mojo allows.

Do not use stage names as primary name. For example, if you claim a fic in which Hoseok’s an underground rapper, you’re free to use J-Hope as his stage name. Do not use J-Hope as his actual name throughout the entire fic.

If your fic contains sensitive material, make use of the trigger warnings properly. For instance, if there is a scene that involves dubious consent, put that loud and clear in the warnings. If there’s talk of rape in a character’s past, write it in your warnings. If a scene involves drug or alcohol use, say so. I will remove fics from the collection and ban authors who do not tag sensitive material well.

Do NOT publicly reveal which fic is yours before official reveals are made. You’re free to let beta readers or friends in on what you’re working on as long as they don’t spill the beans publicly, either. Writers found in violation may be banned from future participation.

Do NOT post your work elsewhere, in whole or part, before reveals are made. You’re free to post your work wherever you want beginning 2/19 however!

FAQ

What is a fic fest? A fic fest is an event in which people submit prompts, writers choose prompts, and the end result is a lot of brand spankin’ new work to read!

How is this different from an exchange? With a fic exchange, you’re assigned a specific recipient and you must write prompts according to what that recipient wishes to receive. A fic fest offers a little more freedom - prompters don’t have to write, and writers don’t have to prompt. But you’re more than welcome to do both!

Can I submit more than one prompt? Absolutely! In fact, please do. The more prompts we have, the more options our writers will have. And, with any luck, more options means more participants. Hooray!

Can I claim more than one prompt? Short answer - no. Long answer - no, unless you submit your initial fic early and can definitely handle churning out a second. Should you fail to complete your second fic, though, you run the risk of not being able to participate in future fests.

Does it have to be a romantic ship? Can I request platonic ships? Yes, platonic ships are more than welcome! Your prompts don’t have to have a romantic slant to them. They don’t have to have smut if you don’t want smut. There doesn’t even have to be a pairing involved at all! The only requirement is that the fic’s main focus is Hoseok.

Can I request/write asexual/demisexual/genderfluid/transgender/etc. characters? You sure can! This fest welcomes all such interpretations as long as they’re handled in a respectful way.

Can I include other idols/actors? Sure! Crossovers are welcome. But please make sure the main focus is Hoseok.

Can I request OT3/4/+? You sure can! Just make sure you specify it in your prompt.

How will prompting work? Starting 6/30, you will be able to submit prompts to a spreadsheet. You may submit as many prompts as you’d like, but only one prompt per line in the spreadsheet.

How will claiming work? Starting 8/4, a google form will be available for you to submit your prompt requests. Your job as writer is to peruse the prompt sheet, pick out three (3) prompts that you’d like to work on, and submit them. You will be required to list your prompt choices in order from your most-desired choice, first backup, and second backup. You’ll then receive confirmation within 72 hours about which prompt you were assigned. For instance, if you select prompts 4, 2, and 1 as your top choices, but 4 was taken by another writer earlier on, you will be assigned prompt 2 instead. If 4 and 2 are taken, you will receive prompt 1. If all three are taken, I will notify you so that you can make three other choices. The spreadsheet will be kept as current as possible to minimize attempts at claiming already-claimed prompts.

FEST TIMELINE

6/30/17 - Prompt submission begins

7/31/17 - Prompt submission ends

8/4/17 - Prompt claiming begins

8/18/17 - Prompt claiming ends

10/27/17 - First check-in

12/29/17 - Last day to drop out of the fest

1/8/18 - Second check-in

2/16/18 - Fics due

2/18/18 - Author reveals

CONTACT INFO

Got any questions that aren’t answered here? Want some clarification about a point? Please don’t hesitate to contact me! You can either send an ask on this here tumblr, @ the fest on Twitter (@glimmerofhob there, too!), or email me at [email protected]. Thanks for your interest, and please spread the word so we can celebrate Hobi’s birthday with a bang!

#bts #fic fest #j-hope #rules #bangtan #bangtan boys #yoonseok #junghope #vhope #jihope #namseok #2seok

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dyingrabbit · 7 years

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Negated Universe Misadventures - Chapter One

(I thought maybe it would make more sense to post the full chapters here rather than link to fanfiction.net. Kinda long. Sorry to make to scroll for 5 full seconds. Also SPOILERS for Madoka Magica.)

Humor/Dark

Subjective narrator (Homura Akemi)

Word count: 3898

“Fuck” count: 33

Eco Round (Attempt #26)

I'm not gonna say I saw it coming, because that would be vain of me, but I sure as hell knew something was bound to get fucked up this time.

Trying to take down Walpurgisnacht at less than full strength was already pushing it. If Sayaka hadn't gone and blown herself up earlier this would have been a much more feasible operation. But our numbers disadvantage notwithstanding, we were still fucking it up. Kyouko was way out of position, getting distracted by the adds and Mami couldn't seem to land a single fucking shot to save her life. I was clearly the only person who could get anything done. Unfortunately even I can't carry all the time so everybody died again.

Fuck this shit.

Upon reset I awoke to a familiar ceiling. At this juncture I considered a great many things. I had almost lost count of how many times I'd started over by giving this little buckler a spin and all of my runs were becoming confused and hazy. Twenty-five times now I had rushed headlong into this damned loop and each new attempt yielded nothing.

Was I worn out? Certainly. It's no fun seeing your efforts go unrewarded. It's another thing entirely for them to fucking zap out of existence.

Did I regret putting myself up to this? Not quite. Saving Madoka was still priority number one and it wouldn't do any fucking good for anyone if I started feeling bad for myself now.

What was clear was that nothing seemed to be working. It always ended in Madoka dying or turning into a witch. It was one of the universal constants of the timeline. Another thing that was oddly prevalent was Mami dying very early. It wasn't always the same perpetrator, but the cause of death was almost invariably decapitation. There were a surprising number of ways, it turned out, for Mami to lose her head along the course of events. So noticeable was this phenomenon that on the last occasion I actually chuckled quietly to myself.

But in any event, what I needed right now was to strategize. Throwing myself at this brick wall wasn't working so I needed to adapt in order to succeed. What did that entail? In order to beat this time loop I needed to know it from front to back. I needed to find out what made it tick and precisely how to exploit it. For starters, I needed a control run.

To be fair, I also needed a break. This shit was getting fucking exhausting and I was hardly up to jumping right back in again. So there's two dead birds.

Step one was getting money, a practice I had perfected several resets ago. The ability to stop time was a pretty fucking hard counter to any security system designed by man, so I won't bore you with the trivial details. In essence, I robbed a few banks. I stopped feeling bad about it a while ago. The world ended if I fucked this up so I rightfully deserved to have any and all resources at my disposal.

Step two was having a spa day. This was probably the most fucking critical part of the plan so I paid special attention to making sure it was done properly. This entailed no expenses being spared. Importantly, it meant going to the most expensive spa in Mitakihara City, a super classy looking joint called "Subarashi Onsen".

I gave a cursory scan to the brochure in the lobby and quietly cackled, knowing that each and every feature advertised was getting purchased. Even if some of them were mutually exclusive. I didn't give a damn if I had to be there all day, nothing was fucking sacred.

As it happened, the spa's accommodations were somewhat exhaustive and I did in fact end up spending all day there. But the lost day was something of a necessary sacrifice to ensure the rest of the plan went smoothly. Who knows how catastrophic a failure may have arisen if this first step hadn't been executed correctly. It made me shudder just thinking about it. Frightening shit, no doubt.

Alright, step three was pretty fucking boring and tedious but it was technically required according to my outline. I just needed to watch everyone for a while. I wasn't allowed to do anything really. This run was all about getting a solid baseline so I could then semi-directly measure the cause and effect of my actions.

It also meant taking a shit ton of notes. That was fine, as I was a pretty ace note taker, but it also sucked pretty bad because all of my calculations would be based on them and the level of abstraction that would be required of me at the drop of a hat wasn't particularly conducive to easily resolvable data points. I needed to be everywhere, at all times, making systematically unfounded assumptions, and I needed to be correct every time. I needed to be almost entirely omniscient for this to work even slightly. Fortunately my handy little time travel ability made this prerequisite a bit less damning.

Stage one, I suppose, was my classroom introduction. Since I had no intention of reverting to the helpless pleb I had been prior to meeting Madoka for the first time, I felt no desire to alter my current appearance. Still, Madoka recently seemed to recognize me at first sight due to dreaming about me in the previous timeline. So I did need to change something. The glasses would have to do.

So instead of walking in like the drop dead gorgeous yet undeniably bad ass goddess I had been known as for the past several time loops, I settled for walking in as a slightly less gorgeous and bad ass yet very studious looking goddess. The students were impressed, as they always were.

This was generally the only fun part about the whole process. At one point or another fighting the witches was pretty fun, but now that I knew all their moves it was getting dull. The only thing that I found pleasing anymore was the complete adoration I received from these poor impressionable middle schoolers. I put an ungodly amount of effort towards making these kids comment on my hair. Eventually it paid off. I now consistently get one or two girls asking me what shampoo I use. It's disgusting but dangerously addictive.

This time I unfortunately wouldn't get to show off quite as much for fear of drawing too much attention to myself. This meant no more breaking the pole vaulting prefectural record or absolutely killing my math professor's white board problems. But like hell was I gonna drop my fabulous hair. Fuck my spreadsheets. If my curtain of raven black locks was going to significantly alter the timeline then god dammit so be it. After writing my name on the board and wishing everyone a good year I assumed my seat and proceeded to begin note taking.

Madoka, for her part, did steal a few glances in my direction after I sat down. This was to be expected, as I'm difficult to not stare at, but additionally she had probably ID'd me from her dream. It couldn't really be helped. I could have worn a mask or gotten plastic surgery, but those ideas could just as easily go fuck themselves. At least I didn't look exactly like I probably did in the dream. I had the bright red glasses for one. I also had put a concerted effort towards smiling a little bit to hide the stone cold bitch stomper within. That and I made a point not to make eye contact with Madoka. With any luck, she'd think it was all in her head.

After a bit, she seemed to settle down and focus on the lecture. When break came, A few students came to welcome me to the class. I graciously answered each of their questions with poise and class, even the bullshit ones. Then someone asked about the shampoo. I still get a little elated every time, so I launched into my spiel.

"Actually, that's an interesting question. There was a brand that I used to use called-" I was cut off by a really obscenely asinine ringtone.

"Oh. Sorry, Akemi-san. I've gotta take this."

Fucking hell. I couldn't have even one moment of mild satisfaction it seemed. Taking advantage of the lull, Madoka approached me with a timid smile.

"E - excuse me it's Akemi-san, right?" She meekly inquired.

Okay, this was game time. No margin for fuck-ups here. We were gonna play this real cool but also a little guarded.

I nodded while saying, "Yep, that's my name. And you?"

Fucking nailed it. Madoka looked a little relieved that I came across as a normal person and proceeded to introduce herself.

"I'm Madoka Kaname, nice to meet you." We politely shook hands.

This time I didn't ask her to take me to the nurse's office. I went and ate lunch alone from a strategic perch. Not a whole lot of shit was poised to happen at school but vigilance was never a bad thing. Right now the only pieces on the board were Madoka herself and that Sayaka bitch. Things don't really get interesting until after school when they visit that music store.

Stage two was the all important encounter with Kyubey and Mami at the music store. This is generally where I initially make a major impact on the timeline. So this time I anticipated the meeting to play out much differently.

Much to my chagrin, it didn't really. Generally I would rush in here, shoot up Kyubey, and narrowly avoid a confrontation with Mami before peeling out. Now that I thought about it I don't really do much here. This time Kyubey lured Madoka and Sayaka into the witch's labyrinth whilst feigning being under duress.

Fucking bastard.

This forced Mami into rescuing them and revealing her magical abilities. Mami then takes them to her apartment where she talks about the pros and cons of the whole business. Almost exactly the same except no intervention from me. In addition I hadn't blown my cover or given the others a bad impression of myself, so this was already an improvement. That was going in the notebook for sure.

They spent the next couple of days casually tracking down familiars and dispatching them with no trouble. Meanwhile, Sayaka had been granted that super gaudy club that she used to beat the shit out of adds. Madoka whiled away thinking about what she might wanna wish for and precisely how fucking pink and frilly her dress was gonna be. Things were progressing fairly nominally.

Soon they ought to face off against Charlotte and Mami will lose her fucking head. I imagine at this point, Sayaka and Madoka will both insta-contract with Kyubey and probably end up killing the shit out of Charlotte. I'm actually not sure what will happen after that. It really depends on how Sayaka takes the whole thing and how she reacts to Kyouko when she arrives. If they end up killing each other I won't have the man advantage I need to take out big ole' Walpy. But I'm getting ahead of myself now.

Stage three began with Madoka and Sayaka visiting that crippled violin player Kyousuke who Sayaka kinda dug for some reason. After leaving the hospital, they encountered the grief seed conspicuously sticking out of the wall.

Sayaka, the martyr that she is, usually volunteers to stay behind and camp the seed while Madoka goes and fetches Mami from her apartment. Except they both had their phones this time so they just called her up and she was there in a couple minutes.

I must have missed something because I'm not certain how my involvement makes these girls any less aware of their mobile devices. But at least I didn't have to hide in this bush any longer than was absolutely necessary. When Mami arrived, I sneakily followed everyone inside.

For what it's worth, a couple times I've actually managed to convince Mami that something was off with this particular witch. My success rate at keeping her alive through this portion is, nonetheless, lower than satisfactory. Nicer folks might call her free-willed, but the skeptics, the cynics, and the real deal pundits would just call her a fucking idiot. I, being all three of those things, had just about had it with Mami and her gung-ho attitude. It gave me a grim sense of satisfaction knowing she wouldn't be acting so feckless when she no longer had a head.

I silently cursed myself, though, for counting Mami out so quickly. After all, it's not like it was in my best interest if she bit the dust here. If it satisfied my personal vendetta for her to fail utterly without my assistance, that was neither here nor there. That being said, It didn't earn me any fucking brownie points to be optimistic and, given her past performance, objectivity implied a certain degree of pessimism at this stage.

The initiates proceeded into the labyrinth with something of a terrified amusement. Sure, they'd been around the block by now but It would be quite the hyperbole to assert that this particular block was in any sense adequate preparation for what they now faced. So it was good that they were frightened.

Mami on the other hand was practically skipping the entire time. Madoka had just told her that she had resolved to join the ranks as a magical girl. In that moment, all Mami's general misgivings about going it alone had subsided in a flood of tears and a shocking number of "Fuckin' A!" utterances. There were clearly some underlying mental issues here so it warranted taking a note.

Now, with the wind at their backs, they sailed into Charlotte's main chamber to do battle.

I've seen this fight play out several times by now. Generally speaking it doesn't go so well when I'm not involved at first. When Mami lets me assist her, I fuck Charlotte up so fast it makes her head spin. Everyone thinks I'm really cool after that, even if they thought I was a cold hearted bitch before. When Mami doesn't let me assist her, nine times out of ten she doesn't make it out alive.

On a few occasions, one or both of her shadowers have made contracts prior to the fight so it goes much more smoothly even when I'm not there. In all other cases, when I'm not present, Mami gets a big head about herself only to have it swiftly emancipated from the rest of her body. To put it bluntly, I expected to see a headless Mami with near certainty in the near future.

What did end up happening was a bit disappointing. Mami engaged her target with a blistering hail of musket fire for several seconds, as usual. Charlotte responded by doing pretty much nothing for a while, as usual. Mami pinned her against the far wall and initiated her big flashy finishing move whilst shouting "Tiro Finale!".

Nobody else had a finishing move. How vain of her.

After believing the kill was confirmed, Mami dropped her guard for a second. Charlotte sprung out of her doll form straight at Mami, opened her jaw wide open and started munching on the poor middle schooler's head. All of this was expected. I took no notes on this.

What wasn't expected was what happened next. Charlotte quickly finished working on Mami, or decided she'd better go and secure a couple more frags, and focused her attention on Madoka and Sayaka. Kyubey, always on the ball, immediately petitioned them to make contracts.

"Quickly! Make a wish so I can turn you into magical girls!". Sayaka, with an uncharacteristically clear head, instantly wished for Kyousuke's arm to be healed. The transformation process began at once. Madoka couldn't fucking pull herself together and just stared wide eyed at Mami's dismembered corpse.

"Now you, Madoka! There's no time! What is your wish?" Demanded Kyubey. Madoka looked helplessly between Kyubey and Mami's body. Then, wiping away her tears, she managed to eke out a few words.

"Uh, I'd like a really big cake-" In that instant Charlotte swung her head about, slamming into Madoka's fragile frame, and sending her flying into the wall. She impacted with a sickening crunch.

Shit. That wasn't supposed to happen.

It did give credence to my claim that they'd be dead without my help. I guess I hadn't fully believed myself though.

A cake. She wished for a fucking cake. Damn, now I wanted a cake. I made a note of these things.

That aside, It would have been something of an understatement to say that Sayaka was somewhat galvanized at this point. Her eyes were glazed over and a miasma of unadulterated hate oozed from her every pore. With a scream too ungodly for hell she streaked through the air to assail her nemesis.

If I hadn't just watched Madoka get fucking demolished, which was never easy, I'd have probably been a bit turned on by the whole display.

Sayaka slammed into Charlotte, blade first, driving her flailing, tube-like body straight to the ground. Rising quickly, she began mercilessly hacking at the witch's face. Unfathomable amounts of blood and gore gushed from each wound coating the once cute blue outfit Sayaka was wearing. She began syncopating expletives with each slash of her sword.

"YOU—PIECE OF—SHIT—FUCKING—BITCH—CUNT—MOTHER—FUCKER!" Holy shit this was hot. Her manic carvings had left her victim mangled and unrecognizable. With a last cry of utter despair, Sayaka drove her blade straight through Charlotte's face.

There was a horrific screech that reverberated off the walls. It was so immediately deafening that I dropped my notebook to cover my ears. But Sayaka remained motionless, her hands resting on the hilt of her sword which was still deeply embedded in the flesh of her enemy, and her head downcast. The screech increased in frequency until it was no longer audible. Then Charlotte exploded.

The labyrinth quickly dissipated, leaving only Sayaka, Madoka, and I in front of the hospital. Madoka was strewn about in a very unnatural manner. I could tell pretty easily that she was toast. Looked like almost every bone in her body was broken and Sayaka could tell that pretty easily too.

She crawled over to her friend and gingerly pulled her body up onto her lap. It seemed like she'd spent her allotted screaming budget in the preceding encounter and now all she could do was quietly sob. So she did. Her soul gem turned from bright blue to a depressing shade of navy.

Kyubey waited closely by in anticipation, no doubt upset that his big catch had all but gone to waste but, regardless, happy with the quick turnover of his most recent contractee.

Alright then. I quickly summarized the most important details of this engagement in my notebook: Mami dies. Madoka dies. Sayaka goes off on Charlotte. It's really bad ass and sexy. Charlotte is terminated. Sayaka despairs and turns into a witch. Good. Now I was calling it. The timeline was dead.

Facing no repercussions from exposing myself, I emerged from the bush that was my hiding spot and pulled a Desert Eagle out of my buckler. There was really no need for this to go any further so I decided to give Sayaka the old Of Mice and Men treatment, as it was the most merciful way to do this.

She either didn't hear me walking up behind her, or didn't care. I glanced over at Kyubey, who had just now noticed me, gave him the finger, and shot Sayaka in the back of the head.

No grief seeds for you, motherfucker.

Before resetting, I decided I'd indulge myself one last time. I really wanted some cake. Unfortunately, it was rather impossible to get rid of Kyubey after the show I'd given him earlier. Even after destroying his body he kept coming back to bug me with useless questions, mostly pertaining to who the hell I was and what I knew about witches and shit. Only after sitting down in a café and acquiring my cake did I begin to humor him.

"I'm basically your worst nightmare." I said, taking a bite of vanilla frosted angel food. "I can do this shit as many times as I fucking want to and you can't stop me." I was speaking a little unduly loud and the nearby patrons were giving me confused glances.

"I wouldn't be so confident, Akemi Homura-san." The Incubator countered, "It is a certainty that you will eventually see the futility of this endless cycle and succumb to despair."

Okay, I'll give this monster credit. He did make a good point. It was totally possible that if I didn't find a route with a good ending soon I was going to start losing it. But I could delay that. I just needed to make sure to pace myself. That's what this run was all about anyway.

At some point I was going to have to look at myself in the mirror and ask what I'd be willing to settle for, or if I'm willing to settle at all. What constituted a good ending, and if that was achievable. But that was for some other time.

I put the rest of the cake into a to-go box that the waitress had given me and awkwardly tried to shove the box into my magic bottomless storage unit. Meanwhile, Kyubey gazed at me with a look of bemused contentment or maybe seething angst. I couldn't really tell. He kinda just looked like a pedophile or a serial killer to me so It was tough to gauge his demeanor at any given time. In any event, I'm sure he thought he'd gotten to me with that last jab. Which he had, sort of. But fuck him, so what?

"Perhaps you're already losing hope, Akemi Homura-san." He said evilly.

I'd had enough of him. I'd like to say what I did next was in one smooth motion but If I'm being honest with myself it certainly didn't look all that practiced. That is, it was choppy as all hell.

First, I heroically jammed the rest of the cake box into my shield. Next, I grabbed some cash and left an equitable tip for the nice lady who had served me. Lastly, I grabbed Kyubey by the throat, threw him on the floor, and shouted,

"AM NOT! FUCK YOU!" before emptying my Deagle magazine into his chest.

Then I reset.

TO BE CONTINUED

1 note · View note

swordarkeereon · 8 years

Text

Guest Post: Veronica Smith #horror #reading #WiHM8

Author Interview

How would you describe yourself if you were “speed dating” your readers? I’m kind of quiet, I don’t post much myself on Facebook or Twitter but I share other posts. I’m a bit of a loner.

What’s something fans would find fascinating about you? I sleep inWonder Woman pajama pants. That’s kind of my thing that everyone laughs about. My sleep pants are always the most hideous ugly thing. When these wear out I’ll try to find something even uglier.

What is your favorite thing about being a writer? Being able to do anything. It doesn’t have to be realistic unless it’s my crime novel, then I want it to follow police procedures as much as possible. But my horror books and stories aren’t real. I can put anything I want it them, monsters, strange powers. The possibilities are endless and that makes it so much fun. I also like to kill off people in my writing. Hey, it’s a two way street! I enjoy when it happens to me. I’ve been killed off in three books that I know of.

What genre(s) do you write and why? Horror and horror. Haha, I like all kinds of horror and have written several types. I also enjoy detective crime thrillers too.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Plotter for sure. I’m so OCD on planning and organizing. I use One Note and I make a million tabs (well not really that many – but I really could!) I want everything to sync. Timelines, names, deaths, I want it all consistent. I didn’t do that to start with on my last book and I had to go back in after I finished to check all of it. Good thing I did too! I found a dead guy walking and talking two chapters after he died! It may have been a zombie book but he wasn’t a zombie! Haha. I even made a spreadsheet that matches the aisles at my grocery store that I use for my grocery list.

What do you feel your books offer readers? My husband says I have a sick mind and I like to read stuff like that too, so I hope I can offend (did I say offend – I meant create – haha) an illusion of abnormal life. Most of my stories do not have good endings and I kind of like that. Life isn’t always good so why should imaginary life?

Do you have a favorite beverage that you drink when you write? Hot tea. I buy loose leaf tea from a vendor at our local farmer’s market.

Please tell us 5 miscellaneous facts about yourself. 1. I’m an OCD list person (mentioned in the plotter/punster question. 2. I watch less TV now than I used to; DVR is my best friend. 3. Although I’m a lousy housekeeper I still want things in their places. 4. I love fried foods. 5. I like Nickleback and I’m not ashamed to admit it! Haha!

What was the most difficult part of writing your most recent book? I’ve just started it. I’m writing a Young Adult book that is derived from a short story I wrote for an anthology. I’m “iffy” on Young Adult. There’s that fine line between what’s okay to write and what isn’t. How gory can it be? A short story is easy because, well it’s short. A whole book is another matter. I’m sure I’m either going to overdo or underdo it.

Please share with us your future projects and upcoming releases. I mentioned the Young Adult book I’ve started but I’m also working on several short stories for anthologies.

LINKS

FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/Veronica.Smith.Author

AMAZON https://www.amazon.com/author/veronicasmith

TWITTER https://twitter.com/Vee_L_Smith

BLOG https://kvzsmithwordpresscom.wordpress.com/

WATTPAD https://www.wattpad.com/user/kvzsmith

AMAZON UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Veronica-Smith/e/B014JCZQT4

GOODREADS https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33407538-salvation?ac=1&from_search=true

BRIEF AUTHOR BIO:

Veronica Smith lives in Katy, Texas, a suburb west of Houston. Her first full length novel, Salvation, was just published in December 2016. She self-published a short story, Last One in the Chamber for You, My Love to Amazon. Her first novella, Chalk Outline, was originally self-published but is the process of being re-released. She also has several short stories published in anthologies and e-Zines. In addition to writing, she’s a co-editor for two anthologies. Follow her to get the latest on her works.

LATEST RELEASE: Salvation

There is more to fear than zombies in the wasteland.

18 years after the “Blistering Flu” decimated humanity and gave rise to the world of fear and sorrow that is now owned by the dead, the remnants of humanity continue to fight for their right to live.

Regrettably nothing has changed in the mentality of man. Very quickly people had separated into factions that declared war on each other. These petty wars did us no good. They detached us from what was rising in the wastelands . . .

Will humanity be able to survive what is coming or will we continue to be assistants to our own destruction?

BOOK EXCERPT:

As soon as Tamar was sure that every zombie and mutant in front of the fence was down for good, she started to go after Chuck and Antonio. She could see the backs of Rick and Zach ahead of her and was about to put on a burst of speed to catch them when she heard the alarm bells—four of them.

Again?

She skidded to a halt and turned around to come back. The dust cloud that formed in front of her and blocked her way back to the gate cleared to expose the largest mutant wolf she’d ever seen. She’d come across some of the smaller ones, and mutant dogs were huge but this one’s muzzle was even height with her head. It opened its mouth and its long and barbed, snakelike appendage lolled out like a tongue. Green pus dripped to the ground.

Shit.

That put its reach beyond her reach with any of the blades she had on her. She thought about all she knew from watching these monsters. They were very fast and never seemed to run out of energy. However, their sheer bulk made it hard for them at turning corners. She watched wild horses get away from them because they couldn’t turn quickly.

Without warning, she ran to the left of it towards the compound screaming, “Everyone inside the fence! I need spears! In the ground now! Spread them out!”

Everyone scrambled inside and spears were brought to the fence. All of the kids were experts with spears and threw them into the ground, scattering their locations. She ran to the nearest one, pulling it out of the ground as she passed it. She spun in the air and threw it at the mutant, hitting it below the shoulder. It bellowed and stumbled but kept on going. With a quick glance around, she counted six more spears waiting for her. She was hoping that would be enough. She kept running around, turning quickly and causing the wolf to skid, his ass still going straight while his front tried to turn. She took advantage of these times to pull out another spear and throw it. The mutant was slowing down from all the impaled spears and tripping over the broken spears as they bobbled under its feet. She got to the last spear, grabbing it as she swung around and threw it, this time waiting until it was closer to her. It went into its left eye and dropped to the ground, howling in pain but still wasn’t out. She continued her turn and leapt on its back as it opened its mouth. Anticipating this, she pulled out a long dagger and impaled the now slow moving appendage to the ground. She then pulled out two more blades and drove them deep into both ears. She was thrown off as it whipped its head around for a moment before dropping to the ground, finally dead. The spears were all broken but shafts could always be replaced.

That’s a lot of blades to clean.

#horror fiction #salvation #vernica smith

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