A New Story, a Little Late
Yesterday, while Stephen and I were driving home from Sedona, my flash piece, “Honor Bound,” was the story of the day at Every Day Fiction. Go on over and check it out. Voting and/or commenting is always appreciated!
I wrote this story as part of my writing group’s prompts contest last year. Jens submitted a prompt to the group challenging us to write an action scene, but it couldn’t be only an action scene — he challenged us to do it with emotional heft and weight, as well. I think it was my favorite prompt of that month’s contest.
It’s a challenge to write fantasy in the flash format. You can never give quite as much detail as you want to the world and the background. But, in a way, that can be fun, as well. It’s a challenge to give just enough details to clue your readers into what’s going on, but leaving enough wiggle room that they can fill in the blanks themselves, with what they bring to the reading.
So, if you read “Honor Bound,” I’d love to know what you think. Leave me a comment and let me know.
2 Comments so far
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Hi, Erin! I quite enjoyed “Honor Bound,” especially since it shares with all of my other EDF favorites the virtue of getting a whole lot of story neatly into a small amount of space. Old lovers crossing steel and a curse that can not be named might not be your typical Valentine month fare, but I found it a welcome yarn indeed, and would gladly welcome a longer treatment of it. I find myself wondering what other things Lyra might have learned in Galrisia.
I do have a criticism, however. When broken, noses don’t splinter. Having received a baseball to the face when I was a boy, I can tell you that the feeling is most certainly not a splintering one, anyway. It is more like a thudding shock you feel all the way in the back of your skull. and as much as it hurts, you are distracted by the taste of blood - and lots of it - as it flows out of your nostrils and back down your throat. Blood somehow tastes as dark red as it looks.
Anyway, get cracking on your next story. This one was a whole lot of fun! All the best.
Bill Coffin
http://www.billcoffin.com
Bill — Thanks so much for the insight on broken noses. As you could probably tell, I’ve never actually had one. I will definitely remember that in case a broken nose appears in a future story!
I’m really glad you enjoyed the story. Thanks for reading!
Erin