#WEP WINNERS - OCTOBER CHALLENGE - THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

 Hi! This is Renee & Denise for the team, to sum up the October Challenge and to announce the winners!

Thanks for joining us this Halloween month of October and for taking on the story of the Phantom. Amazing work all - the information regarding the story by Gordon Leroux, was most enlightening, stories just perfect for a campfire setting, or poetry for lovers of the art. I think one of my favorite aspects of the WEP is the different takes on the prompt! Again, thank you for your participation, it was wonderful seeing new entrants and returning entrants! As always the choice for the top was tough! 

Here is a synopsis of all the entries via the tagline the author provided.

Denise Covey - The Ghost of Opéra Garnier - Love will find a way despite exceptional circumstances

Yolanda Renee - Premonition - Pay attention to your sixth sense

Olga Godim - The Phantom Of The Opera - Music on Mars sounds just as beautiful as it did on Earth

Nilanjana Bose - Chiaroscuro VI - An old radio goes berserk in the middle of the night

Beth Camp - First Time - What do we learn when we close our eyes?

Kalpana M - Undisguised - A self-satisfied man immerses himself in his needs

Shilpa Gupte - Rukhsar Khala and her Kitties -  Love thy neighbour, but from afar

Roland R Clarke - Masked Nemesis - Chaos from the shadows delivers a crippling blow to the night witches

Pat Garcia - Joy Comes In The Morning - The kids fell in love with him, a man whose face they couldn’t see. Fascinated by the white gauze covering his head, ears, face, and neck, each wanted to be like him

Jemi Fraser - Think Of Me - Deep in the tunnels, surprises await

Sonia Dogra - Phantom - Stories that did rounds of villages were, after all, only stories

Jamie - Phantom of the Boarded Up House - Teen initiation includes B&E to Phantom’s ghostly concert

Christopher Scott - Phantoms - Inspired by Lon Chaney’s portrayal of the Phantom

J Lenni Dorner - Phantom Wolves - Phantom wolves battle our heroes

Ornery Owl - The Star Child and the Phantom of the Opera - The Other remains reviled

Hilary Melton-Butcher - Phantom Of The Opera - Who But Me Could Come Up with This Post for the poor Phantom (of the Opera) prompt – I feel for him … I wonder if they had Bile Beans on the Nile 

Damyanti Biswas - Have You Met the Phantom of My Life’s Opera? - Things only begin with mistakes. That’s not where they end

SHORTLIST

As always our talented writers make the task pretty tough for the team. 

For the prompt 'The Phantom of the Opera', here is the not-so-short shortlist (in no particular order)!

Shilpa Gupte 

Hilary-Melton Butcher

Ornery Owl

Beth Camp

Kalpana Misra

Carole Stolz

Pat Garcia

Jamie Dorner

Damyanti Biswas

JUDGE'S CHOICES

Ornery Owl

Shilpa Gupte

Beth Camp

but as Nick says: 

Great stuff all around! Other selections were bubbling under. Well done to all!

 Thank you for the haunting quality of each contribution!

COMMENTING

WEP is a supportive writing environment where you are welcome to try new ideas, take risks, and put forth your latest WIP for feedback. Commenters are asked to be respectful, and sensitive and to keep comments positive. 

The trouble with commenting on blogs continues (we're fortunate that Google hasn't messed up our commenting here) or on our C-Box. And if your blog comments are down and you have a blogger blog, consider changing your comment settings to Pop-ups, not embedded, temporarily, until Google provides a fix.

And if you're using Pop-ups and people still can't comment, we hope would-be commenters will post at WEP or C-Box.

This month's prize is from me, Yolanda Renee, a mini Developmental Edit. 

Please email me at yolandarenee@hotmail express for further details!

AND NOW IT'S TIME TO CONGRATULATE THE WINNERS!

WE HOPE YOU AGREE THE BADGES ARE BEYOND AWESOME!

THANKS, OLGA GODIM!

And, the Oscars go to...

Three winners, three Oscars!

AFTER MUCH DELIBERATION, THE WINNER OF THE OCTOBER 2023 CHALLENGE 

~THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA~

IS

CONGRATULATIONS Ornery Owl!

Please accept our thanks for writing such a great essay. READ IT HERE. Please accept your badge and add it to your blog.

Nick says: 'A really thought-provoking essay that shows how the story is still relevant today. Sadly, like she says, we need to do so much better.'

Remember, if you can't use Yolanda's generous gift, please let us know so we can pass it on. We hate it when a gift remains unopened.

~*~

THE RUNNER-UP OF THE OCTOBER 023 CHALLENGE 

~THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA~

IS

CONGRATULATIONS Shilpa Gupte!

Thanks, Shilpa for an innovative read. READ IT HERE.  Please post the badge to your blog with a link to your story!

As Nick says: 'Fun and playful, but subtly terrifying as well - this is a treat!'

~*~

THE ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD FOR THE OCTOBER 2023 CHALLENGE 

~THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA~

GOES TO

CONGRATULATIONS Beth Camp!

Thank you for a short entry packed with good things. READ IT HERE. Please accept the badge and display it on your blog. 

Nick says: 'Short and sweet, a feel-good dopamine lift, a nice message to take forward.'

~*~

CONGRATULATIONS ALL!

REMEMBER!

THE WEP ANTHOLOGY

A mock-up temporary cover was created on Canva.

WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOUR ENTRY!

UPDATE: The entries are trickling in. We are concerned we won't receive the numbers to go ahead. If you intend to submit, please let us know.

WEP 2024 FLASH FICTION ANTHOLOGY - to be released approx. May 2024.

All winners are automatically invited to submit.

Anyone involved in WEP in the past is invited to submit.

Nila is in charge of bringing this baby home. For now, any questions, please post in comments so all can see the answers.

TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES WHO LOVE WRITING FLASH FICTION:

 You are personally invited to submit a flash fiction piece of between 500 min - 1,000 words max to our upcoming anthology. This will be a work of prose fiction – no poetry, although a poem may be included within your predominately prose story.

 Many of the finer points of the anthology are still being finalized, but we have a concrete theme -- Gone!  Gone! Gone! All stories submitted will be written to this theme from which the WEP team envisages many possible genres - thriller, romance, fictionalized memoir, horror, crime, women's fiction, paranormal ... and others. By the August post, you will know all there is to know.

 What do we want? We want standalone, complete, previously unpublished stories - no extracts of a WIP or serialized story, photo essay or opinion piece. A solid flash fiction. This will be submitted to technical guidelines to be announced in August. This is when WEP will publish an Anthology Page on the site where you will see various ideas for stories, but none is binding. We stress - this is YOUR story, written YOUR way in your chosen genre.

 We aim to publish a high-quality eBook and print book. If your entry is accepted, you will be asked to perform further self-edits and the editorial team will do any final editing. WEP's raison d'etre is to improve writing, so the writing must be well-edited and excellent overall.

 The Anthology is the culmination of the work and collective wisdom of 13 years of enthusiasm for flash fiction. Most of the current team have been with WEP in one role or another for the duration.

 We envisage submissions closing at the end of December ‘23.

Please join us for the Challenge in December! This is a post where you aren't painted into any corners. Give us your real self!

For the festive season, we're taking the stress out and leaving the fun in. No competition, only creativity. We're inviting you to a Holiday Writing Party and we're saying Over to YOU. 

Remember to post December 1 through the 15 so everyone can get on with the festive season! 

~OVER TO YOU~

Click on our Challenges 2023 page for ideas for December. But we stress, write your entry your way! What movie inspired you?

SHARE THE LOVE IF YOU WISH. IF YOU DON'T DO SOCIAL MEDIA, THAT'S TOTALLY FINE.

We announce our WEP OCTOBER‘23 #THEPHANTOMOFTHEOPERA #winners @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @jemifraser @SoniaDogra16 #amwriting #writingcontest #flashfiction #wepwinners https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/10/wep-winners-october-challenge-phantom.html

#WEPFF OCTOBER ’23 #THEPHANTOMOFTHEOPERA #winners announced @DeniseCCovey @SoniaDogra16 @yolandarenee @jemifraser #amwriting #flashfiction #wepwinners #writingcontest https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/10/wep-winners-october-challenge-phantom.html

Come congratulate our OCTOBER’23 #THEPHANTOMOFTHEOPERA #winners! #WEPFF Challenge @DeniseCCovey @yolandarenee @SoniaDogra16 @jemifraser #amwriting #flashfiction #wepwinners #writingcontesthttps://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/10/wep-winners-october-challenge-phantom.html

Signing off for now

Renee & Denise

for the team

#June WEP Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Welcome to June's WEP CHALLENGE!

Close Encounters!

Hello! - it's Nila here, along with my co-host Jemi, we're excited for the June Challenge! This month's prompt is "Close Encounters" based on an iconic movie title/poster. Before we get into the challenge, I'd just like to clear up a small point that came up last month. Hey listen, there is no homework given out around here!  

None of our prompts require any prior awareness or deep knowledge of anything. 

We are a diverse community spread across the world, from Australia right round to America. The primary thing that binds us together is NOT any specialist knowledge of movies, art or books, but our love for writing. That's what we get together here to celebrate and to nurture and support. You don't have to be published or perfect (heck, who is?!) to write with us at WEP, all you need is love.  For writing. 

This year, our prompts happen to be based on movies -  I'll  say it again -

You don't have to know any background, nor watch the movie, nor write to that specific genre or plot. 

All you need to do is to bring your imagination and a writing device. Look at the title, look at the poster if you like and run with whatever element inspires you.  The suggestions are just that - suggestions. We're uber happy for you to ignore them and come up with your own interpretations.

   "Close Encounters"+ YOU is all that's needed.  

We look forward to where this Challenge takes all of us!

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* Did you catch our second 'How-to' post? We started with HR Sinclair's guide to publishing on Google Play. Catch Holly's article HERE.

** Did you take note that WEP winners will be invited to submit to the WEP Flash Fiction Anthology, an ebook, out in 2024 (date to be announced)? After submissions are collated, there may be room to offer more members a place. Submissions will not be automatically accepted, and if they are, will go through an editing process so they're publication ready, following the rigorous process used by the IWSG Anthology team. A WEP committee will be formed to expedite the stories for publication. So if you've not been published, this is your chance to gain a publication credit. 

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WHAT INSPIRES?

Photo by Daniela Paola Alchapar on Unsplash

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is an iconic 1977 Spielberg movie, in fact Ray Bradbury called it the greatest sci-fi movie ever made. The storyline combines three threads in parallel - broadly reflecting the three kinds of encounters, i.e. sighting, evidence and contact with alien life. An ordinary electrician sees an UFO and has his life upended. A little boy finds his toys operating spontaneously and is later abducted, his mother believes by aliens.  Meanwhile, a group of scientists are trying to establish contact with lifeforms in outer space and are nonplussed with the response they get. All three converge to a spot where the climax - a monumental event unparalleled in human history, unfolds. The film tells the story of the first contact between non-invading aliens and earth. It is characterised by opulent sets and mind boggling special effects and many instances of Judeo-Christian imagery. For all the opulence and slick effects, it is a simple, engaging story compellingly told. 

Go HERE to our Challenges 2023 Page to read about ALL our prompts for the year!

Post - June 21st - 23rd 2023

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WEP NEWS!

We at Team WEP want to make your experience writing for us as fulfilling as possible. We pride ourselves on being a supportive writing environment so we're always open to feedback.

The response was good. So far, one of the main points, was that you are busy people and cannot find the time to write to every challenge. We totally get this and are delighted whenever you turn up. 

THIS IS WHAT YOU SAID:

- I don't enjoy continuation stories based on prompts. I'd like to see something new and original from those writers.

- Please don't make rules - as they've done in the A-Z ... let us just do our thing at whatever level we're at ... 

- Don't make us do FB, or Tw, or anything else - 

- If it doesn't suit - move on ... don't criticise ... 

- Thanks - it's great - and I enjoy it ... and do what I can ...having committed to write WEP prompts ....

- The prompts such as the music prompts were about a song, but with all the possibilities suggested, I was confused on what you were actually looking for...

- Anthology could be cool. Would probably have to be a .99 cent one, because those rarely sell very well. But they're great for running a giveaway with as a prize.

- I'm still participating but I think it would be great to offer an anthology, and not just to the winners, but give a theme and accept submissions.

THIS IS WHAT WE SAY:

We hear you. 

We try to be as rule-free as possible. Some don't like the 1,000 word limit, but that is the Flash Fiction limit. We don't mind if entries are over 1,000 words at times - we don't count them.

We don't make you do social media. Some like it, so by pre-writing tweets it makes it easy for those of us who like to tweet. Also it brings more readers to your stories.

We get that some are finding the music prompts confusing. Nila has dealt with that above.

We are working on the concepts of the anthology and a theme has been mentioned rather than strictly adhering to the year's prompts. And we'll see how the words go and may well open for submissions to all members. Not all submissions will automatically be accepted. We're looking for well written and well edited work. An editorial team will read each entry and decide.

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 CRITIQUE PRIZE

This month's prize is from Lynda Dietz from Easy Reader Editing. 

Lynda says:

I’m a wife, mother, and worship leader from northwest PA. Though my kids don’t think I’m funny, I make myself laugh frequently. Everyone in my family lives, breathes, and eats music, so I’m always picking up some new instrument and giving it a try. I edit books with the help of my four assistants, all of whom are cats.

 Links:

Easy Reader Editing

Facebook

Twitter

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COMMENTING

Commenting is the lifeblood of WEP. We are a supportive writing environment where you are welcome to try new ideas, take risks, and put forth your latest WIP for feedback.

If you have trouble commenting on blogs, please continue to leave a comment here (we're fortunate that Google hasn't messed up our commenting here) or on our C-Box. And if your blog comments are down and you have a blogger blog, consider changing your comment settings to Pop-ups, not embedded, temporarily, until google provides a fix.

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We'd love if you'd Tweet or post to FB or any social media site where you network!

WEP movie #writingprompt June 2023s "Close Encounters" @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @SoniaDogra16 @jemifraser  https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/06/june-wep-close-encounters-of-third-kind.html Sign up & post-June 21st thru 23rd! #amwriting #flashfiction #WEPFF #poetry #nonfiction

Get your thinking caps on for June 2023s movie prompt "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS" @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @SoniaDogra16 @jemifraser  https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/06/june-wep-close-encounters-of-third-kind.html Sign up & post your entry June 21st thru 23rd! #WEPFF #amwriting #flashfiction #poetry #nonfiction

Join WEP @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee @SoniaDogra16 @jemifraser, for the third movie Challenge of 2023, "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS". Sign up and post your entry JUNE 21 thru 23rd https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/06/june-wep-close-encounters-of-third-kind.html #WEPFF #amwriting #flashfiction #poetry #nonfiction.

Check out #stories of #love, #loss, #firstcontact, & #closeencounters @DeniseCCovey @YolandaRenee, @SoniaDogra16 @jemifraser, for the JUNE movie challenge "CLOSE ENCOUNTERS" https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/2023/06/june-wep-close-encounters-of-third-kind.html #WEPFF #amwriting #flashfiction #poetry #nonfiction

 

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Wishing you a fabulous June. 

Bring on the entries!

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Our next movie prompt is for August. How about this? Sure to be a favorite~

Post - August 16th to the 18th 2023

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Nila & Jemi for the team: