Cheryl King Writes Things
Happy Indie April! Support indie authors and bookstores this month.
“I don’t need an alarm clock. My ideas wake me.” — Ray Bradbury
My Works in Progress
Middle Grade Fiction
This was a story I started writing about 20 years ago after being inspired by the first Harry Potter. Then I hit a wall made solidly of writer’s block. Now that I’m revisiting it so many years later, it could use some updating.
Nonfiction
I am working on a book for reading teachers that will contain charts and forms for all things progress monitoring and tracking reading data. Hopefully a very useful resource for reading specialists, interventionists, dyslexia specialists, and teachers.
YA/
Dystopian Fiction
I’m brainstorming and outlining for a new project! It’s kind of dystopian/time travel, and I’m so excited about it that I’ve decided to draft at least 50,000 500 words of it during the month of November for NaNoWriMo23.
You can read about it here.
Other Projects
NYCMidnight:
100-word Microfiction Challenge
Round 1: I had to write a 100-word fairy tale/fantasy story with the action of
climbing a tree and the word pair. When I saw my genre, I was like ughhhhh,
but I actually enjoyed writing this one, and I hope the judges like it.
Results: June 12
Winter Flash Fiction Battle
I submitted a 1,000-word false utopia story.
Results: My story earned the highest points in my group of 47 writers,
so it advanced to the Final Showdown. I made it to the top 32 in my genre, but went no further.
Writers Weekly 24-Hour Short Story Contest
I submitted an 900-word story about an ominous note delivered by a carrier pigeon.
Results: Around June 2
In this competition with a twist, I had to write a 500-word story
using the word date, the action of choosing a winner, and I had to break the “always use said” rule.
Results: June 2
This is an amazing new writing contest, and in the inaugural main competition,
I wrote a 500-word historical thriller called “Chasing Amelia.”
Results: Aww, my story was in the top 30% but did not place as a winner.
I’m signed up for the next contest.
Submitted my 42-word story with a 42-character title and a 42-word bio for publication.
Accepted for publication! It will be included in the horror category.
Check out updates on the book’s progress here: https://www.facebook.com/42stories/
Furious Fiction:
500-word challenges on the first Friday of every month, and it’s free to enter.
Press 53:
53-word story challenges every month, free to enter.
“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.”
Virginia Woolf
Why is everyone so fragile?