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May Theme Prompt Winner
Editors' Choice: "A Heaven for Holograms" by Stefan Grieve is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for May/June. Congratulations...
Jim Dutton
2 days ago3 min read


July Theme Prompt: Aliens Among Us
Write a sci-fi flash story about aliens living surreptitiously among humans. Everything I'm about to tell you is completely true. There...
Jim Dutton
Jun 294 min read


March Theme Prompt Winner
Editors' Choice: "The TQL Gambit" by David Barlow is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for March/April. Congratulations...
Jim Dutton
May 183 min read


May Theme Prompt: Many Minds
Write a sci-fi story about the mind. Of course, you'll use your mind to write the story (I hope). But that's not what I mean. That...
Jim Dutton
May 114 min read


March Theme Prompt: Begin at the Big Ending
Your story must begin at the end of your plotline.
Jim Dutton
Mar 84 min read


November Theme Prompt Winner
Editors' Choice: " Human's Best Friend " by Alex McNall is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for November/December. ...
Jim Dutton
Jan 252 min read


January Theme Prompt: Galactic Brackets
Write a sports- or gaming-related sci-fi story. Let the competition begin! Well, it's already begun in a number of venues. In the US, the...
Jim Dutton
Jan 183 min read


November Theme Prompt: Aspirational Utopias
Write a sci-fi story set in a fictional utopian society. I admit I have lost track of what a majority of Americans envision as our ideal...
Jim Dutton
Nov 17, 20243 min read


July Theme Prompt Winner
"Lifetime Subscription" by Guy Lingham is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for July/August.
Jim Dutton
Sep 21, 20243 min read


September Theme Prompt: The Bogeyman Cometh
Write a science fiction story in which the villain or antagonist is an artificial intelligence. This Halloween, there's a lot of scary...
Jim Dutton
Sep 15, 20245 min read


May Theme Prompt Winner
"Cyborg Isle" by Maren N. Law is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for May/June.
Jim Dutton
Jul 20, 20242 min read


July Theme Prompt: This Mortal Coil
Write a science fiction story that explores the nature and consequences of (im)mortality. The current US president is 81 years old, and...
Jim Dutton
Jul 15, 20243 min read


April Theme Prompt Winner
Editors' Choice The Wittiest Man in France by Philip Apps is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for April/May. Congratulations...
Jim Dutton
Jun 9, 20242 min read


May Theme Prompt: Gothic Sci-Fi
Theme: Write a science fiction story that uses gothic settings and tropes. Gothic science fiction is the oldest kind. Mary Shelley's...
Jim Dutton
May 15, 20245 min read


March Theme Prompt Winner
Editors' Choice Caring for Barbara by B. M. Gilb is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for March/April. This is a new author...
Jim Dutton
May 12, 20243 min read


April Prompt: Meta-Sci-Fi
Theme: Write a science fiction story that refers to itself or breaks the fourth wall in some interesting way. Metafiction is a set of...
Jim Dutton
Apr 13, 20244 min read


February Theme Prompt Winner
Editors' Choice Adrift by Randall Andrews is the editor's pick as the winning theme story for February/March. Last month's theme prompt,...
Jim Dutton
Apr 7, 20242 min read


March Prompt: Othering AI
Theme: Write a story about the complex relationships between humans and artificial intelligence as this new form of "life" assimilates...
Jim Dutton
Mar 19, 20245 min read


January Theme Prompt Winner
Fallstreak by Dale E. Lehman Editors' Choice The January theme prompt, Weather Warnings, ended on February 15, with the final accepted...
Jim Dutton
Mar 9, 20242 min read


February Prompt: On This Special Day
Theme: Write a story in which a special day plays an important role. A special day may be a holiday or a national observance of some sort...
Jim Dutton
Feb 17, 20244 min read
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