Chuck is the author of the published novels: Blackbirds, Mockingbird, Under the Empyrean Sky, Blue Blazes, Double Dead, Bait Dog, Dinocalypse Now, Beyond Dinocalypse and Gods & Monsters: Unclean Spirits. He also the author of the soon-to-be-published novels: The Cormorant, Blightborn (Heartland Book #2), Heartland Book #3, Dinocalypse Forever, Frack You, and The Hellsblood Bride. Also coming soon is his compilation book of writing advice from this very blog: The Kick-Ass Writer, coming from Writers Digest.
He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is an alum of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter’s Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, showed at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producers Ted Hope and Anne Carey. Together they co-wrote the digital transmedia drama Collapsus, which was nominated for an International Digital Emmy and a Games 4 Change award.
Chuck has contributed over two million words to the game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP). He was a frequent contributor to The Escapist, writing about games and pop culture.
Much of his writing advice has been collected in various writing- and storytelling-related e-books.
He currently lives in the forests of Pennsyltucky with wife, two dogs, and tiny human.
He is likely drunk and untrustworthy. This blog is NSFW and probably NSFL.
You may reach him at terribleminds [at] gmail [dot] com.
Related
Brittany DeBeeld
May 5, 2016 at 7:31 PM //
I waited to start this challenge because I wanted to pick a title less chosen. When I started this, no one had chosen the title, ” Jeremy Picket & the See-Through Wall, yet.
Now there are two of us (LOVED yours Antwon), but I took it in a decidedly different direction.
Thanks for the title-inspiration, Naomi!
https://brittanydebeeldblog.wordpress.com/2016/05/05/jeremy-pocket-the-see-through-wall-flash-fiction/
Qynn Qyksilver (@QynnQyksilver)
May 6, 2016 at 12:22 PM //
Really enjoyed this, and found myself with a goofy grin by the (very satisfying) ending.
Brittany DeBeeld
May 6, 2016 at 12:24 PM //
Thank you! I appreciate it! 🙂
Vicente L Ruiz
May 9, 2016 at 3:00 AM //
Busy busy week. I had time to write my story but I only read a couple others. Yours was one, and I loved it. When I really thought the plot was going in one direction it surprised me, twisted and turned around. Great. Oh, and the setting is great as well!
karen j carlisle
May 5, 2016 at 7:37 PM //
Jeremy Pocket and the See-Through Wall jumped out at me – well, Pocket did. He demanded to be heard. Unfortunately I could only whittle the story down from 1900 words to just over 1300 words.
http://karenjcarlisle.com/2016/05/06/flash-fiction-friday-jeremy-pocket-and-the-see-through-wall/
J S Kuiken
May 5, 2016 at 10:43 PM //
I chose Russel’s beautiful title, The Blind Tattooist:
https://jskuiken.com/2016/05/06/short-story-the-blind-tattooist/
J S Kuiken
May 5, 2016 at 11:09 PM //
Or choose, rather.
Josh Gottlieb
May 5, 2016 at 11:11 PM //
Kicked my ass into making a blog, thanks for the nudge.
http://jjgottman.tumblr.com/
Rebecca Douglass
May 5, 2016 at 11:46 PM //
I’m in love with a zombie. Never a good development, but especially hard when you’re a teen.
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2016/05/friday-flash-im-in-love-with-zombie.html
Qynn Qyksilver (@QynnQyksilver)
May 5, 2016 at 11:58 PM //
I chose MalWhere… http://bit.ly/1T4iIou First try at Flash Fiction. Found it hard to keep it under 1K words. Yeesh, My brain must be wired with the -vv switch.
Brittany DeBeeld
May 6, 2016 at 9:07 AM //
I really enjoyed this! I fell right into your concept and finished it wanting to read more. Well done!
Qynn Qyksilver (@QynnQyksilver)
May 6, 2016 at 10:06 AM //
Thank you so much! Very much appreciate the kind words. Always terrifying putting one’s penmonkey droppings –errrr, scribblings?– out there for others to read. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Jo Robson
May 7, 2016 at 12:16 AM //
Nicely done. I appreciated the last line in particular.
Qynn Qyksilver (@QynnQyksilver)
May 7, 2016 at 2:11 AM //
Thank you! Glad that last line worked 🙂
Juan Bencomo
May 6, 2016 at 2:24 AM //
Finally did it! I went with Still Turnstiles at Station 6 with a suspense-thriller spin, shout-out to Lori Schechter for the great title. http://inkdew.blogspot.com/2016/05/My-attempt-at-flash-fiction-and-what-I-learned-from-it.html
I saw a couple other entries for this tittle which I’ll finally get to read (didn’t want to do it before I finished mine lets I become discouraged with other’s great works) Already saw one for sci fi and another I think is urban fantasy which is awesome, two of my favorite genres so… hype. Thanks for the great idea Chuck, I’m new to the blog and found that this post really motivated me to write something.
M. D. Flyn (@mdflynwriter)
June 6, 2016 at 1:32 PM //
i like the hacker angle, this was good
Jo Robson
May 6, 2016 at 2:55 AM //
Well, I went with the title with the most words, I guess. I’m not real impressed with my own work here, but it’s what came out when I thought about “I’m in love with a zombie but he doesn’t even know I’m alive.” https://www.facebook.com/notes/joanna-robson/im-in-love-with-a-zombie-but-he-doesnt-even-know-im-alive/1185649494808466
Marion
May 6, 2016 at 3:33 PM //
Oh, I like the twist!
Jemima Pett
May 6, 2016 at 4:58 AM //
Thank you, Naomi, for Jeremy Pocket and the See-through Wall.
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2016/05/06/fridayflash-fiction-jeremy-pocket-and-the-see-through-wall/
Mike Young
May 6, 2016 at 8:12 AM //
I did a random spin and got The Girl Who Surfed Tsunamis. It’s a littl long at 1200 words, even after some trimming.
http://www.ravensview.ca/ravens/2016/05/the-girl-who-surfed-tsunamis.html
Alex
May 6, 2016 at 8:28 AM //
Just sneaking in before the deadline. Glad it’s EST as it’s half one in England!
https://foodfortheslushpile.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/the-blind-tattooist/
Lori Schechter
May 6, 2016 at 10:02 AM //
Here’s my link to Still Turnstiles at Station 6. Wrote it as an ominous title that can go all sorts of places…
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YYIo5TXmC8fvyFMX2IHKANVAKs40ujcv8w-JRITQHEU/edit?usp=sharing
Mike Young
May 7, 2016 at 9:53 AM //
Nice transition from the boring ho-hum another day fighting my way to work to OMG what’s happening to me. The horror builds nicely.
Just one comment – at the end maybe should be ‘everything goes dark’ ?
M. D. Flyn (@mdflynwriter)
June 6, 2016 at 12:49 PM //
Very strong voice.
swordsoftheancients
May 6, 2016 at 11:43 AM //
I fiddled with a few ideas for different titles, but Still Turnstiles at Station 6 was the one that felt best. Here’s a quick piece about interplanetary immigration. https://swordsoftheancients.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/still-turnstiles-at-station-6/
M. D. Flyn (@mdflynwriter)
June 6, 2016 at 1:16 PM //
I love how you fit a ton of info in such a short story.
Mark Plattner
May 6, 2016 at 11:57 AM //
I’ll give this a shot. My first public writing in 20 years.
http://notouchmonkey.tumblr.com/post/143946164240/still-turnstiles-at-station-6
M. D. Flyn (@mdflynwriter)
June 6, 2016 at 1:21 PM //
I can see finding this line already underlined on my Kindle “there is no place for the people to go for the people have stopped going”
AA Payson
May 6, 2016 at 5:52 PM //
(Running down the hallway in dishevelled clothes and covered in flop sweat) “Oh shit…ohshitohshitohshitoh PLEEEEASE be there…please be there.
(Tries to turn the knob to the classroom door, but it’s locked, and the lights are out.)
FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHH…
(Defeated, he slips a copy of his entry, and skulks away.)
https://aapayson.wordpress.com/2016/05/06/the-blind-tattooist/
Melissa Clare
May 7, 2016 at 1:19 AM //
Well, late but I wrote therefore I post. Also, this one didn’t get a lot of mileage, so I have to represent. This was inspired by the Hugo Awards and rabid, definitely sad (and certainly pretentious) puppies. It’s the first hit on my space at: http://melissaclarewright.com/
Melissa Clare
May 9, 2016 at 12:31 PM //
I should have mentioned, it was thisdamkid’s “A Pretentious Title for a Pretentious Story” – credit where credit is due 🙂
Lori Schechter
May 7, 2016 at 11:26 AM //
Hey Mike, thanks for your comments. I guess I chose “went dark” because it had a more final ring to it. “Goes” just seems to be more hopeful and temporary. So maybe if I rework it to “— something indeed grabs (or grabbed) me. Then everything went dark.”
Levi Stribling
May 25, 2016 at 5:51 AM //
Finally done. Took a bit, but here’s my horror short – The Turnstiles of Station 6: http://www.lpstribling.com/?p=3046
Marion
May 25, 2016 at 11:16 AM //
Levi, really nice suspense and some beautiful sensory description here.
M. D. Flyn (@mdflynwriter)
June 6, 2016 at 1:14 PM //
You maintained so much suspense throughout.
tharuvairamesh
June 3, 2016 at 5:15 PM //
Reading this blog provided the motivation to help me write this piece, so although not related to any of the suggested titles, here it is:
https://historynmystery.wordpress.com/2016/05/16/murder-in-500-words/
M. D. Flyn (@mdflynwriter)
June 6, 2016 at 12:44 PM //
I’m late to the party but I just banged this out in a parking lot. Affirm: Still Turnstiles at Station 6 http://www.mdflyn.com/affirm-still-turnstiles-at-station-6/