Once again, last week’s challenge is worth your look-see — “MUST LOVE ROBOTS.” Scan the comments. Find the delicious robot stories contained within.
And now for this week’s challenge.
Here, then, is a list of six sub-genres:
Steampunk.
Superhero.
Noir.
Erotica.
Farce.
Men’s Adventure.
Your job is to choose two of these and mash them up into one crazy flash fiction tale. Superhero Erotica? Steampunk Noir? Men’s Farcical Adventure? Mix, match. Go nuts.
You’ve got 1000 words.
Due by July 1st (Friday) at noon (EST).
Here’s the second thing, though: I’ll pick my favorite story out of the bunch and offer that writer a critique of up to 5,000 words of fiction (short story, part of a novel, whatever).
So, jump in. Get writing. Write so it rocks.
See you on the other side when you invent your own sub-sub-genres.
EDIT:
Happy July 4th, peeps.
Okay, finally gone and read all the flash fiction entries.
Some really strong stuff here. Like, wow. Monkey heads and Mister Polisher and the grim relationship between hooker and john. In the end, it came down to Amber Gardner’s superhero-noir (“Savior“) and, well, Jim Macfee’s Superhero Noir (“Sanction“). In terms of picking folks who might want an edit, I’m looking for a few things, right? I’m looking for stuff that’s good. I’m looking for writers with potential, even if that potential hasn’t been realized. And I’m looking for a selfish fix to read more of their work.
Even now I pinball between the two stories.
So, I’m going to cheat and pick both, giving one the “2nd prize” treatment.
I’m picking Jim for the 5k edit.
I’m picking Amber for a smaller 2.5k edit.
Congrats, both of you crazy kids. Bounce me a mail at chuckwendig [at] terribleminds [dot] com.
Amber J Gardner says:
…..*stares at sub-genres* …What’s Men’s Adventure?
June 24, 2011 — 7:24 AM
terribleminds says:
@Amber:
I refer you to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men%27s_adventure
And
http://www.menspulpmags.com/?zx=5cf41b51d665a781
Very pulpy stuff.
— c.
June 24, 2011 — 7:26 AM
Amber J Gardner says:
@Chuck
*attacks links*
Thank you! I think I shall accept this challenge and mash up Superhero with…something. Noir or Men’s Adventure. Or maybe both.
June 24, 2011 — 7:50 AM
Travis Cole says:
http://porte.livejournal.com/405175.html
June 24, 2011 — 8:05 AM
Kate Haggard says:
Can I mail you a copy of Watchman, call it Superhero Noir, and collect my critique? No? Damn.
June 24, 2011 — 8:23 AM
Darlene Underdahl says:
Gotta skip a couple weeks (family and friends arriving), but thank you for continuing to do this. It expands my warped mind.
June 24, 2011 — 10:35 AM
Chadwick Scott says:
Can we be creative and make men’s adventure into gay erotica?
June 24, 2011 — 12:19 PM
terribleminds says:
@Chadwick:
Your mileage is your own, sir.
— c.
June 24, 2011 — 1:40 PM
Josin says:
This was an interesting challenge. Here’s my attempt at Noirish Steampunk:
http://josinlmcquein.blogspot.com/2011/06/flash-fiction-challenge.html
June 24, 2011 — 1:42 PM
Blot says:
Never written any steampunk before, or farce for that matter, but this somehow just made me vomit out a flash fic:
http://epicureaninkblot.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/a-steampunk-farce/
June 24, 2011 — 3:38 PM
Chadwick Scott says:
I’ll throw my hat in the ring.
Here is my farce/erotica mash-up:
http://samuraidork.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/sub-genre-mash-up/
June 24, 2011 — 6:17 PM
Susan Kelly says:
Speaking of mooshed genres, what’s that I see over there in your Twitter stream? “Literary Horror”? Does that just mean very well written horror?
Working on literary thriller, myself, I hope.
June 24, 2011 — 9:15 PM
oldestgenxer says:
The comment I left the other day was longer than this story. Sorry about that, by the way. Sorry about this, too. I still don’t know what some of those sub-genres are. I always thought that erotica, like noir, was more a state of mind than anything.
The Time Traveler’s Baby-Momma
June 25, 2011 — 12:12 AM
Louise Sorensen says:
Here is my Friday Flash Fic… Steampunk/Noir Robin2917
It’s a little longer than 1000 words, but this time I didn’t cut and slash to fit. It is what it is.
http://wp.me/p1BAlV-x
June 25, 2011 — 10:20 AM
Louise Sorensen says:
For some reason, I don’t think I was able to leave a comment at Josin’s story. I just wanted to tell you I enjoyed it very much.
June 25, 2011 — 10:51 AM
Bets Davies says:
Yo, how do you want to flash turned in? I chose erotic farce so it is a little (cough) dirty.
June 25, 2011 — 3:11 PM
Grim says:
Steampunk/Erotica.
Aurelia’s Adonis: http://j.mp/jdXdq0
There’s an awful, awful, AWFUL pun involved if you can work it out.
June 25, 2011 — 5:01 PM
Michael Trimmer (@MichaelSTrimmer) says:
Dear Chuck
Here’s my entry. Superhero Noir. It’s called “Mr Cellophane”
http://www.michaelstuarttrimmer.co.uk/mr_cellophane.html
Yours sincerely
Michael Trimmer
June 25, 2011 — 8:17 PM
Ben K. says:
Had a good time working on this one. Hope you enjoy my contribution (and humble nod to the Royal Kingdom of Penmonkey-dom) of Noir/Erotica:
http://warnerkirby.blogs.com/clintonaut/2011/06/sacrifice-to-the-gypsy-monkey.html
Awesome, as always, Chuck. Thanks for the opportunity.
June 25, 2011 — 8:42 PM
Brenad Stokes Barron says:
This was pretty fun. I chose to do steampunk noir.
http://digitalinkwell.wordpress.com/2011/06/25/flash-fiction-challenge-mr-polisher-is-dead/
Thanks! =)
June 26, 2011 — 2:06 AM
Lesann says:
My offering: http://lesannberry.blogspot.com/p/late-for-life.html
June 26, 2011 — 3:45 AM
Roger Kilbourne says:
Ooh, fun! Being forced to write outside my preferred genre/comfort zone sounds like a wonderful exercise. I think I’ll whip up some Superhero-Noir for the occasion.
One (unrelated) question:
Why does my wordpress.com login not work here, so everyone can see my oh-so-creepy avatar? Is it because you use wordpress.org? Seems weird.
June 26, 2011 — 2:39 PM
Lesann says:
Sorry, I had to reorganize my site. Here’s the working link: http://lesannberry.blogspot.com/2011/06/late-for-life.html
June 26, 2011 — 4:39 PM
oldestgenxer says:
My personal favorite of these was Brenad Stokes Barron’s “Mr Polisher is Dead.” Plus extra points to her for having a steampunkish sounding name.
However, I liked all of them. I think I need to pick up some Mickey Spillane.
Plus I read the rules wrong. I thought the *loser* should get the critique.Wouldn’t that person need it more? That’s what I was aiming for. Honest.
June 26, 2011 — 6:34 PM
Brenda Stokes Barron says:
Thanks, oldestgenxer. Though somehow I managed to misspell my own name in the comment form. lol Brenda might not be quite as steampunkish
June 26, 2011 — 7:11 PM
Jason A. Frye says:
Dearest Chuck,
Please note that laughing so hard that you pee yourself over my first attempt at fiction EVER is not a critique.
Here goes nothing.
http://www.lordnoar.com/writing/salvage.html
June 26, 2011 — 10:08 PM
John Vise says:
Okay, this just seemed like too much fun not to try. Enjoy my superhero/noir mashup. The Dame.
http://johnvise.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/flash-fiction-the-dame/
June 27, 2011 — 12:37 AM
Roger Kilbourne says:
Some excellent entries so far. Here’s my Superhero-Noir mashup, please to enjoy!
http://rogerkilbourne.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/terribleminds-sub-genre-mashup-challenge/
June 27, 2011 — 11:00 AM
Lugh says:
Well, I think they’re a bit long to count as flash fiction, but I’ve been working on a series of erotica/men’s adventure stories. They’re inspired by pulps from the 70s and 80s like The Destroyer and Mack Bolan.
http://www.literotica.com/s/jake-hunter-an-unexpected-reward
http://www.literotica.com/s/jake-hunter-jake-in-cuffs
(Note, that’s not my blog, that’s an erotic stories site. Definitely NSFW and very likely blocked by most work networks.)
June 27, 2011 — 2:14 PM
Dan Wright says:
Here’s my mashup, it’s a steampunk/men’s adventure that somehow ended up like an uber pulp version of Heart of Darkness. If you’re still on board and don’t mind an obscure Indiana Jones reference, please to enjoy:
Sergeant Killman and the Jungle Orgy of Blood
http://8thage.blogspot.com/2011/06/sergeant-killman-and-jungle-orgy-of.html
June 28, 2011 — 2:43 AM
Amber says:
Working the Beat (Erotica/Noir)
June 29, 2011 — 4:37 PM
Aiwevanya says:
Airship pirates and pseudo-Victorian whores count as Steampunk, right? Well if they aren’t then I guess this can’t be steampunk/erotica I’ve written, but it’s supposed to be.
http://metamuse-aiwevanya.blogspot.com/2011/06/ther-serenade.html
(The Title is Æther Serenade but urls and the ‘Æ’ character don’t mix)
June 29, 2011 — 5:37 PM
SchwarzTKD says:
http://schwarztkd.livejournal.com/13186.html
This was too much fun. I wasn’t expecting some parts of it, but the first person narrative evolved really naturally and fit the mood I wanted, the same applies to the ending. It’s just under 800 words but trying to make it longer felt forced and I prefer the result I stuck with.
June 29, 2011 — 10:29 PM
rustyshackles says:
The superhero and noir genres mash their naughty bits together.
“Sanction”
http://macfee.net/sanction/
June 29, 2011 — 10:36 PM
Stephanie Belser says:
I don’t know if this counts, since it is more of one genre with a cameo from another, but here it goes.
http://downrange-impact.blogspot.com/2011/06/robbery.html
June 30, 2011 — 8:22 AM
tara tyler says:
you have such a talented following i’m sure another will win, but i love a good flash mash up! hated cutting it to 1000, i wanted to go somewhere else with it. i may have to turn it into a short story, it was fun! thanks!
http://taratylertalks.blogspot.com/2011/06/potent-potable.html
June 30, 2011 — 8:44 AM
Tribid says:
I tried for Steampunk Erotica but I didn’t really go all the way. (Yeah, entendres abound.)
http://tribid.livejournal.com/16802.html
June 30, 2011 — 12:03 PM
Peter the tap-dancing Godchecker says:
I would like to play but unfortunately I have to write a funeral tribute to a recently deceased friend. Unless I write it as an erotic farce. Hmm. Could work.
June 30, 2011 — 2:14 PM
J. Lea Lopez says:
There are some fun stories here!
May I present my story, “Lady Dick”, combining noir and erotica from the femme fatale’s point of view.
http://jlealopez.blogspot.com/2011/06/noirotica-subgenre-mashup.html
June 30, 2011 — 8:03 PM
Snellopy says:
Here’s my entry, using Steampunk and Superheroes http://snellopy.blogspot.com/2011/07/steampunk-superheroes.html
I guess it would be farce as well, if you found the idea of the Batusi aborrhent.
Normally I’d slack off at work on Fridays by reading other people’s entries, but with erotica thrown in the mix, I guess that’ll have to wait for the weekend.
June 30, 2011 — 11:12 PM
Robyn says:
Yay, finished!
http://robynettely.blogspot.com/2011/06/flash-fiction-challenge-littlewatchgirl.html
June 30, 2011 — 11:48 PM
Arch says:
Alright, well I think this might not count. I went with Steampunk/Super-villain…Yeah I see that it said superhero, but this is the direction I went. Still fun to write.
July 1, 2011 — 4:08 AM
Arch says:
Ok so apparently the link goes under my avatar, but feel free to click here: http://wp.me/p1AW5f-A
July 1, 2011 — 4:10 AM
BA Boucher says:
I had a lot of fun with this one mainly as I’ve been toying around with a superhero type novel project with the premise of what would it actually be like to be Superman, someone who exists outside the laws of physics while living inside a world bound by those rules.
So this is the first pass at writing into this frame and I went a might long.
I cut about 700 words out, mostly descriptions but here we go:
Alley of Blood
http://defconwhiskey.tumblr.com/post/7118141005/alley-of-blood
July 1, 2011 — 8:58 AM
terribleminds says:
I missed @Bets comment earlier —
Bets, just post at your bloggery-space, and link over here, as the other folks have done. That work for you? Thx!
— c.
July 1, 2011 — 9:35 AM
Amber J Gardner says:
My entry! http://wp.me/p1vufx-1Z
A little last minute, but I think I still make it…
July 1, 2011 — 11:53 AM
anon says:
whn’s there going to be a winner?
July 3, 2011 — 4:57 PM
terribleminds says:
@Anon:
I should have ’em all read by tomorrow morning! A helluva lot of entries, and so many good ones. Just want to be fair and make sure I read ’em all.
— c.
July 3, 2011 — 8:04 PM
terribleminds says:
EDIT:
Happy July 4th, peeps.
Okay, finally gone and read all the flash fiction entries.
Some really strong stuff here. Like, wow. Monkey heads and Mister Polisher and the grim relationship between hooker and john. In the end, it came down to Amber Gardner’s superhero-noir (“Savior”) and, well, Jim Macfee’s Superhero Noir (“Sanction”). In terms of picking folks who might want an edit, I’m looking for a few things, right? I’m looking for stuff that’s good. I’m looking for writers with potential, even if that potential hasn’t been realized. And I’m looking for a selfish fix to read more of their work.
Even now I pinball between the two stories.
So, I’m going to cheat and pick both, giving one the “2nd prize” treatment.
I’m picking Jim for the 5k edit.
I’m picking Amber for a smaller 2.5k edit.
Congrats, both of you crazy kids. Bounce me a mail at chuckwendig [at] terribleminds [dot] com.
July 4, 2011 — 8:32 AM