The GRIM FUTURE!

Those of you who hang on to every word printed in this space (end snickering) might notice that there is no flash fiction today. That's because I have a new project! It's a small one, but one that I think is pretty cool. I found this through -- where else -- the Internet. 

Fellow writer Lyn Midnight concocted an idea for an anthology, the title of which is still up in the air. Based on one component of it, I think "The Grim Future Anthology" is appropriate. Just don't hold me to it.

The idea is that 12 of us will create 500- to 1,000-word flash stories about "the world in the near or far future, and how it's gone wrong." Then, another 12 writers will pick up the threads and scribe 500 to 2,000 words, told from the perspective of someone witnessing the end of the world. Finally, another group of authors will wrap up each with 100 to 1,000 words on "what's next?"

There also will be illustrations involved. It sounds fun, doesn't it? I think Lyn really came up with something good here.

My contribution will be entitled "Project Reset," a short story / novella idea I'd been kicking around.

A video appears on a screen, and a worn-out man starts speaking. He explains that he is Adam Roman, the project manager for "Project Reset." What is Project Reset, you may be wondering. At some point in the future, the powers-that-be decided that we've messed up the planet so badly that there is no going back. So they embark on a project to "reset" the Earth: kill every living thing, leave behind instructions as to what mankind did wrong, and hope that in a million years (give or take) the next species to evolve into the dominant, intelligent life form heeds the advice and does a better job. Roman is the last surviving human. One he pushes the final button, and takes a cyanide pill, it really IS all over. 

I've written a 1,500-word first draft of my part. (Too long...what a surprise!) So I need to get my red pen out and whack away mercilessly.

I'm looking forward to seeing how my story evolves, and how the others turn out.

Then what? An e-book? Printed hard copies? Who knows? (Lyn said she doesn't even know yet.) That's OK. As I'm sure everyone involved would attest, we don't write to see pages on a library shelf (though that is cool). We write because we want to.

Check back for updates.