KW ANTHOLOGY IV - PRIMER
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:00 pm
Okay guys. We're gonna do it. Anthology IV is officially a go. We'll have a kick off announcement in about a month to get things moving forward. It'll be the usual stuff with me begging for volunteers, submissions, mercy etc.
This year (if we get enough submissions) I'd like to kick around the idea of breaking up the book into sections. Comedy, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Drama, Mystery, Poems etc. We can approve or poo poo this crazy notion as we go along.
Okay. I'm just spit balling here but I'm going to throw out some ideas for stories. If any of these inspire someone then it was worth the 5 minutes of my life.
1. Earth scientists discover a rogue star is hurtling toward the Sun. Though the two stars will narrowly miss each other, one of the planets orbiting the alien star will be on a direct collision course with Earth. A daring plan is formed to create a huge repulsion device to deflect the other planet. The effort fails because Earth is only able to create half the repulsive energy required for the effort. When the time comes it is discovered that the alien planet is nearly identical to Earth and its inhabitants have created the exact same device to save their world. Together each device has enough power to shift the planets to avoid collision. It turns out later that it was in fact OUR planet that was hurtling toward THEIR world.
2. Maik Tambar is a witch. Everyone knows it in her small town however she has been shunned because the community believes the practice of her craft is evil. Then some of the townspeople begin to turn up dead. Killed by what could only have been witchcraft though there is no proof to convict Maik of the crimes. In spite of the lack of evidence the townspeople react with instant hatred. Maik is terrorized by vigilante mobs but manages to fend off the attacks without hurting anyone. When it is finally discovered that the town has been targeted by an alien monster that views it's people as a convenient food supply, the community ironically turns to Maik for help.
3. As the End of Days approaches, Satan discovers that his influence over mankind increases moment by moment but he also knows he will eventually be overthrown. In a move to alter the established prophecy the Devil hatches a plan to force total annihilation of all human life on Earth in one fell swoop. Scientists have stumbled across the secret to create a weapon so powerful that can actually destroy/nullify all forms of energy, even those that occupy the same space in other dimensions. The destruction is so complete that not only the physical human body would be destroyed but the actual soul as well. If Satan can't have them no one will.
Humankind's only possible hope lies with a retired scientist who has been committed to an mental asylum for hearing voices and seeing visions of the future.
4. Scott Taylor is a computer software engineer for a large international company. He's been working on a project that involves the development of advanced artificial intelligence systems. Little by little Scott begins to notice something strangely familiar about the way the program behaves. The way it thinks, reasons and reacts is becoming more and more like a mirror image of his own mind. Somehow Scott has unintentionally created a mental duplicate of himself. He learns later (to his abject horror) that his program is to be used as the primary template for hundreds of different applications, from automated soldiers and policemen to artificial teachers to mechanical baby sitters, doctors and nurses. Secretly the company has already manufactured and distributed two thousand robots all over the world to be activated all at once in a gala celebration. The terrible secret Scott has held within himself for his entire life but had managed to repress for five years is about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world. Scott Taylor was a homicidal sociopath who was responsible for over one hundred murders around the world. The only person able to avert the coming disaster is Scott himself but only his victims would ever believe the truth. The clock is ticking and it seems the only way Scott can convince his employers to halt their plan is to take another life. But who's?
5. An Earthquake unexpectedly shatters the seabed near the southern coast of Australia sending a massive tsunami hurtling inland from Perth to Melbourne causing total destruction. The world is shocked by the event and dozens of countries mobilize a relief and rescue effort. But something else is wrong. Twenty-four hours after the event scientists discover that the level of world's oceans have dropped nearly ten feet and are continuing to lose volume. It is discovered that the Australian Earthquake was caused by a huge rip in the fabric of space/time at the bottom of the ocean creating a portal to another dimension and sending millions of gallons of seawater per hour into another universe. Something has to be done to close the rift before the Earth becomes a barren wasteland but there is something terrible on the other side of the rift that wants to escape into our world.
6. The six Lords of Marshfire had been guardians of the whole of the land for centuries. Every enemy that has dared to confront them instantly found that they were no match for the Six. They wielded powers so vast that armies numbering thousands could pose no serious threat. The people of Marshfire lived their lives in peace and prosperity believing themselves completely immune to harm. Then from the distant mountains came a smiling man who unabashedly proclaimed himself king to everyone he met. At first he seemed ordinary enough. Dressed as a common woodsman he bore no weapons and wore no special insignia. By all accounts he appeared to be a harmless lunatic and was treated as such. But the smiling man did not relent and one day when some of the local townsfolk had had enough of his rantings and tried to force him to leave, he unexpectedly repelled them with flash of sorcery thereby finally attracting the notice of the Six. Two of the Lords were immediately dispatched and suddenly appeared before the stranger intending to harmlessly expel him. But before the two understood their peril they were quickly over matched and were ultimately incinerated by the stranger's incredible power. The Lords of Marshfire had never known defeat of any sort and were left reeling in stunned amazement. The smiling man set out across the land casually striding toward Lord's citadel effortlessly casting aside every defense the four could conjure. When word of the four's plight reached the outer realms the enemy kings formed an alliance, hoping to take advantage of the Lord's weakness, and began marching their armies toward Marshfire. Hopeless the Four were forced to delve into their most secret and dire powers. There was one forbidden and ancient spell that might be potent enough to save the land but the dark powers that would be unleashed, if uncontrolled, might lay waste to the entire Earth.
7. Matt Fields was a City Councilman, happy to be doing the people's work and generally content about his life. One night he awoke to the sound of screams. Blood curdling screams filled with such anguish that Matt thought the screamer must surely tear his throat asunder. But the screams continued and only abated long enough for the screamer's lungs to be refilled. Matt immediately sought out the screamer but could not find the source. Finally Matt decided that what he heard must be only in his head. Matt thought that surely it would end, the course of his temporary psychosis would reach some kind of conclusion but it did not. Unable to sleep Matt lay in bed with the sounds of unbridled torment filling his mind. When dawn came Matt tried to continue with his life. When he showered he heard nothing but shrieks. When he tried to eat he was undone but the piercing sound in his head. Matt finally made his way to work but when he began to get out of his car a second screamer appeared. During the rush to get back home a third screamer joined the chorus. By the time Matt stumbled to the floor of his living room he was unable to discern between the hundreds of voices crying out in pain. There was no way to block out the terrible sound, no means of escape. Matt had to find the cause of what had cursed him, and stop it, or he would surely end his life to bring it to an end.
Hope this helps some. That's all I have time for, I'll post more when more insane ideas come to me.
This year (if we get enough submissions) I'd like to kick around the idea of breaking up the book into sections. Comedy, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Drama, Mystery, Poems etc. We can approve or poo poo this crazy notion as we go along.
Okay. I'm just spit balling here but I'm going to throw out some ideas for stories. If any of these inspire someone then it was worth the 5 minutes of my life.
1. Earth scientists discover a rogue star is hurtling toward the Sun. Though the two stars will narrowly miss each other, one of the planets orbiting the alien star will be on a direct collision course with Earth. A daring plan is formed to create a huge repulsion device to deflect the other planet. The effort fails because Earth is only able to create half the repulsive energy required for the effort. When the time comes it is discovered that the alien planet is nearly identical to Earth and its inhabitants have created the exact same device to save their world. Together each device has enough power to shift the planets to avoid collision. It turns out later that it was in fact OUR planet that was hurtling toward THEIR world.
2. Maik Tambar is a witch. Everyone knows it in her small town however she has been shunned because the community believes the practice of her craft is evil. Then some of the townspeople begin to turn up dead. Killed by what could only have been witchcraft though there is no proof to convict Maik of the crimes. In spite of the lack of evidence the townspeople react with instant hatred. Maik is terrorized by vigilante mobs but manages to fend off the attacks without hurting anyone. When it is finally discovered that the town has been targeted by an alien monster that views it's people as a convenient food supply, the community ironically turns to Maik for help.
3. As the End of Days approaches, Satan discovers that his influence over mankind increases moment by moment but he also knows he will eventually be overthrown. In a move to alter the established prophecy the Devil hatches a plan to force total annihilation of all human life on Earth in one fell swoop. Scientists have stumbled across the secret to create a weapon so powerful that can actually destroy/nullify all forms of energy, even those that occupy the same space in other dimensions. The destruction is so complete that not only the physical human body would be destroyed but the actual soul as well. If Satan can't have them no one will.
Humankind's only possible hope lies with a retired scientist who has been committed to an mental asylum for hearing voices and seeing visions of the future.
4. Scott Taylor is a computer software engineer for a large international company. He's been working on a project that involves the development of advanced artificial intelligence systems. Little by little Scott begins to notice something strangely familiar about the way the program behaves. The way it thinks, reasons and reacts is becoming more and more like a mirror image of his own mind. Somehow Scott has unintentionally created a mental duplicate of himself. He learns later (to his abject horror) that his program is to be used as the primary template for hundreds of different applications, from automated soldiers and policemen to artificial teachers to mechanical baby sitters, doctors and nurses. Secretly the company has already manufactured and distributed two thousand robots all over the world to be activated all at once in a gala celebration. The terrible secret Scott has held within himself for his entire life but had managed to repress for five years is about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world. Scott Taylor was a homicidal sociopath who was responsible for over one hundred murders around the world. The only person able to avert the coming disaster is Scott himself but only his victims would ever believe the truth. The clock is ticking and it seems the only way Scott can convince his employers to halt their plan is to take another life. But who's?
5. An Earthquake unexpectedly shatters the seabed near the southern coast of Australia sending a massive tsunami hurtling inland from Perth to Melbourne causing total destruction. The world is shocked by the event and dozens of countries mobilize a relief and rescue effort. But something else is wrong. Twenty-four hours after the event scientists discover that the level of world's oceans have dropped nearly ten feet and are continuing to lose volume. It is discovered that the Australian Earthquake was caused by a huge rip in the fabric of space/time at the bottom of the ocean creating a portal to another dimension and sending millions of gallons of seawater per hour into another universe. Something has to be done to close the rift before the Earth becomes a barren wasteland but there is something terrible on the other side of the rift that wants to escape into our world.
6. The six Lords of Marshfire had been guardians of the whole of the land for centuries. Every enemy that has dared to confront them instantly found that they were no match for the Six. They wielded powers so vast that armies numbering thousands could pose no serious threat. The people of Marshfire lived their lives in peace and prosperity believing themselves completely immune to harm. Then from the distant mountains came a smiling man who unabashedly proclaimed himself king to everyone he met. At first he seemed ordinary enough. Dressed as a common woodsman he bore no weapons and wore no special insignia. By all accounts he appeared to be a harmless lunatic and was treated as such. But the smiling man did not relent and one day when some of the local townsfolk had had enough of his rantings and tried to force him to leave, he unexpectedly repelled them with flash of sorcery thereby finally attracting the notice of the Six. Two of the Lords were immediately dispatched and suddenly appeared before the stranger intending to harmlessly expel him. But before the two understood their peril they were quickly over matched and were ultimately incinerated by the stranger's incredible power. The Lords of Marshfire had never known defeat of any sort and were left reeling in stunned amazement. The smiling man set out across the land casually striding toward Lord's citadel effortlessly casting aside every defense the four could conjure. When word of the four's plight reached the outer realms the enemy kings formed an alliance, hoping to take advantage of the Lord's weakness, and began marching their armies toward Marshfire. Hopeless the Four were forced to delve into their most secret and dire powers. There was one forbidden and ancient spell that might be potent enough to save the land but the dark powers that would be unleashed, if uncontrolled, might lay waste to the entire Earth.
7. Matt Fields was a City Councilman, happy to be doing the people's work and generally content about his life. One night he awoke to the sound of screams. Blood curdling screams filled with such anguish that Matt thought the screamer must surely tear his throat asunder. But the screams continued and only abated long enough for the screamer's lungs to be refilled. Matt immediately sought out the screamer but could not find the source. Finally Matt decided that what he heard must be only in his head. Matt thought that surely it would end, the course of his temporary psychosis would reach some kind of conclusion but it did not. Unable to sleep Matt lay in bed with the sounds of unbridled torment filling his mind. When dawn came Matt tried to continue with his life. When he showered he heard nothing but shrieks. When he tried to eat he was undone but the piercing sound in his head. Matt finally made his way to work but when he began to get out of his car a second screamer appeared. During the rush to get back home a third screamer joined the chorus. By the time Matt stumbled to the floor of his living room he was unable to discern between the hundreds of voices crying out in pain. There was no way to block out the terrible sound, no means of escape. Matt had to find the cause of what had cursed him, and stop it, or he would surely end his life to bring it to an end.
Hope this helps some. That's all I have time for, I'll post more when more insane ideas come to me.
And fun story ideas. . . I wonder if I should try writing about one of them 
