The Road to Being a Published Writer: 2019 A2Z Challenge

A2Z Blogging Challenge 2019

Well folks, a day late (oh I got myself Glutened and was very sick all day yesterday, bit better today), but at least I’m getting started now. As you all know my theme is short story or Novel ideas, free to anyone that wants them to use, now if you do choose to use them, leave me a wee note, or mention me someplace, that’s all I ask.

I am well aware that some of these stories won’t be to everyone’s liking, and hey, that’s okay as well, these are the bare seeds, you’ll still have a lot of work to do if they spark anything in you. So, no more procrastination, shall we begin…

ARK (The) This idea is based upon an Ark ship, it contains samples of all life, culture and history of the world it’s leaving / escaping from, it is maintained by a limited crew who oversee all. This crew is handpicked for the job as it’s going to take generations to succeed, but those who are maintaining the ship are only allowed to have one child who they must train up to do their job.

ARTIST (The) A sketch of a picture from a dream, an image of a woman, who the artist then paints, the artist is addicted, and continues to paint their muse in many forms and guises. The original Sketch is hung in their studio where the artist finds themselves talking to it, telling it about their life, their problems, their victories and how one day, even though they don’t think they are good enough they want to have a grand exhibition. The Artist is then offered a show out of the blue, all the paintings exhibited have the woman in them in some manner. A guest of the opening seeing the woman collapses, the image it turns out is that of a long dead ancestor, who was murdered and their killer never found is the killer also in the paintings? Do the pictures show the murder? Why is the artist painting these images?

ATLAS (The) In an old second hand book shop, down a narrow curvy, cobblestone, street (you know the kind), a browser finds, at the very, very, very back, covered in dust and webs, jammed down the side of a bookcase, seemingly long forgotten an old leather bound Atlas (the gold writing on the cover as they blow dust from it gives that away). There is other writing, but it has long since seemingly faded away. The person buys the book, and brings it home, lovingly cleaning the cover with some leather cleaner / restorer, and while making dinner cuts their finger, and some drops of blood fall on the open book. It begins to look brighter, cleaner at once, the buyer leans down and not quite making out a name on a map, places their finger on it, and then vanish, the book whirling around, and vanishing with them, they end up in the place they had been looking at on the map, with the Atlas lying at their feet…

ASSISTANT / ADMIN (The) When you have something that you need to have investigated, or need protecting and a regular P.I or Bodyguard will suffice, this mild mannered, spectacle wearing, Assistant / Admin is who you call. They take up position on your staff and keep you safe while solving your problem. (I can see this running to a series of books like an Author (blackmail), Musician (Drugs or not who they seem), Governing Official (embezzlement), Antiques Dealer (Fraud).

ARTIFACT (The) This is based on an Artifact discovered during a dig, this gives the wearer extraordinary powers and can also be activated by a drop of blood (blood is very powerful in the realms of magic, you can however have it activated by the wearer being from the same family line, or from each of the five elements but I think that one would be trickier). This not only changes the wearer’s abilities but also their appearance, you the writer can decide if they are the good guy, or the bad guy, that is up to you.

BROOM (The) This is a story about a witches broom with a mind of it’s own (as most brooms do), who gets picked up by mistake by a mundane person who brings it home to use to brush her floors, the broom has other ideas of course. It however does have to deal with a dog who wants to pee on it, and a cat, who thinks it’s funny to chew it’s straw. The Broom also chases burglars, gets rid of arrogant mice and a lord rat, saves the day after an accident by bringing it’s mistress to the hospital when the family’s car isn’t available, then ends up being the guest of honor, all dressed up in it’s finery at a wedding or hand-fasting ceremony.

BOOTS (The) Based on a true story, about a girl, bed bound, due to a death dealing illness, who liked activity, walking, hiking, and climbing, who cannot anymore, who spends time between medications looking at her hiking boots tied by the laces on a hook on the back of her bedroom door, and also spends time looking at the hills outside her window, using them as tools to help her get better as ‘one day I’ll wear those damn boots back up that damn hill’. The mother thinking that the boots reminding her of when she was healthier tidies up the room when the daughter is at treatment, and the daughter is devastated thinking that the boots are gone, but the mother had simply thrown them in the bottom of her wardrobe. The girl explains that they were giving her motivation, and true enough, her health starts to improve, the stronger she gets the more she is determined to get up those damn hills, in those damn boots. Eventually she does just that, and once she comes down the hill, all pink cheeked and happy, she gets oil paints and using the mountains as her muse, paints the boots, coating them in a clear varnish when done, and hangs them where she can see them every single day, as a reminder that when she can set her mind to something, she can do it – now if you want, you can write it another way, even though that’s not what happened, but make the story your own.

BOGEY (The) A creature that all children are warned about, as they are growing up, something that they are afraid off, but as it turns out, it’s misunderstood and is upset when the children can no longer see it as that means that the children are now the Monsters as the Bogey see it.

BOND (The) a dying woman is found by a dragon, who has young with it, the woman begs the Dragon not to kill the child with her, but instead to take it and keep it safe from the people who desire to kill it. The Dragon doesn’t get an opportunity to decline, and is rather annoyed that it’s babies are playing away with the child, and seemingly becoming attached. The dragon lets the child live, but goes off with it’s children back to it’s lair, it feels guilty, thinking about the small defenseless creature, and it doesn’t help that her own little ones are asking questions about it, so she goes back and finds it, just before a troop of killers find the bodies of it’s mother and the dead protectors. The dragon now raises the child with her own, there is a hell of a lot to overcome, but the bond between the two dragon babies and the human is intense.

BAKER (The) A bakery opens in town, no one knows the owner / baker, but everything they get tastes amazing, and they get exactly what they need when they need it. Everyone agrees that the baker is a lovely person, so friendly, helpful and talented. As time goes on, some rather rotten people begin to disappear, and the meat pies become even meatier and tastier if that is at all possible. Red Herrings, Innuendo’s and gossip can run absolute riot in this book.

Now, there you go, another five ideas for you to work through, don’t forget if you do use them, leave a little comment, and mention me someplace okay, see you tomorrow for C (did you ‘C’ what I did there….lol)

Apparently seven story ideas, thanks to all who have commented on the posts already, I wasn’t sure that they would go down well but you seem to be enjoying them, and while the muse is still with me, shall we get going?

CARNIVAL OF THE DEAD the spirits come out to play, they set up their tents and rides just outside of towns where a large crowd usually gathers, and while people do have a chance to mingle with their loved ones, it is a sign of impending death.

CRYPT (The) This could be the home of a necromancer, who has taken themselves out of the human world as they were unable to deal with the living and the dead, the necromancer has the company of old friends and family members, whose bones they have ‘repossessed’ and kept in the Crypt (well really underneath it, tunnels, passageways, little rooms). The Crypt has everything a body would want, all the comforts and no dealing with live people. Until that is a live person deliberately finds them because they need their help.

COMIC BOOK (The) A person comes across a comic book that is all about them, and the things that they do, but on an alternate world, were everyone has abilities of one sort or another including themselves. One of the issues lays out how they became that hero, and has the doorway to the other world, the person follows the directions, and not only finds the way through, but also comes across the writer of the comic book who goes through with them and becomes their chronicler.

CARGO (The) Archaeologists uncover a rare form of Alabaster statue of a woman who they think is a priestess, they bring her across the sea in a boat, when half way to their home land, the statue becomes the priestess in the flesh she is annoyed that they have released her, because that means that the jealous priest that had cursed her is also now flesh and she must stop him, only problem is, he’s still where her statue was found and she is in the middle of the sea with people all around her that don’t understand a bloody thing she is trying to tell them, and they will keep killing each other when trying to capture her.

CHILL (The) Climate change and a new ice age, only it’s not as brutal as the last one, but all turns to ice, nothing is growing, the land is rock solid, people are leaving the massive cities and trying to live underground where they can. Trees are dying, the oceans freezing.

COUNTING CROWS this could be a story that uses the rhyme for each chapter, and what happens in the rhyme happens in that chapter, or this could actually be a series of books with each line of the rhyme as the title of the book. It lends itself to many genres.

CROSS CONTAMINATION now, what would happen to a witch if she were bitten by a Werewolf and a Vampire? This could be part of a black ops experiment, or an accident, then the creature that is formed afterwards could be one that was foretold in a prophecy a long time ago, or not, I think it might make for some interesting situations, and reading giving each of these three horror beings feelings about each other.

Well there you go, seven ‘C’ stories, you are welcome to them if they take your fancy, just remember tell me in the comments and don’t forget to mention me someplace okay, have fun.

DYNAMITE – a small woman who can either explode (but it takes a hell of a lot out of her), or can cause explosions. Story explains how she got that way? Heroine or Villain? Loner or part of a team? Family Life or leaves for their safety?

DIET PILL MIRACLE (The) – a diet pill that helps you loose weight instantly, hailed as the best thing ever, but after they are cleared for use some people start showing up at hospitals very ill, the pill is what they have in common, these people are on the critical list, and then they disappear altogether.

DREAM TIME – In a wold where everything is mundane, life is tough, dreams are sold to people, the more you can afford the more incredible the dream you can buy, people end up becoming addicted, so addicted that they never want to come out again, which makes it very easy for an Alien Invasion to happen, the tech used to create the dream-scapes are theirs, and they had planned all this. Only not everyone is in the dream-scape, and those are the fighters who end up becoming the rebellion and releasing as many dreamers as possible.

DRAGOONS (The) – In times of need an army can be summoned, an army of deceased soldiers, to help win battles and secure the throne. This army is commanded by Necromancer who works for the throne, the spell handed down from the Necromancer before them. This time however the Necromancer and the Dragoons are called to fight a fight that is not all they were told it was, and must decide what to do. There could be a second Necromancer and a struggle for control of the Dragoons.

DRAGON SQUAD (The) – Dragon Flyers, the elite, different types and sizes of Dragons with abilities who are connected to their riders telepathically, when a rider dies their dragon is usually not far behind as their link is terminated, it becomes despondent, until a runaway thief comes across the dragon who is being cared for while they await it’s death. The Dragon talks to the runaway who gives back smart answers, hiding behind it when the stalls are searched, no one will enter this Dragons pen out of respect, the dragon begins to perk up when the runaway continues to visit, stealing food for them to share, and talking about all the things they’d like to do, and places they would like to go. The Dragon, knowing that it’s supposed to be linked to only one rider in it’s lifetime begins to wonder if that is indeed true, maybe it can have more than one? Maybe the raggedy runaway is a reason to stick around. The other riders are not happy, they like things as they used to be, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, it was always done that way, why change now.

DESERT EARTH – climate change is in full swing, all green spaces have become desert, water is a commodity, Human Life is worthless. Some individuals try to make water, but are arrested and killed as imprisoning them would take precious water reserves. The Seas and Oceans are now owned by warring companies with the tech to turn that water into drinking water, and thereby decreasing the amount of water on the earths surface. Streams and rivers are guarded, people who lived along side them have been killed and massive fences run the lengths of the countries that still have them, the lakes were the first to go. There are no cars, roads are dangerous in the sun, no one can be around during the day time, as the heat is unbearable. What do the rich eat? What do the pour eat? perhaps a little soylant green ish type substance?

Remember, these are free to anyone that wants to use them, or part of them, just let me know in the comments, and also mention me someplace. Ideas can sometimes be similar to things read, or written, or seen, but what you say, your take on it, your vision, that is what makes it unique.

EDEN – the first moon-base is called Eden and populated by hand picked individuals for their skills and mental ability to survive in such and environment. Eden has it’s gardens and livestock that have been grown within the labs on base. There are schools for the children, various relaxation areas, religious areas, exercise areas. But maybe everyone is not who they seem to be, and there is an assassin among them waiting for the right moment to take out a certain member of the crew.

ELITE (The) – the Elite live above and out of reach of everyone else, their lives are full of excess, they want for nothing even their prisons are way above excess. In the center (on the way down) are the Midi’s who work for the Elite and occasionally can rise to be Elite who are known as the Nou Eli, but more often than not they fall to the Dregs who live at the bottom and who barely scrape a living. What happens when an Elite falls all the way to the Dregs? What would it take? Can a Dreg be elevated to Nou Eli? and how would a Elite be treated if they fell to the Midi’s?

EVIDENCE (The) – a person is arrested for a crime they didn’t commit, but the evidence is stacked against them, evidence they know to be fraudulent because it is the kind of evidence that they were going to use to set up someone else. They can’t say anything to anyone, as the someone else who they wanted to set up, is the person that was killed and the evidence that they were going to use is gone. How do they prove that they are innocent? Who do they trust?

ELIXIR (The) – one sip and your wishes come true, only thing is the small print tells you to be careful what you wish for, and the person who drinks it thinks that’s only for show, until they find out first hand that it’s the truth.

ELVES REBELLION (The) – all over the world the elves are uniting and rebelling against their ‘masters’, no longer shall they make shoes for free, or toys for cookies, no they want recognition and decent wages plus not to forget decent medical. This could get very nasty as some people don’t want to loose their cheap labor.

ENTITY (The) – a ship appears in the distance on Earths Radars, it enters the atmosphere, landing in Europe, releasing an Entity that shines brighter than the sun, it heals people, helps with growing food for those without, brings fertile life to the deserts, and cleans the eco – system fixing climate change. After it completes this, it demands a payment, it wants half of the human, animal, flora and sea life that the Earth has, and tells the world leaders that if it’s request is not met, then it will return the Earth to what it was, with a little interest.

EIGHTH LEVEL (The) – a game, it comes on a phone / tablet app, but is also played in Real Time / Life. Levels 1 – 4 are easy enough, they guide you to places where you get equipment, providing you pass the level that is, Level 5 is where it really starts getting serious, it’s a team building exercise, laser tag with real lasers, obstacle courses that can kill you, if you survive level six then is about locating the place you need to be, and level seven is breaking in and surviving until you get to Level Eight, where the prize is…or is it? What makes players play beyond level 5?

There you go, you know the rules, free to anyone that wants them, let me know in the comments and mention me someplace. Now, we’re back on track, so see you tomorrow with ‘F’.

FAST – an athlete, a runner used to keeping in shape, but not an overall winner, just doesn’t seem to have that extra little spurt, is handed a bottle of water at the end of one of her races by a well wisher, and gulps it all down. They wake up the next morning able to do everything fast, and over the course of the day, week, month they become even faster. The side effects are of course needing to keep the metabolism fueled, not showing off their speed (when do they discover this is necessary), how does it gel with family life? Uni life? Dating? Alcohol. Now I know we’ve all seen flash and some of us have watched Zoom, but is there another take on this whole speedster thing? and who is this mysterious stranger? What was in the water? Do they need more to keep going?

FEY – fairy world, land, sea, river, forest, mountain, jungle etc., what would this look like? how would they govern? Is there a high council? A Queen? Who keeps the rules and the peace? what happens if someone steps out of line? What if a fey is born without any of the fairy traits? Is this world like Pratchetts? Gaimens? Mythical? or sparkly? Is it Modern? Steampunk? Cyberpunk? all with the mystical thrown in. Is it toadstools and pretty flowers? What happens when after thousands of years having banned stealing human children and leaving changelings behind, a child is brought into the realm?

FALLOUT – it’s happened, the trigger happy fools pressed the buttons and the world went boom, people died, animals and vegetation as well, all that is left is a few individuals who were kidnapped by people in dark clothing, then thrown into dark bunkers underground with no explanation, the doors to the surface are sealed (and I mean sealed) shut. There is a set of instructions (a large, very thick folder), about what to do. There is communication, a form of Morse Code, and CB radios (eventually), but after quite some time (six to ten years) each bunker starts going off line. Have the occupants discovered how to escape and gone to the surface? Where they invaded and killed by something that may have survived? Is this actually real or another experiment?

FIRST (The) – the first talking dog, ‘Patches’ owned by prof Peter Ratchet who has created the devise that allows his only friend and companion in the world to talk to him. Patches loves his professor, but knows that this device is dangerous in the wrong hands, and so steals the prototype after chewing the instructions, and peeing all over the computer that stored the diagrams and progress reports. After a while Patches meets a child who realizes that the dog is talking to him, the child suggests that he go ask the God dogs about what to do next. Now Patches is a fearless dog, but this one fills him with dread, the child agrees to go with him so he won’t be so scared. They go to the gates of Hades, where Anubis is busy with the dead, but agrees to call a council meeting once he realizes it is the only way to get a live child out of the halls of the dead. The Council debate the device and the use of it.

FOX (The) – a cunning thief, steals stuff right out from under the noses of their victims, they leave a small card with the image of a fox on it (or a foxes paw print). A trap is set to capture them, but is sprung by someone else who is claiming to be the fox, this peeves them off, and they are about to do something about it when the person claiming to be the FOX is murdered, so now the fox has a new problem, someone is trying to kill them and they want to know not only who, but why.

Now, there you go, I do know some of these stories may read along similar lines to others that I have put up, or stories that may already exist, but these ideas all depend on what YOU do with them, how you see them. I’ve given you a starting point, if you want to use them, please do but let me know which ones in the comments and mention me someplace. I hope you have enjoyed these ideas and I promise before the end of the week I will have caught up with all the blogs I’m following.

GOBLINS – fed up with their bad rap in the world of fantasy, a committee of Goblins is set up to remake their image, but things don’t quite go as planned, someone or thing is working against them, sabotaging their efforts, and it’s just gotten worse, with the head of the committee being found decapitated in their home…

GOLEM – Classic story of the creation of a Golem in order to crush enemies, and intimidate people into helping with a rise to power, only for the sculptor that had been charged with creating it to be put on the death list, what happens?

GATE (The) – a fancy wrought iron gate that looks like it leads into an overgrown mess of a garden, is actually a doorway into an alternate or several alternate dimensions, that is, once you figure out how to use it…

GREENLIGHT – at night the greenlight seeps across the surface and with it come the razor toothed, bug eyed monsters, if you stay hidden, don’t move and keep all the lights turned off you will be safe, if they catch you they bring you before their queen and you never come back. You only come out when the blue light gleams in the void, and it’s the only safe(ish) time to sleep. You don’t remember living any other life than this since the day you could walk and talk, your parents are dead, and you live in the marshy ground, now and again you’ll visit the sacred site with the old rusting weapons and the contact devices, none have worked in decades, then one geenlight night, it burbles to life, a contact from ‘Earth’.

GORGON’S KISS – a blind person wanders into a gorgons liar in modern times, and meets her, they are not affected by the curse, and the Gorgon after being left alone all this time, is curious, so ply this person for information, about the outside world and the changes it has gone through. The person comes and goes as they please, happy to have found a friend who accepts them for who they are and doesn’t make fun of them not being able to see. The blind person mentions getting a dog, and worried that their relationship will end, the Gorgon gets the blind person a hound from Hades, that does a little more than just ‘show’ the way. Some people follow the blind person one day, curious as to where they are going, and why their jabs don’t annoy or upset them anymore. They discover the Gorgon, and barely escape with their lives. They decide that the ‘monster’ must die, and the Gorgon comes clean about what she is, and the blind person doesn’t care because they have a relationship, when the others come back they find out what the dog is, and that the person they sought to bully is defending the ‘monster’. (now the person finding the gorgon doesn’t need to be blind, they can be sighted, and they can find a pair of special lenses left by the gorgon so that they can look at her without turning to stone, which the gorgon does every 1,000 years or so, before turning the person to stone, but finds herself unwilling to do so this time, and gives the person the dog, and tells the person who they are, and the person has the glasses replicated to contacts, so that they can see the gorgon without the specs falling off, and then later an op to actually cover their eyes – now that is up to you)

GUARD (The) – the guard are a section of a magical police force, who are misfits, a thief, a murderer, a grifter, a person of the night, a drunken bare knuckle fighter, a fairy dust addicted strong person and an assassin. Their actual species is up to the writer of the piece. Their Sargent is a tough no nonsense person who takes no crap, but here because he almost killed a being in a fit of temper, the commander has been branded a coward, even though nothing could be further from the case. They’ve been put together because the ruler of the land has a mission for them that will kill them all, they argue, trade blows, even try to kill each other, do they come together, do they survive?

HOTEL (The) – the usual trope is a hotel where people die, a haunted hotel or a run of the mill establishment focusing on the staff and guests interactions, how about the hotel being a home to misfits? People of the mystical world whose needs are not like the mundanes? But this hotel is based in a mundane world?

HAUNTING (The) – a person dies, they try desperately to haunt the killer, they even try to contact the police in charge of the investigation to let them know what happened only to find themselves unable to, the killer seems to be immune. They watch as the killer kills again, and again, being joined in their ghostly lives by further victims, until the killer goes after the wrong person, one who is ‘attuned’ to the ghosts. They warn the person, the person goes to the cops, is not believed then the ghosts and the person extract revenge, spring a trap and catch the killer.

HIJACK (The) – a shipment is hijacked, no one will say what the shipment was, just that it’s important enough to warrant an elite black ops team that no one will admit to existing, coming in to recover the item/thing that was stolen.

HELLS BELLS – a set of bells that when rung allows the ringer the ability to call forth a squad of demons and control them to do the holder / ringer’s bidding. The demons have to fulfill at least ten requests before they are released from their bond. The bells were long ago placed in a box, down deep in the bowels of the Vatican. There was recently a brake in, and now the bells have a new master / mistress. During the course of the connection, the demons decide that they want to stay and work with the person that called them forth.

HUFF and PUFF – the tale of two wolves, fairy tale / folklore wolves and what motivates them into being considered the big bad wolves of these stories. What did they want to achieve?

HUNT (The) – where the really bad people are hunted down and killed due to the prisons being full to capacity, who hunts them and what constitutes a crime bad enough to warrant this kind of punishment. For how long are the hunted? What happens when someone is put into that category by mistake, because they were framed? What happens if one of those bad people escapes the hunt?

HIVE (The) – a villains organisation, they offer medical, lawyer, and developmental plans, they hold regular meetings and if you are looking for extra work, they will help you find it. At the end of every year they hold awards nights. What is the criteria for joining? Do the villains pay fees? Do you join once you come out as a Villain voluntarily, or are you forced into it? What if a hero’s nemesis goes missing, all clues lead to the assumption that they have been murdered by an unknown force, but no one else, no other hero org has any ideas, does our hero go to the HIVE for help? How does the HIVE react?

HELLS BELLES CLUB – a female monsters club only, includes a gorgon, a mummy, a vampire, a she wolf, the bride of Frankenstein’s Monster, a succubus, to name a few, along with a female IGOR. At one of these meetings, only the IGOR shows up, she waits impatiently, but there is no sign of the others, fearing the worst she tracks each member down, finding in each of their homes the method used to kill each belle, but no sign of the belle, or the killer. Who is behind this, and why? Are the Hells Belles still alive? Is this an elaborate game? An initiation test? OR are they all dead?

My wife suggested that the last one might be a taxi company as she knew someone that had a taxi company by that name, she suggested that the tag line might be ‘the last ride you’ll ever need’.

IMP (The) – a mischievous Imp causes trouble in the mundane world, a mystical cop is sent to retrieve it, but the creature is way in over it’s head and managed to get its self captured by the mundanes who are wanting to study it, unless of course the cop can convince them to let it go, only the Cop looks like they are only Thirteen Years Old.

IRON CUTLASS (The) – an old cutlass hangs above the hearth in a dusty, cobwebby old cottage, family lore says that it once was and will be again, the only thing to save the Human Race, only a member of this family can wield the sword and unleash it’s powers. Flash Forward it is now 2020, the sword is rusted, shoved in the back of your closet in your tiny one person apartment. No one in your family has ever had any training with it, they don’t believe the lore, then an old woman shows up at your door looking for the Guardian…

ICICLE – an Ice Skater finds a little charm of a skater that allows her to not only preform with perfection on the ice, but also control it, she loves being able to use her new found abilities, but how does she manage her life, her career and her powers? Does being able to control Ice change her? Can she still be warm and happy?

INNER CIRCLE (The) – this story is based around a group of witches, the heads of various highly powered witch covens from across the many types, who come together with the sole intent of making the world better for all in it, they don’t always agree on what that means, but they do bend on occasion. Then one of their spells goes off course, dangerously so, almost destroying a whole continent, they hire a witch-finder (their version of a detective) to find the culprit and bring them to justice.

ISOLATION – the study of one persons life in complete isolation to others, how do they manage? why would they want to do it? What happens if someone breaks into the Isolation Space?

INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH – this is the story of an assassin who considers themselves to be the top of their field, only to find out that here are three others ahead of them. Each one claims the title of ‘The Best’ owns an item considered to be one of the ‘Instruments of Death’. The assassin sets out obtain each of the Instruments, there by becoming the actual top Assassin, once of course they kill the three in the way.

ILLICIT AFFAIR – a wolf and Vampire fall in love, it is of course frowned upon by their respective packs and Cabals. They escape before they can be killed having heard of a special place that will take them in and let them live in peace. They aren’t sure if it exists, but they are damned sure they are going to try and find it.

INFLUENCERS (The) – in the future Influencers run the world, no one does anything without first checking to make sure that the Influencers are on board. It’s gotten to the point where they travel with armed guards, and mingle with only royalty and the most wealthy. When one dies their likes are ‘bequeathed’ to the next one on the list. Then they start dying, in ‘accidents’, (or so everyone else thinks), except you, their number one fan, and also the number one suspect.

IMMORTAL – on your 21st Birthday a woman comes to visit you at home claiming to be your actual birth mother. You don’t believe her and send her packing. You later tell your mom about it, and your mom asks you to describe the woman, and you do, she pales and explains that you were given to her by the woman you described as a baby. This was done to hide you from the government, and keep you safe, her other children she had said were dead, killed by the government in experiments. You don’t want to believe her, but she shows you proof, images that your birth mother left with her, and from those images she hasn’t aged a day. You go to the address on the card she left with you, to find it empty, until you, on a strong urge, peal some loose wallpaper off the wall, and there in huge letters is ‘FIND ME! HELP ME!'

JACKPOT – the winner of the jackpot donates money to family, friends and charities, their marriage has just fallen apart and the divorce is final. The kids are all grown up and living their own lives. The Jackpot Winner goes on a vacation, places they have always wanted to see, no limits, then falls in love, and out again after realizing that the person they got engaged to was only after their money, then when they are licking their wounds, they get kid – napped.

JANE DOE – body shows up at the morgue, identity unknown, no real distinguishing marks except scars either side of her neck. These it is determined didn’t kill her, no it wasn’t even the fishing net she was caught in, but more or less suffocation. Just as the coroner (your Uncle) is about to slice her open, you, Nat Eldritch dissolve several buckets of Salt in a huge tank of water, and immerse the body in it. The scars open revealing gills, the legs join together and grow scales, the feet become fins, and the Jane Doe’s eyes open. You are now looking at the first ever proof that Mer People exist.

JESTER (The) – in a medieval citadel the jester is not doing a great job, he’s under threat if he doesn’t upgrade his ‘japes’ to be funny, he sets out on a quest to find funnier jokes, and does this by joining a travelling theater company.

JINX (The) – a person around whom things tend to go wrong. This has been the case for the entirety of their lives, and they have suffered for it. Along the way, family and friends have backed away from them. They are however stopped in the street one day by one of these now distant people and asked to deliberately use their ‘curse’ to help the person prevent something awful from happening.

JUST IN TIME – you have a watch like device that also has an embedded compass. It is a time travel device (I know an old trope), it allows you to travel to whenever you want via the calendar window and you have fun jaunting thought history, and back home again, only on one trip home, you arrive in time to witness what you think is your own death.

JUNK SHOP (The) – an old shop, dusty and full of interesting things, no matter who goes in, they find exactly what they need. It is run by a older woman who dresses rather eccentrically and has actual silver streaks in her hair.

JOKE (The) – a prankster known to their Friends as such, pulls off the ultimate gag, making them all believe that they have died. They even attend their own funeral, but aren’t that keen on what’s being said about them, so decide to show themselves and end the prank. As they are about to reveal themselves, men in dark coats, hats and sun glasses stop them, claiming to be special ops with a job for you. They need to make someone disappear and only you can do it.

JEWEL (The) – a magnificent jewel is found underground in the hands of a dubious looking statue, it’s white and clear, and through testing turns out to be ‘THE’ largest diamond in the whole world. From the beginning it has brought nothing but bad luck, and when they remove it, the luck thing gets worse, bringing the statue to life.

JOURNAL (The) – Among your distant, considered crazy grand Aunts belongings is a hand written journal, she spent the last year of her life searching for something and the journal tells you where to find it and off course, it bares a warning to those foolish enough to try and follow what she outlays….

KERATOSIS OF MICHELLE ENGLAND (The) – keratosis is the overgrowth and thickening of the skin, which for Michelle England means growing a hard Rhino / Armadillo skin that is somewhat impregnable if not downright blah looking. She does however learn how to control it at will.

KILLING KILN – a potter falls out with a neighbor who is constantly complaining about the people who come to their classes wrecking their land and trespassing. one day the potter snaps and kills the neighbor, then uses the equipment that she has in her potters shed to dispose of the body, the last of the body evidence going up in the Kiln, so that when the police arrive, there is no evidence at all, just some newly made ware that the potter sends the police away with as a gift.

KARMA – is not a thing, it’s a being, that you can beseech, or pay to extract to give someone exactly what they deserve. It doesn’t take much and Karma then decides what is appropriate, and if they actually deserve the Karma, or if you do.

KABALEGA FALLS – rapids on the lower Victoria Nile, east of lake Albert, where the Nile drops 400 ft. A person’s body is found floating near a wrecked canoe, this seems like a tragic accident, until it doesn’t.

KNOWLEDGE – a little knowledge goes a long way, and can be quite dangerous as well. The thirst for Knowledge doesn’t stop, you keep going, wanting to know more, and more, only your simple brain cannot cope, cannot keep it all in, so you pay a innovative scientist to become a test subject, you undergo an operation, and are fitted with a microchip that stores quite a bit, which you can plug into a computer and download, or view as you see fit, as you become used to it, and use it often, you notice little glitches, and that you are being followed by strange beings who apparently want the device inside your head.

KISS (The) – a succubus gives you a kiss and you find yourself wanting more, and also discovering that you didn’t actually age as the legends said you would, after a while you go in search of the succubus, so deep is your need, only to discover that somehow you have stolen her abilities, and have become a succubus, both of you have no idea how this happened, or how to reverse it…

KEY (The) – on your 13th birthday you receive a letter from your great grandmother (deceased 70 odd years), it contains a key and a very, very short message “You now have 48 hours to find the lock this fits or else…” and the last bit is obscured by water damage. Where do you begin? What do you find? Why were you chosen?

LOCK BOX (The) – at a yard sale you come across an old lock box, the owner tells you that the keys (three of them), have long since vanished and they aren’t even sure which family member owned it, but it and it’s contents are yours for five dollars. You buy the box, thinking how odd it is that you found three keys at three different places over the previous three months. When you bring the box home, and insert the three keys they do fit, but when you turn them one at a time, the locks won’t work, you work out that it will take three people, or some nifty device to get all three to turn at the same time…you opt for the people and co – opt two of your friends into helping you.

LIST (The) – like Arya on game of thrones a teenager keeps a list of everyone that has ever done them a perceived wrong and like Oliver Queen ‘the Arrow’ when they get older they seek to extract their revenge, only now those people who committed the childhood slights are seen through adult eyes, have the people changed enough over the intervening years to warrant being removed from ‘the list’ or are they worse? Why did the person wait so long? What crimes were committed.

LOVING YOU – the story of a couple of friends living next door to each other as children only one loves the other, but says nothing. They attend the same school as children, and then in fourth class the other moves away. Leaving the one to survive on their own. The one stays in contact, writing letters, telling them how life is progressing without them at the school and in the vicinity. They meet up later in college, the other has been dating another person, it kills the one’s heart to see them together, but as they love them, and are happy once again to be within their circle, they smile and let it be. Through the uni years they both have ups and downs, until the grad ball, where at last they are both free, and they share one tender kiss…

LAKE (The) – lake moon (or whatever you want to call it), has long been suspected of hiding a monster, there have been some sightings thought to be fictional or made up for the tourist trade, but a billionaire arrives with equipment and a science team, determined to prove the legend one way or another. It turns out that as a child, he was hiding in some trees when his family had come to visit, and he saw a lady with silver hair stand on the shore and call to the creature, then the lady climbed on it’s back and they both went into the lake. His parents and his Friends never believed him, he was sent for psychiatric help and learned to keep it all quiet until they died and he had the fortune for himself.

LIVING ON BORROWED TIME – there was an accident, you almost died but were brought back by the hospital staff. Now, as death has confided in you, you are living on borrowed time until you fulfill a quest in the modern world that you were set by a spirit from the medieval world. You only have a certain amount of time, and the place has changed since the spirit was last there, but with it’s help and Deaths, you might have a small chance in hell of succeeding before your borrowed time runs out.

LEFT IN THE LURCH – you were part of a team who were supposed to take down a wealthy and supposed bad wealthy person, you all followed the plan that your superiors had set out for you, but things didn’t go as planned. Now you stand face to face with the person you were all supposed to kill, the last person standing, and you are 99.9% certain that you are not the good guys. Now you have to figure out how to escape from your present predicament and extract revenge for your team – mates.

LAID OUT IN LAVENDER – (while looking around the net for things to spark ideas (muses on coffee break), I came across this phrase). In a time when bodies were laid out under soft muslin cloths, washed with scented oils, and laid out in lavender, you are someone whose job it is to lay out the bodies of the deceased, under the careful eyes of your high priestess. Your life is not dull and boring, you have mistaken identities, bodies going missing, dealing with the usual funeral mishaps, and people waking up at the most inopportune times.

MARES NEST (The) – a mare gives birth to a foal with wings, due to the birth being difficult a vet was called in, the foal is also a mare, which means the possibility of her having other winged foals. The young woman who owns / was given the mare secures her and the foal in a trailer and takes off when her father and the vet start talking about making a lot of money of the birth. She has the proof of ownership with her. They could end up in a lot of serious trouble.

METHOD TO MADNESS – why would someone sign themselves into a psychiatric ward when they are not ill? what would motivate them to stay and how would they get out in the end? Who might want to keep them there?

MICKEY FINN – Michelle Finnerty has the ability to sedate or knock unconscious any being simply by touch (or even the slash of a fingernail or a kiss). She is hired to help rescue a person and realizes that she’s on the wrong side and must keep the person safe.

MONSTROUS REGIMENT OF WOMEN – this could work as a hells belles sequel, or a stand alone as the Monstrous women of hell decide that it’s time they ruled the underworld. The Morning star and the other lords of the underworld aren’t quite expecting it.

MUCH OF A MUCHNESS – as you are getting ready one morning, standing in front of your full length mirror you notice something moving behind you, you turn and there is nothing there, you turn back and your reflection reaches out of the mirror and grabs you, turning as it pulls you into the mirror realm, it tells you before it goes off to work, that it is bored with it’s world and wants to take yours for a spin, then says good bye and leaves. you spend a good hour trying to get out through the mirror before your nemesis arrives at your door, in the other realm, this person it turns out is your best friend here, and your best friend is your nemesis now, everything is turned around, and you need to find a way back to your own world before the other you wrecks it.

MOTLEY CREW (The) – Pirates, a crew like never before but they get the job done. Mary-belle the captain answers to no one, she does everything her own way including leading the crew of the Unicorn. In the beginning they didn’t really trust her, but now after many years, they have come to do her bidding without asking questions. (Could also be a crew of monsters.)

MUMMY (The) – the queen who opposed the rise in power of her male underlings, and the rise of patriarchy, is murdered along with those who supported her. She was entombed, and eventually rises from the dead seeking revenge on the families of those who had imprisioned her.

NUPTIALS (The) – young love, or so your family thinks, meeting always after the sun goes down, you figure as do they, that your love just works all day, and extended hours in the summer. Then they take you out one summers night all candle and twinkly lights, with a table full of amazing food, where they have placed an engagement ring, but they say before you agree to wed/ unite with them there is something they need to tell you…

NALA THE NECROMANCER – there is an item, much prized by clairvoyants and necromancers, a charm that gives mastery of all dead, without having to be near their family, personal items or graves. The item has long existed won in competition every time the own er / possessor dies. The competition has very few rules, the charm is up for grabs again. Nala Blaine and her friend Erica Shaw join forces to enter, Nala is a necromancer, Erica is a Clairvoyant and such an agreement has never been struck before.

NULLIAN – null space, it has been assumed, contained nothing, it is completely empty, but that isn’t the truth, it’s just human perception. With effort a way is discovered to not only communicate with the nullian but also see it (well sort of).

NIGHTMARE (The) – Beatrice Longview doesn’t believe in the mystic arts, she thinks seers are only made up then the nightmares begin. The world is burning, the twisted faces and bodies, the winged monsters. She’s beginning to also loos her sight. No one in her family ever claimed or appeared to be like this. That’s when she finds out that she was adopted. She tries to find out more but there appears to be a major problem, the orphanage is gone, her files with it, even the lawyer who oversaw the legalities has vanished. The nightmares and her sight are getting worse and she’s no clue what to do as time is running out.

NAUGHTY AND NICE – Evan Knight has always been a good girl, she’s always done what was right, obeyed all the rules. her parents die in an accident and Eva is sent to her spinster Aunt Minerva’s home where rules don’t quite exist and things lurk in the shadows, she is joined there by a previously unknown cousin called Lillie Daye who never lived by any rules, who was disobedient and in trouble all the time. The two clash hard, but Minerva helps build their friendship which ends up being sorely tested.

NOVELIST (The) – the novelist hasn’t written anything decent in a few years, they can’t think of anything to write about, and have done all those methods to beat writers block. until one night, they use a crazy scheme to trap their writing muse, who they tie up in their basement and threaten not to let loose until they give them a decent idea that would do a series of novels. The other Muses, not happy that this could happen set out to get their sister back.

OCEANIA 1 – under sea experimental habitat, with the top side of the planet being over taken by climate change, mountains being exploited for living potential and a race for space underway, another group have begun researching into living under the seas (the ones we still have). This story would revolve around the dangers of building such a place, breathing in water, air machines, growing food, and the possibility of dangerous sea life. A Rival company in this area is not happy with the success of the team behind Oceania 1 and the fact that it’s a joint nations creation, vowing to sabotage it.

ORIGINAL (The) – Mitzy Maddune is an archaeological assistant trainee, who on their day off from a dig goes climbing in the mountains, your rope snaps and you fall, down between some rocks, and through a crevice. You land kinda awkwardly, hurting your ankle, which you strap up and ignore as you’ve fallen into a tunnel, using your torch you follow a trail to a doorway that has long been walled up, there are various warnings in every single form of language you can imagine even English, telling you to stay out and not disturb. Never one to let something like that stand in your way, and knowing the rescue teams should be there in a while, you begin working on opening the door, one puzzle lock at a time, standing back as the last one falls into place, and the door swings open revealing a beautifully laid out room containing artifacts from every century of the world, including a huge bed with a beautiful woman stretched out on it. As you step over the threshold the torches burst to life, and the woman stirs. You walk across to her uncorking your bottle and offer her a drink of fresh water, it turns out, as you chat (not as if your both sitting in a previously locked room that had a dark warning over the door), that this is Lilith, the actual first woman who helped populate the world with Adam and Eve’s offspring. Every so often she’s wakened and gets to go and see what has become of the world she left Eden for. You reluctantly agree to be her guide in this new time she’s awake for, and somehow never quite get around to asking about the warning over the door.

OUTLIERS – cities have become crowded, people live outside the boundaries, but they aren’t just ordinary people, or at least they aren’t seen as such, they are the outliers and they are a thorn in the sides of big business who want their small towns and villages to strip them and mine them for all their benefits and resources. The outliers however are not standing for it, they are fighting back.

OUT OF THE FIRE AND INTO THE FRYING PAN – a demon demon hunter is tasked by one of the high lords of the underworld to go find and bring back a demon who has escaped, you of course agree for the usual payment, however on your way, you are sidetracked by a couple of witches that summon you because they need your help and refuse to let you go until you first sign your name in blood on their contract, and secondly actually do their bidding, which makes things very difficult when the high lord calls to find out what the delay is and you drag him back to the witches.

OGRE (The) – an ogre decides to leave the family thug business and go seek a life elsewhere much to their parents annoyance. They arrive at the city and become involved in making clothing, their work is the finest that the seamstresses have ever seen, which propels them forward to working towards their own fashion show. It is around this time (isn’t it always), that the family decide to descend on them in order to drag them back home, and realize that their child is fighting battles and doing good. Designs get stolen, material is destroyed, models are kidnapped, their stage props are destroyed and their music set is stolen, they (the family) decide that their first born needs help and set out to ensure that the first Ogre fashion house / show is successful.

OUTCAST (The) – a misfit is having a very hard time, the world around them is weird, different and they are ‘NORMAL’. You have tried everything to fit in with no success. Your family loves you despite this, hoping that one day you will become a misfit like them. But it turns out it’s lucky, when the government come calling.

PRINCESS PREDICAMENT (The) – a fairy tale princess has certain things expected of her, she is usually beautiful, talented at various things such as singing, dancing and needle work, and usually locked up in some sort of tower for a period of time with a dragon watching over them until the handsome prince arrives to rescue them. However, you are not all these things, you like to climb trees, ride bareback, jump off walls, fight with fists, feet and weapons. You are informed that you must become the typical princess or loose out on the crown. You reluctantly set out to solve that problem, but by the time you are done, the dragon is your best buddy, the prince has indeed been rescued and introduced you to his sister who is now your fiance…the only thing left to do is explain it all to your parents…

PROJECT (The) – a train crash, bodies go missing, though families are not told this, they are told that their loved ones died. The bodies are put into a new form of suspended animation to see if it will work. The project is overseen by a shadowy facility, who are working to save the lives of the wealthy before the Apocalypse happens. They are too late, fast forward, and the Earths surface has been cleared of all toxins, some of the project tubes have been uncovered, the occupants in most cases are dead, or if not soon wish they were, as they are used in a competition to decide the next in line to run the Facility who are now in charge. Your characters tube is found and a member of the resistance rescues them, and they work together to bring an end to the Facility.

PAWN (The) – Zeelee Payne is a good kid, someone who likes doing a lot of computer tech things for fun and to help her friends, but they end up getting conned by a computer hacker, and get imprisoned in a deep dark hole. She spends her time there thinking of how she’s going to get out and get even. Once she has a plan in place she convinces her captors to let her proceed with her plan and ends up escaping.

PAPER TIGER – (A Chinese Idiom) a company who is successful, shall we say in tech, who are behind an innovative piece of tech that allows complete submersion in cyber space, has only one if it’s originating members left, the others have all passed on, leaving their shares in the hands of relatives who believe that this person is a ‘paper tiger’ (without any real power), only they never bothered to find out what ‘other’ job this person did when they were much younger, which means they are all in for one hell of a surprise.

PESTER POWER – an explosion releases chemicals into the air nearby Paul Peters, he is taken to hospital as he appeared to have severe burns but is released later as they’ve all gone, and the staff got annoyed by his pestering (nagging). He didn’t really nag them, but after he asked them the second time, all they could hear in their mind was him begging to go home.

PURPLE POWER – a very lucky person, who no matter what they did had always luck on their side since they were born, takes it for granted, and is stopped by a grey haired person and told that their ‘Purple Power’ is going to leave them, but they, the older person knows how to fix it. The Lucky person just waves them on, ignoring them, until that is they walk under a ladder, it falls, and they break the fall of the window cleaner, ending up with their arm in a sling. Several accidents later in the hospital and they are seeking out the older person, only they can’t find them, and somehow they are being arrested and being brought to Jail.

PRESSED INTO SERVICE – the third world war begun and ended in a matter of moments, all the people with money and in positions of power and knowledge have been secreted away, the others are left in charge of what is left of the world. To combat lawlessness in it’s many end of the world forms, some individuals are ‘Pressed Into Service’ most of whom were criminals in a previous life. This title earns these law-keepers the nick name PIS cops, usually shouted, or spat derogatorily at the officer. But your squad have managed to rise above that, they have come to be known as trustworthy, becoming those the people and those in charge turn to when needed, they are whom others look up to, until that is things start going wrong.

QUEENS GAMBIT – the queen dies before she has had a chance to marry and produce an heir, there is no will and no parents, or siblings. There are contenders, a brother and two sisters from the mothers side, and the offspring of three brothers from the fathers side. All contenders are the eldest of their families. There is set to be a series of trails in order to judge fairly who should win the throne, but it is very clear from the outset that someone is out to prevent anyone having the throne.

QR CODE (The) – if you want to control tech and the people using it, then you release a QR code (black and white squares), that any phone, tablet, scanner or implant can read, and download. The only ones who won’t be affected are those with old tech, and those with no tech, all others would be at your disposal.

QUALITY OF LIFE QUANDARY – with so many homeless, so many poor, the governments get together to ascertain what exactly constitutes quality of life and what bare necessities they can give to people in order for them to have some quality of life. They decide to build small areas, where homeless and poor will be housed, low rent, and access to vertical / container gardening to grow their own vegetables.

QUARANTINE – ships display a yellow signal flag when they are under quarantine, how would this translate on a space ship? space station? Moon base? Underwater citadel?

QUARTERMISTRESS (The) – Madeline Shine is the Quarter Mistress of the Star-ship Legend 4, Madeline is responsible for the accommodations, food, equipment, clothing, and when called for, steering the ship. The Legend goes from Earth to the Space station ‘Heavenly Star’ to the moon-base Artemis’ on the moon then later to ‘Jump Base 1’ from there the ship will travel to a distant Galaxy – This Novel, story is about her, who or what she is, how she copes, and some stories for each place the ship stops.

QUINT – person able to make five other versions of themselves to do various chores and attend various events, while the original version remains hidden away at home, that is until one version is killed and the government come knocking.

QUITTANCE SCAM (The) – People who are on the lower levels of society find themselves in debt to survive. A company offers them a way out, only it’s rather permanent for them, but their family has no debt and gains a better all around life…providing they do only one thing…Eli Fosher is the child of one such arrangement and he’s vowed to make the company pay for taking his mother away from him.

QUINAR – a planet in a distant galaxy where there are five classes of life forms, living separate lives to each other, they are the Aer (winged / sky), The Fer (Fire Breathers & wielders / Dessert), the Wer (Water / sea, rivers, streams), the Eer (Earth / ground), and the Ser (Mind and Spirit) the people collectively are called Quinari and do their best to stay clear of each other. What would possibly make them come together? What way would they react to this? What would they do?

Now remember, these ideas are free to anyone who wishes to use them, just make sure you say what you are taking in the comments and you mention me someplace. I know they don’t always match what people like, but hey, they can be a jumping off point.

P.S. I’ve let the muse out to stretch her legs, with Easter being this weekend, and the wife having her nephew to stay, and then all of us going to her parents, I’ll get back to ye on Monday. Happy whatever you celebrate, and see ye on the other end.

RUNAWAYS (The) – a politicians child who has fallen for a gangsters kid, they’ve both been threatened and have run away, only to be captured by by enemies of their parents, politicians enemies want money, gangsters want blood.

RAMPAGE – tired of being experimented on, kept in cages and being depicted as the bad guy’s, Yeti, Abominable snowman, Sasquatch, Nessie etc., escape and go on a bit of a rampage through the facility in search for the only being that ever treated them with any kind of respect and dignity who the facilities bosses said left. Possibly end with a refuge for the creatures.

REAPER – when your character dies, the reaper is waiting for you, and brings you home. the reaper puts you in the audience with everyone else that died on that day, at that time so that they can give feedback on a play he’s working on for the underworld, you are the only one that gives any decent feedback. The rest of the audience vanishes, and the reaper leaves you alone with the cast to fix the play.

RAPPORT – dottie lytle has always felt like she had an emphatic connection with animals and birds but she never thought that she was telepathically connected to them, it has taken a while for her to get this under control but now that she has she can get them do do anything she wants them to do within reason.

RANSOM – a demon has kid – napped you, they are seeking a ransom from your witch and druid parents, who instead of paying it capture him and try to make him give you back, only while he is gone you are snatched by another demon and dragged through the underworld, leaving behind a note for your original abductor Your parents call and trap him, only to discover this has happened yet again…this goes on a while, until at last they call the final demon, to discover that it’s you, and you’re a class two demon.

RECKONING – friends from childhood days, haven’t spoken in years, not since one of the friends ended up in a coma, no one knows how or who did it, but they all blame each other (six in total) as each of them saw or where with the victim on the day of the accident, an item belonging to each individual was found with the comatose person, but nothing no one, and no other clues around or near the body. It’s years later and comatose person is finally awake, and the fiends are called back to their home town for a final reckoning.

RIVER QUEEN (The) – During the end of times, a boat sails up and down rivers delivering aid and any help it can to survivors, the boat and the person running it is called ‘The River Queen’, the boat is heavily armed and fortified with a decent crew. The supplies are gotten when they go on raids to old stock piles inland where no one else really lives except the really badly afflicted. Their main base is on an island, which once again is heavily fortified. – This could also be a steampunk story.

RUNE CASTER (The) – a set of magic stones, some say Odins, own set, falls into the hands of a diviner who discovers that each reading they do is correct and comes true. It scares them a little and then they get used to the idea, using the runes they become a helper with the police department and a sideline in fortune telling.

STARRY EYED SURPRISE – earth is a Alien tourist destination, the aliens take on a persona (form and life) of a human in order to experience earth from the human perspective, all is going well with the odd mix up or clean up needed, but nothing that hasn’t really been fixable before, but now, a ‘persona’ has gone on the blink in the middle of Manhattan during rush hour, the holiday organisation top agent is on holiday elsewhere and unreachable. Area 51 are on the way, how the hell are they going to get out of this one.

SOUND-WAVES – musician that uses music to create and defend, she can use any device to create the music she needs. It used to be only her voice but her parents had her voice box removed when she was a child as in a fit of temper she blew up the entire block.

SHEEP, LAMB, ORANGUTAN – the saying is ‘hung for a sheep as a lamb’ but in this case it’s also regarding an orangutan. How does this saying come into being? Who would have thought of it? Tell the story.

STAR STATION DIANA – one of the first space stations that he humans create, with qualified personnel on board, which eventually gives way to regular people visiting, and the expansion of the space station, to include everything you would need, including entertainment.

SCOUNDREL – a low down conniving con person gets conned by a little old lady after they attempt to con her.

SPROCKET – this is a kid in a steampunk universes nickname. They work in a gear shop, since they could walk. Sprocket is a real tinkerer, their creations are incredible. Their father is an engineer on one of the top companies ships and tends to be away quite a lot. Sprocket’s mom is a scientist, and has her head stuck in books and experiments. Sprockets friends are Argot, the daughter of one of her mothers colleagues, Kym a street kid, Eoin a studious nerd, Kalla a witches apprentice. Sprocket also has a cyborg dog called Wotsits, and flies a steam ship of her own creation called the ‘Sky Seer’. This story could be a series of books that looks at each character or one that follows the kids from sixteen to adulthood. A new character here and there could add to the roundness of the series.

SIGN (The) – you have always been told that you are important, you are here for a reason and you’ll know why when the sign comes. You are beginning to think you’ve either missed it, people have been lying to you, or it’s not bloody coming. You unfortunately tuned out of the speech just as a dragon flew passed your teachers window and have no idea what else was said as your concentration was on the winged creature. You spend the rest of your life training in between distractions, only to reach the ripe old age of Thirty Five with no clue as to your true purpose. You voice this concern to your dying mentor, who laughs and taps the book that you are always writing and drawing in, YOU, according the dying mentor that is who you were meant to be, a scribe, historian recording all knowledge for those who where to come after.

STUCK – A shapeshifter gets stuck in the form of a kid that was being bullied, they have no idea how they got stuck, but until they can find out how they must stay in the kids home and find out where the heck the kid vanished to.

SALRISSA THE SNAKE PRIESTESS – an ancient temple, a woman turned into a snake is watched over by various handmaids who view her as a goddess, she grants boons using her snake form and abilities, the hand maids are grateful. A man is sent to destroy her as she is dangerous to a king who wants to take over her city. She is flattered at first, but when she finds out the truth she is very, very angry and attacks the man, but he is truly fallen for her and names her true enemy.

TUESDAY CLUB (The) – a group of students who meet on Tuesdays while attending college / university keep the practice up long after they have qualified, how do their lives change? do they still care about the things they used to care about? do they actually know each other, or is it just skin deep.

TOWN (The) – this is a literal ghost town, it’s occupants are thrilled and happy to e living there where they have created a ghostly replica that sits just fine on top of the actual ruins, until live people begin to show up and unlike times before, stay around to fix the place up. The Spirits do their best to fight back, not wanting to give up their beautiful home. the new town people bring a clairvoyant to speak to them, the ghost say they won’t back down, that this is their town. The Clairvoyant agrees with them, but the new owners aren’t happy so they call in a necromancer to put them back in the ground. Not knowing the full story, the Necromancer succeeds with a couple of ghosts then finds out the full story, and decides along with the clairvoyant to make the humans move.

TIME TRAVELER COP – in the future, time travel is a thing, so much so, that it’s use is overseen and maintained by a branch of Time Travel Cops, who work in a facility that cannot be changed by anything done along any time line, but can notice things happening outside their building. A Traveler has decided to muck about in history, and one of the cops is sent after them, not just to bring them in, but to fix things so that history as they know it, continues.

TREASURE HUNTERS – Liz and Shirl are two treasure hunters who have an uncanny knack of finding secret treasure stashes. It isn’t really a knack, it’s more like a map that shows the exact co – ordinates of every single un – found treasure trove, until one day, the map no longer shows them the Earth, but something that looks re markedly like the moon.

THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO KILL A CAT – mystery the cat is on it’s fifth life, one life ended when as a young kitten it got run over by a car, second when it fell out of a tree while hunting an annoying miner bird, it’s third when it attacked three dogs, and the last life ended when it fell off it’s mistress’ broom. Mystery has always been looked after in it’s various life times by the family of Sally Wren, now having been apart of the myst she’s come back to the family, as there is something the family need to know…if only she could remember what it was…

TURN A BLIND EYE – a school for mystics, Zany Lewis, new to seerdom and not the typical blind seer is attending their first year. When Zany gets a premonition she zones out, and sometimes goes wandering, her visions attached to an older seer who takes over now and again. This along with the usual school shenanigans, lessons to be learned and mysteries to be solved.

THE TREE COURT – the tree court is not fully fleshed out, I just love the Ents from Tolkien and imagine a world, or continent inhabited by these sentient trees, who when humans come along and chop some down, and burn them, or make them into furniture, decide to take matters into their own hands, or limbs. The Furniture also gets in on the action. Humans are made to see the error of their ways.

UNICORNS – a mythical creature, even though they are actually real, just under an invisibility spell to keep them all safe as every part of them is extremely magical and worth a fortune. Hunters have found where a herd have been living, you have found out that location from a spy, you’ve always wanted your very own unicorn so you go along with the rangers only the unicorns are not the sweet creatures you were expecting, they are a viscous creature, sparks flying from hooves, flames from nostrils, flashing red eyes, and a wicked horn for impaling. Something else you didn’t know about them, they like the taste of human flesh.

UNDERTAKERS – two sisters running an undertakers things that happen, bodies vanishing, wrong families, grieving families, happy families. All things that could happen even money in coffins, bricks in coffins and wrong rites.

UNDINES – water sprites capture a human scientist and bring them to their world which humans can not see, where they let them know how angry they are about their treatment and pollution. They show the scientists the dead rivers and deceased Undines trying to get them to plead their case to the governments and stop the destruction and death.

UNRAVEL – it begins with a little thing, a thing thought complete, but not so much, then appointments missed that should have shown up in the alarms portion of their phone, that when examined shows them switched off, then a date with friends that gets cancelled, a full weekend away parents told that your too busy to go home, things begin to unravel, and you don’t remember doing the unraveling…

UNDYING LOVE – you and your partner have always claimed ‘undying love’ for each other, joking that if one passed before the other, the deceased would come back to them. Your partner died three weeks ago, you answer a knock on the door and see them standing in front of you, they push passed you saying to close the door, they’ve escaped from the here afters waiting room in order to keep their promise and they are being hunted.

UNLEASHED – a bio-genetic toxin that kills off all male sperm except that which was kept in labs and had been frozen. There is a huge risk at unfreezing it as when done before, some died. The human species are dying off, men more so as the toxin is rotting them from the inside out. A scientist finally finds a way, to safely impregnate an egg with pre toxin frozen sperm, successfully in laboratory conditions.

UNDERWORLD – while dark, gloomy and fiery, the underworld is all people have been told it is and much, much more. There is a committee of demon kings and queens who rule directly under the head honcho, where they dole out punishments, accidental interments, exchanges with paradise / summer-land / Valhalla…all surrounded by a couple of rivers and protected by a rather large three headed dog. Tell the story from the view point of an innocent mixed up with someone that went above and should be there, or from a demon, or demon king / queen.

VAMPIRE – a girl is brought over / sired by a long lived vampire who oversees the vamps induction into their cabal and is secretly trained to steal a knife and kill the present council of Cabals. During her induction and training (under the guise of becoming a warrior due to several vamp warrior dusting), she builds a friendship with another vamp who tells a different story than the one she’s been fed. Determined to get to the bottom of things, she gets assigned, much to her sire’s annoyance, to the ancient library where she learns how to break the link between herself and the vampire who bit her.

VAPOR – bio warfare, a vapor is developed that will wipe out a certain type of person. The test run is successful, until three weeks later at the announcement of this new weapon, the people who died, show up to the launch, signaling the rise of the next dominant species on planet earth, the intelligent Zombie.

VANISHED – Gilly Orr has been quiet person all their life, fading into the background at every event or occasion to the extent that they’ve been left behind in various places, they manage to make it through high school and attend Uni. Their painful shyness and ability to fade into the background turns into an actual super power. At first they aren’t so keen but when their only friend goes missing they use their power to find them, and find themselves.

VISITOR – your character comes home from school one day to find their parents waiting hand and foot on a strange looking woman with long purple hair and silver eyes, they tell you that this strange woman is a distant aunt and you are going to live with her. You begin to object, but one look into those silver eyes and you forget all about it until you come around in a luxurious room with a four poster bed, a ceiling to wall bookcase stuffed with books, an en – suite, and a view so beautiful it makes your eyes water, if it wasn’t for the bars on the window and the shackle on your leg you might actually like it.

VILLAIN – always lurking around every corner, giving your nemesis a hard time, laying it on thick, but not too thick (you need to keep them around) you battle each other, until one evening, while on patrol you find the hero’s child who was being minded by a childminder is under great risk, you are hesitant to step in, and the childminder is killed, you know that this will devastate your nemesis, and disguise yourself before taking out the other wannabe villain, you bring the kid to hospital, and stay with her until her hero parent arrives, the child confides in you that they wish their parent had more time with them, instead of out fighting villains all night. Something in that confidence, makes you want to ensure the child gets what they want, it isn’t until your both engaged that you realize that the hero’s child has superpowers of her own…

VISION (The) – in the middle of a basket ball game, you freeze, the vision of your entire town being blown to smithereens is played out across your minds eye. You miss the shot, and pass out. When you come around you are being brought to the ambulance, and everywhere you look there are skeletons with burnt skin falling off them, around you. A few moments later your ‘vision’ clears and you think you must have been hallucinating until your Coach comments on something near by, looks around at you and smiles an evil smile.

WOLF – all the werewolves have lived in turmoil for centuries, no pack likes the other, petty wars break out every five minutes, newly turned are taught to hate the other packs, but one newly turned wolf decides that enough is enough and begins to building grudging links between the packs, but this doesn’t go un – noticed by those who seek to gain from the packs being apart, and a decision is made to end the uppity wolf and their young pack.

WINGS – you’ve been taught all your life that dreaming of wings, and being able to fly is nothing more than your subconscious telling you that change is coming. You’ve just turned thirteen, you’ve had one of those dreams, it’s now morning, there is blood on your sheets, and you are suspended upside down from the ceiling, with bat like wings wrapped tightly around you.

WELL (The) – legend has it that the fountain of youth is someplace in south america, along with the city of gold, neither story is right. The fountain of youth is a well in the center of an ancient village which was the ‘city of gold’. Both are under an illusion, a spell cast many centuries ago to keep both safe from outsiders, as well as the people who live there. Very few ‘NEW’ people ever go near the town, it’s protected, but one afternoon a jeep stops inside the town, divesting its self of four individuals who are busily arguing with each other about directions.

WIZARD (The) – the last wizard, or at least he thought he was, gets news that there might actually be another, younger much, much younger wizard who is marked to take over things. The older man goes in search of the youth, and doesn’t like what he finds, the youth isn’t gone on him either, or authority.

WONDROUS THINGS – all the wonders of the world, a photographer sets out to capture all the modern wonders of the modern world. When done they aim to compare them with the seven original wonders of the old world. But when they check the images that they have taken, they see the same person, in different poses in each shot. Curious they use an old cop friend to gain access to some facial recognition software, the software doesn’t know the person, what happens next.

WOLF WAR (The) – two werewolf packs go to competition over a prime bit of land and house deeds. The winner will be the head pack of the district just like the pack that had owned the house and lands before they had been accidentally all wiped out.

WITCHES WAR (The) – two witches are successors to their mentors patch, no two witches have ever ruled a patch together before, they are prepared to go to war in order to find out who is the true successor, but just before the fight is due to commence a letter appears that states something big, bad and nasty is coming their way, and instead of fighting like two fools they are going to need to work together in order to beat it, and after they beat the nasty, they can divide the land, providing they survive.

XENOPHOBIA – a hermit / recluse locks themselves away from the world, but after many, many years agrees to an interview, the interviewer leaves with a very strange interview and a six inches thick binder which contains the reason why they are a xenophobe. It is now up to the reporter to tell the story, or not, but before they can make that decision, the xenophobic person is found dead.

XANTHIPPE – a historical novel based on the wife of Socrates and why her name has become linked with ill – tempered women and Shakespeare ‘taming of the shrew’. was she actually ill tempered or might she have had an actual reason.

XENOBIOLOGIST – Ellie Karay is a biologist, in a time when Aliens come and go from Earth frequently. She works on behalf of the European Union on the Earth Border Station Aires 1, in their medical bay. The story could follow her for a year, and also look into how Aliens have become frequent visitors to earth and how medicine and xenobiology has come as far as it has at this point. This could be told through a series of messages home to her parents.

XENOGLOSSY – Logan Marney goes to sleep one night normal (what ever that means), and wakes up the following day able to understand more than the English he used to know. He arrives into Uni, and finds that he can speak any language that is spoken to him, or that he sees written down, as he’s trying to explain to his professor, he notices something in a recording being played on a nearby screen from a few galaxies away, it had been thought of as just static, but now he can understand the message, a plea for help and a warning that something is coming to take over.

X – DOUBLE – MINUS – no electronic devices exist anymore, the world has moved forward without them, since the rebels set of the biggest EMT device to stop all nuclear powered countries from using the weapons during the short lived World War 3 in 2030. All that is left now is analogue devices, that suddenly go into overdrive belting out the same thing over, and over again, ‘x – double – minus’ which means something terrible is coming.

XIAN – a magical sword, gold handle, jeweled beyond belief, Steel blade with intricate designs etched into it, some in the form of musical notes, which sings to the one who possess it during battle, turning the fight into a musical.

XERICK – the wristband of thunder and lightening, silver lightening bolts that encircle the wrist, brought down sharply on a hard surface this allows the wearer to summon thunder and lightening.

YETI – a mythical creature that isn’t so mythical finds a child by a dead mothers body and begins to raise it, then realizes that the child needs to go back to the humans, but the child doesn’t want to leave so the Yeti goes with it and the humans as always get the wrong end of the stick. The child is none to happy about the situation escapes, finds the yeti and both go back to the wilderness.

YERN – a great love story, two people from different worlds (quite literally), fall in love during a peace conference, they then go their separate ways, they stay in touch covertly, occasionally they meet up and always end up going their separate ways, as the peace talks continue to roll on. War breaks out between them, and they risk everything to meet and go someplace that will be safe for them both, both are viewed initially as cowards but then, the resistance, in order to save their peoples from dying in a very senseless war, begin to use them as poster children for peace and getting along.

YGGDRASIL – (an ash tree) the tree of life, how did Odin find it? how did he protect it? where is it now? all questions that several drunken historians ask themselves neither wanting to prove the stories wrong or right. One however remembers the conversation the following morning, and for fun, goes about trying to find it using history books, maps, and the old legends, then, believing that they have indeed found it, convinces the others to come with them to where they think the tree is.

YATAGHAN ATES – a magical curved black Turkish sword that bursts into flames when used in battle. legend has it that the sword can only be wielded by one who is worthy of it and if you aren’t, it will burn you upon contact. This sword is found in an previously uncovered historical treasure trove, and is about to be picked up…

YARN – a spinner who spins gold, silver and jewels into mystical Armour that is light as silk, but keeps the wearer safe. Why would such a spinner be necessary? Are they fae? Are they Witch? Are they something else? What kind of wheel would they use? Loom? Who are they spinning for? Who will those people be going up against?

ZONES – the world is split into zones, outer and inner. Zone Police Department (ZPD), maintained by Androids, keep the zones in control, poorer zones have less resources and work for the other zones. Each zones limits are maintained by a computer. The computer has recently and unbeknownst to anyone become sentient and thinks that it is time to allow the poor to have a chance to become and live as rich people do. The rich don’t like this idea (majority rules eh), and a fair amount of the ones in between don’t agree either. These people try to over run the androids and computer to put things right, only to find themselves face to face with the androids, the poor and all those who support the change.

ZENTOPIA – an island that lives according to the A to Z of Zen (in the image above). This Novel, could be written in 26 chapters, one for each letter, and what each would mean to the characters in the Novel. Maybe each chapter must be lived before one can become truly Zen.

ZIM, ZAM AND ZOEY – siblings, their parents are Zan and Zara, both parents have a thing for names starting with ‘Z’. Zim or Zimmel is the eldest, a dark haired boy who is into sports and good humored. Zam or Zammal is the second eldest, also a boy, but blond, likes playing DnD, a bit of a nerd, not gone on sports. Zoey is the youngest, moody, and into everything Goth. They are a typical set of siblings, managing life at home with rather strange parents, arguing with each other over the remote control and the spoiling of show episodes they are watching, that is until they aren’t…

ZEALOT OF ZENE – Zene is the Goddess of Kava 3, a warrior Goddess who fought against oppression. Kava 3’s inhabitants the Kavanians on landmass 1 are under the control of the Ebberts from Landmass 2 and because of Abbeliou the Zealot of Zene, they are preparing to overthrow their oppressive masters.

ZEAPHER CHOKER – when worn this flimsy choker allows the wearer to ‘blow’ up any kind of wind that they might need, simply touch the cloud shaped, color coded stone then blow. Long buried in a museum storage room, an earth quake uncovers it again, and falls into the hands of a lab tech.

The Road to Being a Published Writer

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2019 A2Z Challenge

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