One Shot Anthology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Colonization is a common theme in science fiction and fantasy.  Whether the story take place in the past, the future, on Earth, or some far off world.  People or critters find ways to occupy and inhabit worlds that are alien to them.

For the last few years, I’ve been a semi-regular attendee at a “Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Meetup” in Toronto.  The group is made up mostly of novelists and short story writers.  I bring in my screenplays.  I prefer this group over screenwriting groups.  This group’s primary focus is on storytelling, not on following formulas, and the members are great writers.

Toronto’s sci-fi/fantasy writers group has become popular over the last few years.  In order to keep the regulars motivated, the organizer, David Shultz, has come up with some challenges.  He started to publish anthologies under the name “Tdotspec“.  These publications are organized/edited by people both in the writers group, and outside of it.  As an extra fun challenge, he created a couple of “one shot” anthologies based on the themes “Sanctuary” and “Colony”.

These anthologies challenge writers to write/edit a short story, based on the book’s theme, in less than 24 hours.  After those 24 hours, time is up, not a single line or typo can be touched.  The stories go into the anthology, as is.  I’ve read the anthology “Colony” myself.  Some of the stories are far better than what I would have expected, considering the time restraints.  Good enough for a regular publication.  My personal favourite story was “The Queen Colonies” written by Annelise Knoot.

I contributed a story to this anthology under my full name, Christopher Donald Griffin.  Mine was titled “Colonize This”.  I had no idea what I was going to write until the clock started.  I’ve received good feedback on it, which is a relief, because my filters were completely off.  My story was full of twists, turns, and it was as vulgar as fuck.  It was as much a comedy as it was sci-fi.  It’s what I do.

I almost forgot.  Members of Toronto’s “Horror Writers Group” run by “The Itch” also contributed to the anthology.  I’m also a member of this group.  Great people.

You can purchase the anthology from Amazon at https://www.amazon.ca/Colony-one-shot-anthology-speculative-fiction/dp/1999403940.

 

You can learn more about the blog’s author, Chris Griffin, at About Me.