SciFi/Fantasy – June 17

“He decided to stay in his space suit; explosive decompression didn’t appeal to him. Come to think about it, death from old age was his choice.”- Robert Heinlein, in whose 1999 Lieutenant John Ezra Dahlquist returned to Earth for the last time on this date. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must sacrifice himself for the greater good to which s/he is committed.

SciFi/Fantasy – June 16

“Show me what a people admire, and I will tell you everything about them that matters.”- Jack McDevitt, in whose 2202, Earth receives a message from Inokademeri on this date. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist receives a shocking surprise when s/he first encounters a culture significantly behind her/his own in development.

SciFi/Fantasy – June 15

“Forbid us something, and that thing we desire.”- Geoffrey Chaucer Edvard Grieg, born on this date in 1843, composed “In the Hall of the Mountain King” for a fantasy sequence in Ibsen’s Peer Gynt. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist enters a forbidden place for the first...

SciFi/Fantasy – June 14

“Survival is the key word to remember—not victory, not conquest, just survival.”- Max Brooks, in whose 1998 a zombie outbreak occurred in Zabrovst on this date after Frozen Cossack Zombie thawed during a photo shoot. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s sure-fire strategy for conquest turns into a race to survive.

SciFi/Fantasy – June 13

“We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities.”- Walt Kelly On this date in 1983, 11 years after its launch, Pioneer 10 flew through Pluto’s orbit and became the first man-made object to leave the solar system. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is criticized by a valued mentor for your protag’s opinion about the first person or thing to pass a once-insurmountable...

SciFi/Fantasy – June 12

“I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”- Ellen Ripley, who in this month in the year 2122 will be the sole survivor of an alien attack aboard the USCSS Nostromo. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must stop an unstoppable killing machine.

SciFi/Fantasy – June 11

“There was never a great genius without a touch of madness.”- Ben Jonson, once jailed for “leude and mutynous behavior,” born this date, probably in the year 1572. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s persistent refusal to comply with her/his culture’s concept of political correctness gets him/her into dangerous trouble.

SciFi/Fantasy – June 10

“If history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth.”- E.O. Wilson, born this date in 1929. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist loses an important battle because s/he mistakes passionate desire for truth.