SciFi/Fantasy – October 10

“Repressing of fear is like trying to hold down the lid of a boiling kettle. Something’s got to give eventually.”- Superintendent Folland in Seven Days to Noon, which premiered on this date in 1950. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must prevent an inventor from using his/her invention to destroy the civilization it’s supposed to protect.

SciFi/Fantasy – October 9

“You have to believe the magic to see it.”- Guillermo del Toro, born this date in 1964. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist finds him/herself the antagonist in his/her favorite childhood folk tale.

SciFi/Fantasy – October 8

“What do you despise? By this are you truly known.”- Frank Herbert, born this date in 1920. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist must confront a challenge by what s/he hates most.

SciFi/Fantasy – October 7

“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.”- Niels Bohr, born this date in 1885. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s prediction about how an event will occur is proven disastrously and spectacularly wrong.

SciFi/Fantasy – October 6

“Creative people see Prometheus in a mirror, never Pandora.”- David Brin, born this date in 1950. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist’s clever solution to a fatal problem makes the problem worse.

SciFi/Fantasy – October 5

“I think humans are innately religious as a species, so you don’t need a specific excuse for examining the perversely unholy.”- Clive Barker, born this date in 1952. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist blasphemes the most important deity in her/his life.

SciFi/Fantasy – October 4

“The world doesn’t need any more mediocrity or hedged bets.”- Anne Rice, born this date in 1941. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist is put in mortal peril by a trusted friend’s hedged bet.

SciFi/Fantasy – October 3

“Yeah, that can’t be good.”- Marshall Jack Carter of Eureka, where probing a mysterious artifact on this date in 2006 disrupted the space-time continuum. Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist accidentally launches a series of unfortunate events.