December 2021
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on December 31, 2021 by TC Editors

Write in a dialect not your own.
Set your story in a medical research laboratory
Write about a book club.
Start with this line: We will fight all the way to the Supreme Court.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: confession, pony, welcome, distant, elect.
2. Use the phrase, “Is that the beer talking?”
3. Write about walking away from something familiar.
Write about a violation of policy
Write about being at sea in a storm.
Write about a betrayal
Write about the Little People.
Start with this line: She’s jealous of people who live in California.
Write about waiting for the mail to come.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: detector, variety, directory, light, corn.
2. Use the phrase, “justify the expense.”
3. Write about an expected surprise.
Write about using an old calendar.
Write about a video conference call incident
Write about waiting in the cold.
Start with this line: I may not have all of the facts but…
Use the phrase, “What I should have done.”
Write about baking a pie
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: district, cottage, relation, steel, genuine.
2. Fill in the blank, “Cheap _____ is not worth the money.”
3. Write about intentionally violating rules.
Write about a meteor shower
Write about something that can only happen on the solstice.
Write about an artist’s process
Write about a small child jumping up and down.
Use these five words: veterans, additional, range, gamble, dynamic
Write about staying up after midnight.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: death, parade, time, potential, public.
2. Use the phrase, “Can you hear it?”
3. Write about doing something other people thought impossible.
Write about turning down dessert.
Use these five words: perfectionism, unworthy, Emmy, B-roll, aesthetic
Write about trying to resume after interruption.
Start with this line: We are raffling off two tickets.
Summarize last year’s writing. What can you do differently next year?

Toasted Cheese 21:4

Featured

Posted on December 1, 2021 by TC Editors

The December 2021 issue of Toasted Cheese features poetry by Nathaniel Krenkel, DS Maolalai & David Sapp; flash by Hibah Shabkhez; and fiction by Mari Carlson, Mary Sophie Filicetti, Bari Lynn Hein, Ewa Mazierska & Andrea Stephenson.

TC 21:4 also includes the 2021 Savage Science Fiction / Fantasy 48-Hour Writing Contest winning stories by Cara Brezina, Robin Hillard & Ian Bentwood.

At Candle-Ends, Shelley Carpenter reviews I, Menagerie by Garrett Ray Harriman, Anne Greenwalt reviews Gare de Lyon by Bill Lockwood, and Bill Lockwood reviews The Dime by Mark Paxson.

The cover image is by John Kroll on Flickr, with additional photos by photographers around the world, all of whom have generously made their work available for use under Creative Commons licenses. Please click through and check out their photostreams.

Congratulations to all. Happy reading!

November 2021
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on November 30, 2021 by TC Editors

Write about waiting for the first winter storm.
Start with this line: Stop crying!
Write about an old stuffed animal toy.
Use these five words: charmed, soldier, fishing, realist, beach
Write about struggling with a computer.
Use these five words: weekend, marches, surprising, weather, park
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: violation, understanding, quaint, husband, pole.
2. Use the phrase, “I need help.”
3. Write about losing an important item.
Start with this line: The tsunami has been upgraded.
Write about losing a shopping list.
Start with this line: All the rats are leaving that sinking ship.
Write about the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Start with this line: You dance like my mom.
Write about looking through smudged glasses.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: benefit, treatment, embark, helmet, litigation.
2. Use the phrase, “That’s not part of the celebration.”
3. Write about things we no longer wear.
Write about a mountain in the mist.
Start with this line: The odds are stacked against us.
Write about missing a quota.
Start with this line: Well, that didn’t age well.
Write about a dangerous intersection.
Start with this line: I really want you to win.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: bike, meet, pill, gradient, manage.
2. Use the phrase, “The world seems smaller.”
3. Write about photographing a landscape.
Use these five words: midnight, exposure, nothing, cheat, air
Write about losing touch with a friend.
Start with this line: I just wanted to say thank you for…
Write about celebrating the wrong holiday.
Use these five words: clinical, halt, unconscionable, debate, disrupting
Write about a houseplant blooming.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: suspicion, admission, detective, joke, inspire.
2. Use the phrase, “book of inspirational quotes.”
3. Write about wrestling with technology.
Set your story at a rehearsal.
Use these five words: envoy, partners, affordability, heart, digital

October 2021
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on October 31, 2021 by TC Editors

Use “You probably haven’t heard this.”
Use these five words: agricultural, child, incredible, country, church
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: feeling, perforate, cottage, jungle, mislead.
2. Use the phrase, “There was a person I knew.”
3. Write about something done for healing purposes.
Start with this line: I’m thrilled to announce…
Use the phrase, “I’m not that good.”
Start with this line: She would’ve made a great leader.
Write about a flat tire.
Set your story on a disastrous date
Use the phrase “It’s been Saturday all week.”
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: waterfall, meeting, rescue, sword, occupation.
2. Use the phrase, “It’s mostly fluff.”
3. Write about making predictions.
Write about missing a whole season.
Set your story at a tiny wedding
Your characters exchange a knock-knock joke.
Write about a month of awareness
Your character coins a word.
Set your story in a cabin in the woods
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: biscuit, clash, policy, suffering, solve.
2. Use the phrase, “Give or take.”
3. Write about cancelling an event.
Start with this line: We understand why you’re frustrated.
Write about driving a train.
Write about an uninvited guest
Write about being bad at keeping secrets.
Start with this line: My research led me down a rabbithole.
Write about an interrupted routine.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: horseshoe, porter, glove, sea, spider.
2. Use the phrase, “Make it fit in the box.”
3. Write about making copies.
Compare a child to their younger self.
Start with this line: Would you like to join our team?
Use “Blessed are the pessimists, for they shall have made backups.”
Use these five words: animate, famous, rage, daughter, beautiful
Write about visiting a former workplace.
Set your story during a high-profile interview
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: canvas, skate, plaintiff, auditor, thinker.
2. Use the phrase, “Which one is it?”
3. Write about an absurd challenge.

2021 Savage Science Fiction / Fantasy Writing Contest Winners!

Posted on October 31, 2021 by TC Editors

Toasted Cheese is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Mollie Savage Memorial Science Fiction / Fantasy Writing Contest:

1st place: “The Broken Heartstone” by Cara Brezina
2nd place: “The Story I Have Not Told” by Robin Hillard
3rd place: “How Can We Live Without It?” by Ian Bentwood

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everybody who entered. Look for the winning stories in the December issue of Toasted Cheese.

TC’s Dead of Winter horror writing contest is currently open for entries! Click here for more info.

21st Annual Dead of Winter short fiction contest

Posted on October 1, 2021 by TC Editors

Stories submitted to the the 21st Annual Dead of Winter contest (December 2021) will use the theme STAY OUT OF THE ___ .

Since childhood, we’ve been warned to stay away from certain places like the forest or an abandoned house. We’re also told to stay out of arguments or not to shake the family tree. After all, it’s for our own good. What could possibly go wrong if we disregard this fundamental advice? Your characters will get to find out in the horror story you’ll write by completing and using that theme.

Your entry will not only use the theme but will also use it in a central way, not as a peripheral or “dropped in” detail. Give your story a unique title.

EVERY YEAR:

Stories MUST be based on the theme provided.
Stories MUST be set in winter.
Stories MUST fall in the horror genre.

HOW TO ENTER:

The contest opens October 1, 2021 and the deadline for submission is 11:59 PM ET December 21, 2021.

Email entries to dow2021[at]toasted-cheese.com with the subject line:
Dead of Winter Contest Entry.

Include at the beginning of your entry: Title (word count)

The word count range for DOW 2021 is 1000–5000 words. You may round your word count however you like (example: a 4853-word-story could be “4853,” “4850,” or “~4900”). Stories that do not fall within word count parameters will be disqualified.

Follow general contest guidelines and general Dead of Winter guidelines.
See DOW guidelines for prize information.

September 2021
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on September 30, 2021 by TC Editors

Write about weird traffic as evidence for a mishap.
Use these five words: resigns, bungled, indigestible, record, dystopia
Write about the sound of construction, far away.
Start with this line: I’m convinced he’s allergic to…
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: position, forget, ostracize, timber, awful.
2. Use the phrase, “The same old thing.”
3. Write about figuring something out.
Set your story in a treehouse
Write about a holiday not shared by everyone present.
Use these five words: creativity, scheduled, update, self-worth, lifelong
Write about getting new glasses or lenses.
Start with this line: They just hit rock bottom.
Write about private mourning for a public event.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: girl, advance, corner, register, uncle.
2. Use the phrase, “That’s ten times in the last week.”
3. Write about dim memories of a similar situation.
Write about something that makes no sense to the narrator.
Write about a short film
Write about obsessively sorting something that didn’t need it.
Start with this line: If I’m being totally honest…
Use the phrase, “We don’t have enough people to do that.”
Start with this line: He’s trying to buy votes.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: breeze, salon, administration, remain, condition.
2. Use the phrase, “Open it up.”
3. Write about an automation failure.
Use these five words: worried, staging, history, impressive, farmer
Write about doing busy work until dinnertime.
Set your story during a murder trial
Your character writes a haiku.
Set your story at a party with cupcakes
Write about cracking knuckles before getting to work.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: aviation, explicit, insistence, manufacturer, charismatic.
2. Use the phrase, “Was that tonight?”
3. Write about being too tired to stay awake.
Use the phrase, “Begin in the middle.”
Start with this line: Who gets custody of _____?
Use the phrase, “One last time.”
Use these five words: processed, ambiguity, cemetery, quarters, packing

The 2021 Savage Science Fiction / Fantasy Writing Contest is CLOSED

Posted on September 17, 2021 by TC Editors

Your challenge for the 2021 Savage Science Fiction / Fantasy Writing Contest:

Write a fantasy or science fiction story under 4,000 words about trying to regain a power, sense, or technology lost to an act of nature or a widespread disease.

Be sure to read both the Savage Writing Contest rules and the general contest guidelines before submitting your entry.

Your 48 hours start now. Good luck!

Toasted Cheese 21:3

Posted on September 1, 2021 by TC Editors

The September 2021 issue of Toasted Cheese features poetry by Jenny Hockey, Joanne Holdridge, Vicki Mandell-King, Timothy Pilgrim & Russell Rowland; flash by Natalie Schriefer; fiction by Omid Fallahazad, Minh Tam T. Le & Ann Zhang; and creative nonfiction by Elizabeth Bernays & Kolton Knapp.

TC 21:3 also includes the 2021 A Midsummer Tale Writing Contest winning stories by April Vázquez, Robin Kirby & Christina Hoag.

At Candle-Ends, Shelley Carpenter reviews The Shot by Anne Greenawalt.

The cover image is by Anna Fox on Flickr, with additional photos by photographers around the world, all of whom have generously made their work available for use under Creative Commons licenses. Please click through and check out their photostreams.

Congratulations to all. Happy reading!

August 2021
Daily Writing Prompts

Posted on August 31, 2021 by TC Editors

Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: place, digital, iron, pumpkin, peanut.
2. Use the phrase, “Expect heavy precipitation.”
3. Write about merging cuisines from different places.
Start with this line: The apocalypse is coming.
Write about recovering from illness or injury.
Set your story at a closed border
Write about apologizing for being late.
Write about a personal attack
Write about watching a plume of smoke.
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: plaster, perfume, argument, swell, conscious.
2. Use the phrase, “That won’t work.”
3. Write about trying to stay awake.
Write about not apologizing for being late.
Use these five words: stars, missing, nuclear, powerful, accident
Write about missing deadlines.
Use these five words: outage, classic, concert, trial, exchange
Set your story on Friday the 13th.
Set your story during a snowstorm
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: island, density, general, copy, sister.
2. Use the phrase, “If it were reliable, it wouldn’t be magic.”
3. Write about almost missing a deadline.
Start with this line: She wants to be seen as something other than a mother.
Write about a doctored recording.
Write about something kept in cages
Answer a child’s “That’s not fair!” complaint.
Use these five words: superfans, behavioral, journalist, debate, airport
Use “How does this thing work again?”
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: waiter, chew, magnitude, joint, population.
2. Use the phrase, “It seems less noisy.”
3. Write about an inconvenient modern technology.
Write about a bad case of the Mondays
Write about a well-deserved bath
Write an incident in your character’s childhood.
Use these five words: grifters, gravesite, befitting, defeat, network
Write about not being able to come up with the right word.
Use these five words: flashpoint, shortage, packing, cheers, fight
Join us for a live Writing Chat every Sunday!
1. Use the following five words: half, release, jewel, X-ray, double.
2. Use the phrase, “How do we clean that?”
3. Write about disobeying rules.
Write about a great mystery
Write about clay on a potter’s wheel.

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