Category Archives: Writing Community

Toasted Cheese Writing Community.

20th Annual Dead of Winter short fiction contest

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We are thrilled to announce the opening of the 20th Annual Dead of Winter contest (December 2020) and to mark the occasion, we’re doing something special with this year’s theme.

SPECIAL:

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, not using the theme as a title.

Choose from one of these previous DOW themes for your short horror fiction entry:

  • ALASKA
  • ALTERNATIVE SANTA
  • THE AWARD
  • BLOOD RIVER BRIDGE
  • DEATH AND WINTER
  • FAMILY TREE
  • THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS
  • THE HAND OF FATE
  • THE HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE
  • HEART AND SOUL
  • HIDDEN GRAVE
  • THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE ROAD
  • IT’S NOT NICE TO FOOL MOTHER NATURE
  • THE NEIGHBORHOOD CHILDREN
  • NEVERTHELESS SHE PERSISTED
  • THE PODCAST
  • SKULL AND BONES
  • THE SOUVENIRS/TROPHIES OF A RETURNED SOLDIER
  • TOYS IN THE ATTIC
  • URBAN LEGEND
  • VENTRILOQUIST
  • WHAT’S POSSIBLE ON THE LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR

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, 2020 and the deadline for submission is 11:59 PM ET December 21, 2020.

Email entries to dow2020[at]toasted-cheese.com with the subject line:
Dead of Winter Contest Entry.

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

The word count range for DOW 2020 is 1000–5000 words. You may round your word count however you like. 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.

Three Cheers and a Tiger Fall 2020 is CLOSED

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Your challenge for the Fall 2020 Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest:

Write a fantasy or science fiction story of up to 3,000 words on the topic of returning to a childhood neighborhood to find only one house still inhabited.

Be sure to read both the Three Cheers and a Tiger contest rules and the general contest guidelines before submitting your entry.

Your 48 hours start now. Good luck!

TC recommends: Ravynscroft

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Congratulations to TC editor Richard Edgar (Ana “Broker” George) on the publication of their second novel, Ravynscroft! This new story follows Ravyn as she begins her second act after splitting with her wife. Ravynscroft is the second book in the Necessary Lies series.

Broker’s Goodreads author page

Amazon link for digital or paperback version

Ravynscroft (Necessary Lies, #2) by Richard Edgar
Ravynscroft (Necessary Lies, #2) by Richard Edgar

Dead of Winter 2019 Winners

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The winning stories in our 2019 “Dead of Winter” short fiction contest are “The Silver Wrens” by Alex Grey (first place) and “Answers” by DJ Tyrer (second place). The theme was “Family Tree” and both stories used the theme in literal and figurative ways. You’ll be able to read them in TCLJ 20.1.

Our next contest is “Three Cheers & A Tiger: Spring,” which is a 48-hour mystery contest. Dead of Winter 2020, our twentieth annual, opens October 1, 2020. Toasted Cheese’s contest info is here.

Note: Dead of Winter 2019

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Just a quick note to let everyone know that Dead of Winter notices will go out February 1 and we apologize for the 24-hour delay.

Winners are chosen but as we like to notify entrants before a public announcement is made, we will be sending notifications out first, then making a fresh post here announcing our first and second place stories. We can’t wait for you to read them in our March issue!

Three Cheers and a Tiger Fall 2019 winners

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Toasted Cheese announces the winners of Fall 2019 Three Cheers and a Tiger.

The challenge was to write a speculative fiction story within 48 hours using the prompt “Write a fantasy or science fiction story under 5000 words that opens with something needlessly dramatic, which becomes actual drama when…”

First place: “Risk Assessment” by Annie Percik
Second place: “Devil’s Take” by Joshua Flores
Third place: “Interdependence” by Deana Zhollis

The winning entries will be published in the December/Winter issue of Toasted Cheese (Issue 19.4).

Judges for Three Cheers (Fall) are Boots & Broker. 

Congratulations to the winners!

19th Annual Dead of Winter short fiction contest

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Stories submitted to the 19th Annual Dead of Winter contest (December 2019) will use the theme: FAMILY TREE. Your entry must follow guidelines linked below.

Have you shaken the branches on your family tree and found a character you’d like to fictionalize? Have you taken a DNA test from a popular website and thought about how it could go wrong? With the growing focus on our roots and branches, we hope you’re inspired by this theme.

SPECIAL:

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. Examples of ways to use the theme might be a discovered family Bible has missing information, a man claiming to be an uncle appears out of nowhere, or a visit to the local cemetery reveals the headstone of a twin.

Please give your story a unique title, not “The Family Tree.”

EVERY YEAR:

  • Stories MUST be based on the theme provided.
  • Stories MUST be set in winter.
  • Stories MUST fall in the horror genre
  • The word count range for DOW2019 is 2500–5000 words.

HOW TO ENTER:

The contest opens October 1, 2019 and the deadline for submission is 11:59 PM ET December 21, 2019.

Email entries to dow2019[at]toasted-cheese.com with the subject line:
Dead of Winter Contest Entry

Follow general contest guidelines and general Dead of Winter guidelines

Three Cheers and a Tiger Fall 2019 is CLOSED

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Your challenge for the Fall 2019 Three Cheers and a Tiger Writing Contest:

Write a fantasy or science fiction story under 5000 words that opens with something needlessly dramatic, which becomes actual drama when…

Be sure to read both the Three Cheers and a Tiger contest rules and the general contest guidelines before submitting your entry.

Your 48 hours start now. Good luck!

Dead of Winter 2018 Winners

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The winning stories in our 2018 “Dead of Winter” short horror fiction contest are:

  • First place: “The Grave of Samuel Seymore James” by M. Luke Yoder
  • Second place: “Eidolon” by Lou Nell Gerard
  • Third place: “99 Words of Sorrow” by Maureen Rostad

Our next contest is “Three Cheers & A Tiger: Spring,” which is a 48-hour mystery contest. Dead of Winter 2019 opens October 1, 2019. We look forward to your entries. These stories will be published in the March 2019 issue.

Our contest info is here.http://tclj.toasted-cheese.com/contest.htm