“Almost an Inkling” Flash Fiction Contest Week 1 Winners!

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

“It’s a race! It’s a race! I’m weeing! I’m weening!”
Well, it isn’t a race, but I’m pleased to say that I’m one of those that were picked by popular vote in the “Almost an Inkling Writing Contest!” New prompt is up this week; the hint is “a One Minute Mystery.” You should check it out!

About Brenton Dickieson

“A Pilgrim in Narnia” is a blog project in reading and talking about the work of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, the Inklings, L.M. Montgomery, and the worlds they created. As a "Faith, Fantasy, and Fiction" blog, we cover topics like children’s literature, myths and mythology, fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, poetry, theology, cultural criticism, art and writing. This blog includes my thoughts as I read through my favourite writings and reflect on my own life and culture. In this sense, I am a Pilgrim in Narnia--or Middle Earth, or Fairyland, or Avonlea. I am often peeking inside of wardrobes, looking for magic bricks in urban alleys, or rooting through yard sale boxes for old rings. If something here captures your imagination, leave a comment, “like” a post, share with your friends, or sign up to receive Narnian Pilgrim posts in your email box. Brenton Dickieson (PhD, Chester) is a father, husband, friend, university lecturer, and freelance writer from Prince Edward Island, Canada. You can follow him: www.aPilgrimInNarnia.com Twitter (X) @BrentonDana Instagram @bdickieson Facebook @aPilgrimInNarnia
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22 Responses to “Almost an Inkling” Flash Fiction Contest Week 1 Winners!

  1. David Llewellyn Dodds says:
    October 4, 2015 at 9:33 pm

    Congratulations! I don’t think I can express myself adequately, but (an attempt) – your artistry produced a quietly devastating, searing effect. (And now I have gone on to enjoy your allusive, vigorously – and darkly – humorous dragon tale.)

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson says:
      October 5, 2015 at 6:31 am

      Hi David–thanks for the note. My story this week is peculiar, and really for geeks who like the same kinds of stories I do.
      What I like about your dragon tale especially is the way you use words to capture another era, yet there are no archaisms. I mean simple (saxon) words like worm, cave, ruddy, kiln, wrath….
      Do you think, somewhere deep with the chasms of this world where dragons awake the rebirth of their world, there is a draconian liturgy that roles in the bellies of these great beasts? That’s the question your story inspired.

      Reply
      • David Llewellyn Dodds says:
        October 5, 2015 at 8:27 am

        Thank you!

        What a fascinating idea of a draconian liturgy (waking or sleeping, a sort of transposed sustaining of the time between)!

        Geeks, indeed – I felt things zipping over my head that eluded my grasp, and would probably need A Reader’s Guide to squeeze out every drop, but that teasing is inviting, too!

        Reply
  2. David says:
    October 5, 2015 at 4:01 am

    Congratulations! I wasn’t able to get to all the other submissions, and so sadly missed yours. But fortunately you won, which means I’ll get to read it later. 🙂 My own story “Mud” earned a kind honorable mention from Sorina in the video, for which I’m grateful. By God’s grace I was able to slip another story in for last week’s prompt, and I’m excited to read more of the other submissions.

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson says:
      October 5, 2015 at 6:40 am

      Yes, it was cool to be a part of this, and I suspect the e-book will be priced at 99cents or something.
      Your story “Mud” made me sad. Thanks for blogging it so it is nearby. Phrases like “I too am tired of my world.” and “New water on thirsty ground. And your new name here, to be followed by many glorious titles.”
      Did you put in a Dragon story?

      Reply
    • David Llewellyn Dodds says:
      October 5, 2015 at 8:18 am

      It certainly deserved an honorable mention! I’m glad you followed the suggestion to make it available again! Mud’s savoring of a novel beauty, only to have its precariousness and need revealed, struck me with fuller force on rereading. (Lovely tangential anxiety about all those glasses of water over the mattress before their passage to the Other World!)

      Reply
    • David says:
      October 5, 2015 at 3:09 pm

      Thanks, both of you. I like to think that the blue king perceived the boy’s feelings of depression and helplessness, and purposely nudged him into a hero role for his own good. Unexpected acts of kindness are always powerful to me. Heh, one of my friends wondered if the boy wasn’t just playing pretend with a goldfish bowl — not what I intended, but perhaps also not inconceivable!

      I did submit a dragon story, “The Minnesinger” (a medieval German term for a type of bard). Reading the above comment about dragon liturgies makes me sad I had to cut out (for word-count reasons) a section of my story that ruminated on dragon religious beliefs from a 16th-century German perspective. An amusing aside, at least to me, but not strictly vital to the plot or tone, so it had to go.

      Reply
      • Brenton Dickieson says:
        October 5, 2015 at 3:28 pm

        David, I was particularly intrigued by the ritual in your story. Is that ritual one that you invented or does it come out of the lore?

        Reply
        • David says:
          October 5, 2015 at 5:15 pm

          Everything is invented, except of course for the Black Forest being in Germany. There’s a few more references in the full version that make the setting clearer, and that took a tiny bit of research from me. But otherwise, I was just trying to imagine what fey songs and dragon songs might be like.

          Reply
      • David Llewellyn Dodds says:
        October 5, 2015 at 5:00 pm

        After this week’s judging (whatever its outcome) might you look into putting the ‘longer recension’ on your blog?

        Reply
        • David says:
          October 5, 2015 at 5:17 pm

          Sure, I’ll definitely consider it. The submitted version is a bit tighter, but the full version flows better, I think, and is probably easier to follow. Thank you for your interest!

          Reply
  3. sdorman2014 says:
    October 5, 2015 at 6:15 pm

    congratulations on the portal contest. have winners been told anything about the licensing of rights?

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson says:
      October 5, 2015 at 9:12 pm

      Howdy! Was fun to win. I watched the video and our piece can appear in a collection this fall, which is nice. I haven’t had a NanoFiction piece in circulation yet.
      I suspect it will be standard licensing: no money, but a free Ecopy, allowed to post on my own blog a year or so after publication. I wonder if there is also something going on for winners–a podcast at the end, methinks.

      Reply
      • sdorman2014 says:
        October 6, 2015 at 8:19 am

        yes! fun!!

        I wonder, owing to digital pub, things have changed so much of late, re licensing.

        …………………….
        apology for lowercase, owing to increasing repetitive stress and carpel tunnel syndrome coupled with arthritis.

        Reply
  4. jubilare says:
    October 12, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    Congrats, my friend! I absolutely love your stories and voted for you both times. XD

    Reply
    • Brenton Dickieson says:
      October 12, 2015 at 12:55 pm

      I voted for you once, but not knowing you were you, if you know what I mean!

      Reply
      • jubilare says:
        October 12, 2015 at 1:04 pm

        ^_^ that warms my insane little heart so much!

        Reply
        • David Llewellyn Dodds says:
          October 13, 2015 at 7:02 pm

          I enjoyed “Raised by Dragons”, though the second paragraph was rather hair-raising (I have a couple vintage paperback grimoires, the decades-old gifts of well-meaning friends, which – superstitiously? wisely? – i’ve never dared to look into). But, could you, here or there, give ‘the rest of us’ a hint about where we might read more about “a certain dragon-connected wizard from my canon” – or is discovering that for oneself a Task for the Blog-explorer Errant?

          Reply
  5. David Llewellyn Dodds says:
    October 13, 2015 at 2:49 pm

    He’s on a roll…! Congratulations on “Popular First Runner-up”!

    Reply

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