Black Bird- Writing Prompt

A little black bird taps on your window. He has something very important to tell you... What does he say?

K.N. Lee

Tap. Tap.

I turn to the window and frown. "Is someone there?"

"Just me. Come closer..."

I lean forward in my chair to get a better look. All I see is a black bird peering at me with a little, beady, black eye.

No way, I think.

"Who are you?"

"Just a bird...with a secret to tell..."

My mind is telling me that this cannot be real but I smile at the bird and come to my feet. I walk over and open the window. A cool breeze sweeps in and droplets of rain splatter on my window pane.

This is a dream, I think. But why am I so cold?

The bird hops onto my hand and looks up at me.

"Come closer..."

I grin and move my face closer to the bird. I cannot wait to hear what he has to tell me. My friend, Calla, always says that dreams have a meaning. I will have to tell her about this when I wake up.

The bird brings its gray beak closer to my ear and clears its throat.

"The sun will not return. Yet the moon will burn. Gather your brother, father and mother. Escape to the mountain and you'll find a fountain. Drop in a key and then you'll find me. I will show you a place of beauty and wonder and you'll forget all about this world of plunder. Are you listening?"

I nod my head and look towards the sky. My face turns pale as I watch the moon go from white to orange to red.

My heart thumps. "Who are you? Am I dreaming?"

The bird cackles and I hold my breath in horror.

"No love..." He composes himself. "I am afraid, this is not a dream. You have one hour. Will you do as I say?"

I stand up straight and run my fingers through my hair.

"Why me? What will happen to everyone else?"

The bird flies up to my face.

"It is up to you...to save them..."

The Basement- Writing Prompt/Poem

Who, or what, did you lock in the basement?

The Basement

K.N. Lee- A Poem

I locked the love I left behind.

It tried to cling within my mind.

The broken glass

And blackened blood

Still lingered there

Stuck to the floor...

like mud

It calls for me still

At night when I dream

Screaming and banging

Cackling and clanging

And yet I strive

To be strong

To right what's wrong

And carry on...

Thanks to Morgan for responding as well and taking the fantasy route...my favorite route if you didn't know ;)

Morgan Silver

"A unicorn! I don't want to share Rainbow with anyone else!"

For more on Morgan visit www.writenow-morgan.blogspot.com/

Thank you for visiting!

More writing prompts everyday on www.facebook.com/knycolelee

Grandma Tells A Story-Writing Prompt

Grandma sits down to tell you the story of when...

Kenichi Kamihara

...she was a little kid and had a playful black and white kitty that never aged!

K.N. Lee

The kitty was named, Tom and ate all of the mice in the manor. Until one day, he met a mischievous little mouse named, Jerry...

Morgan Silver http://writenow-morgan.blogspot.com/

...who kept pulling his tail and stealing his balls of yarn which caused Tom to devise a plan...

K.N. Lee

...Tom planned to catch Jerry in a mousetrap, but instead, young Grandma got her finger stuck in it and had to have it amputated. And that's the story of why Grandma only has nine fingers...

Separate strand via Kevin Horn and Adaikpoh Ehiemenonye:

Grandma sits down to tell you the story of when...

Kevin Horn

...the fairy's and the elves dance a played in the fields, before the truce was ended with the humans and all magic left this world...

Adaikpoh Ehiemenonye

...She met grandad and how they fell in love...

Thanks for participating on another fun writing prompt! -K.N. Lee

More each day @ www.facebook.com/knycolelee

Write on!

Two Little Girls in the Woods-Writing Prompt

There are two little girls playing in the woods. They hear something crunch behind them. What do they see when they turn around?

Response via K.N. Lee and Carlos De Jesus:

Hannah turned around and clutched her sister's arm. A whimper escaped Anna's lips as they stared back at a creature from their worst nightmares. There stood a tall woman in a black dress covered in thorns and spider webs. Her purple hair was long and tangled with spiders crawling up and down her neck. She had long arms and a thin, hollow, face. Her neck was like that of a snake and it craned forward to get a better look at them.

"Welcome little Hannah and Anna. I've been waiting for you," she said with a wide, sharp-toothed grin.

Hannah didn't like her beady, black, eyes. She mustered her courage and pulled her sister behind as she turned to run back home.

Vines caught their legs and they fell to the dirt with a thud.

"Where are you going? I only want to show you my collection!"

Hannah pulled herself up and looked over her shoulder.

Anne started to cry.

"Collection?" Hannah lifted a brow in curiosity.

She smiled. "Yes. My collection of mommies and daddies. I have yours. Would you like to see them?"

Anna stopped crying and looked at the woman in horror. Her checks were red and her blonde curls were covered in leaves in dirt from her fall. She narrowed her eyes.

"What have you done to them?"

Hannah was surprised that her sister had spoken. She hadn't said a word since their dog, Honey, had died.

It had been an accident... They didn't mean to kill her.

The woman in the black dress coiled her neck back and settled her head firmly on her shoulders. "I only crushed their feet into mush and buried them in my garden. It's ok though, their heads are out, like flowers, and I will feed them and care for them until they wilt and die."

Anna pushed herself to her feet and glanced at her sister. They spoke with their eyes and Hannah nodded to her.

Anna peered over at the woman. She tilted her head and reached her hand out. Hannah kicked the vines off her legs and they shriveled up and died. She walked over and held her sisters tiny hand.

The woman looked at them and her smile faded. "How did you do that?" She put her hands on her hips. "How did you kill my vines?"

Anna ignored her question and asked one of her own. "Who are you?"

The woman's face flushed even paler than before. Something told her these little girls were not like the rest. She swallowed and threw her hand out, pointing at them.

"No, who are you?"

Hannah smiled. Anna giggled. They both covered their giggles with their other hand and the woman frowned.

The sound of their laughter seemed to fill the entire forest and the ground started to tremble. The sky darkened to a deep pink and the wind whipped through and knocked the woman onto her knees. She yelled over the howl of the wind.

"Stop this! I am the Witch of the Wood and I will not stand for this! Leave this place!"

Hannah glanced at Anna. "Witch of the Wood?"

Anna grinned. She gazed at the witch and her eyes darkened. "And I am Anna."

"I am Hannah."

"And we are the Twisted Twins. Now die and release our parents!"

The witch reached out for them. She tried to finish a spell but Anna twisted her hand before her, Hannah did the same, and the woman's neck twisted and twisted until she suffocated.

The Twisted Twins watched the witch writhe and buck until she was completely still. Her body sunk into the soil and all was quiet.

Hannah glanced at Anna. "I thought you said we didn't have to kill anymore."

Anna shrugged. Her eyes were still dark. "But she was a witch. And I kind of like it. Don't you?"

Hannah thought a moment. She was afraid their secret would get out but she felt something inside of her. She felt exhilarated and fulfilled, just like when they killed Honey. She smiled and gave her sister a nod.

"I kind of like it too."

Anna grinned. "Now let's go get mommy and daddy."

Hannah nodded and they skipped along to the witches garden. -K.N. Lee

"They see a Rabbit eating trix, shocked they proceed to chase it for almost a mile. after catching him, they tie him to a tree and begin eating his cereal. They taught that silly rabbit a valuable lesson that day, that trix are for kids."-Carlos De Jesus

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The Chronicles of Koa

The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld is my latest project about a Dhampryesa...or, half-blood. Koa Ryeo-won is half human and half vampire and lives with a mutation that makes her a formidable foe for any evil creature. She works for an organization that covertly eliminates escaped Supernaturals from the Netherworld. Halston is her handsome, British, boss and yet she knows he is hiding something from her. What could it be?

There is a lot of mystery, suspense, action, and dark fantasy in this book. I plan on making it an ongoing series since I already have two of the books undergoing revision. My plans are to have the first book available on Amazon kindle within the next month or two, depending on how soon I can have it edited! For now, I'm pleased to inform you that you can read chapter 1 of The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld for free on www.TheChroniclesofKoa.com!

Thanks for the support! I cannot wait for everyone to meet Koa and the crew!

Genie In A Bottle-Writing Prompt

You find a magic lamp in your attic. You have 3 wishes... You cannot wish for love, money, or death. What do you wish for?

Response via Carlos De Jesus:

"How about superman's powers, a spaceship that can travel anywhere in space and time instantly and i'd keep the last one as a backup(unless i can wish for unlimited wishes)."-Carlos De Jesus

Thanks for participating, Carlos! You can have unlimited wishes if you'd like!-K.N. Lee

More @ www.Facebook.com/knycolelee

Evil Barbarian Queen- Writing Prompt

An evil barbarian queen has ransacked your kingdom, killed your father, and stole your destined crown. How do you stop her?

Best Responses via Jason Halsted, John Oswald, Carlos De Jesus, Kenichi Kamihara, and Kevin Horn:

"Poison their wells with potions of lust and then unleash a plague of diseased whores on the city. After they've suffered a while burn the city to the ground so the evil queen and those who would not rise against her are punished.

Bet you won't see Disney making an animated movie with that script!" -Jason Halsted (For more on Jason, visit www.BooksByJason.com)

"Well, the obvious answer is to crush her, see her driven before me, and hear her lamentations!

That having been said, the best way to do that would likely be to gather a band of scrappy underdog adventurers, who can barely work together on a good day, but always manage to pull through in the clutch. After that, it's off to quest after the McGuffin of Problem Solving (+3, +5 vs. Evil Barbarian Queens), sneak into her castle, discover that she's actually a long-lost sister, and then have to kill her anyway, because she's irredeemably evil.

I do like Jason's idea, though."- John Oswald

"How about you point at her and say 'NO, BAD BARBARIAN QUEEN! YOU DON'T KILL PEOPLE AND STEAL KINGDOMS.' Pop her on the nose and send her to her room until she learns her lesson."- Carlos De Jesus

"I am planning a careful sneak attack. Gathering strength and numbers from the remaining survivors. Staying hidden and working to turn people on the inside. To go all in with a frontal attack after how decimated my kingdom is would be suicidal, so I will be biding my time. In a year or three, after sabotaging the queen's plans then I am striking. It's much sweeter to win everything back when the enemy least expects it!"- Kenichi Kamihara


"I would fake my death, and then seek a sorcerer who can change my face. Then i would work my way through the ranks of the guards, become a trusted soldier. Then i would contact the loyalists to the true crown, and stage systematic attacks on their food supplies into the city. Transferring the food to the rebels in a hidden encampment. By doing this, starving out the hoard, the hoard would rebel on the Queen demanding they seek other kingdoms to conquer out of necessity.

Out of desperation, she allows small squads to seek out closer areas to find food and lands to conquer, i would inform the rebels of the routes, ensure there was an ambush and slaughter them, sending their heads and fingers back to the barbainian Queen. After the soldiers see this, i begin rumors that the Queen is no longer fit to rule, and can no longer protect the hoard and it's assets. I work up the rumors, sneak food into the soldiers, the food we've been stealing to increase their morale towards me. Sew seeds of rebellion within the Queens own guard.

Then, when she no longer knows who to trust within her guard, she will have them all ordered killed and start from scratch, which is when i strike, i take the loyalist to the crown and the rebels within her own kingdom and take back the throne using her own men. After i take it over, the rebel barbarians will be allowed to live only if they follow the law of the kingdom and forsake all barbarian ties. I kill the Queen and dismember her, sending one body part to each threat to my kingdom as a warning. You may take us by force, but i will return in kind, and have your own force destroy you."-Kevin Horn

Wow! I am pleasantly surprised by your imaginations. I cannot wait to read more fan responses!- K.N. Lee

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Writing Tip # 2- Avoid the Use of Adverbs!

This past Tuesday I received my manuscript for, Rise of the Flame, back from my editor. I was thrilled and enjoyed all of the compliments about how ambitious it is and how remarkable it is (it still makes me beam with joy!) and the criticisms. One of the main criticisms was one that I already learned from Stephen King's writing book, On Writing.

Avoid the use of adverbs!

Yes, I knew this rule, and yet I couldn't help myself by adding words such as suddenly (cringe) or relentlessly, warily, lovingly...you get the point. Adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens or happened and end with an 'ly.

Something my editor, Ann Wicker of www.EastOakMedia.com said stuck with me though. Everything happens suddenly. You almost never need to use an adverb. Your context will tell the ready everything. Like Stephen King says, "Trust your reader."

I agree. Now, I am going through my manuscript and slaying every adverb I can find!

Write on!

P.S. what does this picture have to do with anything? Nothing, really...I just like it ;)

Secret Garden- Writing Prompt

You're having a picnic with your sweetheart and a group of butterflies lead you down a worn path. At the end of the path opens up to a beautiful garden. You see an ancient building and decide to explore the inside. What do you and your sweetheart see inside?

Best Responses Via Kristen McKee Jonathan Shirley, and Carlos De Jesus:

"A hobbit....who invites us in for tea and crumpets. After having eaten the crumpets and conversing with Boulderdash, the Hobbit, he then acts startled and tells me that the crumpets were laced with unicorn hair. To those that are not pure of heart and unworthy, this unicorn hair would have a sickening reaction. But to those worthy and pure in their humanity, the crumpets will prove to be a tasty treat! He then tells us he is a Unicorn trainer, and because we are worthy, and because we kept him company after years of no interaction with mortals, we may venture out into the garden and allow a unicorn to pick us as its new pets! To the rest of the world it will appear we are the owners of a beautiful white horse....but we will know the truth, we are kept by a majestic unicorn from a secret garden!" -Kristen McKee

"Obviously some beautiful artifact that will curse her and/or release some kind of evil into the world. It will hurt me pretty badly but i will survive long enough for some light to appear or a guardian, who will give me some training, maybe some special items, i'll be given a quest to stop this evil and rescue my sweetheart. along the way I may make some friends." -Carlos De Jesus

"For a moment we stood there, stunned, perplexed by the oddity of this mysterious gateway. Soon, curiosity gripped every fiber of my being, and, almost instinctively, I took a step forward. As I did so, my sweetheart reached out to grab my arm, saying "you don't know what's in there, it may be dangerous." "I know" I said "but this place is too intriguing to let go unexplored." I could see the nervousness in her eyes, but new her curiosity had to be satisfied as well. Her concern gave me a moment's pause, but I just had to reach for the gate.

It took a bit of force to open the gate, as though it had not been opened in quite sometime. As I slowly opened the gate, the creaking sounded as though 1000 demons were screaming from the depths of the earth. I open the gate enough to peer inside, and found the mouth of a cave. As I reached for my flashlight, I told my sweetheart "wait here, let me take a look inside." As she nodded her head okay, I cautiously took a few steps. "Everything looks safe" I said "come on, lets check it out." As we descended the narrow winding cave together, the daylight gave way to blackness and the ground turned muddy, I could begin to feel the air turning cool and damp. The only sound was that of water dripping from the cave's roof into muddy puddles on the ground.

After a short while, we came to the cave's end. What stood before us next was even more perplexing. A small door, about four feet tall and covered with some strange writing. Neither one of us knew what the writing meant, but we could see the orange glow of a fire gleaming out from under the door. Together we decided to go inside.

As we entered the small room, we were amazed by what we saw. Straight ahead was indeed a large stone hearth with a warm and inviting fire burning. To the left was what appeared to be a rustic country kitchen, full of all sorts of of breads, cheeses, herds, roots and a large kettle with a stew brewing. The whole room was filled with the pleasant smell of the herds and dinner cooking. In the middle of the room was a large wooden table filled all sorts of mixing bowls, beakers, and on one corner, there was some kind liquid boiling over a flame with steam billowing from the beaker. As my eyes scanned to the right side of the room, I saw doorway which led to another room.

Before I could move to investigate that room, a man appeared in the doorway. A short and very old man, with a long white beard and scraggly white hair. His clothes were worn and somewhat tattered, a dirty and stained shirt which used to be white, brown suspenders holding up grey wool trousers with holes at the knees and barefoot. He stood in the doorway for a moment, just as surprised to see us as we were to see him. Then he said "ah, welcome, welcome! You've made it just in time, just in time you have, just in time for supper! Come, come now, it's time to eat!" As he motioned for us to join him."-Jonathan Shirley


Thank you! Those were some pretty fantastical tales! It's amazing what our imaginations come up with with just a little encouragement. -K.N. Lee

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Buried Treasure- Writing Prompt

You’re digging in your garden and find a treasure chest full of gold. You can spend it. The catch is, you have to spend all the gold in one day or it will disappear! How do you spend it?

Best Response via Kristen McKee:

"Homes that are completely paid and furnished for everyone of my friends and family in need of such, new cars for them as well, tons of horses for me...which also means lots of farms and boarding facilities, pay for vet school in advance, bonds for my future children for their schooling, maybe a wing to a college just in case I have a 'not so bright' kid that needs a little help convincing the college to accept him....fund a hospital research facility.....and pretty sure it is all gone by then....but if not....A ZOO!!! Actually....scratch that....make buying a zoo my first priority! :-)"

Once again, Kristen steps up to the plate and gives us an entertaining response to my daily writing prompt! Thank you ma'am! It looks like you have a busy day ahead of you...go spend that gold! -K.N. Lee

More daily writing prompts on www.facebook.com/knycolelee

Abandoned Village- Writing Prompt

There was a girl named Greta and she tended the sheep. One day she returned to her village in the hills and the houses were crushed, the animals were floating away in the river and all of the people were gone... What happened to the village and what will Greta do now?

Best Response via Detra Swem:

"After recovering from the shock of finding her home in ruins, Greta begins her quest for answers to the disappearance of her friends and family. Looking into the wreckage to find whatever answers she can find."

"In New Beginnings, Greta teaches Jira to be a lady. Jira avoids the lessons when she can." More on Detra and New Beginnings @ http://www.voldamar.com

Thanks, Detra for that intriguing response to Greta's plight! I love quests and can already imagine an exciting journey for our little Greta! I immediately assume that there is a dragon involved somewhere in this story!

I think it's a great coincidence that one of the characters in your book, New Beginnings, is named Greta as well! Tell us more about this story in the comments if you'd like! -K.N. Lee

More daily writing prompts on www.facebook.com/knycolelee

Haunted Hotel- Writing Prompt

You're on your honeymoon and realize the hotel you are staying in is haunted. 

The warlock/hotel manager has lured you and your husband to breed children to fill the rooms and become his family. 

You cannot leave, or he will curse your families and every child you give birth to outside of the hotel walls. 

What do you do?

Best Response via Kristen Mckee :

"Sit back and enjoy the amazing house with a fantastic view and hit up the overstocked vintage wine cellar like it were water!

I mean really...'Oh no Mr. Warlock, please don't force me to stay in this amazing home with a fantastic view and never have to pay taxes or a mortgage on it while I drink all of your amazing vintage wine, eat all of the free gourmet food, lazy about in giant bubble baths in antique claw foot tubs, and stroll through the ground's gardens while I have the time of my life 'playing the piano' with my husband while your nurses take care of the kids and keep them out of my hair' Eeesh...sounds awful! Really...horrible."- Kristen Mckee

Thanks Kristen for that hilarious response to what would have been a frightening experience to most people! Check in for more daily writing prompts!- K.N. Lee www.facebook.com/knycolelee