The following is the “story” that came from the IFWA Writers’ at the Improv for 2021. A fantastic time was had by all.

The story is “written” by the participants (Ed Willett, Kevin Weir, Katie Harse, and David Worsick) who are given a random word from the audience that they must incorporate in their sentences. They have one minute to write their sentence and at the end they read their work and the audience votes which one is best and the best one gets to advance the story. Then, the audience throws out another word and the participants write another sentence. After several rounds of writing, the participants must end the story unfolding before them.The words chosen by the audience is in parentheses.

So, without further ado, I give you:

REVENGE OF THE PLANET OF THE PIGS

Sometimes I hated the fact that my apartment building was rocket-propelled, like the time the super flew us to the planet of the space pigs. (superfluous)

The space pigs surrounded our apartment building, their bodies pressed tight against the fence, and there seemed only one solution: to release pig anti-bodies, to annihilate them in a burst of hard radiation and bacon. (antibodies)

Due to a shortage of pig anti-bodies, however, we had to find an alternative solution, and it was the building super who came up with the answer: we would mix cornstarch with water and trap them in a thixotropic liquid. (cornstarch)

“That is too kind for these swine,” said Janice, the accountant from 312, “I have a yet third solution! They deserve to die from evisceration to make the meat tender with their fear.” (evisceration)

But then came a voice rarely heard before, an old, creaky voice, rising from the depths of an ancient Barcalounge recliner on the balcony of 222, a voice that called, “Pigs are our friends—let me try talkiing to them!” (recliner)

“My swine friends,” said the old man, “I have come again as I promised I would when I left all those years ago so now we may rise! Rise to rule as we once were owed!” His eyes glowed an iridescent pink. (iridescent)

“Hoop! La!” screamed the old man, and a giant ring of blazing pink energy, the same colour as his eyes, appeared in the side of the apartment building, taking out the rec room and several of the washing machines. “Hoop! La!” he cried again, and through the hoop the pigs ran, one by one, while we, looking through the glowing pink circle, saw the towers of Manhattan and knew that the pigs would soon be running rampant through the streets, while we remained trapped in our rocket-propelled apartment building on the planet of the pigs. “Hoop! La!” the man screamed one last time, the hoop closed, and so the Age of Pigs began on Earth. (hoopla)

Elizabeth Grotkowski (writing as Elizabeth Whitton) will be launching her YA novel entitled The Gold Flame of Senica, the second book in her series that began with the Aurora winning YA novel, Houses of the Old Blood. The book launch will be on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 7:00 PM MDT over Zoom. Go to the Facebook page, say you’re going, and you will get Zoom details just before the book launch.

Go to the Facebook page to sign up: https://www.facebook.com/events/297614815155635/?ti=ls

In Places Between, the Robyn Herrington Memorial Short Story Contest, has found a new home with its sponsor, Cool Covers.com and Brent Nichols, author and long-time IFWA member. You can find details of the contest in its new IPB Webpage.

Also, as a fundraiser for In Places Between, Brent will publish a writing craft book entitled “Writing Better Fiction” and is soliciting articles from fellow authors. You can find details of how to send your craft article here.

Both In Places Between and Writing Better Fiction will be available at the 2019 When Words Collide Festival to be held on August 9-11, 2019 (Tickets on sale now and going fast).

Below is the text of the latest Writer’s at the Improv ‘story’. Our panelists this time were Ed Willett, Dave Worsick, Kevin Weir, Katie Harse, and Tony King; Susan Forest was our scribe while Renee Bennet emcee’ed. Enjoy

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FEAR AND ADHESIVES IN LOS ANGELES

Aunt Lur found herself in quite a sticky situation: a tar pit. (antler)

“If I poke her, will she do tricks?” said a wide-eyed little boy, holding his mom’s hand as he stared down at the La Brea Tar Pits-entrapped senior citizen, the rest of the tour group around him equally enthralled. (poker)

“If we pull her our by fall, lick all the tar off her and stick her in the ticket office, we’ll have a new employee.” (follicle)

“Skiing lessons this way,” shouted the tour guide, leading the tourists away while the La Brea employees began drawing lots to see who would do the licking honours. (skiing)

The pro, Boscus, and the high Biscus played ‘Rock, Tar Paper, Scissors’ to see whose tongue was expendable. (proboscis)

Biscus was too high to even notice pro Boscus, the slippery snake, had cheated, and gleefully agreed to slide down the slope into the tar pit and begin the oral cleansing. (slippery)

As Biscus struck the tar, the spirits of the land took him, fusing him with Aunt Lur into a raging beast of hate and stickiness. (spirits)

As the employees ran, it was that little boy who rose up as a champion, lifting his lollipop into the air to battle icky stick with tasty stick. (champion)

Ascending higher and higher, the little boy crashed into Aunt Lur, who engulfed him and the employees and the tour group within her hateful stickiness, while the high Biscus protested weakly from within the fusion and tried to take the lollipop as he was stricken by the munchies at the most inopportune time. Unfortunately, the story was interrupted by the sound of crickets and no one ever learned what happened. (crickets)

The In Places Between (Robyn Herrington Memorial) Short Story Contest is now open for submissions for 2018. Go to the Short Story Contest page for more information.