Monday, September 7, 2015

Flash Fiction Challenge: A Book Title Story

Yesterday I was looking at the book shelves and noticing how some of the titles linked up. Some of them linked up thematically, some literally, and others linked up in potentially interesting ways by using the same word(s).

Today's challenge: Write a story using as many book titles as possible (or makes sense). 1000 words or less. Any genre. You can post the story over at your place (make sure you leave the link here) or drop it here in the comments. On 9/21 I'll pick a winner. Prizes to be determined (there will be prizes).

This challenge was partially inspired by the following short film, Hell's Club. Check it out if you haven't seen it yet. A club where fictional characters meet and all hell breaks loose. Not only a great editing job but entertaining as hell too.


Any questions ask away. Not interested? That's OK, I'll be writing one no matter what.Help spread the word if you are!

Edited to correct the date.

15 comments:

seana graham said...

Is 7/21 a typo?

Kevin R. Tipple said...

I hope so!

Brian Lindenmuth said...

yup, it was a mistake. Just corrected it.

seana graham said...

Great. I will try to think of something and also to spread the word!

Leroy B. Vaughn said...

Hello Brian,
I don't have a blog so I posted my short story "The Botswana Gig" on your comments page.
This was the most damage I could do with the books in my collection this morning.
The * * denotes the title of the book.
Thanks,
Leroy

Leroy B. Vaughn said...

Hello again Brian,
I wasn't able to leave my short story on your comment page.
The page will accept 4,096 characters and my story is 998 words, or 4,301 characters.
Is there another way to get the story to you.
I guess I could cut a few words, but it's sort of bare bones now.
Leroy

seana graham said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
seana graham said...

Leroy, I think he's meaning you can put it the comment field right here.

Leroy B. Vaughn said...

Hi Seana,
Thanks. This is the comment page I'm trying to use.
Leroy

seana graham said...

Oh, too bad. Maybe just break it up into two comments?

You can tell I'm curious to see what you've done.

Leroy B. Vaughn said...

One more attempt to do some damage. Cut into two parts.


The Botswana Gig

By Leroy B. Vaughn
Except for a few trips to the Mexican border, Pug Dixon had never been out of the United States and
now he was standing at the door of *The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency* in Gaborone, Botswana.
“May I help you,” the African lady asked as she watched Pug Dixon walk to her open front door.
“Hello, my name is Pug Dixon and I’m looking for Precious Ramotswe,” Pug replied.
It didn’t surprise the only lady private detective in Africa that this white man with the odd accent
couldn’t pronounce her last name properly, but she was very polite and asked him to step into her tiny
office after she told him that she was Precious Ramotswe.
“So, how may I help you Mr. Dixon,” Precious asked.
“A man I met over at the Continental Hotel told me that you where the woman to see in this part of
Africa.
I’m a skip tracer from Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. and I’m on a job,” Pug Dixon informed her.
“And what does a skip tracer do,” Precious asked as she walked towards her tea pot.
“Same thing as you do Miss Ramotswe. I’m a private eye, or I guess I should say private detective, except
I don’t have a private detective license.”
“You may call me Precious, and would you like a nice cup of bush tea Mr. Dixon.”
“Call me Pug and yeah, tea sounds nice.”
“So, who did you say sent you Pug?
“A big guy that wears an old fashioned pin stripe suit. Everybody calls him *Pretty Boy Floyd*.”
Pug thanked her as she handed him the tea and she asked how she could be of assistance.
“I’m looking for a woman named Beatrice Lamumba. Does that name ring a bell,” Pug asked.
“Be very careful Pug. I know this name, but not the woman herself. She is known to operate out of
Namibia. People call her *Warrior Woman* or *The Accidental Warrior*.
May I ask why you are interested in her,” Precious wanted to know.
“There’s a man back in L.A. named *Billy Budd*. He helped me out of a *Blind Spot* one time, so I kinda
owe him a favor.”
Precious told Pug, “Why don’t you go back to your hotel. I have to make a business trip to a small village
and check out a possible suspect that may be part of the *Devil’s Guard*.
I will not be gone long. We can meet tomorrow and I can get some information to you, for a small fee.”
“I have an expense account, so the fee will not be a problem,” Pug told her. He was used to working on a
very small budget, on his own cases.
Pug went back to the hotel and drank Elephant beer with *Pretty Boy Floyd*, until Pretty Boy
introduced him to a tall thin native that called herself Good- luck Judy.
He went on a “date” with Judy that lasted into the wee hours of the morning.
Pug was back in Precious Ramotswe’s office the next afternoon. Precious asked him, “How well do you
know this *Billy Budd*?
“Not very well,” Pug told her. “I met him a few months ago and I don’t really know why he is looking for
this Lamumba woman.”
“Beatrice Lamumba and her husband are *The Original Wild Ones*. They have a hide-out deep in the
Kalahari Desert *Where The Jackals Howl*.
Her husband has a *Hellhound On His Trail* They both have become *Unhinged To Say The Least* and
she and her husband are now *The Hunted*
They most likely are hiding out in Zimbabwe, or what we call *The Impossible State*.
You could check all *The Places In Between*, but there are so many *Native Tongues* in the bush and
this Lamumba woman speaks with *The Witch’s Tongue*.
I don’t think that you should operate as *The Lone Ranger*. This is *another man’s war* and I think you
should let Interpol handle it.
Let their agents be the ones to hear the *Cry Of The Kalahari*,” Precious advised him.
“ What did you learn from this *Pretty Boy Floyd*,” Precious wanted to know.

Leroy B. Vaughn said...

Part two. Do some damage

Pug didn’t want to tell her that he had spent most of his time with Good-Luck Judy.
“He suggested that I find an outfit called the *Three Hunters* over in Namibia.
He said maybe they know something about this woman. *Pretty Boy Floyd* said that he had heard
something about *Pagan Babies* and that he thought Lamumba and her husband were
*Professional Killers*.
The last thing he said was “I wouldn’t want to be *The Fly On The Wall*.”
“I also did some checking on your *Billy Budd*,” Precious stated.
“It seems that he runs a criminal organization out of a dive bar in the Little Armenia section of Los
Angeles called *At The Tomb Of The Inflatable Pig*.
Their main business is importing sex slaves.
It appears that he is working on a deal to bring young African women to Dubai.”
“Oh wow Precious,” Pug said. “You’ve got to believe me. I am not part of this operation. I was just doing
a job for *Billy Budd* because of a mutual acquaintance that we call the old *Cat Chaser*.
You seem to be a very smart detective. You probably figured out by now that I’m *Too Lazy To Work,
Too Nervous To Steal*, that’s why I like skip tracing.”
Precious told him, “I have been studying *Ninja Shadowhand* fighting techniques as well as the Israeli
*Fighting Fit* method and if you and me went after these killers, we would have to be
*Quick Or Dead*.”
Pug settled his bill with Precious and told her that the case was closed for him.
“What will you do now Pug?
“I just want to go *Loafing Along Death Valley Trails* or maybe I could be *Living Easy In Mexico*, after I
find *Billy Budd* and close his business down.”
The end

Dana King said...

I'm a little late, but here you go: http://danaking.blogspot.com/2015/09/book-title-mash-up.html

seana graham said...

My attempt is now up on my blog.

http://seana-storydump.blogspot.com/2015/09/answering-challenge.html

Leroy B. Vaughn said...

Good morning Brian,
How's the contest going?