Long-time readers of the blog may recall that around this time of year we tend to take a break from talking about writers and writing and do a little storytelling instead.  It’s like a multi-week version of our regular Friday Writing Sprints.

I’m kicking off this year’s Christmas Week Short Story Challenge today and several of the Eight Ladies will be posting their stories during the next two weeks.  All of you blog-readers are welcome to participate as well.  You can post your own story (or a link to your story) in the comments below on this post or on any of the upcoming Short Story posts.

The rules of the Challenge are simple – write a short story based on the specified theme and include at least three of the random words on the list; extra points for including more than three words and extra points with sparkles for Holiday references.

The theme for this year’s challenge is:

Happily Ever After (there has been enough drama in real-life this year; I’m thinking we could all use a little extra HEA).

And the random words are:

secret               story                diary               snowflake

diamond         snuggle           forest             catastrophe

plan                  buffet              traffic             surprise

signature        memory        flamingo        whisky

In the past we’ve had a 500-word limit, but any length is fine – a few sentences, a few paragraphs, or an entire short story – the possibilities are endless and there is no wrong answer.

While you wait for this year’s stories, feel free to get in the mood by checking out some of our previous entries:

• Mistletoe Reboot
• The Duchess’s Christmas Wish
• Mistletoe and Ivy
• The Travellers,
• Runaway Match
• The Christmas Wager
• ‘Twas Daybreak on Christmas
• How Bunny’s Camera Became Magical)
• A New Year of Possibilities
• The Trip
• Lost Hearts in Copenhagen
• The Libertine’s Legacy
• Bunny Blavatsky Arrives in New York

Even better, try your hand at today’s words and post your results in the comments for all to enjoy.

Let the challenge begin!