Gem City Catfe is excited to announce our very first flash fiction competition!

Here are all the details:

Anyone (yes, anyone!) can submit!
The contest will be themed with spooky elements. You will be required to adhere to the prompt assigned to you (find details on those prompt assignments below).
The top ten pieces will be published in an eZine that will be available for download for a small fee on October 31st - so that you can read some scary stories on Halloween night. All featured writers will receive a free eZine.
The winner will get a private cat lounge party for up to 6. And of course, fame!
There is no cost to enter, but we will have an area for suggested contributions if you want to help us get through these tough COVID times :)

OUR JUDGES

We are stoked to have three awesome local judges: Katrina Kittle, Link Schreiber, and Val Beerbower. Check out their bios below! They will pick their top three pieces and our Catfe representative will pick the winning piece from those choices.

CONTEST RULES:

All pieces must be 750 words or less.
Please use a legible font and submit your story in a PDF format. (Link below to submit your story).
You must use the character, location, and word assigned to you.
Make it as spooky as you can! But please avoid excessive language and/or violence since we want everyone to be able to enjoy our eZine.

Deadline: October 16th, 11:00 PM

Winners Announced: October 25th

Prompts: Please use the prompt that falls within the first letter of your last name. You obviously know Mr. Baby and Meowrville, but the rest of the kitties all have Instagrams if you need to know more about them! You don’t need to know everything about your location and your entire story does not have to take place in the location as long as it either begins or ends there.

A - D: Mr. Baby; laundry room; scarecrow
E - I: Meowrville; basement of Catfe; pumpkin
J - M: Snooblet; in the ceiling rafters; skeleton
N - R: Wilpurr; Catfe service window; broomstick
S - V: Tunder; cat lounge; fog
W - Z: Crofty; behind the coffee bar; phantom

Ready to submit? Click below!

Click to Submit!

OUR JUDGES

Link Schreiber

Link Schreiber has been a mainstay of Dayton Poetry for almost 2 decades now. He's been the host and organizer of the Dayton Poetry Slam since 2003. He's worked tirelessly to offer a microphone to anyone in the Miami Valley and allow them to get their voice out to the public. When not working a poetry show, he's teaching online courses for Strayer University and enjoying life being a husband and a #girldad

Katrina Kittle

Katrina Kittle is a novelist, with four books for adults and one novel for tweens, her most recent titles being The Kindness of Strangers and The Blessings of the Animals—all redemptive stories that deal with issues of social justice. Katrina is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Dayton, and teaches creative writing workshops for adults online, focusing on craft and motivation (and is especially good at jump-starting stalled writers). She is a cat lover and the human minion of Joey, a gorgeous rescue. You can find out more at www.katrinakittle.com

Val Hunt Beerbower

Val Hunt Beerbower graduated with a degree in journalism from Ohio University and is currently an economic development project manager for the Downtown Dayton Partnership. She has previously worked as a writer and editor for several local newspapers and trade magazines. She resides in Dayton’s historic St. Anne’s Hill with her husband, Mike – within walking distance to their favorite Catfe!