ApocaLit Fridays: Issue #33

Hello Horde

Welcome back to ApocaLit Fridays; Apocalypse-writing's roundup filled with news, information, features and updates on things ... well, apocalyptic and literature in nature (hence the clever name ).

This week we have the usual Group, Affiliate and Lit Community updates, as well as "What to Watch/Read/Web".

Fun Fact Friday: 14.4 million letters are lost in the mail every year.

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Group Updates

We are hosting yet another contest, Once Upon a Time in a Town Called Apocalypse. Click through for all the details. We are also Seeking Prize Donations, so if you would like to contribute in any way, then check out the journal for more details on how to help!

Our prompt for December is A Merry Apocalyptic Christmas. The deadline for submissions is Saturday 27 December.

We are still looking for 2 Contributors to help out with blogs, prompts, articles and to help stir some interest and get activity going within the group. Click through on the link for details on how to apply.

We are taking point donations to help towards group contests. If you would like to help us out then feel free to do so here.

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Affiliate Updates

Previous Affiliate and Lit Community Update.

AnotherContestGroup update the latest Winners Package Results and Upcoming Contests.

Authors-Club have made some changes to their Critique Folder.

CRLiterature announce the December Book Club and Ye Pirate Tales: Results.

House-of-Playwrights posts Writing Prompt #76.

LiteratureAnonymous has a December Contest and a group update with Winter is Coming…ugh.

Live-Love-Write have a Dodecathlon Contest: Reminder and update Whose Chapter: New Release.

Nurturing-Narratives are hosting a 500 Word Contest!

PoeticalCondition posts a their Monthly Feature of Works.

PoetryParadise have announced their latest Contest.

PostRevival are holding a Lineage Potluck.

SixWordStories post Weekly Spontaneity 137 and update the Versicolor Project.

TheKnow posts their latest Request Journal.

theWrittenRevolution has their December Prompt: Food Rituals and the latest Literature News.

Unseen-Writers current theme of the week is Gratitude.

WritersInk have their latest Weekly Roundup.

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Lit Community Updates

Previous Affiliate and Lit Community Update.

devfeatures is centered around collecting features from across deviantART created by the community, from literature to any medium of art and design. They also accept deviantART related tutorials, journal skins, articles, and contest or project news. Go check them out and show them some community love.

projecteducate are currently running Senior Week.

chromeantennae posts a new Adjusting the Antennae, and make sure to check out his Beauty in Raw Humanity: Self Image Project!

HugQueen has the latest Love dA Lit! and Love dA Lit Loves You.

LadyLincoln has The Ladies of Lit: Volume XV and December Seasons: True Gifts.

neurotype-on-discord updates A Smattering of Lit News.

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ApocaLit Features

This weeks feature showcases the winners of our ABC’s of the Apocalypse contest.

:thumb139460745: First Place G is for GoodbyeA few decades ago, the Final War began. The world went to hell and the war itself lasted two weeks before the nuclear bombs fell... I don't really know much about it besides what my parents told me when I was a child. All I know is that my parents managed to survive because they were in a cave system when it happened, along with fifty-something other people. The cavern was obviously large enough for all those people, having been a popular tourist destination before the war. There's a medical bay, restroom, small library, storage area and a steady supply of natural, if slightly irradiated cave water. There's also a communications room, but nothing works so outside communication is impossible. In the days after the apocalypse, apparently a quarter of the people in the cavern left. Their emotions and worries for their loved ones understandably got the better of them and their survival instinct. None of those people ever returned. Claimed by the fallout of the war.
I was born a few weeks a - by DespairInsanity

:thumb139460926: Second Place D is for DisintegrationI’ve always prided myself on being self-sufficient. I wanted to live off the grid- use solar energy for power and grow all my own food. When I accomplished this it was my finest hour. It had been hard, much harder than I anticipated but I did it. I had land which I farmed, a home built from sustainable materials, I was alone but happy- so busy that I didn’t have time to feel lonely. I felt an incredible sense of achievement for escaping the life most people led.
I thought most humans were greedy and gluttonous, so lazy in an age of technology that spurred nothing but anti-social behavior and a blatant disregard for our planet. I believe it was that disregard which brings us where we are today. I lived on my farm for less than a year when the earth was done with being robbed of its fossil fuels and had begun its disintegration.
It started with natural disasters. A host of seismic activity shook the world. Earthquakes ripped apart fault lines and great chasms were formed that - by prettyflour

:thumb139461049: Third Place F is for Fait AccompliThe lights went out. The sounds in the metal corridors were quiet, no panic. A few soft thuds broke the silence. Someone coughed gently. Prewitt stood in the hallway, his eyes open wide to the dark but once the lights went out in the city there was no light to be had. He listened intently, trying to pinpoint a sound over his own breathing but the silence stretched on.
Prewitt didn’t know how long he had been there when with a soft hum the light returned. He blinked a few times, his arm over his eyes until they adjusted to the sudden light. When he lowered his arm, he recoiled; the hallway was filled with bloated corpses. Intuitively, he knew all across the country it was the same. The stench of decay that he hadn’t noticed until then was suddenly thick, so thick he could taste it. He gagged and fought the bile that rose in his throat, bending over so he could breathe better.
The eye sockets of a child stared at him, liquid leaking from them, trickling down the face like tea - by Mertus

:thumb174214341: Honorable Mention - by comatose-comet

:thumb174214341: Honorable Mention W is for Weil's DiseaseShe turned on the television as she made her morning coffee. Black with two spoonful’s of sugar. As the TV screen was blocked by the broken piano, she listened to the news. Something caught her interest. “…rats have been seen in Cambridgeshire, following the escape at the Babraham Institute, a biological research laboratory. A response has not been given by the Institute, though the county has been warned to take care with food hygiene and pest control.”
Rats. It reminded her that there were rats in the house. There were occasions where she could hear them but hadn’t seen a single rat. Karen wanted the rats to leave. She knew where everything was, where certain things belonged, but not the rats. Oh, no. The rats just had to move around, taking her belongings as they went through each room.
As she climbed over the rusty bicycle to get to the fridge, Karen looked at her baby. A photo of her baby was on the fridge door. The sonogram photo had been on that fri - by WishingUnderThatStar

There were so many amazing entries that it was difficult to narrow it down to these five brilliant pieces. To check out all the phenomenal entries, check out our ABC’s of the Apocalypse Folder!

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What To Watch

Spread of the Simian Flu: Before the Dawn of the Apes Series.



"Three short films that chronicle the ten-year-period between 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes and this year’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Known collectively as Before the Dawn of the Apes, they’re the perfect appetizers to enjoy before the much talked about, Matt Reeves’ directed main course." - Nerdist.com

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What To Read

The 10 Books Every Zombie Fan Must Read by Kimberly Turner @ Lit Reactor.

"There is simply no better time to brush-up on zombie fiction, but with so many undead-related titles to choose from, it's hard to figure out where to start. LitReactor to the rescue. Here are ten not-to-be-missed zombie books worth their weight in rotting flesh. Um, we mean worth their weight in something much more valuable than rotting flesh. Even if you don't consider yourself a horror buff, you might be surprised to find something here you'll love. After all, most good zombie novels are more about the humans than the monsters, and you'll find everything from political intrigue to romance to Southern Gothic literary fiction on this list..."

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What To Web

Zombie Survival Crew.

"Zombie Survival CrewTM is an expanding grassroots movement preparing members to survive a global cataclysmic event. By combining our skills and standing firm against the advancing hordes (and knowing when to run like hell) we stand our best collective chance at survival!"

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Resources

- Group featuring and promoting long-form fiction, novels, and on-going serials.

- A group for browsing for/or advertising your books.

- A group for writers seeking to be published and for publishers seeking writers to publish; poetry, prose and fan fiction; horror, science fiction, fantasy and romance, manga, comics and cartoons.

IrrevocableFate's Love dA Lit - latest issue
chromeantennae's Adjusting the Antennae - latest volume
LadyLincoln’s The Ladies of Lit - latest volume
neurotype’s A Smattering of Lit News
CRLiterature’s Literature Articles You Should Know
Breaking in to Lit!
Expose-Lit: Your Literature Lifeline
Tips For Young Writers
How to get more views on your Literature
'PinkyMcCoversong's Writing Resources for Noobs (and not-so-noobs)
3wyl’s Constructively Comment in 5 Quick Steps
How to promote other peoples work
Forum on How Publishing Works
=julietcaesar's List of Useful Writing Blogs
#deviantHEART's ARK Project
ezradeacon's LITany of Resources


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We hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of ApocaLit Fridays. Make sure to join us again next issue.

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The deadline for these is no later than Thursday 12:00 noon (EDT).

Until next time, Dear Horde. Stay frosty.