For the last five years, LP Fergusson has risen to the challenge set by NYC Midnight. On the stroke of twelve in New York City, a unique writing competition kicks off, sending out randomly generated writing prompts to thousands of participating writers across the world. The assignments must be completed in a set time frame. There’s no option to pre-prepare, and it may be a genre never tackled before.

The resulting stories are as diverse as a comedy about two old friends, out for a Christmas drink, who get into a heap of trouble on the riverbank, or a ghost story involving an Oxford professor who inadvertently unleashes a malevolent curse. There’s suspense when group of eager recreationists underestimate the ancient power of nature, and heart rending drama when an English woman is detained for listening to German propaganda during the Second World War. There’s a political satire about an idealistic young actor travelling to the deprived North of England to direct a community theatre production, plus a couple of romantic comedies, a thriller, an action and adventure yarn, spy story and a horror. There’s even some sci-fi.

Writers interested in the discipline of writing short fiction within these strict parameters will find the prompts, word count and time restrictions for the stories in this volume towards the end of the book.