The premise for Issue #9 was...
THE PLAN
One or more characters have a plan. They think it’s a good plan. Whether the plan is brilliant, stupid, or anywhere in-between, something goes terribly wrong when they try to execute it.
We received 140 contest entries and chose six stories for prizes. Plus we have a guest writer and... yes... NEW CARTOONS!
Note From the Publisher: About First-Time Authors
Cartoons!: Fans of independent sci-fi comics, have we got a treat for you. Veteran freelance illustrator and graphic novelist Matt Howarth has agreed to add On The Premises to the long, long list of people and organizations he’s drawn for. Together Tarl and Matt came up with six bad plans they wouldn’t wish on anybody.
And now for our stories...
And finally, at fifteen, we got pregnant together.
FIRST PLACE: Corazón de Mi Vida, St. Teresa by Bonnie F. McCune
There were these older kids, see. And they had stuff.
SECOND PLACE: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Kate Delany
Locked boxes were tough-nut asteroids—ones an icebreaker wouldn’t normally waste time on.
THIRD PLACE: The Hard Place by Kathryn Allen
Too bad Heramba hadn’t seen fit to take away his father’s ability to speak when he turned him into a bird for insulting him.
HONORABLE MENTION: The Starling by Shereen Vedam
“Now let us proceed with the burglary, which I do not mind to say should make us all rich.”
HONORABLE MENTION: Oldest Plan in the Book by Mark D. West
By evening she should be in a better mood. This place is like that; everyone changes here.
HONORABLE MENTION: Avatars on Tirumala Hill by Ramesh Avadhani
It was a baby, just like hers.
GUEST WRITER: Cot by Bernard O’Leary
Note: Photo courtesy of BigStockPhoto