Much to my surprise and delight 
Happy Birthday to Me - Win a free story! · 3:41pm Jun 8th, 2015
Hey everyone. So I glanced at my user-page the other day and realised that I've been of FiMFiction for almost a full year 
Next Tuesday will mark a year on FiM and that's an amazing amount of time to devote to ponies, but I think it was a year well spent. In the past year I've managed to get over a hundred and fifty followers, nearly 40k in hits and over 2,000 likes spread across all my stories. I'm continually amazed by this community, by the sheer amount of work that goes into this corner of the internet and the great feedback I receive on my own modest share.
So, looking forward, I have a number of plans for the future. There's a number of HiEC short stories waiting in the wings that I still have to write, though I'm likely to be fitting them in around my other work. I do love the HiEC, but I do have to think towards hitting a wider audience. There's an easy trap to fall into with sequels where you keep writing increasingly niche pieces for fewer and fewer people, and it's not a path I want to pursue. Instead there's going to be some more accessible short stories coming your way, like Humans Don't Have Wings and A World Without Kindness, with maybe a few funny oneshots sprinkled in as inspiration strikes me. All Our Villains Are Horny is sitting pretty at the top of my most popular stories list and I intend to unseat it by this time next year. (If nothing else because I'd prefer that not to be the title I'm known for).
To support all this I'm putting some serious thought into setting up a Patreon account. For those of you who don't know, Patreon is a way of supporting small artists in their work without all the nasty pay walls, restricted content, or feast famine donation systems. A small amount of money can be paid automatically per-update as a standing donation and, per reader, even small amounts quickly adds up to a living wage. I'm still investigating whether this could be an option, but it seems to be a good road to go from an itinerant hobbyist to something much more like a full time job.
Anyway, my big announcement for the day, and the one I'm sure you've all been waiting for, is that there is a new novel coming your way. The first chapter is nearly done and the stage is all set for another blockbuster. I'm going to play my cards a little close to my chest for now, but I can tease the main character. 
Unicorn pictured may be significantly less excited to be in the story than advertised.
That's all in the future, and I'm sure by now everyone is wondering why the words free story are in the title of this blog.
To celebrate my anniversary on FiM I am going to give out one story, at random, to someone who posts on this blog. The final product will be between one and two thousand words, based on a prompt given by the winner and posted to FiM. To cover my bases right away, this is not a commission, so the final product is my discretion. I'm also not going to write any clop and crossovers will not get selected if I don't know the source material. You are only allowed to enter once and multiple entries will be disqualified. Other than that, though, anything goes. If you want to enter the raffle, put Prompt: [and your story prompt] in a comment. The raffle will be drawn at 5pm GMT Tuesday the 9th of June, so make sure you register before then. you can't, it already closed 
Better than the last birthday I had...
Prompt: There's tears in the frosting
Propmt: Anon, the only human of Equestria tries to escape from crazy horseland through the portal, back to Earth. But first, he must speak with Celestia who wants to keep him forever by her side.
And hopefully many, many more!
Patreon, huh? Have to admit I've been curious how well that actually works, so good luck on that.
Oh, and since nobody else seems to be throwing out any ideas: Twilight just had the strangest day of her life, only to find a note on her bed:
Prompt: Luna has returned, but in her 1000-year absence the only things most ponies remember about her are ancient legends, few of which are anything resembling the truth. For the ordinary ponies of Equestria, she's a monster, a usurper, a boogeyman. To the thestrals, who struggled against prejudice for dozens of generations while their patron goddess was banished, she has always been something far greater.
You have achieved all this in only one year? Much congratulations! A World Without Kindness was brilliant. But IMO, it was the epilogue, and specifically the characters' dialogue about hatred, that took it from great to epic.
Anyway: Prompt: Broken and isolated (and optionally in the A World Without Kindness-verse), Queen Chrysalis seeks a dark pact that will bolster her own power with the essence of an ancient evil.
3132083 3132100 3132105 3132136 3132676 3133819 Thanks everyone, it has been a hell of a year on FiM. I'm sure you're all waiting with baited breath for the winner
, but the random number generator knows no favorites. So, the prompt I'll be using will be: There's tears in the forsting. 
Huh, going to be a nice cheary one then. I'll get on that right away.