Stone's Throw is the monthly online companion to Rock and a Hard Place Magazine, delivering shorter, sharper content on a regular basis in an electronic medium, before collecting all 12 stories for an annual print anthology.

Stone's Throw is the monthly online companion to Rock and a Hard Place Magazine, delivering shorter, sharper content on a regular basis in an electronic medium, before collecting all 12 stories for an annual print anthology. 

Each month, writers are given a submission prompt, and the best story is published online the following month. 

After a year, all twelve stories are compiled into a Stone’s Throw Annual Anthology, published alongside other print issues.

Stone's Throw [Rock and a Hard Place Press]

The office holiday party is the setting for this month’s Stone’s Throw prompt. What happens when you’re forced into a social setting with a bunch of people you would never willingly socialize with except for a paycheck? How does dipping into a less formal space embolden your protagonist to tell Jan from Accounting what they really think of her? What hare-brained schemes can your protagonist come up with after knocking back a few cold ones and eyeing up the unguarded bank safe? And what fresh hell and awkward hangovers await the story’s characters the morning after?

Office Holiday Party

During the month of October, the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. This month, give us stories of haunted characters—either haunted by the remembrance of a lost loved one, or maybe haunted by the things they didn’t do . . . or worse, the things they did do. Supernatural stories are okay (though not a requirement) in response to this prompt, but above all else, make it character-driven, and make it noir.

Haunted Characters

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream about the brotherhood of humanity, but dreams don’t always have to be so big . . . or so magnanimous. This month, give us noir on the theme of dreams. Maybe it’s petty dreams about gangland glory, or maybe it’s a story about “a dream deferred” as Langston Hughes wrote. Let’s kick off the new year by taking a look at “what dreams may come,” and what happens next when all your dreams come true . . . or don’t.

Dreams

War . . . huh. . . good God, y’all . . . what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Say it again. This month, give us noir directly from the warzone, however you define that. War is inherently bleak, but we want character-driven turmoil. Remind us why war is hell.

Stone's Throw [Rock and a Hard Place Press]

Highlights

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