The End
It’s not complicated
Sometimes things feel stale. Often it’s because they are. Almost always, things need to change. More often than not, they need to end.
Bill Adler and I have made the decision to end Centina Pentina.
Full transparency: I think we were kind of bored. And I suspect some of you were too. Oh yes, the prompts were fun, many of the stories were fantastic, and there was enjoyable creativity. But it didn’t feel like things were getting better.
If you’re happy about this, awesome! If you’re sad, think of it this way: It’s not like we created something that needs to be eternal or anything. It’s just a Medium pub with a few hundred followers. On the list of the one million things that are most important in life, this one probably ranks somewhere in the low 900,000's.
But here’s the thing: Bill Adler and I still love reading stories, editing pieces, and connecting with this fantastic community of writers. So, we’re starting something new. Maybe it will be great. One thing is for certain: It will have a built-in expiration.
The new pub is called, “The 100 Images,” and it comes complete with a plain logo ;-) (And yes, I still put the nose in my winkyface emojis. And also, I still use LOL when texting. And guess what else? I think the guy should always buy dinner).
Back to the point at hand: Think of The 100 Images like a limited edition publication. Or a ticking time-bomb. Over the life of the pub, we will post 100 unique images. Then you, if you are so inclined, can write a fictional story for that image. If we like the story, we will publish it. No boundaries on genre or length. Once we publish some stories for each image, we will move on to the next image. Once we post the last story for the 100th image, we will publish nothing more.
I hope this generates a tiny spark in you for something different — or at least something fresh and new, because fresh and new things are glorious. And they usually smell good.
If you’ve written for us, I want to offer a sincere thank you. To the writers who have stuck with us: Mark Starlin, Betsy Denson, Devés Dyson, Ann Litts, Christine Graves, Louise Foerster, Smillew Rahcuef, Mark Farrar, Paul Mansfield, Nanji Erode, Stefan Grieve, Zane Dickens, E.D. Martin, Patrick Metzger, Josh Knapp, Georgia Lewitt, and so many others, it’s been a privilege to publish your pieces. Hope to read something from you over at The 100 Images. If you’d like to leave your stories in Centina Pentina, we’ll leave the pub up for posterity’s sake.
It’s been fun. See you wonderful fiction writers ‘round the bend!
