Maine writers, look sharp! The deadline is drawing near for the Summer Stories Short Story Competition put together by the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance and Shanti Arts Publishing. Mainers are invited to write and submit short stories in response to a series of delightful paintings by Maine artist Leslie Anderson. The deadline is March 1 and these submissions must be posted: Details here. I used 7 of these paintings as story prompts for a Daily Shorty week in October and I’m going to use 7 more as prompts this week. I’m in love with these folks for giving me extra incentive for two weeks of shorties and providing me with gold-plated prompts! I chose “Clammer” for today’s inspiration, which reminded me of a scrap I’d written for another (unfinishd) story. I rescued the scrap and built on it for the day’s story. Incidentally, I am a huge fan of the Maine lobster, but all seafood here is heaven and I’ve met quite a few natives who consider clams to be Maine’s best treasure.
Working Title: Dad Day
1st Sentence: Oh great, it’s a Dad day.
Favorite Sentence: Yeah, it did make you feel a little bit like hot fudge slipping off a scoop of ice cream.
Word Length: 1,200
Photo by Flickr user Leon Brocard 1/2008.
Daily Shorty 
Gotta say I’m not a clam fan, but that pic look delicious.