Daily Creativity Prompt – Darker Objects

In honor of its 5th anniversary, Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless are teaming up this November to sponsor a series of 30 daily creativity prompts, comprised of the titles of our 25 published books and four upcoming titles, along with a couple fun phrases to round it out. We think our book titles are pretty damn cool and we hope they spark your creativity. You are welcome to respond to as many that inspire you.

There is only one rule to the prompt challenge: the book title or phrase should serve as the title of your piece OR all the words in the title should be integrated into your piece somehow.   

Note: Some of IB books have fabulous subtitles. Want an extra challenge? Try integrating the subtitle into your response

It is our honor and pleasure to publish your prompt responses on Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless . We welcome poetry, prose, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and high-res original art inspired by the prompts.

How to Submit

• Email your submission to indieblucollective@gmail.com
• Writing can be submitted in the body of the email or as a separate Word document or PDF
• If you are submitting writing, please include a suggested image to accompany your work. Unsplash and Pixabay are two of our favorite sites for royalty-free images.
• Your email should include your name EXACTLY as you want it to appear on Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless, a short biography, and any links you want shared.

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Christine E. Ray places her original poetry and prose alongside the fierce words and artwork of 45 talented global collaborators in her latest offering, Darker Objects. 

Poignant Poetic solos, duets, and provocative political anthems are possessed with evocative titles illustrating their focus, including; ‘American Gothic’, ‘Ghosted’, ‘Nocturnes’, ‘Viral’ ‘Rooms so Still, So Silent’, ‘Tongue-Tied’, ‘Tenterhooks’, ‘Rage Against the Machine’, and ‘Feminist Manifesto’. These lightening threads of passion, rage, love, and grief are the dark, irresistible heart of Darker Objects.

Collaborators include creatives from around the globe with a multitude of talent: Kindra M. Austin, Kim D. Bailey, Elijah R. Carney, Jharna Choudhury, Ward Clever, Susan M. Conway, crystal x, Candice Louisa Daquin, Lynn Devora-McNabb, Sarah Doughty. Michael Erickson, Rachel Finch, Devereaux Frazier, Stephen Fuller, Nicholas Gagnier, Georgiana Grentzenberg, Iulia Halatz, Saide Harb-Ranero, Quatrina Hosain, Rachael Z. Ikins, Sun Hesper Jansen, Rana Kelly, Erin L. King, Mandy Kocsis, Aakriti Kuntal, John W. Leys, Lois Linkens, Nicole Lyons, Jamie Lynn Martin, Devika Mathur, Nathan McCool, S.K. Nicholas, Jack Neece, Allister Nelson, Jesica Nodarse, OldePunk, Basiliké Pappa, Zelda Reville, Kristiana Reed, Megha Sood, Eric Syrdal, Marcia J. Weber, Robert Wertzler, Laurie Wise, and Dom Wynette.

“In this ambitious multi-genre, multi-vocal project, Christine E. Ray and Friends weave together poems, essays and visual artwork that speak of grief, rage, memories, hauntings and dreamscapes. These works, as both singular poems and extended collaborations, tell compelling stories, almost like sharing secrets, all with deftly drawn imagery. Each piece can stand on its own, but the cumulative effect is powerful, weighty and authoritative.”

—Nancy Dunlop, Hospital Poems

“… across the volume, the effect is a kind of Greek chorus in which multiple poets’ work takes on a collective voice, achieving a unique timbre possible only through this impressive collaboration. The harmony rising from the pages expands the words until they become universal, letting the reader hear the notes of their own experiences among the chords.”   

—Rachel Kobin, Greater Philadelphia Writers Workshop Studio

“These collaborative works are not cold, abstract experimental pieces. These are vast musical choral pieces, functioning as a powerful Greek chorus, resonating with grief and outrage, piercing us with raw emotion to spark us into action to create a better place for ourselves and our children…”

—Annette Kalandros, The Gift of Mercy 

Darker Objects is available for purchase through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Kobo, and other major online book retailers.

Publication Date: September 27, 2023

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-951724-23-8                 

Hardback ISBN: 978-1-951724-24-5                               

eBook ISBN: 978-1-951724-25-2  

Christine E. Ray (She/Her) lives outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A former Managing Editor of Sudden Denouement Publications, she co-founded Indie Blu(e) Publishing with Kindra M. Austin in September 2018. Ray is author of Composition of a Woman and The Myths of Girlhood. Her writing has also been featured in But You Don’t Look Sick: The Real Life Adventures of Fibro Bitches, Lupus Warriors, and other Superheroes Battling Invisible Illness, Through The Looking Glass: Reflecting on Madness and Chaos Within, As The World Burns: Writers and Artists Reflect on a World Gone Mad, SMITTEN: This Is What Love Looks Like, We Will Not Be Silenced: The Lived Experience of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Told Powerfully Through Poetry, Prose, Essay, and Art, Anthology Volume I: Writings from the Sudden Denouement Literary Collective, Swear to Me (Nicholas Gagnier), and All the Lonely People (Nicholas Gagnier).

Christine is a passionate fiber artist who has rarely met a craft supply she doesn’t like or a pattern she can’t alter. Currently yarn obsessed, over the decades she has learned to knit, crochet, quilt, weave, bead, and has dabbled in mixed media. Christine doesn’t have a spinning wheel… yet.