Drum-roll, please!
It’s time to reveal the authors of this week’s Bloody Valentine Flash Ficton event! I had you guys vote, and you told me who you thought wrote each story, and some of the answers really cracked me up! I had to keep from commenting, because some of the responses were just completely awesome (and flattering sometimes, even if I didn’t deserve it!).
So now, ‘m going to post a link to the story, the first fifty words or so, who got voted in as the author, and who was actually the author! Exciting, right? Right! Okay, so are you ready? Are you? ARE YOU SURE?
Okay, then, here we go!
I. “A Valentine’s Surpise”
“Lorena, no,” Markus said.
Though the pressure of impotent rage swelled in Markus’s head, he spoke with a preternatural calm. He had to get control of her before it was too late…before The Order took control for him.
“I can’t handle the secrets anymore,” Lorena said…
For this story, we got votes for Cee, Joan, and myself, but Joan got it right by voting for Nat Russo!
Nat, our spectacular necromancy expert, wrote this thrilling little tale, and I was sure more people would call him out on it, but they didn’t! Which was way more fun 
So congrats to Joan for getting it right, and lots of congrats to Nat for writing this awesome piece in the first place!
II. “For You, the Third Law”
Baste meat. Intervals of 15 minutes for 3 hours
For desired doneness: Rare.
Tic-tic-tic-tic-ding!
Complete.
Remove from oven. Allow “rest” for fifteen minutes.
China on table. White with red piping.
Fork, 1.5 inches from edge of plate. Steak knife, 1.74 inches.
Imported Italian crystal goblet. Chianti warmed
To exactly room temperature. Complete.
Wait. Wait. Wait…
I was pretty flattered to have myself voted the author of this one by three (four, if we count the sneaky author) people! Unfortunately, I cannot claim credit for this fantastic story (although I wish I could. And honestly, with robots and an obsession for exactness, I can see where it might be attributed to me)–this one was by Joan Reginaldo! And no one guessed it, so good job fooling the crowd, Joan ;D
III. “Fire Lights”
I spit the dirt from mouth and stood slowly as I brushed myself off. I blinked hard as I stared at the beautiful inky midnight sky. How did I get to the woods behind the house? I didn’t remember coming here…
Elise got two votes for this one, with Cee and Joan getting the others. But the true author of this one is Mikaila Manesh! That’s right–sweet little Mikaila is responsible for the awesomeness of a zombie-axe muderer story. Pretty freakin’ awesome, right?
IV. “The Heart of the Matter”
He shivered against the bonds holding him, the taste of the rag in his mouth foul. His head hung loosely to the side; after the hours of torture she’d put him through, he no longer had the strength to hold it up. He barely had the strength to breathe…
For this one, we got votes for Mikaila and Joan, but in fact, it was Elise Valente who wrote this awesome story! Again, I was afraid it would be picked up on, since the pure awesomeness of it just reeked of Elise, but alas, she too managed to fool everyone. So yay!
V. “In Which Peter (tries) a Simple Love”
“I bet you’ve never had a Valentine,” I whisper to myself as I look at her as she sits alone.
Yes, alone she sits, in pink and gauze, her gloves with fingers snipped off, her lips pressed together tightly and I know, yes, I know she’s never had a kiss…
First off, can I just say that I love the title of this? I could learn a thing or two from you guys about naming stories–you’re all way better at it than I am.
Anywho, this is another story in which no one correctly guessed the author: We got votes for me (I’m flattered, seriously!) and Mikaila, but it was none other than Cee Martinez who took us on this fascinating journey
VI. “Secret Admirer”
Sarah stood in the early morning light, staring at the package on her doorstep as she puffed nervously on a cigarette. She was supposed to call the police when it arrived, but she couldn’t move. She could barely breathe…
So through the process of elimination, you can probably all figure out that, while this story got votes for Nat, Mikaila, Cee, and Elise, it was actually written by yours truly. This is the part where I usually say how awesome I thought the story was, but all I can say is: Eh, it was okay, I guess 
I’d like to extent a big thank you to Cee Martinez, Joan Reginaldo, Mikaila Manesh, Nat Russo, and Elise Valente for contributing such awesome stories to this flash fiction event, and taking such a last-minute, hair-brained idea and turning it into a really fun, really exciting success
Also, I’d like to congratulate Joan for being the only person to correctly guess who wrote any of the stories in this little adventure! Your prize is that I will write you a short story about anything you’d like me to :D (I know it’s cheap, but I’m a writer!)
Thanks again, guys. This was a blast. I can’t wait to do it again!! You all rock!!
