PODCAST

Please Be Prompt

A Simpatico Production about the small inspirations needed to initiate the writing process. Co-hosts Joshua Witsaman & Ryan Rimmele present new pieces based on prompts they discover & discuss their writing processes & how each piece came to be.

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31:07

S2E8 - Not A Joke

Please Be Prompt ·

2022/04/01

The Prompt: A witch smokes a cigarette in a lake. She is thinking about cathedrals. A swan is playing golf behind her. It might be April Fool's Day, but this is no joke - Please Be Prompt is back! Co-hosts Ryan Rimmele and Joshua Witsaman return with a pair of poems based on the above prompt. The hosts also discuss how their processes differ when writing poetry versus prose.

Untitled by Ryan Rimmele

Please Be Prompt ·

2022/04/01

It’s confusing isn’t it? When the sun rises and the sun sets When the moon and the stars remain in the sky When flowers bloom and leaves fall But it’s not confusing When a witch smokes a cigarette in a lake. When her thoughts of cathedrals drift as easy as the swan behind her Holding his driver in hand desperate for the golf ball he knows landed nearby It’s not confusing When a clock melts into a pool of radiant hues When a horse sprouts wings and asks if you party When your right hand

Within A Lake by Joshua Witsaman

Please Be Prompt ·

2022/04/01

Within a lake, new stones have been submerged. Stones which, until that day, had been stacked high as towers and walls. Looming, venerable, oppressive walls. But now they serve to provide stability, for her footsteps. Serenely she marches into the tarn In triumph, that daughter of Hecate strides the rippled mirror Where regal swans so recently floated. Such cygnids took flight, disturbed by assaults on ramparts nearby As coven, together found, new freedom. Sisters of the lineage, undoing false

01:35:43

S2E7 - The Basement I Grew Up In

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/12/10

The Prompt: Write a story about a liar and include a time machine. Also use the sentence - "This means war" On this episode of the the show co-hosts Ryan Rimmele and Joshua Witsaman welcome guest Daniel Kearsey! That means of course there will be a trio of stories based upon this prompt. The first deals with a post apocalyptic future and the slim hope for something better. The second deals with old friends who might be older than you realize. And the third tale of the episode deals with brothers

The Inevitability of Gelbrax Dufrain by Joshua Witsaman

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/12/10

Today was the day for Gelbrax Dufrain! At last he was being honored for the many achievements which he had achieved and the varied talents for which he was talented. He had trained his entire life for this moment. It hadn’t always been easy and it certainly hadn’t been quick, he was 157 years old after all, but at last he was here, standing within the capital halls of the intergalactic presidium itself! With his head held high Gelbrax ascended the staircase toward the grandstand. There at the top

Untitled by Daniel Kearsey

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/12/10

The door to his apartment creaked as he closed it slowly behind him. Police sirens could be heard in the distance. They began to get louder and louder until suddenly they stopped. Feet walking through puddles approached. His heart began pounding. His palms were sweating. Three knocks on a door; next door. A sigh of relief expelled from his mouth. Let me tell you a little bit about Walter Harlem. For most of his life, Walter was an upstanding citizen. He was never in trouble with the law. He was

The Cardboard Time Machine by Ryan Rimmele

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/12/10

Every Thursday evening Steven and his older brother Kyle’s mom goes to the neighbor’s house to play cards and “drink pop.” On these occasions the neighbor’s teenage daughter comes over to watch movies and drink pop. Steven and Kyle spend their time in the basement where the floor creates an ideal race track. After recently upgrading their refrigerator, the space under the stairs would become the perfect place for a time machine. “When should I go now?” asked Steven of his older brother.

Season 2 Prompt 5 by Ryan Rimmele

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/11/20

Jason has been down on his luck since he was forcibly removed from his parent’s home some three years ago. “Down on his luck” is a phrase he has heard ad nauseum since, as if that day had just been a random act of unluck. WIth few options at his disposal and a growing desire to live with a roof over his head, he sets out each day in search of small jobs. Cleaning houses. Delivering parcels. Any job that will earn him enough money to eat that day. At his local corner store is a bulletin board

Season 2 Prompt 5 by Joshua Witsaman

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/11/20

The sweat was dripping down his face and into the corners of his eyes. He blinked furiously, but with the gun pressed against his temple he didn’t dare try to wipe the sweat away. He was nervous and hot. But the room itself didn’t seem any warmer, in fact he felt a cool breeze blow across his ankles. It was coming from the room’s only vent. The cold metal of the gun against his face contrasted his own rising temperature. But even that didn’t last, the metal quickly warmed as it remained pressed

01:26:41

S2E6 - Make the Bad Stuff Good

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/11/19

The Prompt: The more dangerous a job is, the more it pays. You just took a job offer to stand in an empty room and do nothing for $100k an hour. Co-hosts Ryan Rimmele and Joshua Witsaman present two tales of odd jobs that seemingly pay too well. The first is all fun and games, that is until the game isn't fun. The second story deals with having your empathy turned against you.

01:36:39

S2E5 - The Open Ended Question

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/10/29

The Prompt: Write a story about an archaeologist and include a musical instrument. Use the line: "I can fix this." Bonus: There seems to be no one left on the planet. Co-hosts Ryan Rimmele and Joshua Witsaman provide two stories based upon this particular prompt. The first is about a college class presentation gone wrong. The second is a parallel tale of two unlikely individuals meeting at an opportune time.

Chapter 12 - My Cursed Artifact by Joshua Witsaman

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/10/29

That first Halloween party at college would prove to be a personal marker. My college career would go on to be filled with similar social pitfalls. At that time I was an effervescent mixture of confidence, inexperience, casual drug use, and pre-9/11 positivity, embarking on a degree program in English literature with a minor in anthropology – or as it is commonly referred to as The Upper-Middleclass Parent’s Rout – due to the fact that an entire 18 years of shepherding, guiding, saving, and

A Collection of Broken Things by Ryan Rimmele

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/10/29

The beginning of the end of the world was a Thursday, according to most surviving scholars of the time. Decades later, the last surviving member of the ruling species died and the world officially ended. It was a Tuesday. Sue was born during the first sunrise at the beginning of the end, she grew up as no one else did before her, and few did after. She knew only the ending of things. At a young age, she was taught to scavenge for anything that might help her survive. But Sue was never one to

01:05:34

S2E4 - Appreciate Your Video Game Writers

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/10/15

The Prompt: Write a 1000 word story in the crime genre. This is about a video game character and should include a single earring. Also use the sentence "Leave me alone!" Bonus: the story involves a fight. It's back to just Ryan and Joshua this week! The co-hosts have prepared two tales of video game violence and misdirection. First up is a story about playing video games so much it's like you're living in one. The second is about a character in a video game universe, just trying to do their

Your Saved Data Is Corrupted by Ryan Rimmele

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/10/15

As the dust of battle settles around his feet, sweat drips from his nose onto the scorched earth. Blood runs down his forearm, through his fist clenching the hilt of his sword and lands into a puddle beneath him. His heavy breathing can be heard across the open field where the bodies of monsters lay in piles as far as the eye can see. Even though he is the only thing still standing, his muscles remain tight and his barrel chest heaves with anticipation of another wave. He stares down his fallen

Season 2 Prompt 3 by Joshua Witsaman

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/10/15

The witnesses we interviewed stated the entire incident happened relatively quickly. None of them could tell me exactly how it started, or what exactly ended it. As I inspected the area it was clear a fight had taken place. More precisely, it had been a battle. The grass was blackened and charred in places, with what seemed to be electrical burns. There were also splashes of acid which had melted rocks and discolored the ground. I marked several areas which I wanted sampled for testing in a

01:26:34

S2E3 - Pros and Cons

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/09/24

The Prompt: You own the best saloon for a hundred miles. You're no nonsense and good at your job: the saloon is clean, the barmaids are treated well, and the patrons are happy. But when an outlaw bursts in with guns blazing, your happy little saloon is at risk. A brawl breaks out, and you pull your own gun from behind the counter to get everyone to stop. The outlaw points their gun at you, and you balk. This isn't just any outlaw; this is the famed bank robber, wanted dead or alive by every

The Grave at Derleth Gulch by Joshua Witsaman

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/09/24

It’s hard to imagine why anyone would go out west to hide. Bandits, murderers, and criminals of all kinds have been trying it for decades. But no matter how far they roam, sooner or later most of them get caught. The problem is many criminals share the same flaw, being incapable of laying low. They get twitchy. Overeager for that next job – that next big score. Men who commit crimes, and who succeed at getting away with them, already have an inflated sense of ego, so they tend to figure they

Quiet by Audrey Worthington

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/09/24

From the rafters, Clementine the cat surveys the mad scene. The dust is just beginning to settle. Half the tables in the place are overturned. Wine and liquor are leaking from barrels, dripping off tables, and commingling in the grooves of the floorboards. A final few shards of glass fall lazily from the frame of what used to be a mirror. Most of my patrons hightailed it out of here at the first sign of trouble; the handful that are left are scattered on the outskirts of the room, at varied levels

The Ballad of Gene and Bobby Joe by Ryan Rimmele

Please Be Prompt ·

2021/09/24

For days they walked across hot sand With a pair of matching iron bands A parting gift from the Pinkerton Their past had set the scene Where they were headed nobody knows Where they wound up is why the story’s told A tale of broken hearts A death for one named Gene Gene and Bobby Joe were tied To one another like a steer and hide The bane of those who traveled west To escape a life of fear and stress Why they robbed and killed them folk It must have been for show They had everything they’d ever

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