My GISHWHES Experience

When my friend came to me asking if I would write a story for her friend for GISHWHES I had no idea what she was talking about.

For those who don’t know, GISHWHES is a scavenger hunt hosted by Supernatural star, Misha Collins. Technically, it is the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen (GISWHES). This year, one of the items was to get a previously published sci-fi writer to write a story about Misha, the Elopus (half-octopus-half-elephant), and the Queen of England. The story could be no more than 140 words, which, ask any author, is a HUGE challenge. We are, by nature, wordy people. We love words. That’s why we’re writers. Being limited to 140 words goes against our natural instincts.

Still, I’m always up for a challenge. So when my friend came to me asking for this story for her friend, I thought, “Yeah, okay, sure. I don’t know what an Elopus is, but whatever…” Thankfully, she was there to walk me through this new world of GISHWHES.

I had so much fun with that first story that I decided to check the GISHWHES tag on Twitter to see what some of the other tasks were. As I browsed, I saw writers volunteering their talent to GISHWHES teams still seeking a story. I realized, “Hey… I could do that!”

Now, I’ve always sort of thought of myself as more of a paranormal writer than a sci-fi writer, but then I remembered that Ghost Hunters is totally a SyFy Channel show, ergo ghosts = Sci-Fi. There you go.

As of right now, I’ve written stories for 55 different GISHWHES teams. I’ve met some really awesome people and had a lot of fun with it, myself. I know there are authors out there who didn’t think they should be giving away free stories, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s a great way to connect with people and it provides a challenge, not to mention it’s for a good cause. Not to mention, I’m a huge fangirl at heart. These are my people! I can’t let my people down!

To all the GISHWHES teams out there, I wish you all the best of luck! I’m so glad I got to participate this year. It was pretty neat to feel so in demand! If anyone else needs a story, I will try my best to fit you in, but I will be pretty busy for most of today. Regardless, like my page (https://www.facebook.com/CemeteryToursSeries) and send me a message there. I’m pretty stubborn when it comes to finishing what I’ve set out to do.