You were recently laid off. Instead of moping around, you've viewed it as a chance to start fresh. Pick a new career and write about your first day on the job. You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here

What's your number one pet peeve? Develop a punishment for anyone caught in the act. You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here

Take a character from one of your stories and examine his or her ipod playlist. What 10 songs best describe the character? You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here

This is a test of future dated articles. This article was created 01/14/08 with a start date of 01/15/08. This is just a test

You're at a U2 concert when you receive a text from a friend that says, "You'll never believe what just happened to me!" In the form of a text chat, find out what happened to your friend. You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here

What are your New Year's resolutions for 2009? Post them here and then at the end of the year, I'll feature this in the newsletter and ask you to check in to see which ones you've accomplished and reflect on your writing year. You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here

What's the worst present you've ever received? How did you react and what, ultimately, did you do with the gift? You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here

A man buys a parrot, and is horrified when he discovers the only thing it can say is, “If you ever tell anyone what you saw, I’ll kill you.” (submitted by Khara House) You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here

You've been hired by a bumper sticker manufacturer to come up with ideas. Write a clever or witty phrase you'd love to see on a bumper sticker. (If you want, write several.) You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here

You head to the mall for some holiday shopping and, just as you're about to park, someone steals your parking spot. Do you do something for revenge or do you stay in the holiday spirit and not let it bother you—and let karma do the dirty work? You can post your response (500 words or fewer) here