PenMob

About PenMob

CLAIM DENIED

Milo Vance investigates claims for Hayclon Mutual, a company that has insured wizards, witches and the occasional very strange ordinary person since 1642. His job is to determine whether the thing that ate your kitchen is covered. Poltergeist: yes; poltergeist you summoned: no; poltergeist you summoned by accident while attempting to summon a different poltergeist: see clause 14(b). Milo is a wizard, technically. He can light a candle from across a room and that is roughly the extent of it, which is how a man ends up in insurance. But it takes a wizard to audit a wizard, and Milo has two things the talented ones don't: an aversion to danger and hard work. Incidentally, Milo is 28 with no girlfriend and lives in a broken-down micro-studio in Seattle but that’s all about to change. When a seemingly routine claim unravels into a massive, city-wide magical conspiracy, Milo’s carefully cultivated life of mediocrity is violently interrupted. Specifically, it is interrupted when Milo is killed. But instead of the abyss, Milo wakes up exactly one hour earlier. Can he save himself or will he just die again?

How it works

  1. Read — start from the Prologue, or jump chapters from the overview on any reading page.
  2. Write — no account required. Optional email if you want a ping when your line is chosen. One passage (≤500 chars) for what happens next. When 5 entries pass the editor, the top one becomes canon.
  3. Keep going — throw in as many passages as you like. Read the live chapter, or follow along from the beginning.

FAQ

Do I need an account?
No. Write with a pen name. Email is optional — only if you want to hear when your entry is selected or a chapter finishes.
When does the next line get chosen?
As soon as 5 submissions pass the content check for the current beat. No daily schedule.
Who wrote the beginning?
The founder wrote the Prologue and the opening of the live chapter. The mob writes what happens next. Chapters stay live until they're at least about 1,500 words.