Category flash fiction
Microfiction: Looking Ahead
For at least the thousandth time, I stare at the nameplate on my desk. It says “Pete Tailor”, which would be fine, except my name is spelled “Taylor” and I’ve always told everyone my name is Peter, not Pete. There’s only one guy in the entire world who calls me Pete, and I hate his […]
Review: The Second Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack
The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack II CS Boyack‘s second experimental notebook is the perfect book to read just before Halloween. It has vampires, a haunted house, murderers, grave robbers — What? I missed the Halloween deadline? OK, I can work around that. Let’s try something else: CS Boyack’s second experimental notebook is the […]
Meanwhile, in the Back Yard
I step onto the back porch and spot an old Chinese man in my yard. I yell at him, “This is private property. Shove off.” The old man gives me a snaggle-toothed smile, raises his fist in my direction, and flicks his thumb up. The thumb is dyed black. I raise my fist and flick […]
Short Story Writing Contest: Winning Story
Originally posted on Author of speculative fiction:
The Kiss of High Treason Chosen writing prompt: Knight To this day, words still whispered of the dark place concealed in the enchanted forest and the ancient secrets contained inside. Ariella had spent hours penetrating the thicket of oaks and silver birches hoping to uncover her one true…
Microfiction: Natural Habitat
I plan to resume my magazine quest with a new post tonight or tomorrow, but I thought I’d post something short this morning since I’ve been away from the blog for a while. I recently read a flash fiction story at CS Boyack’s site, a few lines of which reminded me of a microfiction I’d […]
Inspired by the Neighbours
My County Road microfiction quickly climbed onto my “top posts” list, and inspired this follow-on story:
Microfiction: County Road
The Sheriff slid his patrol car to a stop on the gravel shoulder of county road 555. He got out, looked at the setting sun for a moment, then opened the trunk and pulled out a rifle. He worked the rifle’s lever action, loading a round into the chamber as he walked towards a campfire. Homeless […]
Review: The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack
The Experimental Notebook of C. S. Boyack Four Royal Crowns (4 out of 4 rating) I had trouble reviewing this collection of 12 short stories. Deciding on a rating was easy — I enjoy short-format stories, and was totally immersed in 9 of the 12. My problem was what to write about each of them– […]
Microfiction: Las Calles Rojas
Las Calles Rojas Of course I won the contract to provide animals for the “Running of the Bulls” this year – my bid was well below any reasonable cost. The problem with bulls is that, like most large herbivores, their instincts tell them to run for open space, or at best to turn from threat […]
Microfiction: Home
Happy 4th of July to my US readers (and condolences to my British readers). I recently shared a microfiction story I wrote that was rejected by 101fiction.com, and now I’d like to share one that was accepted (with revisions). In case you’re not familiar with 101 fiction: a 100 word story with a one word title is […]
Microfiction: Pills
In an earlier post, I linked to my six favorite microfiction stories at 101 Fiction. The site opened to submissions again last month, and I decided to send in two stories of my own: one fantasy, the other science fiction. 101 Fiction is running through a series of color themes, and this time “red” had to appear in all […]
Flash Fiction: Attica 2071
I was browsing the site of one of my recent followers, ZombieSymmetry of Trustus Pharmaceuticals, and I ran across an interesting story. It’s 1,500 words, which places it kind of on the border between flash fiction and a short story. Before reading my comments about the story, you may want to read it yourself. However, […]
Flash Fiction: 365 Tomorrows
You might enjoy 365 Tomorrows if you like your science fiction in small, regular doses. Every day, it posts a new story that doesn’t take long to read (600 words or less). I don’t visit the site as often as I’d like to; I’m not the “visit every day” type, I’m more the “guy who […]
Microfiction: 101 Fiction
For the next six weeks, I’ll be overwhelmed by career-related stuff. I have detailed reviews and “settings” articles I’m eager to write, but I’m going to stick to shorter posts until things slow down. This seems like an obvious time for a couple of posts about microfiction (100 words or less) and flash fiction (1,000 words or […]
Planetary Defense Command 