EDF's April Table of Contents

April brings us another 30 flash pieces to read from Every Day Fiction including the Flash Fiction Chronicles String-of-10 Microfiction contest winning story "Salvation" by Ann Pino.

Apr 1/James Bloomfield/Telephone Call
Apr 2/Tommy B. Smith/Mr. Philpot
Apr 3/Manuel Royal/Birthday Troll
Apr 4/Christopher Floyd/Insight
Apr 5/Mickey Mills/The Newly Dead of Winter
Apr 6/John Wiswell/Computer Education
Apr 7/Joshua S Walker/Open-Minded Gentleman
Apr 8/Kaolin Imago Fire/Fading
Apr 9/Jon Bland/Damaged Goods
Apr 10/William Knight/Electric Smiles
Apr 11/Patrick Perkins/Speed Trap
Apr 12/Jenny Schwartz/After Midnight
Apr 13/J.C. Towler/Dour Cutler
Apr 14/Jan Melara/Covered Dish Supper
Apr 15/S.J. Higbee/A Drop of the Hard Stuff
Apr 16/Ann M. Pino/Salvation
Apr 17/R.F. Marazas/What’s In A Name?
Apr 18/James Hartley/Priorities
Apr 19/Rhiannon Morgan/Sucka for Punishment
Apr 20/Peter Charles/Slurpy
Apr 21/Chad Redden/Building a Sparrow
Apr 22/Maureen Wilkinson/The Cool Bag
Apr 23/Stacey Py Flynn/Tryst
Apr 24/Giles Turnbull/Winner of the Regional Best Chip Shop Award, 2006
Apr 25/Oonah V Joslin/Cider Sunrise
Apr 26/Ruth Imeson/Turning the Tables
Apr 27/Ladonna A. Watkins/Chocolate Milk
Apr 28/Lorette C. Luzajic/Shrinking
Apr 29/Fadzlishah Johanabas/Secrets
Apr 30/Aaron Polson/Blue Collar Boys

And if that isn't enough to read, here are some things by or about me out there:

Review of Pomegranate Stories by Jackie Houchin
Writers in Residence Interview by Jacqueline Vick
Podcast of The Breach by me, read by Robert C. Eccles
Addicted to Flash by me, at Flash Fiction.Net

Recent Story Publications:
Madeline in Her Coffin at Referential Magazine
Heartland and What's Next at 50 to 1
Complicit at Smokelong Quarterly

Madeline in Her Coffin up at Referential

This year is off to an amazing start. I'm a little breathless to tell you the truth. New story up today called Madeline in Her Coffin at Referential Magazine, a gorgeous looking online journal.

This is how Referential Magazine works--very cool. You read the magazine, pick something that appeals to you in some way, see what it suggests to you, reference it in a new story you write, and submit it!!!! Madeline is based on a story by Dawn Corrigan called Golden. Read hers and mine and see if you can see the connection between the two.

And consider reading Madeline and write a story based on a word, a phrase, a character from it. Let me know what happens!!

Tanya L. Schofield Joins FFC as Assistant Editor « Flash Fiction Chronicles

We're welcoming Tanya L. Schofield to the Flash Fiction Chronicles Staff beginning today. With her on board, we hope to bring access to more articles about the craft and art of Flash Fiction writing. Please drop by the site to say hi!

Tanya L. Schofield Joins FFC as Assistant Editor « Flash Fiction Chronicles

Six Things Your Flash Desires « Flash Fiction Chronicles

Randall Brown over at FFC today.

Thanks Randall for another terrific post. I love the way you can get down to the nitty gritty of what makes a piece work and how to look at our own processes. “To be inhaled.” “Be little.” and this “Flash searches for the alternative way to matter in this world. Sometimes it finds profundity in what others find nothingness; other times, it finds meaning by eschewing their desire for somethingness.” Love these.

http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/six-things-your-flash-desires/

Podcast EDF016: THE BREACH • written Gay Degani • read by Robert C. Eccles | Every Day Fiction - The once a day flash fiction magazine.

Just found out a 50-word bit of mine is up at 50 to 1 today. Also sci-fi! what's going on with me? Yikes?

http://50-to-1.blogspot.com/2010/03/whats-next-by-gay-degani.html

Robert C. Eccles reads The Breach at Every Day Fiction today. This is the second story I published online and shocked myself that it happened to be sci-fi. SCI-FI!!!

Although I've read Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert, Jack Finney all when I was a lot younger, and love Stars Wars (really just the original series and only "Jedi" since in was the capper), The Terminator series (1 and 2), Alien, Aliens--I'm noticing a trend of disliking the third in a series here--and back in the day, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers (original), The Thing (original), Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, I didn't really think I knew enough science (and I don't) to really work in the genre. So this piece surprised me.

Listening to it being read today by the remarkable Bob Eccles gave me a thrill despite notice a few places I'd like to rewrite. Haha. The curse of the rewriter.

Anyway thank you Bob for such a fabulous read. What a terrific start to the week.

Winners Announced in String-of-10 TWO Contest « Flash Fiction Chronicles

Winners Announced in String-of-10 TWO Contest « Flash Fiction Chronicles

Flash Fiction Chronicles is pleased to announce the winners of the String-of-10 Two Micro Fiction Contest:

First Place
Salvation by Anne Pino
Second Place
Gypsy Flour by John Towler
Third Place
Good Morning Susan by Brittany Soder

For more info go to Flash Fiction Chronicles

MATAMOROS SHUFFLE • by Michael Ehart | Every Day Fiction - The once a day flash fiction magazine.

MATAMOROS SHUFFLE • by Michael Ehart Every Day Fiction - The once a day flash fiction magazine.

If you have time to check it out, the estimable Michael Ehart has a great suspense story over at EDF. Spoiler alert: Don't read the comments first. Someone gives away the story.

Professional Writers — How An Editor Can Tell « Flash Fiction Chronicles

Professional Writers — How An Editor Can Tell « Flash Fiction Chronicles

Camille has written a good tip-sheet for writers on how most editors define professionalism. A writer who wants to be taken seriously should check this out!

SOGGY SANDY • by Gay Degani | Every Day Fiction - The once a day flash fiction magazine.

SOGGY SANDY • by Gay Degani Every Day Fiction - The once a day flash fiction magazine.

Well, this may not be perfect for lunch, but maybe if you eat first...

Gay Degani @ FlashFiction.Net: Addicted to Flash : FlashFiction.Net

http://flashfiction.net/2010/03/monday-guest-gay-degani.php

Posted using ShareThis

Also Jacqueline Vick interviewed me at Writers in Residence. Thanks Jackie!!! Read more here.

Writers in Residence

I am rapidly turning into a non-blogger which has both its good points and bad points. I like having a place to go to vent about what annoys me (grocery store seem to pop up in my mind), to announce what's going on with my writing, and to discuss various issues as they strike me, especially in regard to my creative side. BUT I just can't see to show up.

I'm not making any commitments, vows, and pronouncements any more. That's one of my 2010 resolutions. Every time I make a new promise to do something, that will assure the world that it ain't going to happen. Instead, I'll just trip a bit here about where my head is at.

1) My head is, in fact, just a wee bit hung over (and what's wrong with the head is always wrong with the body). Why since I rarely drink? Well, dang, we had dinner at friends for the Oscar telecast and the first thing I was offered was champagne. I have to drink champagne, especially if I'm watching the Academy awards.

• My mother and I loved old movies and we loved the oscars. I don't think there was a year in my growing up that she and I didn't sit down and watch them together. My mother kind of looked like Joan Bennett or Hedy Lamar. I thought Hedy myself and I was a fan, but Mom said when she was young it was Joan Bennett that people thought she reminded them of.


• I used to know all the top three awards from 1928 through sometime in the mid sixties because for some reason it seemed important for me to know it. So I knew that emil jennings (jannings) was the first winner and I think he actually appeared as a character in Inglorious Bastards. Perhaps I was only one of few who could make that connection. All that memorizing so that in 2010, I could do that! Haha!! Janet Gaynor in Seventh Heaven won for best actress and Wings for best picture, but I could be misremembering...

2) It was the Maker's Mark, though, not the champagne that did me in. People kept handing me that nice little glass with the dark amber liquid in the bottom. That happened to me before at the rehearsal dinner of my son's wedding. I have no memory of that night after the second drink except for a vague image of myself making a toast. I guess my son is lucky his bride's family didn't hold it against him.

3) I'm going to go back to grocery stores for a minute.

• When I was growing up, the other thing I did a lot with my mother was to go to grocery stores and buy food. She cooked a lot, a good southern cook, so we were at the grocery store a lot.


• In those days, grocery clerks tended to be people who acted like neighbors, friendly, out going, remembering her customers names. Not like today when most clerks spend most of their time reciting a script that Safeway has given them: How are you today? (They don't give a shit), Do you have a Von's card? (before you've even put all your stuff on the conveyor belt), Would you like to make a donation to leukemia, breast cancer, jerry's kids, prostate cancer? (and then you have to click no or yes to the same question on the machine that makes love to your credit card) and finally the most irritating Would you like help to your car? (Uh, no, thank you. Not after I've just bagged up my own twelve bags myself because all the box people are checking everyone else out so that there aren't more than two people in line without regard to the fact that the customers overall wait remains the same unless he or she --the cranky ones like me--bag there own stuff and where in heavens name is the person going to come from to help me to my car????)


• In those days too the clerk would ask about your day and listen to your answer. Not become distracted with the next clerk over's hook-up with some guy she met in a club.

Okay, enough of that stuff. Phew. I do feel better. Hmm, I'm getting a little bit hungry now. Maybe I'll go in and have some oatmeal and an episode of Law and Order now. Yes I think I will.

From the Editors of Every Day Fiction.

The Best of Every Day Fiction TWO Anthology sales are going well, and we’re now looking for reviews! We love reader reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever else you buy books online, and we’re also very happy with blog love (or blog-literary-criticism). And if we’ve got any professional reviewers out there among our readers, well, we’d love for you to contact us.

For Readers:
We’ve got the usual great variety of styles and flavours for you this month, with fresh stories from names you’ll recognize, including Gay Degani and Kevin Shamel, along with a variety of new-to-EDF authors such as Christopher Floyd and Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen.
For St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th, we’re featuring the appropriately-titled “Patrick’s Day” by J.C. Towler.

And once you’ve had your daily dose of fiction, consider heading over to Every Day Poets for a dash of poetry in your life. Even if you’re not up to poetry every day, though, do take a look at February’s most-read poems: “Monday Morning Before the Garbage Truck Comes” by Linda Simoni-Wastila, “Lost & Found” by Stacy Post, and “The Emancipation of Sylvia Plath” by David Siegel Bernstein.

For Writers:
We’re still looking for stories suitable for spring and Easter — remember to fill in the “Targeted” field in the submission form so we don’t miss them!

Also, we’ve had another changeover in the slush reading department: Katheryn McLaughlin and Hillary Degani have moved on to other things, and we’re happy to welcome Martin Turton and Brenda Stokes to the team. Check out our staff page to learn more about Martin and Brenda. We’re always looking for more slush readers — it’s only a three-month commitment (extendable by mutual agreement, of course), no experience necessary. If you’re interested in reading slush for us, click here to learn more.

We’re also delighted to have K.C. Ball joining us as guest editor for the month of March. K.C. is an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. In addition to nine stories at Every Day Fiction, her work has appeared in various print and on-line publications, including Flash Fiction Online and Analog. Her story “Coward’s Steel” will appear in the Writers of the Future 26 anthology this August. K.C. is the editor of 10Flash Quarterly and blogs about writing at A Moving Line.

Have you been following our Flash Fiction Chronicles blog? Just in case you missed them, the most-read posts over the past month include “What is Flash Fiction?”: Imagine You Were Born To Answer It and “Who Cares?”: The Nuts & Bolts of Making Narrative Matter, both by Randall Brown, and also The Short Story According to Nik by Nik Perring.

March’s Table of Contents
Mar 1/Bruce Stirling/Stairway to Heaven
Mar 2/Jacky Taylor/Only at the End of the Road
Mar 3/R.F. Marazas/Long Night of the Witch
Mar 4/Kendra Cummings/HR Hell
Mar 5/James Bloomer/Build, Build, Build
Mar 6/Gaius Coffey/Terry and the Eye
Mar 7/Katherine Clements/Crane Fly
Mar 8/Tara Gilboy/Stages of Grief
Mar 9/K. V. Douglass/The Daughter
Mar 10/David Dalglish/All I Did Was Look
Mar 11/Matthew Wimmer/Take Stock of Your Life
Mar 12/Jenny Schwartz/Centauri Calling
Mar 13/David Rees-Thomas/The Hardest Walk
Mar 14/Timothy Miller/The Root
Mar 15/Christopher Floyd/Brewers Fan
Mar 16/Gay Degani/Soggy Sandy
Mar 17/J.C. Towler/Patrick’s Day
Mar 18/Michael Ehart/Matamoros Shuffle
Mar 19/Lindsey Duncan/Ostracized
Mar 20/Frank Roger/Back In Touch
Mar 21/Jerry Kraft/Games of Chance
Mar 22/Dan Purdue/Changeover Day
Mar 23/Kevin Shamel/What Name Do I Give Her?
Mar 24/Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen/Lollipop
Mar 25/Aaron Polson/Billy Boy
Mar 26/Nick Allen/Final Answers
Mar 27/Jennifer Campbell-Hicks/Ripples
Mar 28/Richmond Weems/Herschel Kriege, 65
Mar 29/Elina Michaels/Failure
Mar 30/Tyrean Martinson/Enough To Do
Mar 31/Christopher Allen/The Orangery

Complicit at Smokelong

My short short piece "Complicit" is up at Smokelong Weekly this week. And I have a couple more things coming out this spring at Every Day Fiction, Emprise Review and Writers' Bloc as well as a piece in the July issue of 10Flash. Maybe now I can abandon short stuff for a while and get back to the novel. (Haven't I said that a billion times already?) Yikes.

Every Day Fiction's February Calendar

February’s Table of Contents
Here are the stories to be published in the month of February by Every Day Fiction.
Authors: if you want please leave your blogsite or website address below in the comments section so readers will know who you are!

Feb 1 Damien Walters Grintalis Let Down Your Hair
Feb 2 Leslie A. Dow Regret
Feb 3 Stef Hall Dancing Snowflakes
Feb 4 Matt Cowens Dead Weight
Feb 5 Dale Ivan Smith Hassan’s News
Feb 6 Nikesh Murali The Photograph
Feb 7 Jens Rushing Le Danse Macabre
Feb 8 Douglas Pugh Augan Ismic
Feb 9 Krystyna Smallman The Small Print
Feb 10 KJ Kabza One-Sided
Feb 11 A.R. Williams Blossoms Weep, Spiders Fall
Feb 12 Katherine Lopez Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll
Feb 13 Evonne Gayle Love at the Mall
Feb 14 Madhumita Gupta Valentine Day
Feb 15 Bruce Stirling The Warning
Feb 16 Douglas Campbell The Destiny Of Archer Deft
Feb 17 Jeanne Holtzman Elvis Has Left the Chitlin Strut
Feb 18 Steve Kissing It’s Good To Be Here, Meredith
Feb 19 Frank Roger Beyond the Final Chapter
Feb 20 Mickey Mills The Accountant
Feb 21 R.F. Marazas Waiting For My Assassin
Feb 22 Thomas Canfield Pranksters
Feb 23 Stacy Post The Big Blue
Feb 24 Kate Sheeran Conversation with a Giant
Feb 25 Stephanie Kincaid She’s a Biter
Feb 26 Deborah Winter-Blood The Miracle of St. John
Feb 27 Mark Partin Souls
Feb 28 Walt Giersbach Last Year’s Icon

Pomegranate has made its way over to Amazon

My collection of mother-daughter stories has made it over to Amazon. Here's the link: Pomegranate. For those of you who already have a copy and like what you've read, I'd be thrilled if you could meander on over and give me a review.

For those of you who haven't gotten a copy, and you are willing to share your address with me, I can send you a signed copy during the month of February for $12.oo, shipping on me. Just contact me at gaydegani@yahoo.com.

Best of Every Day Fiction Two Launched

I'm pleased to announce that I have two stories, "The London Eye" and "Stranger on the Porch," in this year's The Best of Every Day Fiction TWO.

Here's the official spiel:

Flash fiction is perfect for your coffee break, your commute, or whenever you have a few minutes for yourself. Crafted with gemlike precision, every flash fiction piece tells a complete story, never using more than a thousand words.
The Best of Every Day Fiction Two brings together one hundred flash fiction pieces selected from Every Day Fiction’s second year of publication.

Following the success of The Best of Every Day Fiction 2008, this volume brings you a hundred more bite-sized tastes of science fiction, humour, romance, fantasy, horror, and surrealism along with more traditional literary pieces, from authors all over the world. Whatever your fiction preferences might be, this book is sure to introduce you to some new favourite authors and perhaps expand your literary horizons.

Pages: 316Publisher: Every Day Publishing (January 15, 2010)Language: EnglishProduct Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inchesShipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
Now available directly from Every Day Publishing: CLICK HERE TO ORDER

I don't have my copy yet so if you're in it, please comment below!!!!

Resolution Road

I’m heading into familiar territory in 2010.

I’ve travelled this blacktop many times before and run out of gas, gotten a few tickets for tail-gating, speeding, and driving myself into a ditch. But the good thing about traveling over paths I’ve already been down is that I’m beginning to notice so much more about the experience.

I’m picking up details and nuances and having epiphanies about the asphalt itself, where the bumps are, the sudden curves, the cracks, the narrowing lanes, and to prepare in enough time to take advantage of the upcoming divided highway. And too I seem able–because of my growing acquaintance with the road itself–to find time to look in all four directions.

The rearview mirror reveals where I’ve been, and I’m grateful for the miles covered. I begin to notice and appreciate the roadside vegetation, the swooping hawk in the sky, the deep scary woods with its never-seen-before dirt lane, and the distant mountains across the meadow glistening in the afternoon sun.

There is only one beginning to each new year, each new month, each new week, and each new day. One of my resolutions is to remain aware of those beginnings, to hold onto the freshness and energy that comes from waking up each morning and recommiting to my personal landscape: my family, my friends, and of course, my writing.

I’ve been practicing consistency and focus. Wait! Focus should be listed first, then consistency. Focus is the most important tool in embracing a dream, developing a talent, accomplishing what one sets out to accomplish. And though many believe that if one has a passion, focus shouldn’t be an issue, it often is.

Focus slips into the ditch as easily as a car with a distracted driver. My first two priorities, family and friends, constantly challenge my focus. They are hard to deny, but they are also my support group, my inspiration, and without them, what would be the point?

But balancing them with my writing isn’t always easy. They need me. They want me. And I feel compelled. But it is this very struggle between them and the work, that conflict, that gives me my “drive.”

Consistency is impossible without focus. There is no way I can stay on the highway if I’m not paying attention. At least somewhere in my brain, I must remain aware of other cars, smelly semis, and jack-asses in Lexi and F-150s. So focus first. Consistency second.

Climbing into that old beater, backing it out of the garage, and into the street every single day is essential…or at least five days a week like the normal folks. Sometimes my perception is the beater just isn’t going anywhere. The batteries dead, the engine won’t start, and I’ve run out of gas. Must’ve lost focus yesterday when I drove by that gas station when I should have stopped to fill up. Damn.

But it’s a new day so I call on the WRITER’S version of triple A–a good story by someone else, a prompt from Meg, a note to Sarah or Sharon, and get recharged, regassed, back on the road. And each experience gets me closer to my destination. Even the running out of gas. Oh that’s a story! What if me and my family are out for a Sunday drive and we run out of gas or have a flat tire? With my mother-in-law? What if an escaped convict descends on us? What might happen next?

I’m pretty sure Flannery O’Connor knew how to get back on the road and I can too because today is a new day, a new week… Well, you get the drift.

This post originally appeared at Flash Fiction Chronicles on January 4.

Writing with Syle Deadline February 5

If any of you remember, I went to Banff in September of last year (yes, last year as in 2009!) and loved it.

It is a one-week program including class time with some of Canada's best writers. The location is gorgeous, the food delicious, and there is plenty of free writing time. I loved the people there who were sincerely interested in my progress.

Here's the note I received along with all previous participants that I am posting here for any of you who are interested.:

Hello you Stylistas!

Just a note to say that the deadline for the Spring session of Writing wth
Style is coming up on February 5th. You may be interested in applying, or you
may want to pass this on to your writer friends.

Here is the faculty for Spring Style:

Jan Zwicky--poetry
Mark Abley--creative nonfiction
Pauline Holdstock--historical fiction
Lee Gowan--first chapter novel

Here's a hotlink for anyone who wants to know more: http://www.banffcentre.ca/programs/program.aspx?id=945.

Happy New Year, and happy writing!

Liz Philips

Director, Writing with Style

The Banff Centre

Spotted & Sought up at 10Flash

My story "Spotted & Sought" is up at K. C. Ball's 10Flash Quarterly this month. If you have time to stop by that would be terrific. Here's a direct link: Spotted.

Other pieces featured this month include Jodi MacArthur's "The Sower," Megan Arkenburg's "Fugitive 135711400," DJ Barber's "Wanderers Two," and C. L. Holland's "On the Penitent's Road."

Is it time for me to begin listing my new year's resolutions? Probably, but I'm not up for it tonight. The Ducks lost, UCLA lost, bad times for the Pac 10, but mostly, me? I'm just tired. So I'll start some of my new year tomorrow and Sunday, but the real beginning will be Monday morning. Back to the routine which I have to admit I like.

EDF's January Calendar

Happy New Year. I'm working on my resolutions, but in the meantime, I want to share Every Day Fiction's lineup of stories for the month of January 2010.

January’s Table of Contents
Jan 1 Anthony Cowin Golden Sparks
Jan 2 A P Charman Truce
Jan 3 Michael D. Turner Djinni Beach
Jan 4 Debbie Cowens The Death Meter
Jan 5 Deborah Winter-Blood Fireword
Jan 6 Dominik J. Parisien Snowparent
Jan 7 Ramon Rozas III Micro-Transactions
Jan 8 Anna Sykora The Meatball of Fate
Jan 9 Paul Graham Fodder
Jan 10 J F Taylor Trophy
Jan 11 Gaius Coffey The Mortician and Mr Grimley
Jan 12 Harry Steven Lazerus The Man Who Executed Socrates
Jan 13 Fred Warren Half
Jan 14 Jay Faulkner The Way Not to Wish
Jan 15 Joy V. Smith Mooving Out
Jan 16 Oonah V Joslin Take v, t, & i (took, taken,-kable)
Jan 17 Ruth Schiffmann Do-si-do
Jan 18 Nathaniel Johnson The Basset and the Hare
Jan 19 G.P. Ching Replacement Parts
Jan 20 Miriam Hall Woken
Jan 21 Matthias R. Gollackner Nothing
Jan 22 Christie Isler The First Burial
Jan 23 Stephanie Scarborough An Undead Day at the Spa
Jan 24 Magen Toole The Mermaid of Warsaw
Jan 25 JB Smith Cleansings
Jan 26 JR Hume Differences
Jan 27 Guy Anthony De Marco Member of the Herd
Jan 28 Townsend Walker An Incident at Golden Gate Bridge
Jan 29 J.C. Towler Bad Smile
Jan 30 Kelly Swimmer The Warrior and the Stone
Jan 31 Mark Robinson Calls From Other Networks May Vary