Flash Fiction Chronicles

CONGRATULATIONS to A. S. Andrews whose story, “Pretending,” has been selected by Guest Judge Michelle Reale as the FIRST PLACE WINNER of the String-of-10 THREE Flash Fiction Contest.

“Pretending” will be published in April at Every Day Fiction.  ”Today she will write cool things” by Romit Berger and “Wingless” by Karolyn J. Reddy have placed Second and Third respectively and will be published in April at Flash Fiction Chronicles.  Exact publications dates to follow.

You’ll find a complete list of Finalists and Semi-Finalists below, the top five with comments by our judge. An interview with Michelle Reale follows.

First Place

Pretending by A. S. Andrews

Great first line, creative use of prompt words, unexpected and startling images, a short, but very full story that, while it tells so much,  makes the reader want more.

Second Place

Today she will write cool things by Romit Berger

The specter of emptiness and desolation explode in a psychedelic sputtering of dreamlike images that coalesce into something both frightening and hopeful at the same time.  Deft use of language that delights and surprises.

Third Place

Wingless by Karolyn J. Reddy

The twin sides of a meditative rant on one of the worlds most coveted activities! Angel and whore engage in dirty dancing with a bit of love thrown in for good measure.  Delightful piece.

Honorable Mention

Evie by Madeline Mora-Summonte

Beautiful simplicity, stark images of loneliness, neglect.

Shut-Eye by Linda Simoni-Wastila

Very evocative, killer ending. (no pun intended!)

Semi-Finalists**

Dust by Brenda Kissko

Enchanted Endeavors by Kim Beck

Every other week by Ariane Synovitz

House Rules by Ralph Uttaro

Lamar by J.C. Towler, Jr.

Sacrifice by Mary J. Daley

Secretly Sexual: A Story of Change and Denial by Lindsay Oberst

Secular Rites by Oonah V. Joslin

The Letter by Sheila Knott

What Was Worth Saving by Katherine Lopez

When in Rome by Marian Wood

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Congratulations to all who entered the String-of-10 THREE Flash Fiction Contest.

**My apologies to all the semi-finalists for not publishing all the names. I struggled yesterday with the spacing here at the site and must have dropped part of the list.  Working on a lap top seems to make me prone to losing data, tiredness (no excuse) makes me prone to not catching it!  The Semi-Finalists are listed above in alphabetical order.

Flash Fiction Chronicles chats with Guest Judge Michelle Reale

Michelle is an academic librarian on faculty at a university in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  Her work has been published in a variety of venues including Eyeshot, Pank, Moon Milk Review Smokelong Quarterly, The Los Angeles Review, Word Riot,Wrong Tree Review and others.  She was included in Dzanc’s Best of the Web 2010 anthology.  Her fiction chapbook, Natural Habitat, was published by Burning River in 2010.

FFC: As a contest judge, what criteria did you use to choose the winner?

MR: I like a story that turns the “normal” on its head.  The winning story had an ineffable quality to it that I can’t quite describe.  I had both an emotional and physical reaction to it.

FFC: Do you have any tips for writers who enter contests? What do they need to do to stand out?

MR: My advice for contests would be the same as for submissions:  submit work you believe in and make it your best.

FFC: Let’s focus on Michelle.  What kinds of things do you write?  What direction do you see your work taking now that you have a published collection, Natural Habitat?

MR: Ah, I am diversifying a bit!  I am writing more poetry, prose poetry specifically, and after one editor told me that a flash piece  of mine that I submitted to him for consideration “got interesting just when the piece ended” I decided that sometimes short short work can feel truncated.   I am now  attempting much longer pieces but I am very resistant—I like the short form and think there will be a lot of poetry writing in my future.  I’d like my work to be leaner.

FFC: Can you tell us more about your collection?  What process did you go through to get it pulled together?

MR: I have said this before in other places, but perhaps it bears repeating here:  I feel very far from that collection. Those pieces were written years ago, so looking at them in the chapbook sort of makes me feel like they were written by someone else.  I had a theme of “homelessness” in the figurative sense.  Displacement, loss, “outsider” status ( I always feel like an outsider!) fascinate me , so this was the loose theme. My son David , a writer and visual artist pulled the collection together for me then  I began submitting this little manuscript to a few places.  Chris Bowen at Burning River is a fine human being in just about every way. He liked it and agreed to publish it. I am forever grateful to him.

FFC: You have a full-time job, how do you fit in your writing?  Do you have a set routine or do you write on the fly?

MR: I am not sure I would be at all cut out for writing full time.  I  am, by nature and temperament , quiet  and more than just a bit of a loner, so if I didn’t have a career, I am not sure what I would write about , since my world would be pretty small!   Writing is so much a part of the fabric of my life, I do it every day, whether I feel like it or not, no matter what.  All day Saturday is totally devoted to writing.  I have a small study of my own at home and I listen to music and just go at it.

FFC: Speaking of writing on the fly, what motivates you to write, what gets you going, what kinds of triggers put you at the keyboard?

MR: Everything triggers me, actually!  I keep an idea book with me at all times.  Sounds, colors, conversation, dreams, memories are kept in the book. Life, in general, people in particular inspire me.  I never run out of material.

FFC: What kinds of themes do you find you end up writing about?  I have a dare: Make up three story titles that illustrate what’s important in your world.

MR: Well, I like a challenge!  And since I like to keep a competitive edge with myself, I’ll take you up on it!

Lost in theVicinity

The Wolves Are Wearing Different Disguises Today

Before They Were Considered Precious

My themes are usually the same:  families, loss, and usually what hurts us more than what makes our hearts soar.

FFC: You really know how to take a dare and run with it.  Here’s another one: Name three books that every writer should read.  Name more if your brain doesn’t stop.

MR: This is a tough one, but here goes:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

A Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

Winesburg, Ohio by Sherman Anderson

The first is just a top notch classic, the second is the book I wish that I wrote, and the quirkiness of the third is just amazing.

Pffft.  My brain needs to get back to my day job now!  But really, reading is so personal and my list is endless.

FFC: Thanks, Michelle.  We at Flash Fiction Chronicles are honored to have you participate in the String-of-10 event.  Anything else you’d like to say we forgot to ask?

MR: You covered things pretty well, although, you didn’t ask me who inspires me ! So I am going to tell you anyway.  The writer who keeps at it.  Not the one who publishes the most or is the most prolific, or the ones that get to sit across from Oprah.  Just the ones that show up and who realize that the work itself, published or not, is all that matters.

FFC: AMEN!