In A Flash

 Had a quirky FF piece published: hope you enjoy it! Was inspired by the Phillip Pullman quote: “After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” 

Save Room For Epilogue | Bright Flash Literary Review 

A Strange Matter Indeed....

...That I might pen anything inspired by quantum theory. My kids know more about this stuff than I, mainly due to Marvel, but what can you do? Tickled that the great folks at Quantum Shorts published my flash piece on their great site. It's under consideration for one of their contests, but I'm up against many great writers and probably some quantum physicists and such, so likely a long shot for this wayward scribe, but I enjoyed researching the topic, and crafting this story. I hope you enjoy it.


https://shorts.quantumlah.org/entry/very-strange-matter-eliot-rover

Artwork by Tapilipa.

Making it Count....

My first draft of The Awakening of David Rose was more than 100,00 words. Ultimately, I pared it down by about 1/4, which is kind of par for the editing course, but I remain amazed how we can indeed produce hundreds of thousands of words of prose--millions, really, in the life of many scribes--and still, so much boils down to a few key sections, be it the first page, or even first sentence, or even the query letter or (my nemesis) synopsis in which we must somehow and succinctly capture/convey the essence of all that work...

But that's the deal, right? Agents, publishers, and most importantly, readers, are not going to read a novel to decide if they want to read that novel. We have to hook them, and if and when they DO engage, we must keep them hooked, throughout the arc and journey of even a long and voluminous tale.

I have found writing short stories and micro/flash fiction, helpful toward that end. It helps me make it all count, and consider the flow and arrangement and impact and import of every single word. I know some novelists who don't care much for short fiction, but I find that reading it and writing it helps me distill things down to their essence, a habit which, even in long-form in a novel, is essential.

What do you think? Do you like short/micro fiction? Why or why not? What are some other lessons learned?

Here is a piece I was lucky to have published by the great folks at Amid the Imaginary. Hope you enjoy!

https://amidtheimaginary.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/2016-micro-fiction-contest-2nd-place-winner/

News "Flash": How Writing Flash Fiction Can Help You Write Better Books

Grateful to the wonderful Kate Tilton for the chance to guest post with this piece on flash fiction and its potential impact on longer forms. 

Would love to know what you think!

http://katetilton.com/writing-flash-fiction-can-help-write-better-book/

Like the Oak

Like letters carved upon an oak, his truth was etched upon his heart. The truth of her, she with whom his heart was inscribed, she to whom his heart had been wholly given. The love of his life.

That she fell away from him like leaves from the oak did not alter this truth in the slightest. The imprint only deepened, and when--unlike the oak whose leaves return in spring--she did not return, his heart hardened like the oak itself, save for this imprint, this truth, which cut deeper with each passing day.

He thought of her ceaselessly, unflinchingly prepared to welcome her back with an open heart and open arms but she did not come, and the silence bled out before him like an endless, empty road. He wrote to her, sang for her, bled for her and it was truth but each word rang out into the darkness, carried away on the wings of silence, like the winds which made the oak tremble on frigid nights.

In the silence he imagined what her words might be. Things are better this way, she'd surely say. You are better off without me. I turn from you, and answer only in silence so that you may forget me, so that you may move on and heal. 

"And if that is the narrative of which you've convinced yourself, and which brings you some measure of peace," whispered the man to no one, "then I am glad.

It is, of course, but fiction."

His words floated away into the darkness, and the cold winds swept over him and he trembled like the oak, but like the oak he stood, trembling but deeply-rooted. 

-end-

"What is this thing that builds our dreams, yet slips away from us?" Queen

News "Flash"

Pleased to announce my flash fiction work, "Save Room for Epilogue," has been published in the Carbon Culture Review. It's on the upper limits of flash, nearly 1000 words, and has something of a futuristic/fantasy touch, anchored by a literary theme. Was fun to write; hope you enjoy!

http://www.carbonculturereview.com/journal/prose/save-room-epilogue.html