Tag: flash fiction

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 48 the one with the Thanksgiving rejection

Week 48! Short on writing this week. I saw a call for dark Christmas flash fiction (250 words max word count) and didn’t think much of it–until I sat down to write.

Then, it just happened. And yeah, I thought it was dark when I wrote it, but now I’m not really sure what it is. I’ll let it compost for a bit and decide later.

I also worked on shaping up some of my longer short stories for submission, which is where I spent most of my writing time this week.

Also, this week: the epic Thanksgiving rejection, which really only made me laugh, especially since I sold a poem. Yes! A poem. Breakfast in the Desert will appear at Every Day Poets in a month or two. Plus, A Measure of Sorrow is up at Luna Station Quarterly today.

Not a bad way to start December.

Writing:

  • The Price of Comfort and Joy ~ 250 words

Submissions:

  • Doreen’s Muse

Rejections:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • What Little Remains

Acceptances:

  • Breakfast in the Desert ~ poetry!

Publications:

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 46 the one with a seaside ghost

Week 46! I was going to start this off with the phrase: another busy week, but yeah. I’ve used that. More than once. That being said, there was plenty in my inbox, on my screen, and in my notebook to keep me busy.

I worked on a couple rewrite requests, fought a mighty battle with a seaside ghost, and found a home for my flash piece A Measure of Sorrow, which will be in issue 16 of Luna Station Quarterly.

Yes, I got my write 1 in for the week, and 3,400 words of it no less. However, this story wants to be so much more, maybe even a whole novel. So … I ponder. For now. And the only reason I call it Seaside Ghost is it’s about a ghost and takes place at … wait for it … the seaside. Yeah. Not one of my more creative titles.

Writing:

  • Seaside Ghost ~ 3,400 words

Submissions:

  • What Little Remains
  • The Perfect Canvas

Rejections:

  • What Little Remains

Acceptances:

Publications:

  • Elvis Has Left the Building ~ shhhh, it’s not officially up on the Untreed Reads site yet, but if you want to grab a copy of Elvis Has Left the Building, you can get it for Kindle or Nook.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 45 the one with boots

Week 45! A busy week since we were gearing up for a software release at work. Even so, I did write a flash fiction story and worked on summaries for Just a Matter of Time and Elvis Has Left the Building.

Plus, Timeless Tales has accepted the retelling of Puss in Boots that I wrote for their call for submissions. So, yes, A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots will have a home.

Writing:

  • Doreen’s Muse ~ 1,000 words

Submissions:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • Breakfast in the Desert

Rejections:

  • Rules for Visiting Hades

Acceptances:

  • A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots ~ Puss in Boots retelling

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 44 the one where I keep time

Week 44! This was a busy writing week. My big goal was to complete a story for the Flash Fiction Challenge. The night before, I had a dream about the challenge and the topic assignment.

My “dream” topic?

Family outing / An  outdoor concert / a tennis ball

And yes, I realize “family outing” is not a literary genre. Even so, in my dream-state, I was brainstorming and drafting a story for this. It had something to do with Nazi Germany. Yes, a natural extension of the topic. Although it makes more sense when you consider that I’ve been reading Operation Mincemeat this week.

So imagine my relief when I woke up to find this as my assignment:

Horror / A tattoo parlor / High heels

Now that’s more like it. Unlike the last round, this suggested many story ideas almost immediately. While I don’t think the final story is scary enough for horror, I had too much fun to really care. Plus, if I don’t earn enough points to push me into the next round, I won’t have to worry about those crazy dreams about the challenge.

Even better, if I ever want to get a tattoo, I’m set.

Also this week, I doubled the word count on another short story, wrote a short poem/micro-fiction thingy, and received e-galleys for the coffee anthology and the proofed copy of my short story Elvis Has Left the Building.

And, of course, my story Keeping Time is live at Kazka Press. Click on through to read all seven stories this month.

Writing:

  • The Perfect Canvas ~ 1,000 words
  • Hurry Up and Wait ~ 100 words
  • Inside Out ~ 2,300 words added

Submissions:

  • Five to Freedom
  • The Maze
  • What Little Remains

Rejections:

  • Five to Freedom
  • What Little Remains
  • Two Hammers

Acceptances:

  • None

Published:

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 36 the one with the Mad Scientist

Week 36! My big news: I sold another story. The Short Sweet Life of My Invisible Prom Date will be published in an upcoming issue of Mad Scientist Journal.

It’s such a quirky little story that I’m very pleased it managed to find a home.

My write 1 for the week was another flash challenge assignment, which was:

Comedy/ A space station/ Onion rings

Again, while I don’t plan to ever look a gift story in the mouth, this one came in at about 3,000 words (you’ll note the trend–longer, not shorter) and it in no way resembles a comedy (despite those onion rings). This upcoming week I hope to write an actual piece of flash fiction. We’ll see how that goes.

Writing:

  • The Ways of Goodbye ~ 3,000 words, I’m not overly fond of this title, but the only other one I can think of is: Onion Ring Story.

Submissions:

  • Playing Soldier

Rejections:

  • Alliance

Acceptances:

  • The Short Sweet Life of My Invisible Prom Date ~ will be published in Mad Scientist Journal: Winter 2014, in early April 2014.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 35 the one with the August wrap up

Week 35! I was a submitting fool this week again, catching a few markets before they closed at the end of August. Total for August? Nine stories submitted and I wrote five. Not a bad way to wrap up the summer.

I also got my write 1 in for the week, another flash challenge assignment, which was:

Sci Fi / A luxury spa / a wig

This actually gave me more to work with–maybe too much more, since it came in at ~ 2,000 words. But I really liked where the story was going and I’m not one to look a gift story in the mouth.

No rejections or acceptances this week, but one of the stories I sent out did make the first round cut for an anthology. Now it’s simply a matter of waiting. Fortunately, that was one of the skills I perfected in the Army.

Writing:

  • Inside Out ~ 2,000 words

Submissions:

  • Ghost in the Coffee Machine ~ short listed
  • Straying from the Path
  • The Patron Saint of Lost Things

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 34 the one with the practice flash

Week 34! I did get a new story out this week (A Measure of Sorrow) along with two others I sent back out the door.

Next month, I will participate in a flash fiction challenge where they send out a prompt based on genre, location, and an object. This starts at midnight on a Friday and you have until midnight on Sunday to turn in your story.

Yeah. Crazy.

So crazy, I thought maybe I should train for it. Back in the day, in the Army, we had a saying: Train as you fight. Why not apply that to this situation?

My goal on Friday was to dash off a flash fiction piece in a day. I used the examples on the site, only I made three separate lists, so I wouldn’t go into any story with preconceived notions. I mixed up the selections using a random number generator.

What was my first assignment?

Romantic Comedy / A drug rehab center / a glass eye

Yes. Because nothing says romance or comedy like drug addiction. But … I did it. I had a story by the end of Friday. I’m not certain it’s something I’ll ever send out. I am fairly certain it’s offensive (see “glass eye” above), but it was a blast to write and reassuring.

I may come in last, but I feel pretty certain I can write a story for the challenge (albeit an offensive one).

Writing:

  • Practice Flash Fiction ~ 1,000 words

Submissions:

  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies
  • A Measure of Sorrow
  • Alliance ~ Yep, sent it right back out again

Rejections:

  • Alliance

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 33 the one with the concussion

Week 33! I got my write one in early this week. A good thing since the rest of the week was consumed by a concussion, my daughter’s, not mine. She’s recovering quickly and only has the smallest of headaches this morning.

Also this week, I revised one of my draft stories for submission, so this coming week I can send out something new along with a story that’s been making the rounds already. I have a backlog of stories (more than I realized) that I’d like to get all dressed up and sent out the door.

Writing:

  • Ghost in the Coffee Machine ~ 3,800 words. This may be my silliest title ever.

Submissions:

  • The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty (audio market)
  • The Short Sweet Life of My Invisible Prom Date

Rejections:

  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies
  • The Short Sweet Life of My Invisible Prom Date

Acceptances:

  • None