Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and forty-ninth piece in this series. This week’s is a 332-worder by Jade Kennedy.
Poppies in the Snow
If only she wasn’t the only one who could see the rip in the sky, if only others could see and wonder at it as she had for such a long time. It appeared suddenly on a morning heavy with ice and snow. She had been creating shapes on the glass from her breath when in the corner of the garden a small rip appeared in the skyline. It was so close to the ground that it parted the snow as it ripped and a small ruby red poppy fell through the gap, bringing with it enough warm sunlight to melt a puddle into the harsh overnight snow.
Of course no one could see it or feel it, and passed it off as a fairytale so this became her lifelong secret.
The days turned to weeks and still the rip was there, never witnessed or talked about by anyone else – she started to doubt herself and took to drawing the fraying rip in the sky every week, documenting its change.
As that hard winter turned to a wet but vibrant spring the small poppy withered away to be replaced by a scattering of rusted leaves that fell through with a persistent rain. It was then she realised that beyond the tear this world lived in the opposite season and that even night was day – she could sit and watch the full moon rise by the light of a breaking dawn. When she ran through the garden in summer, disturbing the dandelion seeds, they would float softly on warm currents and mingle with the delicate snowflakes blown across from the ever-growing rip.
It grew higher and wider as she grew up until as a woman, she could stand in front of it watching the winds from both worlds pull and warp the sides tearing it further. It grew to resemble the shape of a lock and it was only a matter of time before she saw another looking back at her.
*
I asked Jade what prompted this piece and she said…
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Tags: creative writing, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, Jade Kennedy, literature, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, podcast, short stories, short story podcast, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips
Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and forty-eighth piece in this series. This week’s is the sixteenth bunch of 6-word stories by a variety of authors, together with their 6-word biographies!
6-word stories
by Chong Teck SIM – aspiring Singaporean writer
- Weeping clouds. Rite of passage. Death.
- Two-faced. Devilish grin. Business transaction.
- Grief corrodes; Anger destroys; Misery corrupts.
by Sal Buttaci finds humor in life
- Joy gives sorrow a new face.
- Friendship with God nourishes the soul.
- Two negative acts don’t make positives.
by Mark K – a writer? Trying hard.
- “Go to hell, husband.” “Already there!”
- Night, night. Sleep tight. Don’t die.
- That’s my wife, put her down.
by Awen Thornber, writing witch, fiction fairie
- NaNoWriMo, 29 November, 42k words, no sleep.
- Two crows, injured chick, almost murder.
by Daniel Ribot writes Stalinist vampire romances
- the devil mixes a mean Manhattan
- failed in life, accountant said so
by Michael Ross: short stories / crime novels
- Screaming into the wilderness – pitiful response.
by Jessica Caudill – Famous in my head
- He promised cake. He lied. Divorce.
- MFA graduate. Will write for food.
- Deadly new virus. Ebola gets jealous.
and then three from yours truly… Morgen Bailey, Morgen With an E
- Six-word stories? Really? That’s not possible.
- The light flashed. The burglar screamed.
- Planned NaNoWriMo but did NaNoEdMo instead.
*
Thank you, everyone.
If you’d like to submit your 6-worders (three per blog post, although you can send as many as you like and I’ll either pick the best ones or if I like most / all of them, schedule ahead) and / or 500-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here.
Related articles:
You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything.
You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping List, various short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.
For anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.
If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.
Tags: 6-word stories, 6-word story, 6-worders, 6-words, author, Awen Thornber, Bailey's writing tips, books, Chong Teck, Chong Teck SIM, creative writing, Daniel Ribot, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, Jessica Caudill, literature, Mark K, Michael Ross, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, podcast, Sal Buttaci, short stories, short story podcast, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips
Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and forty-seventh piece in this series. This week’s is a 290-worder by Jade Kennedy.
A Season of Half-Light
I once met a man who was breathing in autumn colours, a spirit of this season, and saturated in its stories, myths and magic. His hair was as black as an encroaching starless night, his eyes an icy light blue and he spoke with the warm whiskey lilt of the Irish.
He was only seen during the autumn days and no-one knew where he went for the rest of the year. We listened closely to every word he said as he was a once in a year treat. Singing songs with his guitar knee high in rusted leaves, his voice resounding deeply off the surrounding trees, ice travelled along the strings matching the notes he chose.
Enchanting songs of love and loss, of war and its pointlessness, of legends of his home – purity at their core. When he wasn’t singing of days and faces only he could name, he sat and wrote his lyrics on any paper he could find. Half-hearted or careless, he gave them away or they slipped through his fingers as he chased the turning leaves, following those golds, reds and velvet browns. Fading away like autumn mists when the trees gave nothing to the skyline but darkened, bare branches. I gathered them up like precious memories, saving as many as I could find –
…’The coldness is reaching out to claim its own again … working its way up every tree where wickedness is made and broken underneath … but my spirit and I walk afraid through this season of half-light’…
Small fragments of a man we all believed was a beautiful ghost. I didn’t know if my collection of lyrics would witness the first snowfall or turn to mist themselves like their unknowable creator.
*
I asked Jade what prompted this piece and she said…
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Tags: creative writing, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, Jade Kennedy, literature, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, podcast, short stories, short story podcast, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips
Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and forty-sixth piece in this series. This week’s is a 436-worder by Christopher Farley.
Colours frozen in time
The tattoo was the first thing I noticed; it was beautiful. She sat opposite her friend drinking Belgian beer from a huge glass and I saw it as I walked past, making my way to the men’s room.
Her thin, white arms poked out from her even whiter t-shirt, then a waterfall of colour burst from the sleeves of the t-shirt. Three lotus flowers, red, green and pink, one on top of the other. But oh, the arm. How could something so pale and delicate suffer so much pain? I returned to the bar and pretended to look at the game on the big screen. Her friend rose from the table and headed for the toilet.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t help noticing your tattoo.” My God, how cliché is that, I thought. “It really is a piece of art; my compliments.”
She smiled; she’d probably heard it a hundred times before. Maybe it distracted people from looking at her; her hair, long and parted in the middle, surrounding her plain face with no make-up and devoid of colour except her azure-ice eyes. The air fell silent between us. The ladies’ toilet door swung open.
“Good choice of beer,” I nodded at her now-empty glass. “Like another?”
Her eyes flickered to her friend, who was hanging back, pretending to like football or the retro Guinness signs beside the TV set.
“My friend’s about to leave so I’ll see her out. I don’t have to leave so… yes, please.”
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Tags: 6-word stories, author, Bailey's writing tips, Belgian beer, books, Chris Farley, Christopher Farley, creative writing, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, literature, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, podcast, short stories, short story podcast, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips
Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and forty-fifth piece in this series. This week’s is the twelfth bunch of 6-word stories by a variety of authors, together with their 6-word biographies!
6-word stories
by Sal Buttaci finds humor in life.
- The ticks of time burrow deeply.
- In sunlight, my snow tires melted.
- DNA proves these tears are mine.
by Chong Teck SIM – aspiring Singaporean writer
- With faith, her dreams came true.
- A woman. Cascading tears. Burnt photographs.
- College boys. Energetic music. Free-flowing beer.
by Mark K – a writer? Trying hard.
- Better rich than poor. Trust me.
- invalid + pillow = death, jury + prison = life
- There are many ways to kill!
by Joanne Hayle – Loves to write and very blessed.
- Soul weary, my reflection’s a stranger.
- Burning sun and ferocious waves. Sunk.
- Surprise trip recklessly ruined. Magic lost.
by Fari Wu micro-fiction writer, F1 lover.
- Third time caesarean. Finally, a girl.
- She kept quiet for nine months.
and then three from yours truly… Morgen Bailey, Morgen With an E
- Ted was curious. It bit him.
- Big stared at Little. Little barked.
- Clock ticking. Last breath. Funeral Saturday.
*
Thank you, everyone.
If you’d like to submit your 6-worders (two per blog post, although you can send as many as you like) or 500-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here, or up to 1,000 words for critique on my Online Short Story Writing Group (links below).
Related articles:
You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything.
You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping List, various short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.
For anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.
If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.
Tags: 5pm fiction, 6-word stories, 6-word story, 6-worders, 6-words, author, Bailey's writing tips, books, Chong Teck, Chong Teck SIM, creative writing, Ernest Hemmingway, Fari Wu, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, Joanne Hayle, literature, Mark K, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, podcast, Sal Buttaci, short stories, short story podcast, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips
Hello everyone. I’ve had the following request from a Canadian voice actor who is looking to build his portfolio. If you have some flash fiction (under 1,000 words) that you would like recorded… free of charge… do let him know.
Hello,
I am a voice actor from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
I am hoping you can help me find a few flash fiction authors that would be open to having an audio production made for them for free. I am trying to flesh out my portfolio at the moment and using flash fictions seems like an effective way to hit a few genres in a short amount of time.
I have been in numerous video games and a few technical writing works, but I have yet to narrate a short story. Finding an author that is willing to have their work transformed to audio form has proved to be a harder task than I thought it would be and I figured perhaps I was going about it the wrong way. Instead of contacting authors directly, perhaps I could find some kind of publishing end of the chain that could help me out.
I was hoping you could help me, maybe in a mail-out or blog post proposing my idea to authors. I am willing to try any genre, any style. I just need some works in my portfolio. I am really hoping for a few VERY short stories, as audio productions do take a long time and I still have to be able to pay my mortgage :) That being said I am also willing to offer below industry rates for any author that likes my voice and would like to use me for their full-length novel.
Would you be willing to help out a voice actor flesh out his portfolio? Thanks for your time and consideration!
-Elijah Lucian
Voice Actor
You can contact Elijah via the following sites:
***
You can subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything.
You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping List, various short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating. Thank you.
For anyone looking for an editor, do take a look at Editing and Critique.
If you would like to send me a book review of another author’s books or like your book reviewed (short stories, contemporary crime / women’s novels or writing guides), see book-reviews for the guidelines. Other options listed on opportunities-on-this-blog. And I post writing exercises every weekday on four online writing groups.
Tags: audio, audio recording, creative writing, Elijah Lucian, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, literature, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, podcast, recording flash fiction, short stories, short story podcast, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, Voice Actor, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips
Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the one hundred and forty-fourth piece in this series. This week’s is the twelfth bunch of 6-word stories by a variety of authors, together with their 6-word biographies!
6-word stories
by Sal Buttaci finds humor in life
- Predictors of my future were charlatans.
- Hell’s free. The devil will pay.
- In old age I’m bald again.
by Chong Teck SIM – aspiring Singaporean writer
- Rice farmer. Cricket-chirping night. Snake wine.
- As his eyes close, Heaven tears.
- Love has no discounts, no freebies.
by… Mark K – a writer?… trying hard
- Dwarf throwing contestants hate political correctness.
- Men cry too, you know? Liar!
- I love pain: C’mon tazer me!
and then three from yours truly… Morgen Bailey, Morgen With an E
- Sides splitting. Hilarious comic? No. Murderer.
- Lost in music. Doesn’t see cliff.
- Football chant. Favourite team. Hearts sink.
*
Thank you, everyone.
If you’d like to submit your 6-worders (two per blog post, although you can send as many as you like) or 500-word max. stories for consideration for Flash Fiction Friday take a look here.
Related articles:
** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app via Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com **
You can sign up to receive these blog posts daily or weekly so you don’t miss anything. You can contact me and find me on the internet, view my Books (including my debut novel The Serial Dater’s Shopping List, various short story collections and writer’s block workbooks) and I also have a blog creation / maintenance service especially for, but not limited to, writers. If you like this blog, you can help me keep it running by donating and choose an optional free eBook.
For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.
As I post a spotlight or interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. If there’s anything you’d like to take part in, take a look at Opportunities on this blog.
I welcome items for critique directly (see Editing & Critique) or for posting on the online writing groups.
Tags: 5pm fiction, 6-word stories, 6-word story, 6-worders, 6-words, author, Bailey's writing tips, books, Chong Teck, Chong Teck SIM, creative writing, Ernest Hemmingway, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Fridays, literature, Mark K, micro fiction, Morgan Bailey, morgen bailey, Morgen with an e, novelist, podcast, Sal Buttaci, Salvatore Buttaci, short stories, short story podcast, story author, story authors, twitter fiction, writer, writing, writing advice, writing tips
