50 Shades of Cabernet: Mysteries with a Glass of Wine

50 Shades of Cabernet is an anthology of wine-themed mysteries created by 18 authors. The stories range from light-hearted puzzles to darker, heavier tales of deceit and murder.

“Wine, Women, and Wrong” is my contribution to this stellar collection:

Tommy Bradshaw has two items on his bucket list: to solve a murder mystery and to marry Camille Pettit. Fat chance of either happening. Then, when Camille attends a wine-tasting fundraiser and the wine merchant is found in the parking lot, impaled by a hunting knife, Tommy gets his chance to play one of the Hardy Boys. In the process of finding the stabber, Tommy is besieged by women: the glamorous and sexy oenophile who’s hell-bent on seducing him; and the cop who would love to woo him away from Camille. In addition, Tommy finds that detecting isn’t as easy as it is in books.

Authors, do you write short stories? If so, you know how satisfying and enjoyable they can be. But for the past three or four decades many writers and readers have turned their backs on these literary gems, considering them mere writing class exercises. Not any more—shorts are back with a vengeance, due in large part to the e-book. Author and blogger Anne R. Allen says we’re in a new golden age of short fiction. See her complete post here.  

Here are just a few reasons to try this time-honored medium:

• After struggling with your novel, writing short can give you a feeling of accomplishment
• It helps you to hone your writing skills
• It keeps you fresh material to promote while you’re working on your novel, keeping your readers engaged
• In a short piece, you can resurrect scenes and characters that got edited out of your novel
• You can further develop a minor character from your novel in a short piece
• You can experiment with new genres

Ready to get started on this exciting and rewarding writing medium? Read and study the works of the greats in the mystery genre: Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe, and Ruth Rendell. Many Sisters in Crime chapters publish anthologies. Learn more about this organization that support crimes writers (despite the name, both sisters and “misters” are represented) here. 

Circling back to 50 Shades of Cabernet: these 17 authors join me in this stellar anthology: Betsy Ashton, Lyn Brittan, Barb Goffman, Debbiann Holmes, Maria Hudgins, Teresa Inge, Jim Jackson, Kristin Kisska, Douglas Lutz, Nancy Naigle, Alan Orloff, Jayne Ormerod, Rosemary Shomaker, Jenny Sparks, Heather Weidner, Tina Whittle, Ken Wingate.

Purchase 50 Shades of Cabernet here
 

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Who Doesn't Love a Challenge?

            I feel I should preface this post by explaining that I went for a walk before sitting down to write it. 

When I walk I almost always come home energized and ready to work. And when I walk on the beach, like I did this morning, I’m practically chomping at the bit to do something big as soon as I can get my itchy fingers on a computer keyboard.

I’m working on a couple projects right now, both of which are in their infancy. But those were not on my mind this morning—instead the rhythmic sound of the waves, the seabirds, and the wind worked together to sharpen my focus on something else: pushing boundaries, getting out of my comfort zone, and doing something different.

And that’s what this blog post is about. Drum roll…I’ve decided to write a short story.

I am not a short story writer. Short stories terrify me. Anything that can be said in 5,000 words can just as easily be said in 80,000, as far as I’m concerned. If you are a short story writer, kudos to you. You do something I think is so hard that I cannot even comprehend where to start. But I’m going to try. If you subscribe to Writer’s Digest, you may have noticed that the most recent issue is about short-story writing. Though I haven’t had a chance to sit down and read the articles yet, I intend to study and make use of them.

But that’s not all: I am also going to issue you a challenge. What scares you about writing? What are you most afraid to try? Maybe you are terrified of poetry. Maybe you don’t know the first thing about writing non-fiction. Maybe memoir is not your thing.

And who doesn't love a challenge?

The challenge is to do one of those scary things. Writing things that we’re not accustomed to, that scare us, can be a good thing. It can give our current writing a keener edge, it can expand our writing chops, it can get us out of a possible rut and refresh us. It could even be the beginning of something we find exciting and fun. Who knows? Maybe you’re a fiction writer who will find a love of penning poems. Maybe you’re a technical writer and you’ll find that you’re a natural at writing horror stories.

The point is to get out there and discover those things for yourself. I’ve challenged myself to enter a short story contest by July 1^st. I’ll let you know what happens.

What do you think? What are you willing to try?

The Christmas Cat

 As we near Christmas, I am reminded of --

The Christmas Cat

It was decided, by whom I have no idea, that the kids would get a cat from Santa.  I, who had never had a cat and did not like cats, who was, after all, a “dog” person – who had happily gotten the dog about whom Jamie said, “I think we’ll call him Charlie,” and as far as I knew Jamie had never known anybody named Charlie, and possibly never even heard the name before --  was sent to pick up the cat.

The house, no address, turned out to be a clandestine hideout for a member of the FBI or CIA.  I was fingerprinted, subjected to search, and interrogated for three hours in a 2x2 room under hot lights, with lie-detector attached, questions being asked over a speaker hidden in the wall above the one-way mirror.  No Dr Peppers.  Suddenly, the voice stopped, the lights went cold and I sat in darkness.  My life, short as it had been at that time, passed before my eyes, though without the lights, I only got a few glimpses of the brighter spots. 

Finally, the door opened.  I didn’t know what to expect, and was ready for it.  Instead, blank sheets attesting to what I had no clue, were thrust under my nose (or perhaps my hand, I am no longer sure) and I was ordered to sign each and initial the back of the first one next to the initials of my interrogator, though his were in invisible ink and I might have actually put mine initials on top of his. 

And then, the cat was released into my custody. 

 Little did I know, it was actually a suicide feline, barely out of commando training, who had never been in a car before.  With the cat safely inside the car, I had backed up no more than ten feet when Kamikaze Kat was racing around the car, flinging itself against the glass, tearing at the seats and slashing at the driver. 

 In one of the most incongruous scenes ever video taped by   Finally, by the end of the first block of a 5,000 block trip, the killer kitten settled down, still scared, but feeling somewhat secure by anchoring its claws into the top of the driver’s head.  And it remained there for the remainder of the trip.

the Agency, the cat-unfriendly driver can be seen trying every seducing, soothing, baby-talking line known to mankind in the futile effort to calm down the run-away cat.

Christmas morning, the terrorist-cat had transmogrified into a small, tame kitten.  The kids were thrilled. 

But the cat was about to get a comeuppance, or a comeapartness.  At last, Kristi (after all, the youngest is always last) got her chance to hold the kitten.  Being no more experienced than I was, she grabbed it, got the kitten’s neck in the crook of her arm   The kitten, hanging down, but firmly secured by its head, immediately yelled for help.  Older and more experienced sister Kelly came to the aid of the kitten-in-distress.  She tried to take the kitten.  Kristi was not about to have her turn commuted to such a short time.  She held tightly.  Kelly pulled mightily.   The kitten got longer.  Only when an adult (who knew a thing or two about kittens and just how long they could be stretched) came to negotiate, did the kitten get off the rack.

and locked her hands to her chest.

Giraffe, Stretch, Longfellow, and The Cat in the Rack were names proposed by the adults.  I don’t recall what the kitten was actually named by the kids. 

The kids loved the kitten and learned to take special care of it as it grew into a cat. This was definitely a Christmas to remember.  And to the day he/she died, I’m sure the kitten remembered it also.

James R. Callan, 2016
www.jamesrcallan.com

Papyrus, Paper, Pixels...and Life

I had planned to write a sober assessment of the paper versus digital publishing situation, and the ramifications for traditionally published, indie and hybrid authors. I was planning to write about the way Amazon's Kindle Unlimited subscription programme all but killed my sales on the Zon since its launch last year. After reading several depressing essays on the issues in sources such as The Economist (The Future of the Book) and Smashwords (2016 Book Publishing Industry Predictions--a must read for anyone in the indie publishing business), I decided to give it a rest.

Since my first novel was published in 2008 there has been nothing but turmoil and upheaval in the industry. I'm tired to the bone of it all. I've come full circle and I'm back to the basics: my love of reading and my love of writing. Reading has been the mainstay of my life, my escape, my therapy, my delight, my muse, my great teacher. And writing? I no longer fuss about what I 'should' be doing. I do what I want, zipping back and forth between genres, between novel and novella and short story, between editing and formatting my own work and doing the same for other writers.

Late last year I discovered the pleasure of writing in a totally new, fun historical niche (new to me as a writer, not a reader) when a short story turned into a novel which I serialized and which now outsells my twenty-something other indie titles. I'm now reading up on the history because I'm about to start another series set in the same period. Plus, I'm back at school and one year into a graduate programme. The taught courses are behind me (or will be when I turn in the last paper on Friday) and then the real work begins for the vivas and thesis that will absorb much of the next two years. I see a lot of juggling in my immediate future: school-related research and writing, fiction writing and publishing, editing jobs.... I've also been invited by one of my lecturers to tutor her UG courses. I have to make time to enjoy my two awesome grandkids...and to do this every now and then:

Me just chilling on Maracas Beach, Dec. 2015

So, let the publishing battles rage. Let the players--the giants like Amazon and the ocean of tiny authors trying to eke some cash out of making up stuff--duke it out. Let others sweat and swear and worry. Me? I'll be busy doing...other things.

~Liane Spicer

52 Short Stories in a year

Ray Bradbury once said  “Write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.” His words have become a challenge for writers everywhere. I had never heard of it until I attended the Rainforest Writer's Retreat last month. Author James Van Pelt gave a presentation on how he undertook the challenge last year. He talked about what he learned and the process of writing that much.

I was amazed that anyone could accomplish so much. Not only that he managed to sell quite a few of those stories. At the writer's retreat I undertook another Middle Grade novel that I hope to submit to agents. So I kept thinking, "I don't have time to write that many short stories. I don't have that many ideas for short stories." And so on. But I couldn't shake the idea of the challenge. I kept thinking of different ways to integrate the challenge with my other writing. I thought maybe I'll just write a story a month. Or take two weeks to finish them.

Finally I arrived at an idea I thought would work for me. I decided I WOULD write one short story a week for a year. BUT I wouldn't try to submit them anywhere. I would just write them down and move on and not worry about the short story finding a publishing home. Other people wouldn't even see them. I could use them to explore ideas, or just write a single scene and call it a story. 

And it's been working! I am writing short story #5 this week. I'm exploring a book idea by writing a little sort of prologue that probably will never appear in the book. I've found a freedom to write whatever, and the freedom to fail. Story #2 was the worst thing I've written since college! So while Ray Bradbury may be right, that it's impossible to write 52 bad stories, I can tell you, it's possible to write at least one terrible story!

I hope to keep up the challenge and I'll post on my progress periodically. Even though I've just started on this challenge I would recommend to anyone! And 

It's All About the Opening!

Want to know a brutal truth? Here it is: you’ve about one page to impress an editor with your short story, so make it a damned good one.
This little pearl of editorial wisdom is something that’s always stuck in my head, going back to my first days of writing and submitting short stories. Back then, I collected all sorts of info-nuggets offered up by editors, agents, and writing coaches, and at some point I quit counting how many of those bits pertained to story openings.
“Don’t open with a bored character.”
“Don’t open with somebody waking up.”
“Don’t open with a lot of exposition or info dumping.”
“Open with something happening. Open with action. No, not just action, but ACTION!”
Etc.
Generally speaking, all of those are solid guidelines. It’s also true that a writer who knows what they’re doing can bend or break them, along with every other “writing rule” that’s ever been put forth. Unfortunately, the odds are much greater that a writer will end up falling into one of the traps each of these notions represents. When that happens, it’s likely that the editor reading your story will place it on top of their rejection pile.
Recently, I was given the opportunity to read a large number of short stories and select a small percentage of them for further reading and review. It’s been a while since I last read through such a large number of stories for such a purpose, but as I went about this task, it didn’t take long for me to recall several nuggets of advice and wisdom I’d heard dispensed over the years by editors far more accomplished than I. Guess which one kept ringing in my ears with every story I read?
I was surprised at how many stories opened in a manner that didn’t compel me to keep reading. I actually gave most of the submissions much longer than a truly overworked and underpaid editor ever could hope to devote to such a task, hoping that maybe a poor opening was merely standing in the way of a great story and just needed a little tightening. No such luck. In short order, I realized that culling down the number of stories to a manageable level was going to be both easier and more frustrating than I’d expected.
One story went on for three pages of exposition before ever giving me anything resembling a hint as to the central character.
Another tale hit me with nearly two pages of rapid-fire dialogue. Much of it was well-crafted and even witty, but I had no idea who was talking or why I should care.
In general, a number of the stories were hampered by the fact that nothing interesting was actually happening on those opening pages. The true story, if indeed there was one, started much later, preceded by a great deal of “ramping up” that usually didn’t need to be there. In journalism, this would be called “burying the lede,” but in fiction? It’s just a death sentence.
So, it was with a heavy heart that I sent those stories to the rejection pile.
My personal preference when it comes to short stories is to open with a problem of immediate and critical importance to the central character. I don’t necessarily mean crazy action or peril—though I do enjoy writing and reading such stories—but the character has to be engaged in doing something that (hopefully) grabs the reader's interest, and then I fill in the necessary details as the story unfolds. The fancy term for this storytelling technique is “in medias res,” or “in the middle of things,” but I usually sound stupid when I try to speak Latin, so I typically just go with something like, “Open with a bang!”
The idea is to grab the reader from the first page, the first paragraph, even the first sentence, and only grudgingly let go. Make it so that it’s only after the reader comes up for air five or six pages later that they realize just how far down you’ve managed to pull them into your story. A recent example of this in novel form is Andy Weir’s The Martian. Since the bulk of the book is presented as a journal, it’s not an action-packed opening, but it still grabs you, almost from the first word as the main character, astronaut Mark Watney, tells us that he’s in deep trouble. Indeed, the book has perhaps one of the funniest and most riveting openings I’ve read in a long time.
Experienced writers already know that a strong opening is just the first of many things they need to do to make their story stand out from everything else a harried editor has to read. For those of you still working toward that first sale or publication, take a look at that story you’re writing, and read just the first page. Does it sell your story to an editor who might not reach the next page?
Don’t give that editor an easy reason to set aside your story. Make them turn that page.

Shortlist oasis

I sometimes describe my writing career (I use the term loosely here) as a desert with the occasional
oasis that makes it all worthwhile. What is the desert comprised of? Years of toiling in the dark, the laborious search for agents and publishers, the chimerical nature of the publishing industry that follows neither the rules of logic nor of commerce, the clogging up of online bookstores with the slush pile (there, I've said it, and I'm by no means referring to the worthwhile, well-written and edited indie books out there)...

...The shrinkage and near-disappearance of the author advance.
...The social media time-suck requirement that does little unless the writer is already established.
...The fact that some publishers are still robbing writers blind.
Sand, sand, lots of dry sand.

But every now and then something thrilling happens. Signing with my agent back in 2006 was one; she was the first industry professional to validate my writing, and one of my first fans. The first sale to a publisher, the first release, the first sighting of a book with your name on it in a bookstore, the first (and every single) fan letter, the good and great reviews, the writing network built up over years, the kindness of strangers...

My latest oasis experience has been the shortlisting of one of my stories for the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. I'm not ashamed to say it made me delirious with joy, partly because I'm well aware that genre writers, especially those who dabble in romance, are not taken seriously by the literary establishment. But that aside, it just feels good to have one's work recognised in this way. For the rest of the month, drinks are on me!

Guest author Catherine McNamara: Why Writing a Short Story is Like Sky Diving

Catherine McNamara

Catherine McNamara moved to Italy after many years in West Africa. Here she translates for a WWI Eco-museum, runs a bed-and-breakfast and skis fanatically. She has great collections of African sculpture and Italian heels. She is originally from Sydney. Among her publications are Nii Kwei’s Day (children’s book published by Frances Lincoln UK, October 2003), The Divorced Lady’s Companion to Living in Italy (2012, Indigo Dreams Publishing UK) and Pelt and Other Stories (2013, Indigo Dreams Publishing UK). 





I’ve never tried sky diving and I don’t imagine I will ever have the courage to do so, but in looking for an easy analogy between the writing of a novel and the rapid journey of the short story, I’ve come up with this.

Picture a long-haul flight: you ascend, you meet your characters/neighbours, you understand your context, you enjoy the wide-sweeping views and perhaps experience a little turbulence. You have your ticket in your pocket, you know your destination; you may drink and make a party of it, or you might even fall fast asleep.

When it’s over, you arrive refreshed or exhausted, depending on your resilience and the air company you have chosen. You may have been changed by your journey – it may have somehow seeped into your skin – but perhaps you are the same as before, untouched and impatient to get going and reach a new destination.

But the short story? It’s a far different type of venture. Firstly, there’s no ticket, no guarantee, no one holding your hand when you have a panic attack. Risks must be taken. You have to jump into the void. It is a fast journey where everything can go wrong. Technically, you must be adept. You must understand timing. You will see the wide views alter quickly, you will feel a sense of culmination – and dread. And when you hit the dust you may not be a different person but you will be altered, the experience will have shaken you, tested your senses, brought you forth from the unknown.

Have you ever dared to write a short story? Or have you ever proposed a short collection to an agent to be told, Nice writing but could you write me a novel? Or, Well I’m afraid short stories don’t sell at all – how about a novel? Why is it that short stories are so often viewed as the junior sister of the more worthy novel? Are they merely practice for the real thing?

I was once shocked to read a well-known author comment that a novel can have ‘baggy’ bits, where a short story must not have a word out of place. That’s the laziest definition of a novel I’ve ever heard! I prefer Isabel Allende’s opinion: she feels that writers should not be urged to move from the short story to the novel, but rather in the opposite direction – that after mastering the novel form, authors should progress to the more challenging technical skills required for the short story.

Interesting, no?

When I grew tired of being asked for a novel I sat down and continued writing my short stories, working on technique, voice, cadences. Gradually, most of them were published in UK and Australian literary reviews. Some threaded together of their own accord. Some were clearly attention-seekers, other were more subtle, written in a different key. Several years later I found myself with a diverse collection set in Ghana, Italy, Australia, Belgium, Germany. Would my small British publisher ever be interested in a book like this?

Fortunately, my publisher fell in love with the stories and offered a contract quickly. I was able to obtain cover comments from two prize-winning authors who also liked the work. A brilliant cover was designed and the book was recently launched at an independent London book shop.

And now a new free fall starts. Promotion and publicity. Hoping that this short story collection might stand out, that readers might be enticed by my blurb or excerpts, and perhaps buy a copy. Hoping that reviews will be good and that bookshops will order.

Hoping that my landing is soft and safe!


Lust and dirt from a world of places

Catherine McNamara’s stories take the reader on a pulsing, eloquent journey through post-colonial Africa and fading, melancholy Europe. McNamara deals with dirty family secrets, the stealth of AIDS, misunderstood gay love and neglected children. She shows Europe’s laundered, subjugated environment and its isolated urbanites.

Some stories are interlinked. Two foolhardy snowboarders challenge the savagery of mountain weather in the Dolomites. A Ghanaian woman strokes across a pool in the tropics, flaunting her pregnant belly before her lover’s discarded wife. A sex worker is enlisted to care for her Italian lover’s elderly parents. Hit by a car in Brussels, a young woman returns to her doctor boyfriend. And in Berlin, Celeste visits her suicidal brother Ray and his partner for the very last time.

Pelt and Other Stories lingers on the cusp between Europe and Africa, between ancient sentiments and modern disquiet.

Pelt and Other Stories is available from:
Indigo Dreams Bookshop
Amazon UK
Amazon US
The Book Depository (free international postage)
Kindle version out soon!

Catherine's blog
Twitter:@catinitaly

Stories to be told

Photo by Theo Ferguson,
Hummingbird rescue at Yerette

When I read Liane's post on Henry Miller's commandments I was a bit distressed to find that his number one commandment is my greatest struggle: Work on one thing at a time until finished.

Perhaps I have this problem because I write children's books and many young children live in a magical world of wonder. So many things are new to them, so many of their daily activities are 'firsts', they make new discoveries at a rapid pace. 

Perhaps I have this problem because I haven't really grown up myself? Who knows, but I am constantly discovering new ideas, urgent ideas and I find it difficult to work on one thing to the exclusion of all of the others. I have been trying, though; making notes as new ideas come to me and hoping that I will have the opportunity to do justice to everything at some point.

For someone with my particular problem, a trip to Trinidad is like a candy addict's visit to a Hershey's factory. There is so much to see, flora, fauna, natural phenomenon, and many creative man-made features. I saw Trinidad through my children's eyes--it was their first visit--and the view was colorful, lively, and magical.

Portfolio building

A few posts ago I dared to give some advice on short story writing and I am here to give a bit more. This is not about technique or marketing but back to the very basics that if you want to be a famous short story writer you have to write short stories.

Now, please don't write me off as crazy yet, hear me out. If you are interested in short story writing, you may have had this experience. You come across someone who is accepting short stories that fit your profile. You get to writing, creating a story just for that submission. If you are anything like me (the 2011 me that is), you finish it five minutes before the deadline and turn it in. Invariably, although you may have reviewed it carefully, you are basically turning in a first, or middle draft, and invariably, it will be turned down.

So, we have to continuously write stories as the ideas arrive, put them on paper, polish them, have them professionally edited or at least have them viewed by an independent eye and sometimes put them away for the right time. The more you write, if you are honest with yourself, the more your writing will improve. When you come across that perfect competition or publication your only problem will be deciding which story to pick out of your portfolio.

Transformation in the Short Story

I once listened to a sermon on the radio. It was a long drive in a rural area in Ghana and we couldn't pick up anything other station. It was an insightful sermon, quite practical in fact and it has stuck with me. The man was speaking about politics and warning people that they should not be fooled by politicians' last-ditch attempts to buy their votes with token gifts like a bag of flour or a bicycle. He said that they should review how the politician has impacted their lives; he cautioned the audience repeatedly that an official seeking reelection should be able to show how he has moved them from "your here to your there."

I believe that the sermon stuck with me in part because at the time I was reading Rust Hills' book, "Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular" and he was suggesting the same thing. Not about politicians, of course, but that in your short story, your main character must be moved, changed, affected somehow or the story is a failure.

I got into a discussion about this with a fourth grader last week when I did a presentation to his class on writing.

"Maybe it's just a story about the fact that the person doesn't change," he suggested.

"Maybe no one will read it," I replied.

Writing short stories presents unique challenges to the author. So much to convey and so little time. I love writing short stories and I am working to hone my skills in this area through practice, feedback and research. This is the first of a few tidbits that I will share over the next few posts. I'm not claiming to be an expert, feel free to counter my tidbits, I am always happy to learn!

Why Anthologies Make Good Markets

If you write speculative fiction but have never submitted to an anthology, you should consider it. I've found anthologies to be good markets.

• Anthologies get fewer submissions than equivalent-paying magazines, so your chances of acceptance of higher.
• Personally, I'm more creative when I have boundaries. An anthology provides a topic, usually an approach, and maximum and minimum word counts. I can come up with several ideas for an anthology story while watching a TV show, while I have a hard time corralling ideas, characters, and settings into something coherent when I have the whole of time and space to work in. 
• Editors of anthologies sometimes arrange booksignings, increasing your name recognition. 
• Editors sometimes arrange readings at bookstores or sf/f cons, increasing your name recognition.
• Being in an anthology is an automatic conversation topic when you meet other authors in the anthology at sf/f cons and meetings.
• Anthologies have deadlines. You can't put off writing your story or keep revising it; if you want to submit, you have to meet the deadline. If you write for anthologies, you get more stories out.
• Sometimes I write a story that doesn't match the guidelines of any magazine. A few times, I've sold such stories to anthologies, where they were a perfect fit.

It's easy to find out about anthologies. Start with Ralan.com's list of open anthologies at http://www.ralan.com/m.antho.htm. This summary briefly lists genres, word count, pay, and other important matters. When you see an anthology that interests you, click on its name. A new window will open—sometimes it will be the page with submission information; other times, it will be a publisher's home page and you'll have to look for the submission instructions.

Another source that I have not used often but other people swear by is Duotrope. Its search page is at http://duotrope.com/search.aspx. The fewer items you specify, the more hits you'll get. So to review all open paying anthologies in all genres, go down to the "Payscale" box and choose the minimum pay you want, go down to "Anthologies" box and click, then click "Search." Click on the title, and you'll go to Duotrope's summary. From there, you can go to the publisher's or anthology's Website.

The only bad experience I've had with anthologies is that they seem more likely not to respond if they're not interested.


I'll be blogging again at Novel Spaces on April 6. Hope to see you again then.

—Shauna Roberts

Writing Flash Fiction

"That sounds so hard!" people often say to me after hearing I'm working on or have published a flash fiction story.

Flash fiction—generally defined as a short story of 1000 words or less—offers unusual challenges, but that makes it fun. To tell a story and then prune it and prune it again and prune it some more and possibly even prune it yet another time until it's under 1000 words and has no flab left whatsoever is like a game and improves one's skills in trimming.

Some standard short fiction markets accept flash, and surprisingly many markets specialize in flash fiction (see, for example, lists here and here), so writing flash is more than an exercise.  (Note, though, that some markets pay little or nothing for flash.)

In this post, I'll give some hints about how I approach a flash fiction story and then summarize tips I found on the Web.

Some flash markets offer prompts. I like starting with a prompt because someone else has already spent the time deciding whether the idea could be satisfactorily turned into a flash story. I then make lists of possible meanings of the prompt and/or draw a mind map. As I play with ideas, I keep in mind that I need to tell the story with:

• as few characters as possible
• only one plotline
• only one character arc
• one scene, if possible, or in a few short scenes
• enough description to create a strong setting
• words that create a consistent mood throughout
• a first sentence that intrigues readers
• a last paragraph that leaves readers satisfied that they have read a complete story (that is, one with a beginning, a middle, and an end)

I then write the story concisely, but without worrying about the word count. My first draft is usually 1300 to 1600 words. Then I start cutting.

• First, I get rid of adjectives, adverbs, and phrases that aren't needed.
• Second, I try to strengthen each verb and noun.
• Third, I check the word count. I usually am still well above 1000 words, so I look for secondary plot lines (yes, they creep in when I'm not looking) that can be cut, weak dialogue that can be condensed or removed, setting details that can be cut or revealed through action instead of description, and characters that can be cut or combined.
• Fourth, now that I'm below 1000 words, I revise each paragraph to end on a strong word. As part of this step, I look for passive sentences and test whether rewording them makes them better.
• Fifth, I add details of action, character voice, and description to make the characters and setting feel as alive as in a long story.
• Sixth, now that I am above 1000 words again, I repeat all the steps.
• Seventh, after several rounds of cutting and adding, I polish each sentence and each paragraph so that it is as clean and sharp as possible, then cut or add again as necessary. 

The rounds of cutting and polishing are more important in flash than in other fiction. Flash is so short that a break in the mood or a wrong word can demote a story from "great" to "good." Also, you have time to make your story a perfect jewel (compared with longer stories, with which the revision and polishing time seems to go up exponentially with increasing word count), and your competition will probably have taken advantage of the extra time to do just that.


I searched on the Internet for other people's guidelines for writing flash fiction, and here are some tips I found that sound potentially useful:

• Use allusion to familiar events or literature so that you can avoid explanation. For example, if you have a character refer to President Lincoln, you don't need to give the date or country or describe the clothes.
• Use clichés and tropes for the same reason.
• Have a twist or a surprise at the end.
• Try removing everything except the dialogue.
• Give your main a single compelling need.
• Have only a single theme.
• Get right to the story; don't use introductions.
• Give as little backstory as possible; imply the rest.
• Keep the action in one location if possible.
• Focus on a character or an event or an idea, not all three.
• In complete opposition to my own recommendation, one Website suggested setting a timer (for an hour, say) and aiming to complete the writing and editing before the bell goes off, because flash fiction "shouldn't be something you belabor."

Thanks for stopping by. I'll have a special post on Monday the 13th with news and promotion and be back to regular blogging with a Mardi Gras–themed post on February 21.

—Shauna Roberts

FROM NOVEL TO THE SCREEN

I have to admit, one of my longtime dreams as a writer has been to see one of my novels or short stories adapted to the small or big screen. Perhaps this is every professional writer's dream. This has yet to happen with any of my fiction works, but as my dear mother always tell me, "Hope springs eternal."

I have, however, been able to live vicariously through a number of writer friends who have been so fortunate to see their fiction brought to life on television or motion pictures. Most of them speak of the exhilaration of watching on screen what originated in their heads.

Some, however, have complained about the script and production being totally different from the book. Or the wrong actors cast for the part. Or other issues that kept the experience from being totally satisfying.

It reminds me of another saying that sometimes seem apropos, " Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."

Then there is that "grass always seem greener on the other side" adage.
I think that as human beings, we are never completely content, whether we make all the professional advances we seek or not. It seems we often expect more of others than ourselves. Or feel that there has to be more to success than this...

I would be less than honest if I said that getting my book adapted to the screen would be everything I could ever want as a writer and promise not to complain too loudly if everything along the process was less than perfect.

What I can say, though, is I hope to get the opportunity to be where some of my writer friends are today in terms of books to movies or TV series, if only to see for myself if the end justifies the means.

In the interim, I will continue to put out print novels and eBooks and wait for my cell phone or e-mail to buzz from some scriptwriter or producer who wants to turn my novel or short story into a visual masterpiece!

What are your thoughts about screenplay adaptation?

Have you ever had a work optioned, adapted, or produced? If so, was it everything you hoped it would be?