Flash fiction fun

I’ve never really dabbled with flash fiction much. This is because most of my attempts at short stories usually end with me looking at pages of scribbles and thinking, “Maybe this will work better as a novel synopsis.” I tend to overwrite, and so rarely do I hit the 500 word mark (or whatever upper limit denotes a flash fiction piece) and think what I have will work. I really only have one piece that falls under this category, and I made it sort of a challenge to myself to trim it down to the barest amount of words possible and still keep the characters and plot intact. It was fun, I sent it in (only after I decided there wasn’t a good novel in it) and imagine my surprise when a magazine decided to pick it up.

Dragons, Knights, and Angels magazine (who has been incredibly good with response times, both for rejections and acceptations) will at some point be producing my story, Manikin, which should take you about 30-seconds to read. Hopefully it’s worth a reread or two. DKA magazine is available both online and in print, so whatever version you enjoy more, be sure to support their efforts. If you want a sample of their contents, they have back issues listed on their website, with story and poem excerpts to tease you along.

Plus, even the smallest of acceptances gets me through at least a dozen future rejections without being bummed in the slightest. So, onward.

I see that smile.