I’m so excited that my flash piece, “Blue Monkey,” was published today at Ellipsis Zine!
I wrote this in a Sarah Freligh workshop that centered around place. After drawing a map of a street in my city, I realized there were tons of stories I could write… so I did! And this is the first to find a home, so I hope you read it and love it and demand someone publish my chapbook centered around midtown Memphis.
As my last post mentioned, I had a great time writing and submitting to The Write-In on National Flash Fiction day. I’m thrilled that five of my submissions were published! I’m sharing the links here, along with the prompts to give an idea of the guidelines/constraints.
Crosstown Traffic: A triptych where each section takes place in the same moment of time.
Moving Day: A story in which the action happens backwards.
Trick or Treat: Flash without a full stop or period as a punctuation mark.
She’s Where the Sky Meets the Water: 24-word flash with a seven-word title.
Dreamless Reality: A version of a fairy tale set in modern times.
Yes, I’m posting this right before the day officially ends in the UK, but I’ve been writing since The Write-In started posting prompts yesterday evening (my time)! I always love writing from a prompt, as evidenced by so many of my recent publications having origin stories in workshops.
Anyway, this year NFFD is doing a badge system, and I love collecting little trinkets that show where I’ve been and what I’ve done, so here are the pieces I’ve written and submitted so far.
Since the deadline to submit is tomorrow at 5:59p my time, I’m going to keep writing because this concept of time in the prompts is perfect for how I’m trying to push myself to go speculative, so I’m going to continue writing. Anyone else participating today?
I’m so happy that Visual Verse shared my May submission, “Close Your Eyes.”
I’m so excited to announce that my micro, “Midway,” was shortlisted for the Brilliant Flash Fiction contest and is published online!
Read it here, along with the other fantastic shortlisted stories and, of course, the contest winners!
This is the image that inspired the piece, written in a Sarah Freligh workshop. The prompt was to use an image to find “the poetry of prose,” and something about this photograph my paternal grandfather took at the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York was like a lightning strike. I wrote about it soon after the workshop (Bolt of Inspiration), and this honor of being shortlisted for a contest gives me fresh inspiration to work on the project mentioned in that blog post.
I’m so happy that Visual Verse shared my April submission, “Mother of Pearl.”
I haven’t been writing lately. I have three big projects on my plate but I can’t seem to dedicate any time to them. A friend and I talked about other creative outlets as ways to unwind, landing on tangles, which made me remember a folder I doodled on during a high school mythology class.
As I went hunting for this folder, I found a box that I had also doodled on – though not as long ago as high school. No, these were college doodles, best remembered as the peak of my LiveJournal period (2004 to 2007 for normal people).
Through an LJ art community, I discovered Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and started making my own. You could post them on the LJ community and trade with others. I still have a ton of completed cards, plus supplies to make more.
I love the concept of tiny artwork, making something in a short time, feeling productive and complete. I hope to photograph them all to share on my (woefully long-forgotten) art Instagram and find other artists to start trading again.
I love using the constraints of the fixed size (2.5″ x 3.5″) to show a beautiful image that gives the viewer enough space to add the details in their mind… Wait, that sounds a lot like another creative outlet I enjoy, doesn’t it?
Anyway, this is probably my favorite card I made. A two-parter called Rock & Roll All Nite. Note the custom title/credit image I made to back my cards… Ah, youth.
As I dedicate some time to writing a new piece for the April prompt at Visual Verse, I’m excited to share the piece I wrote for March.
Here’s “Death of an Influencer.”
I wrote this micro in one of Sarah Freligh’s workshops – if you haven’t taken one, I highly recommend them! I’ve taken three now and am always so inspired by the lessons and prompts. This story started as “The Object of My Affection” and got plenty of polish from workshop feedback.
I’m thrilled to have a photograph, “Shining Light,” in issue 9 of Rock and a Hard Place magazine!
“Rock and a Hard Place Press is a lit-noir publisher, focused on stories of struggle, tales of the powerless and marginalized, characters on the fringes of society … and what they do next.”
Don’t miss out on all the amazing stories and art in this issue! Get it now!
Allison Renner Writes 