writing

Allison

“In the End” published at Ink In Thirds

I’m thrilled to have a piece of flash fiction in the Spring Equinox, Spring/Summer 2025 – vol 6, i.1 issue of Ink In Thirds.

I wrote this piece in a Sarah Freligh workshop (surprise surprise!) in November 2023. It was a particularly windy week – I didn’t remember feeling wind like that before, unless it was during the typical Memphis in May tornado season.

I have been trying to find a home for it since, and am so happy to have it with Ink In Thirds… and even happier that it was published during another week of unseasonably wild winds.

You can take a peek at the issue online and grab a digital or print copy for yourself to read it all, along with the other amazing words and art in this issue.

Allison

NEWS! Green Light: A Gatsby Cycle

I’m excited to announce that my second fiction collection is coming out April 10th!

Does that date sound familiar? It might to literary nerds (me) and English majors (also me)—it’s the 100th Anniversary of The Great Gatsby! Since our upcoming book is inspired by that classic, it only seemed fitting to release it on that landmark publication date.

The book is now in public domain, so Janet Dale used the first page of each chapter to create found poetry (aka blackout poetry) and I used a sentence from the first page of each chapter to write an entirely new flash fiction piece.

We’ll share some more insight and glimpses behind-the-scenes in time, but we can’t wait for you to read the finished product in just six short weeks!

Allison

2025 Writing Goals

As I mentioned in my last post, I felt disconnected from the writing community during 2024. I want to change that because I’ve made many great writer friends and love having people who understand the fickle job of writing, with its highs and lows. Community will be key for me this year, even though the former gathering ground of Twitter is now a hellscape that leads me to doomscroll and roll my eyes for hours instead of connecting with anyone.

Many of those same writers are on Instagram, though, so I’m going to aim to be more active there. To comment and DM instead of just scroll and like. To foster connections and feel a sense of community. I’m also a member of Sisters in Crime, which has community forums and online webinars and goes out of its way to foster connections between members. I’ll lean heavily on them since one of my writing-specific goals is to finish my mystery novel.

About that novel… I ghostwrote 28 books last year but didn’t finish one of my own. (That’s great, considering my novel won’t pay as much as working for others.) Still, it’s a goal to publish a novel under my name, and I want to make progress toward that this year.

  • Step one: finish a draft.
  • Step two: revise the hell out of it.
  • Step three: let others read it – yikes!
  • Step four: revise some more.
  • Step five: query an agent? I’m not sure I’ll get there, but it’s nice to have a rough plan.

I also want to finish revising my Young Adult novel from 2010. I’ve been getting feedback on chapters from a writing group and it’s pushed me to think differently about this book that was so familiar to me at one time. The distance since I first decided to revise it in 2018 or so also helps. Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like it’s close to being ready, and I think it’s something that could find an audience, so I’m hoping to polish it up and see what I can do with it.

Beyond those big projects (if I can take on any more), I want to reconnect with the flash community. I haven’t even been writing short pieces lately; I’ve been so focused on paid work that I really miss how flash made me feel like a writer. I know any type of writing takes creativity and skill, but flash made me feel so in tune with myself and the world around me, like I was seeing secrets everywhere I looked, letting my imagination unearth the story average people and items hid. I want to get back to that. I don’t like going through every day just working and keeping myself and my kid alive… though some days that’s enough and is a struggle itself. But actively writing flash felt like little escapes out my own life and my own head, and not having that for almost a year has really made me feel like a brittle, boring person.

I specifically have about four novella-in-flash/collection ideas I want to work on, so that will be my focus – not that I’ll turn away any other ideas that come to me!

Basically, I want this year to be the year I focus on my ideas, foster my own writing, and see where it takes me. Here we go!

Allison

2024 Writing in Review

This has been a strange year for my writing… I’ve focused more on paid work, which is great for my bank account, but makes me feel really out of touch with the flash fiction community.

I still did some fun things, like writing during National Flash Fiction Day and taking part in the Ekphrastic Marathon. I wrote some books and outlines for major publishers, and that news will hopefully come out next year. I judged four contests for Flash Fiction Magazine and ghostwrote some books I’m really proud of, so I feel like I had a very creative year even if my submission spreadsheet isn’t reflecting that.

I only had 45 submissions this year, despite initially having a goal of submitting 5 pieces per month. I had 13 acceptances from those submissions. (I submitted 111 times in 2023, 134 in 2022, and 52 in 2021.)

I also only took one writing workshop (plus a few two-hour Zooms), while I used to take a lot more. I generate a lot of content during workshops because I thrive with the prompts and accountability, so I think that might be a big part of my lack of content this year.

I started writing reviews for MicroLit Almanac. Several were books I’d already read or wanted to read, but a few weren’t even on my radar, so I’m grateful I got the chance to read and review them, hopefully helping spread the word of these indie writers so they can get the attention they deserve.

In addition to the online stories and reviews you can read here, I had a flash fiction piece published in Stanchion’s Away from Home anthology and another in the Third Bullshit Lit Anthology.

I also launched my own writing services: Lightning Flash Writing

If you need help polishing your work (flash fiction, short stories, novels – I do it all!), getting your ideas on the page, or marketing yourself or your book, I’m here to help!

Related Posts:

2023 Writing in Review

2022 Writing in Review

2021 Writing in Review

Allison

“Ecclesiastes 10:19” in the Third Bullshit Lit Anthology

So this is now old news because I forgot to share it back in August, whoops!

I had a short story published in the Third Bullshit Lit Anthology: “Ecclesiastes 10:19.”

This is a piece I wrote in a Nancy Stohlman Pop Lit workshop and I submitted everywhere because I really wanted it out there. And now it is!

I feel like it’s especially fitting now, with the religious hypocrisy right in front of our faces… so ENJOY!

Allison

Novel Writing Month

Well, it’s November 1st.

Ever since 2007, that means I’m starting to write 50,000 words of a novel (or story collection) as part of National Novel Writing Month. While the organization has crumbled over the past year or two, the sense of needing to write still strikes me, much like the whole “back to school” vibe of September (though school starts here at the beginning of August…).

The truth is, I kind of started a challenge at the beginning of October: Autocrit’s Novel 90 writing challenge. Writing a novel in ninety days seemed totally doable since I used to create an extremely rough draft in thirty. Except the idea I wanted to write just wasn’t coming together, and I spent most of the month trying to figure out whodunnit so I could complete the outline.

Whoops.

I pivoted though, and started writing a different idea that I’ve had in the back of my mind. Which means I’m writing without an outline, but that’s how November typically goes for me.

I’m also participating in the Sisters in Crime November Marathon. I’m a new member and want to make the most of the community, so I’m jumping right in with the hope of completing a draft of a cozy mystery this month.

Oh, and I can’t forget Nancy Stohlman’s FlashNano. Clearly this is just the month to kick myself in the pants!

Mostly, I wanted to share because I feel like I’ve been stagnant for much of this year. My flash writing has been on hold as I focus on longer works. Writing a novel feels satisfying, but I miss drafting a quick little piece and helping it find a home a few months later. With the exception of National Flash Fiction Day and the Ekphrastic Marathon, most of my publications this year were in the works since submitting last year, so my spreadsheet is looking empty.

It’s also nice to hold myself accountable, even if it’s only to the internet.

Allison

“The Things We Carry as Writers”: A Review at MicroLit Almanac

I have a review up for The Miro Worm and the Mysteries of Writing, a collection of essays by Sven Birkerts!

Check it out at MicroLit Almanac and then get your copy of the book!

Allison

Honoring My Grandmother’s Legacy: Celebrating Her Birthday with a New Beginning

Today would have been my maternal grandmother’s 107th birthday! We were incredibly close, and I have countless memories of reading books with her, listening to her childhood stories, and being amazed at her gorgeous handwriting – all experiences that helped cultivate my love of reading and writing.

She also encouraged my imagination! She was always willing to have a tea party with me or be a passenger on the “plane” as I pretended to be a pilot. Once, when I wanted to open a restaurant in her kitchen, I asked for help creating the menu. 

“How do you spell it?” I asked. 

“M-E-N…” she started. 

“M-E-N…” I repeated. 

“U!” she said. 

I proudly showed her my MenYou.

She died in 2011, and I wrote about it on my blog at the time:

After rapidly declining for the past month, my grandmother passed away yesterday morning while her husband slept in the next room. Just two hours later, my grandfather died in his sleep. He never woke up; he was never told that his wife was gone, but I think he knew.

They would have been married sixty-eight years this June. Sixty-eight years. I can’t even imagine living 68 years, much less living with someone else for that long.

A few years ago, I interviewed them for a sociology paper on marriage and family; they said some mornings they wake up and just have to embrace before sharing breakfast. Last Monday, a week before they died, my grandfather steered his wheelchair in to my grandmother’s room and they held hands across the hospital bed rails, as they had been doing nightly for some time.

I can’t imagine that degree of devotion and dedication. Long marriages run in my family, with my paternal grandparents lasting 58 years before death did they part, my maternal grandparents almost 68, and my parents just celebrated 36. It’s inspiring (…and a little intimidating).

I’m incredibly thankful that both grandparents had such long, amazing lives before leaving together, and that I got to spend 25 years with them.

I think of her often, especially on her birthday. So, I’m excited to announce: today I’m launching my writing services: Lightning Flash Writing!

It may seem random to do that on my grandmother’s birthday, but she always encouraged me in everything I did, and I like to think she’d be proud of me for following my creative pursuits like she did.

Allison

Published in Stanchion’s Away From Home Anthology

I’m thrilled to have a piece in the Away From Home anthology from Stanchion!

I wrote “Bonnie’s House” as a micro in a Sarah Freligh workshop – I know that’s not a surprise at this point, as most of my pieces that eventually get published start there! I loved the idea for this anthology because I’m obsessed with getting glimpses into other people’s houses, so I knew I didn’t want to miss my chance to explore that.

I can’t wait to read all the other amazing stories included in this anthology! It’s officially out on September 10th, but you can preorder the book here: Away From Home Anthology

Allison

Showcased in the Ekphrastic Marathon (Again!)

Last month I took part in the Ekphrastic Review‘s Ekphrastic Marathon for my second time! Last year was Lucky 8 and this year was Nine Lives. (Here’s my post about last year.)

As with before, I wrote several pieces based on amazing works of art. I really enjoy using art as writing prompts, so I look forward to this marathon every year.

I’m excited that my story inspired by “If only i hadn’t wished for what I thought i was missing” by Paraskevi Frasiola was featured in the Marathon Showcase!

Read it, and many other amazing pieces, here.

click the pic to read the full piece