I now spend the first of the month eagerly awaiting the image shared by Visual Verse. You have an hour to write a micro or flash ranging from 50 to 500 words, based on or inspired by the image. I’ve always felt like such a visual writer anyway, with a scene or person encouraging me to make up a story, and so far I’ve been so inspired by their images.
I’m honored that they’re sharing my piece, “Colors in the Air,” this month.
CLOSED! Thank you to everyone who entered and shared the giveaway on Twitter and Instagram. Lauren Voeltz is the winner!
I can’t believe my book has been in the world for one month now! So many friends have posted pictures on social media and shared their favorite stories. Oh, and David Sedaris has a copy of it! I went to his reading last week and gave him a copy at the signing. He asked what it was about and said “I look forward to reading it.” !!!
To celebrate, I’m hosting a giveaway. You’ll get a signed copy of the book, a super-cool Venus tea trap, and two delicious teas from my favorite companies.
The Pomegranate Punch Decaf Black Tea from Plum Deluxe has a fresh citrus flavor mirroring the clementine from my story “Lost and Found.”
The Firebird chai from Wendigo Tea will make you feel “Electric Inside” like the first story in the book.
Comment below with your favorite hot beverage, and visit Twitter and Instagram to see how to earn extra entries!
Contest open until Saturday, October 29th, at midnight Central time. I’ll announce the winner on Sunday!
My micro, “A Love Story in Pantoum,” was shortlisted by Visual Verse!
I wrote this inspired both by the image and from Sarah Freligh’s micro class, where her last prompt asked us to use a poetry form for a micro or flash piece. I’m honored it was shortlisted for the Visual Verse contest!
Today my piece “Leaving the Canyon” is live at Misery Tourism.
This story is based on an experience I had when I was traveling the US alone in 2011. Back then I blogged on Allison Writes (see how “grown up” I am with Allison Renner Writes is now?!) and shared the true story. When Misery Tourism announced they were closing up shop, I knew I had to shoot my shot.
I went to the site and the randomizer told me “How about submitting a Randian objectivist tabletop game about death, you fucking misanthrope?” So I used the framework of that trip and added some game/Choose Your Own Adventure elements.
I’m excited to announce I’ll be reading with some AMAZING writers I work with at Split/Lip Press! The reading is online via Zoom on Tuesday, November 1st at 7p CT. Hope you see you there!
I met Janet Dale in a fiction writing workshop in 2009 and we became friends and writing partners. We’ve written together, edited together, and collaborated on many pieces. We wrote a chapbook together and are currently working on another series of pieces for a collection.
Her poetry chapbook ghosts passing through came out on September 6th, and I celebrated her book birthday here. You need to grab a copy of her book! She has a fiction background, as you can tell from how we met. But she also writes CNF along with poetry, so you get a bit of everything in this chapbook.
These poems are haunting memories you grasp for and miss but can never forget. Dale relates love, loss, and memory to science, physics, and outer space. Poems include Morse code and inspiration from Buzz Aldrin and Sylvia Plath, which gives you an idea of the diversity in this volume.
– me
Read the kind words she has to say about Won’t Be By Your Side here.
Today’s the day! My debut chapbook, Won’t Be By Your Side, is out from Alien Buddha Press. Get your copy here and share a photo with me! Check out all these sightings in the wild…
Visit the publisher’s spotlight to read the first story in the collection. You can also listen to me read it aloud on the recorded reading. My section starts at the 53-minute mark, and I read 3 other stories.
Listen to the recording HERE. My section starts around the 53 minute mark.
This Sunday from 1-3pm CST, Alien Buddha Press is hosting a reading. It’s audio-only through Twitter Spaces, so grab your phone and listen in without needing to primp for Zoom vide. You’ll see a colorful ring around @thealienbuddha‘s profile picture when we’re live. If you follow the press already, the Space will be at the top of your newsfeed. Whichever approach you use, just click to join and listen to these great writers:
I’m honored to share this blurb for my forthcoming chapbook, Won’t Be By Your Side.
48 Blitz was the first book I was completely on board for in my initial role at Split/Lip Press, which means Brett Biebel was the first author I got to work closely with and really hype up on social media. I kicked off my “Five Questions” interview series with Brett and still remember his engaging answers. He recorded himself reading one of the stories (“Warriors”), which you can hear on his book’s Split/Lip Press page, linked above.
That story exemplifies what you get from his flash fiction collection. Insights into the lives and minds of people you might not think twice about—as the back cover copy says, the book is “inviting readers to immerse themselves within, rather than fly over, the wide-open Midwestern prairie.”
Some of my favorite stories include:
I love how Brett’s collection has 48 distinct stories, but you’ll read a name and think, “Wait…” and flip back a few stories to see the character mentioned in passing. It’s an immersive way of storytelling that truly feels like you’re among these people, hearing stories from people who know each other.
I’m so honored that Brett agreed to read and blurb my chapbook because I greatly admire his writing, and I hope you’ll check out 48 Blitz. In the meantime, check out this amazing story he recently published in Atlas and Alice: “Holy War.”
Allison Renner Writes 