It was quite a week for #fridayflash. We have sixty-two stories in the round-up, including six from debut authors. Please welcome Lindsay Oberst, Gregory VanWagenen, Jesse Groppi, Virginia Moffatt, ThomG, and Deborah Bundy to our amazing writing community. I am sure I speak for all when I say we are all very happy to have you join us. As always there is a broad range of styles and genre, so there should be something for everyone. If you wrote a #fridayflash, and story is not in this listing, please visit the Collector to add your details. Once you’ve put it in the Collector I can harvest it, and add it to the report.
I apologize for getting this up a little late. This has been a very busy week for me here at Mad Utopia. On Friday I hosted a guest post from Tina Moreau, Manager of Absolute Xpress. She discussed their upcoming Thieves and Scoundrels Anthology. Submissions don’t close until Junary 15th, so if you have something in your hip pocket, or write well under pressure, there is still time to submit. It should be right up the alley of many #fridayflash writers, and is a chance at a paying market.
I also had to write my own #fridayflash, and get it posted in time, as well as work out the mechanics of distributing Best Of stories to first round judges. I’ve sent out 12 stories so far to two judges, just to get the process down. If you are a Best of 2009 first round judge watch your email. I’ll be sending out more packets today. I still need to get the Reader’s Choice poll up. Hope to do that today as well. As I said, it’s been a little busy here at Mad Utopia, but all your wonderful stories make it all worth while. Thanks again everyone, for participating in the writing, the reading, and the word-of-mouth marketing you do for #fridayflash. It would be nothing without you. ~jon
The Stories
Word Smells by Lindsay Oberst @lindzsmile ~ Slice of Life ~ Debut
Wisdom From The Chorus Line by Chance @chance4321 ~ Humor
Vaultkeeper by Maria Protopapadaki-Smith @mazzz_in_Leeds ~ Fantasy
Variations of the Truth by Lauren Cude via Facebook ~ Slice of Life
Truly, Deeply, Endlessly by Tony Noland @tonyNoland ~ Horror/Suspense
To Have Not by Richard Gardner @ric03 ~ Action/Adventure
Through their eyes by Estrella Azul @EstrellaAzul ~ Slice of Life
The Voice Of A Child by Leigh Barlow @LeighBarlow ~ Science Fiction
The Next Great Adventure by Eric J. Krause @ericjkrause ~ Science Fiction
The Next Best Thing by Gregory VanWagenen @gvanwagenen ~ Romance ~ Debut
The Madame Lazonga Defense by Alex Carrick @Alex_Carrick ~ Humor
The Literary Inheritance by P.J. Kaiser @doublelattemama ~ Slice of Life
The Lie by Rachel Blackbirdsong @RBlackbirdsong ~ Literary
The Fable of the Rhino and the Oxpecker by Barry J. Northern @BarryNorthern ~ Fantasy
The Eye Candy Also Flies by Chris Chartrand @ChrisChartrand ~ Science Fiction
The Day of the Wedding by Tim VanSant @TimVanSant ~ Unspecified
Sunday Lunch by Emma Newman @EmApocalyptic ~ Slice of Life
Sun Belt by John Wiswell @Wiswell ~ Science Fiction
Stoplight by G.P.Ching @GPChing ~ Slice of Life
Solarium by Hannah Bisson @MoxieMouth ~ Mystery/Thriller
Sleep Little Child by J. M. Strother @jmstro ~ Unspecified
Sisyphus and the Salesman by Ryan Harron @rharron ~ Fantasy
ShadowGlass: Prologue by Donald Conrad @NoddlaNocdar ~ Unspecified
Rapunzel by Amy Taylor @adastrapoetry ~ Unspecified
Raging Life by Christian Bell @christianbell37 ~ Unspecified
Post-Invasion Christmas by Jesse Groppi @jessegroppi ~ Cross Genre ~ Debut
Portal 7298 by Louise Dragon @WeezelWords ~ Cross Genre
Papa Szorny by Anton Gully @antongully ~ Horror/Suspense
Omega Rising by Carrie Clevenger @CarrieClevenger ~ Science Fiction
Offspring by Marisa Birns @marisabirns ~ Fantasy
Nurses at the bedside of Mr. Eller by Chad Redden @chadredden ~ Literary
Night Raid by Angie C. @techtigger ~ Fantasy
micro by Dan Powell @danpowfiction ~ Literary
Magwier A-Go-Go by Al Bruno III @albruno3 ~ Experimental
Mafia Rehab (pt.2): Inna Is In the House by Anne Tyler Lord @AnneTylerLord ~ Humor
Lady of Ice by Alyssa Tompkins @xAChels ~ Fantasy
Instructions: Parent Teacher Conference for a Retarded Child by Lou @lfreshwater ~ Literary
Infamy by Lily Mulholland @CascadeLily ~ Unspecified
Homeless by Michelle Dennis Evans @michelledevans ~ Slice of Life
Homecoming by Gary Harmon @Gary_Harmon ~ Literary
Happy New Year by Virginia Moffatt @VirginiaMoffatt ~ Slice of Life ~ Debut
Flicker by Clive Martyn @clivem ~ Horror/Suspense
Finding My Fix by Linda Simoni-Wastila @drwasy ~ Mystery/Thriller
Final Solution by Barb Relyea @brelyea ~ Literary
Escape Velocity by Skycycler @skycycler ~ Literary
Easy Prey by Laurita Miller @LauritaMiller ~ Horror/Suspense
Dunston Monster: Tabitha by David G Shrock @dracotorre ~ Unspecified
Drain by ThomG @tgabrukiewicz ~ Humor ~ Debut
Critiques by Tim Remp @Tim_Remp_writer ~ Humor
Chronology of Murder by Dana @ywgdana ~ Cross Genre
Calista’s Mirror of Truth by Melissa D. Johnston @melissa_djohnst ~ Cross Genre
Breaking the Mold by Shannon Esposito @soesposito ~ Literary
Blue Skies by Peter Etherington @petherin ~ Slice of Life
Bits and Pieces by Laura Eno @lauraeno ~ Unspecified
Banditties by Peggy McFarland @peggywriter ~ Horror/Suspense
Anyone Can Draw a Saltpot by David Masters @davidmasters ~ Slice of Life
Amelie, The One Minute Version by April L. Hamilton @indieauthor ~ Humor
All in the Soil by Michael J. Solender @mjsolender ~ Mystery/Thriller
Alive, alive-o by Virginia Moffatt @VirginiaMoffatt ~ Unspecified
A Rude Awakening by Sam @FutureNostalgic ~ Horror/Suspense
A Puppy in Need by Deborah Bundy @DeborahKBundy ~ Slice of Life ~ Debut
A Different Kind of Heavy Metal by Karen Schindler @karenfrommentor ~ Humor
The wrap
Thanks to all our readers. We love you. And please, if you enjoy a story leave comments when you visit. Writers love feedback almost as much as chocolate. Maybe more! Then go tell your friends to read it too. Help these writers grow.
You can subscribe to the #fridayflash hashtag
on Twitter every week for more great flash fiction.
We’re on Facebook too.
~jon
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Jon, perhaps I missed something but I had trouble locating the stories in the Reader’s Choice Poll. Perhaps embedding the links or adding a link to the comments section where they were nominated would make it easier for people to read them before voting.
Sorry about that, Carol. I added a post complete with links which will be at the top of the stack until my next post. I’ll look into adding another widget to the sidebar with the links so something more permanent is available.
~jon
Wow have I got some catching up to do! I was ill this past week so didn’t get to submit a story, (the first week I missed since joining #fridayflash
). But I’m on my way to being well and hope to steal some time to read as many stories as I can this week.
It’s nice to watch this group grow so quickly! And Jon, thanks so much for all you do for us!
Welcome to all you new flashers…er, I mean authors!