tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-170407562024-03-18T09:10:01.521-04:00 Janet Reid, Literary Agent"Never miss a chance to do good"--David StanleyJanet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.comBlogger4817125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-41919107988082899432024-01-29T07:00:00.001-05:002024-01-29T07:00:00.193-05:00Past Missteps<p></p><blockquote><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Several years ago, when I was much stupider, I briefly
interned for a reasonably well-known agent. I let her know ahead of time that I
had a vacation lined up where I would be off grid about a month after I started,
which she was on board with. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, due to some wires getting crossed on my end and
some stressful visa shenanigans, my last email to her before I left didn't end
up getting sent, and I didn't notice until I got back - effectively meaning I
accidentally ghosted her a week early. I apologized profusely once I returned,
but she never responded, and, in what I now recognize as a stupid move, I slunk
off in shame and never tried to contact her again. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, my question is, what should I do if I ever try to query
her? Should I pretend to be just a random queryer and pray she doesn't remember
(and that my novel is good enough to catch her interest), or mention that I
briefly interned for her and hope that I don't immediately get banished to the
shadow realm if she remembers I accidentally ghosted her?</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Trust me, she remembers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You should acknowledge your internship with the addendum of
"I still regret I slunk off in shame after accidently ghosting you for a
week."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Don't apologize again.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Don't try to fix things.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We've all goofed up in major ways.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let your spiffy query and excellent book carry the weight.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A savvy agent doesn't let stuff like that get in the way of
nabbing a good book.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are only two things that put an intern on my fecal
roster:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Being rude to writers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Posting crap about their internship on social media.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Notice that ghosting isn't one of them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-55690374614496226552024-01-24T07:00:00.001-05:002024-01-24T07:00:00.131-05:00Do I really need an agent?<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here's a question for the blog: does a reasonably
established but not MAJOR author really need an agent? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I've been querying for months with a really good project
because my agent is retiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm
getting full requests and plenty of "this is a great project but not for
me" -- and no offers. And I'm also still selling work: short stories, and
probably soon a re-up from the small startup press that did my summer book. And
starting a new series next week at Level Best, with a second one picking up
there in April. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My last two books -- X, and Y -- both earned out, which I
would think might be a selling point in my favor. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I know I'll probably never bring in the Big Deal. But as
Paulie Walnuts used to say, I am earnin'. Is this the point where I just go it
alone and have a lawyer friend review major contracts in the future?</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We were doing so well until we got to the end.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes you can sell work without an agent. The kind of projects
you describe don't really pay enough to interest most agents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's the same amount of work for a small
earner as a bigger earner. Guess which one I prefer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But <i>having a lawyer friend review your contract</i> makes me
scream and cling to the chandelier.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglpXya7srhNMRTjxkUcCqrWTcxSYGLCwJPmXjpPpUle1EoNqlyOW0ompvaNpKobi2GdsJGicPVOyks-ApvYTlf4FqsUtft8i3PLwcxfKEeb6s0kpYTkQ2lLPf8YD-umg69WIw7Qxs4Ki2OOv3DHMO-J-DyUNCnjH5MwyBlvmxiDVTqyfoOEWyp/s1300/cat-on-a-chandelier-vector-illustration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1300" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglpXya7srhNMRTjxkUcCqrWTcxSYGLCwJPmXjpPpUle1EoNqlyOW0ompvaNpKobi2GdsJGicPVOyks-ApvYTlf4FqsUtft8i3PLwcxfKEeb6s0kpYTkQ2lLPf8YD-umg69WIw7Qxs4Ki2OOv3DHMO-J-DyUNCnjH5MwyBlvmxiDVTqyfoOEWyp/s320/cat-on-a-chandelier-vector-illustration.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You need a very specific kind of lawyer here: one who knows
publishing contracts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you need names,
email me and I'll give you some.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But you can't just hand this off to a lawyer who isn't
versed in publishing. THAT is a recipe for disaster and I don't want to tell
you how I know.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, keep writing. I like your books.</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-51068085365680809922024-01-15T09:56:00.001-05:002024-01-15T09:56:57.814-05:00Pet Card flash fiction results<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Sorry for the dreadful delay in posting this.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was beset by a foul ailment that laid me low.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I'd say it was fur deprivation, but I did have a nice long
week with Mx Pix the parkour puss.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There's no critique on these; they're all terrific and besides,
they're your furred friends. They're perfect even when they're not.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That said, the entry by <b>Fburgos</b> was breathtaking. I read it once and thought, ok, got it.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Then I read it again.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Dimitrius Harmata </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hi! I’m Fluffy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I chose to spend
one of my nine lives standing guard over Dimitrius during the rough 90’s.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My reward was a
bat I caught all by myself!</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Geeze Louise, I'd like to have seen video of that!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Craig F </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All who visit are
advised to keep their hands to themselves. Yes, he’s a large cat, and he might
be my pet, but his name is Bob for a reason</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">This cracked me up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Kate Larkindale </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm Frankie the
Fearful, fleeing the house at every knock at the door since 2017. But I'll
cuddle with you in bed every night too.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">He sounds like a sweetie.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Steve Forti </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zoey: (noun)
petite cuddly feline. Black void. Impatient eater, fluffy yarn ball destroyer,
spring chaser. Scared of the dark. That comfy seat you wanted? It’s mine. Your
bed? Also mine.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I love Zoey! <i>Mine</i> is my favorite word too</span>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Erin Scruggs </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m Molly the
maltipoo: master of suspense. Hobbies include rolling dirty (in the grass),
sprinting (at Olympic speed), and barking at animals on television (especially
make-believe creatures in allergy commercials).</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">As any sensible dog does!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Luralee </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pepper—now known
as whiny dog</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Used to sit</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Used to stay</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Got spoiled by
Grandma.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still a
sweetheart.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Oh Grandma!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Erin Scruggs </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> I’m Stetson the
schnoodle: a loyal companion. Skills include licking people (unexpectedly),
napping (snoring loudly while farting silently), and winning staring contests
(especially effective when grandparents and bacon are involved).</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Stetson's not intending to eat Grandma is he?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Beth Carpenter </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wascally wabbits
destroying your garden? You need Annie, the rabbit chaser who never slows
down.* Call 1-800-462-6643, that's 1-800-GOANNIE.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*Disclaimer: Annie
has never actually caught a rabbit.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Reminds me of submitting client work to The New Yorker.
Haven't made it yet but will die trying!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">MaggieJ </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marilla: I am
Maggie’s moggy, defender of hearth and home against mice, rats, shrews, snakes,
bats, and all things like that. Weasels are my specialty: quick clean kills
ensured.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Weasels!!! Yikes!!!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Just Jan </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Captain Jack,
a.k.a. the Boston Terr(o)r</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peg-legged. Born
under a bad sign.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lack of
intelligence surpassed only by absurd loyalty to anyone with food.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Love Boston Terr(o)r!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Lennon Faris </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Poppy: Watchdog,
snuggler.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ready for any*
threat:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Humans wearing
hats</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Bubbles</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Bunnies
(includes free murder)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will protect
you! Will work for cheese.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*no bad guys
please</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">You never know what Bubbles is up to!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Mother of Monster </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monster, Maine
Coon Extraordinaire. I shed so you don't have to.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Or: I shed so you can too!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Amy Johnson </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chloe</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mama canis</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gentle and joyful
doter on children of various ages and species.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Temporarily
transforms into mama ursa to protect them from the vacuum cleaner.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>aka: Good Girl</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">oh the evil vacuum!!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Karen Baldwin </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He dominates me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Ow! Don’t bite my
hair! It’s 4 a.m.!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His eyes squint
his desire.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Fine!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he chomps the
Whiskas salmon flakes, I coo, “Love you, Indie boy.”</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">We are all slaves to our feline overlords.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Michael Seese </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allie,
a.k(anine).a. "Doggo"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chasing balls
since 2018</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Catching balls since ?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>E.M. Goldsmith </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rest in peace,
Frankie. The best pug ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will see you on
the other side. Keep watch</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as you always
have. I’ll be home soon.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Not too soon E.M.!!!!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Theblondepi </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>HUBERT THE DOG</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angel on Earth</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>now angel in
Heaven</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(treats still
accepted)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I'm sorry for your loss. I still mourn my Newfie, gone for
many years, but never forgotten.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A good girl always.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Tomas Zandir </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holly: One of a
legion of feline impersonators sent by rulers of planet Xanon to enslave human
population of Earth. Mission wildly successful! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bowser, household dog, is still a problem.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">One feels for Bowser.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>travelkat </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My name’s Patrick,
King of Cats;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look on my Snores,
ye Mighty, and despair!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing beside
remains</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the colossal
wreck of my food-dish</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now it’s time to
play.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #800180;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #800180;">Nice homage to</span><a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias"><span style="color: #800180;"> </span>Percy Shelley</a>, <span style="color: #800180;">who did in fact have a cat (or
more than one!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“When my cats aren't happy, I'm not happy. Not because I
care about their mood, but because I know they're just sitting there, thinking
up ways to get even.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">― Percy Bysshe Shelley</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>J.R. Raglow </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From hello Molly,
you choose me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As sweet as fine
chocolate</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lab of my life,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bar dog, car dog,
barn dog, bird dog,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Danger detector,
domain protector,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Partner,
companion, friend.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">This is just perfect</span>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>KDJames </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cauliflower, aka
The White Ninja</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intrepidly
Accessing the Inaccessible, since 2008</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Specialities</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- napping</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- purring</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- shedding</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- acrobatic
zoomies, extra</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Payment</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- fish, chicken,
treats</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- effusive praise</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- petting,
scritches</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Contact</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- invitation only</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Invitation only indeed!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Love</span>ly.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Colin Smith </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seouler and Momo:
Bug-catchers extraordinaire. Proving you need neither sight nor sanity to hunt
pests.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">They use The Force!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>BJ Muntain </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little Girl Dog
creeps</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Softly in my
dreams; Angel</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Racing lightning
down.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Koko, my heart
dog,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always beside me;
Angel</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will always be.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Angel seems very aptly named.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>SDK </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kokhan: Cat for
hire.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will shred all
your enemy’s soft furnishings and knock over all fragile artefacts of value.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In and out in 30
mins. Discreet. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Tip him with tuna?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Tain Leonard-Peck </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prehistoric
reptile, mix-and-match critter. Alligator tail, lizard legs, hydraulic cutter
jaws. Living behind glass for your safety, not mine. Pet me at your peril,
turtle with a snap.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Hydraulic cutter jaws!!!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Love this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>John Davis Frain </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calvin</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experienced
walking companion</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No leash necessary</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What a good boy!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>EasternRose </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thelma and Louise,
bonded rescue rabbits.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plunging in cars
not their thing.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will beg for
Timothy hay.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will cuddle for
willow.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">So glad they are not intent on driving off a cliff.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">(that scene still haunts me.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Kregger </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barn Mouse:
Extraordinaire!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Creepy, poopy,
destructive.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cohabitant:
Kregger</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He hates me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #800180;">Yes, but does he call you a </span>"<a href="https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/?q=The%20Duchess%20of%20Yowl%20is%20set%20upon ">tailless toilet user</a>"?
<span style="color: #800180;">(Duchess of Yowl) </span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Fburgos </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My name is Hudson</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm a cadaver dog</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I just found
my master.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">oh god, the subtlety and ambiguity of this just blows me away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Barbara Etlin </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Echo, Sheltie
(always remembered)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intruder-chaser,
Blue Jays very short stop, model, philosopher, poet</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hobbies: napping,
guarding the bathroom door</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'm a Sheltie.
Don't call me "mini Lassie."</p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Indeed not!!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">*****</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thanks to all of you who took the time to write and post entries.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">They were indeed a <strike>day week</strike> weeks brightener!<br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-77216269229378031252023-12-15T07:00:00.004-05:002023-12-17T08:04:40.474-05:00Medicinal Flash Fiction<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">I'm still under the weather but I console myself by saying
at least I don't have pneumonia (which two of my friends have now) and at least
I don't have covid (which half the world seems to have now.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time for some medicinal flash fiction!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> The usual rules apply:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Write a story using 100 words or fewer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. Use these words in the story:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>jolly </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>roger</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>beach </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>bum</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>shell</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you are <b>Steve Forti</b>, or wish you could be, I hope
you thought you'd prevailed forever BUT NO!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you are Steve Forti or want to be you must also use <b>pneumonia.</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. You must use the whole word, but that whole word can be
part of a larger word. The letters for the prompt must appear in consecutive
order. They cannot be backwards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. Post the entry in the comment column of THIS blog post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. One entry per person. If you need a mulligan (a do-over)
erase your entry and post again. It helps to work out your entry first, then
post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6. International entries are allowed, but prizes may vary
for international addresses.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7. Titles count as part of the word count (you don't need a
title.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8. Under no circumstances should you tweet anything about
your particular entry to me. Example: "Hope you like my entry about Felix
Buttonweezer!" This is grounds for disqualification.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no
circumstances in which it is ok to ask for feedback from ME on your contest
entry. NONE. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's ok to tweet
about the contest generally.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Example: "I just entered the flash fiction contest on
Janet's blog, and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">11. Please do not post anything but contest entries. (For
example: "I love Felix Buttonweezer's entry!"). Save that for the
contest results post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">12. You agree that your contest entry can remain posted on
the blog for the life of the blog. In other words, you can't ask me to delete
the entry and any comments about the entry at a later date. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">13. The stories must be self-contained. That is: do not
include links or footnotes to explain any part of the story. Those extras will
not be considered part of the story. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest opens: Saturday, December 16, 2023 <b>6:57 am </b>EST</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest closes: Sunday, December 17, 2023 <b>8:00am </b>EST</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you're wondering how what time it is in NYC right now, <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/new-york">here's the clock </a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you'd like to see the entries that have won previous
contests, there's an .xls spread sheet here <a href="http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/">http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(Thanks to Colin Smith for organizing and maintaining this!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Questions? Tweet to me <a href="https://twitter.com/Janet_Reid">@Janet_Reid</a>. I'm also on Bluesky: <a href="@janetreid.bsky.social">@janetreid. bsky.social</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strike>Ready? SET?</strike></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />
<strike>Not yet!</strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strike>ENTER! </strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Sorry, too late. Contest closed. </b><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-86779294303666896852023-12-11T07:00:00.001-05:002023-12-11T07:00:00.131-05:00No monday post<p> A bit under the weather these past few days.</p><p>More to come later this week.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKRqu0dj-0aHMNRYMM_zO9lnAR2tIy0b7Cy8Kz7qIHdo8Ffzj9lf9usU15qfrM9Fm26dUN91yMGygOYQBoX839NgmNtTa135sxfefvXDtnM3Bqt-C2uMTjAnawmS1KtaSeTft3H0ZoaW2Bqz8jEDSQ2Ge0CoGJBEdtIn1V7kbdjxmiPYDrfw-/s400/bear-with-a-sore-head1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="400" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKRqu0dj-0aHMNRYMM_zO9lnAR2tIy0b7Cy8Kz7qIHdo8Ffzj9lf9usU15qfrM9Fm26dUN91yMGygOYQBoX839NgmNtTa135sxfefvXDtnM3Bqt-C2uMTjAnawmS1KtaSeTft3H0ZoaW2Bqz8jEDSQ2Ge0CoGJBEdtIn1V7kbdjxmiPYDrfw-/w400-h313/bear-with-a-sore-head1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-45397099905398376562023-12-08T07:00:00.001-05:002023-12-08T07:00:00.138-05:00Flash fiction contest of a different sort<p>A friend and I were talking about her dogs and she casually mentioned she had business cards for them!</p><p> Well, that made me curious so I asked to see one.</p><p>Kind soul that she was, she didn't mention she'd have to go digging, but dig she did.</p><p> </p><p>Here it is:</p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuYS-wQejoDlOtTvogv0pM7QvSqKwQdZsmpqUvp7M2peOPxus6YcM8_IsktLKv6qrkpquy-3GWbLGMiocYW3MkRvPyidhCXrPW9Y_jWyNEGdhjwdW7qroBc-WNUnyD1rY2ha-RrXE83JMtUOAHmPf4sm_uIawdv6HSHMbIOAJKblVsEDorPFh5/s1145/Guide%20dog%20business%20card.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="684" data-original-width="1145" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuYS-wQejoDlOtTvogv0pM7QvSqKwQdZsmpqUvp7M2peOPxus6YcM8_IsktLKv6qrkpquy-3GWbLGMiocYW3MkRvPyidhCXrPW9Y_jWyNEGdhjwdW7qroBc-WNUnyD1rY2ha-RrXE83JMtUOAHmPf4sm_uIawdv6HSHMbIOAJKblVsEDorPFh5/w400-h239/Guide%20dog%20business%20card.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>So this week's flash fiction contest is: write copy for your dog/cat/dragon pet of any sort and post it in the comments column of this blog post.</p><p><br /></p><p>Word count limit: 30 words.</p><p>You must include your familiar's name. You don't need to tell a story.</p><p>And your familiar doesn't need to be anything but themselves (ie couch potatoes are not discouraged.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Here's what I would write about my fuzzy friend Mx Pix:</p><p><br /></p><p>Mx Pix: Parkour Champion of Astoria Queens.</p><p>I leap while you sleep.</p><p><br /></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-46101711809875783722023-12-06T07:00:00.022-05:002023-12-06T07:00:00.132-05:00Including maps with requested pages<p></p><blockquote><p>Dear Janet,
</p></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote><p>The question is regarding maps in novels and sample pages (In usual fashion, my cart is bopping along the rocky road pushed by the nose of my weary horse. This is for my next and as yet unfinished novel). </p><p> </p><p>I did read your old posts regarding graphics and maps and understand why graphics are generally frowned upon for debuts and that illustrative maps are typically outsourced. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>However, I do actually have the skillset to do this (the map illustrations, I mean. Jury is still out on the writing bit). I was in a graphics heavy profession in my formative years and can more than competently do black and white line art. </p><p> </p><p>The actual question: Hypothetically, when an agent requests sample pages, would one include a sample of said map graphic as an embedded image in the word or PDF document if it’s relevant to the submitted pages?
The book does not specifically need maps, though it would be delightful to have them, as there is a bit of wandering. </p></blockquote><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> I love love love maps in books, and I'm not alone. Maps, even of "real places" like St. Mary Meade, are fun to look at. </p><p> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBWyFU4yMemLeg0Y5mNgX_OJlfzZqz6Fq0rylZTHhW4IYm1Xk7jIJ-OrE29cQzMSWVg7uavgrnp9MJOgblI2qP3lLXMkoXzCZvgic1jhhNgfKdi-SBRa9lduEhZaujUYGQGj6y2JdlcFu5wmQL8PEiI_bBrCotnuuL7bM4TPcQ2p939Fen9c_/s521/st.%20mary%20meade%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="521" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBWyFU4yMemLeg0Y5mNgX_OJlfzZqz6Fq0rylZTHhW4IYm1Xk7jIJ-OrE29cQzMSWVg7uavgrnp9MJOgblI2qP3lLXMkoXzCZvgic1jhhNgfKdi-SBRa9lduEhZaujUYGQGj6y2JdlcFu5wmQL8PEiI_bBrCotnuuL7bM4TPcQ2p939Fen9c_/w400-h309/st.%20mary%20meade%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p> </p><p>And of course fantasy maps are just the cat's pjs. Even ones that are more art than informational. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/ZvyplNJpfTs?si=6XKQ5YPqHXrTqpRP" width="480"></iframe> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p>However, when an agent requests the manuscript, including art is not implied. </p><p> </p><p>What you can do is put the maps on your website and reference that in your query.<br /></p><p>You have a website right? (no, you don't, I checked). </p><p>You MUST have a website, and being able to include maps is just one more reason to get cracking. </p><p>I've gotten on my soapbox <a href="https://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2022/03/why-you-need-author-website.html">about the value of websites in previous posts. </a><br /></p><p>Also the jury is NOT out on your writing skills.
You ARE a good writer, and I have the flash fiction entries to prove it.
</p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-35565749047445505632023-12-04T07:00:00.001-05:002023-12-04T07:00:00.129-05:00Flash fiction contest results<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to all of you who stepped in to assuage my pain at
the shellacking I've taken from Steve Forti. It was medicinal flash fiction
indeed!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here are the entries that caught my eye.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Steve Forti </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">“I mean, who mixes meerkat with warthog? Ridiculous. And
don’t get me started on Pac-man. ‘Cuz there’s Ms. Pac-man. Did she have just
one choice in a guy? Is there like a whole race of Pac-men out there running
from ghosts? And how do sheets stay on ghosts, anyway? Or pants. Is there naked
ghost butt on every surface top in haunted houses? Oh, remember that ghost
episode of Punky Brewster, when… hmm? Oh dear… I’m doing it again. What was the
question?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Have you reached a verdict?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh yes. We the jury find the defendant guilty of
first-degree murder.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Talk about not seeing where this was headed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Very nice example of a twist</span>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Amy Johnson </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“<b>H</b>elp. I—"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>P</b>hone hangs up.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unknown number.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just some youth, wart.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Acme of his day: prank calls.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Button up coat.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rush to the train.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dad’s voice?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Call him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Fine, honey.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Xerox machine.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lost in thought.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What-ifs.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Operator, . . . trace the call?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Impossible.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Questions:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Should I have checked on the neighbors? Familiar voice?
Prank?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Zigzagging thoughts.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gasping for breath.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Numbness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Missed you in the meeting.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Everything okay?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Trying . . . can’t get a response. She’s catatonic. Hurry!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Kin? They’ll want to contact someone.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You’re going to be okay, ma’am.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Very unusual.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I have a feelling once someone explains this to me, I'll
understand it's brilliant (this is Amy Johnson after all) but I just don't get
this one.</span> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>french sojourn </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">He paused, in suspended cartoon gravity, and reflected on
the gravity of it all.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of many things that escaped him, yet again, was his
punk-ass fowl nemesis.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Had he been thwarted by the time / distance variable? No.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Had he re-wired the faulty recalled ACME activator button?
Check.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He went over the formula he had used… Height over Mass times
the square root of pi, should equal the foot/pounds applied to the radius of
the…</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why was he getting that sinking feeling?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He heard a distinct beep-beep, as he started accelerating.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He pulled out his sign that read.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Drats!</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Why was he getting that sinking feeling</i> just cracked me up.</span></p><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnInKX33jRV1ll00_rrEmaDqoW17dsLnafuAYVEMrEaGgbHxp6okBfDX9xNh3E0vM7ZfI6bVuXH_-OhExBLpF1e0qQMfjpqIXrUI7uX0thaJ3PRYFAVUcR-_9dl2vKBa0_nCPKus2QA55MtMrH-IPaze6LgXsCiRBkwHYUhoZYxvv5UOs7mUzG/s300/sinking%20feeling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnInKX33jRV1ll00_rrEmaDqoW17dsLnafuAYVEMrEaGgbHxp6okBfDX9xNh3E0vM7ZfI6bVuXH_-OhExBLpF1e0qQMfjpqIXrUI7uX0thaJ3PRYFAVUcR-_9dl2vKBa0_nCPKus2QA55MtMrH-IPaze6LgXsCiRBkwHYUhoZYxvv5UOs7mUzG/s1600/sinking%20feeling.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Kregger </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Minnesota Fats stared down his cue. “You got spunk, kid.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Rac’ me, Rudy.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The corpulent man obliged, aligning the “one” ball on the
button.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fats blew chalk from his felt tip. “I’ve never lost a match
with money. Bet a buck?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I eat pi’ for breakfast. Make it a fin. I feel lucky.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“No luck involved.” Fats watched the rack scatter, sinking
the seven. “Nice shot.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Rac’ me.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Make it a C-note?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“How about a stack of C-notes?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You’re on.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Break. One ball left.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Athwart side pocket.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fats exclaimed, “Who are you?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I’m a skinny little boy from Cleveland Ohio.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I think this depends on knowing something about pool.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">As a shark, my only pool knowledge involves lurking in the depths
for dangling toes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Colin Smith </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">“We want the truth. Warts and all.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Senator peered over his glasses at the punked-out figure
sitting before him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Menacme Spike, aka John Jones, shivered, cold perspiration
beading on his lip. He pulled at his unbuttoned collar and cleared his throat.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“No,” his voice shook. “No, you don’t.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“This is a congressional hearing,” the Senator said,
glancing at his colleagues. “You must say what happened. Whatever the
consequences.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Whatever?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Whatever. It’s time to come clean.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“But it was murder!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I know.” The Senator smiled uncomfortably.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Mum…” The word caught in Jones’s throat.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“But Dad… it weren’t your fault.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">oh ho! Nice twist!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Madeline Mora-Summonte </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b></b></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She twists me – the top button – into place, her fingers
nimble, her nails painted pink to match the diner's uniform. She smiles at the
mirror. Nothing thwarts her spunkiness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The stranger in the grimy Mac Meats cap orders peach pie,
coffee. His greasy gaze lands on me, lingers too long. She tenses. Her
heartbeat races at my back.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the alley, he shoves her down, tears her clothes. The
other buttons fly off.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hold on. She does not.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When he's done, he cleans up, leaves.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But his fingerprint, pressed into me, stays.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I really love stories from an unusual perspective.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Michael Seese </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">I loved Lilith, warts and all. Spirited, spunky, with hair
of enchanted gold and eyes of midnight. Alas, I could never free her from the
elegiac memories’ wicked whispers. And once her inner demons began worming into
me, I could no longer have her in my world. My pitiful “I'm sorry” sounded
wholly insufficient, as she fought back the tears.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“But…”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Tonight let’s just be together, and forget. Then tomorrow,
you must leave.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Her resignation weighed heavy on both of our souls.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You'll be happy on Earth,” I offered, stanching my own
sorrow. “I hear there's a lovely garden.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">oh! ohohoh!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>NLiu </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Kidnapped Bobbin Button, held in Castoff Castle,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Discovered Count Stitches had been a dreadful rascal.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He’d bred Monopis Crocicapitella, farmed an army.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Soon to be unleashed in a wool-ravaging tsunami.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But Bobbin was courageous, and also good at reading.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She sneaked notes to Polly and Esther. Together they got
weaving.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The moths flew free. Chewing ensued.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But in the end their only food</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">was Stitches himself. He’d miscalculated,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and by his minions was masticated.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Cause manmade is mothproof, and linen too,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But fin-de-siècle Stitches? Thwarted moth poo.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In stitchpunk an acme soon comes unravelled.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Little Bobbin grew up – and travelled.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Holy smokes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>John Davis Frain </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Mom hits the AC. Me? I crank the heat. Thank goodness for
our dual-zone climate control sofa. We watch split-screen TV together. Horror
on her half, comedy on mine.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She taps the volume button, but I’ve thwarted her this time.
Removed the batteries from her remote.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A ding from the kitchen. Dinner is shrimp—sweet for Mom,
sour for me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“What’s dessert?” I ask.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Apple pie with arsenic sauce,” Mom says. “I’ll have the
pie.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Always the spunky one, Mom almost Forti’d me again! I
replace her remote-control batteries. She won’t hear the oven ding, and the pie
will burn.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ha!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Mallory Love </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">He’d been called everything from “punk” to “maniac mess.”
The worst was “delusional.” That one came from the court-ordered therapist and
caused him to be locked up in the psych ward on Christmas Eve. Made him so mad,
but he had a list for people like her. Come tomorrow she would regret trying to
thwart his plans.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He heard tapping at the window. Showtime. He buttoned his
coat. Glass shattered. The alarm sounded as he took a flying leap. He waved to
the stunned faces below as the sleigh rose higher.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He’d been called everything, but the best was “Santa.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Ha!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Ash Complin </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">My daughter has her mom's button nose, a reminder of who I
lost that day.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I started overeating, my bad habit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She grew, became smart, like her mother.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She got me a wrist tattoo: a crossed-out pi, a joke to
thwart my irrational dessert binging. She wanted me to live forever. She made
me want to live at all.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She went to her first punk concert, the ACME Rockets, but
never came home. Overdosed. I never knew she had a habit, too.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now when I reach for a donut, I see the tattoo, and I take
two.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I miss you, Bunny.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">yikes!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">This week's winner is</span> <b><span style="color: red;">Michael Seese.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">there were several terrific entries and it was very hard to choose just one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Michael, drop me a line and tell me what you're reading these days and I'll get a prize book in the mail to you.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thanks to all of you who took time to write and post entries.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">They were balm for my wounded pride.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: red;"> <br /></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-62845728913502307952023-12-01T07:00:00.009-05:002023-12-03T10:12:58.115-05:00Flash ficton contest to assauge my thorough besting by Steve Forti<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">I am surrendering to the brilliance of Steve Forti.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I've never managed to thwart him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I slink off in shame.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, we'll have a flash fiction contest to assuage my pain.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> The usual rules apply:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Write a story using 100 words or fewer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. Use these words in the story:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">punk</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">button</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">thwart</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">acme</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">pi</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you are <b>Steve Forti</b>, or wish you could be, just enjoy your victory.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaY4jQVtErWHvDnYCN8an1j69aO7X_9E6icAGXpZNeczls-fFFs-tR1bO3n8aBfxlTrfk5BRsJY53PApOl27sLmr6yhh8y9zQwrFSlB7CZTdSZxHhLYYCj3xeJOsMav2qR7cbnG095Uql5NF6WWkPiCQan8C9weJ-BKtr9WCLsN2wTjYWrnlC/s1492/Wile%20E%20and%20his%20nemesis.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1492" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaY4jQVtErWHvDnYCN8an1j69aO7X_9E6icAGXpZNeczls-fFFs-tR1bO3n8aBfxlTrfk5BRsJY53PApOl27sLmr6yhh8y9zQwrFSlB7CZTdSZxHhLYYCj3xeJOsMav2qR7cbnG095Uql5NF6WWkPiCQan8C9weJ-BKtr9WCLsN2wTjYWrnlC/s320/Wile%20E%20and%20his%20nemesis.png" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. You must use the whole word, but that whole word can be
part of a larger word. The letters for the prompt must appear in consecutive
order. They cannot be backwards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. Post the entry in the comment column of THIS blog post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. One entry per person. If you need a mulligan (a do-over)
erase your entry and post again. It helps to work out your entry first, then
post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6. International entries are allowed, but prizes may vary
for international addresses.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7. Titles count as part of the word count (you don't need a
title.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8. Under no circumstances should you tweet anything about
your particular entry to me. Example: "Hope you like my entry about Felix
Buttonweezer!" This is grounds for disqualification.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no
circumstances in which it is ok to ask for feedback from ME on your contest
entry. NONE. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's ok to tweet
about the contest generally.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Example: "I just entered the flash fiction contest on
Janet's blog, and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">11. Please do not post anything but contest entries. (For
example: "I love Felix Buttonweezer's entry!"). Save that for the
contest results post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">12. You agree that your contest entry can remain posted on
the blog for the life of the blog. In other words, you can't ask me to delete
the entry and any comments about the entry at a later date. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">13. The stories must be self-contained. That is: do not
include links or footnotes to explain any part of the story. Those extras will
not be considered part of the story. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest opens: Saturday, December 2, 2023 <b>6:46am </b>EST</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest closes: Sunday, December 3, 2023 <b>10:00am </b>EST</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you're wondering how what time it is in NYC right now, <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/new-york">here's the clock </a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you'd like to see the entries that have won previous
contests, there's an .xls spread sheet here <a href="http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/">http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(Thanks to Colin Smith for organizing and maintaining this!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Questions? Tweet to me <a href="https://twitter.com/Janet_Reid">@Janet_Reid</a>. I'm also on Bluesky: <a href="@janetreid.bsky.social">@janetreid. bsky.social</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ready? SET?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strike><br />
Not yet!</strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strike><span>ENTER! </span></strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span>Sorry, too late. Contest is closed. </span><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p><br />Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-54037504951650567462023-11-29T07:32:00.002-05:002023-11-29T07:32:56.926-05:00 yes, Jeff Somers IS brilliant (don't tell him I said so)<br /><br />Jeff Somers has a terrific substack going that uses movies to illustrate points about writing. It's true-to-form Jeff: hilarious, and helpful.<br /><br />Here's one of his recent points that really hit home for me: <blockquote><br /><br /> <br /><br />Restraint can be challenging when writing a story, because it sometimes feels like it’s not writing. Depicting something in a realistic fashion sometimes feels like you’re simply describing an experience and not value-adding as a creator, or something¹³. The urge to dress everything up, to make every character “quirky,” every scene emotionally loud, every speech a brilliant soliloquy often has the opposite effect: The scene in question feels over-written, overwrought, and artificial. <br /><br /> <br /><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><sup>13</sup> You know you’ve spent too much time in
Corporate America when you casually drop a phrase like “value-add” in everyday
footnote conversation.</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></blockquote><br /><br /> <br /><br /><a href=" https://open.substack.com/pub/wwrdeepdives/p/three-minutes-of-emotional-devastation?r=4idv&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email">You can subscribe here</a><br /><br />Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-77499081363601382752023-11-21T13:06:00.000-05:002023-11-21T13:06:59.488-05:00Flash Fiction contest results (final)<p> I had such high hopes.</p><p>I figured <i>string quartet</i> would finally thwart <b>Mr. Forti</b>. I originally had Ouagadougu (the capitol of Burkina Faso) but I thought for sure he'd be able to twist that into something hilarious.</p><p> </p><p>I guess I should quit finding my prompt words in the Acme Dictionary. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VWXJazMrLIl_ktH_Ch364hG2niBl71tqoSOwoSYTi12PvKjwKJtM-nKDAmlfrz4jnSfwEAuNJjbOR_3BhZW_2gs8yJ8y_dJg_RjdVlZMZp0EAxSGdvOfZDdoVN3QPoelJZnmHDMjNph7MN0Oy8jdFnrpe45CP0OYobFu49O1nNasJDlW7G5q/s1116/wile%20e%20coyote%20reading%20acme%20catalog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VWXJazMrLIl_ktH_Ch364hG2niBl71tqoSOwoSYTi12PvKjwKJtM-nKDAmlfrz4jnSfwEAuNJjbOR_3BhZW_2gs8yJ8y_dJg_RjdVlZMZp0EAxSGdvOfZDdoVN3QPoelJZnmHDMjNph7MN0Oy8jdFnrpe45CP0OYobFu49O1nNasJDlW7G5q/s320/wile%20e%20coyote%20reading%20acme%20catalog.png" width="275" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>But string quartet?? </p><p>Well, not only did <b>Mr. Forti </b>thwart me, a bunch of the rest of you formed a Forti Mob and did me in as well. <br /></p><p>Fortunately, this week I am cat sitting so I have in-house purring to sooth me.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOTYKnzpCbrvJyD1fDMsQQqCDtxYgDOP0O8Z8BTIpG6KioekOwKZgFb70GKr7B6Ct39zIAejmxhSANtDu1VVBNhXfIuAJBYsTu1gyb6GOu_A2h7f9Crormq4hhRu38z1WKpxOAF8xLv_qescIYPpfw4iN_60UA7BbbirB5_RoEyEY9dANVG8C/s640/Mx%20Pix%203.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiOTYKnzpCbrvJyD1fDMsQQqCDtxYgDOP0O8Z8BTIpG6KioekOwKZgFb70GKr7B6Ct39zIAejmxhSANtDu1VVBNhXfIuAJBYsTu1gyb6GOu_A2h7f9Crormq4hhRu38z1WKpxOAF8xLv_qescIYPpfw4iN_60UA7BbbirB5_RoEyEY9dANVG8C/s320/Mx%20Pix%203.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ms. Pix my purry companion<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>And then, to make matters worse, Mr. <b>Forti</b> sweeps the competition and wins the whole damn flash fiction contest.</p><p>There were some blazingly good entries this week, but I have to recognize genius even when it's cloaked in Nemesis.</p><p>(which is better than being cloaked in emesis, I guess).</p><p> </p><p><b>Steve</b>, send me your preferred mailing address, and what kind of books you like to read, and I'll get your prize in the mail next week (cat-sitting so not post office-ing).</p><p> </p><p>Thanks to all of you who took the time to write and post entries.</p><p>It was a buffet of fabulous writing.</p><p>And if anyone has any ideas on how to stymie Steve, I'm ALL EARS! <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-24095442062799824042023-11-20T01:51:00.002-05:002023-11-20T01:51:53.921-05:00Nov 19 FlashFiction contest prelim results<p>
</p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">A lot of you want to be <b>Steve Forti!</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Here are the various ways you deployed string quartet:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;"><b>french sojourn</b> “G-String Quartet”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Steve Forti</b> best ring quartet</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Tim Lowe</b> hamstring quartet</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>BJ Muntain</b> blust'ring quartet.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Beth Carpente</b>r string. Quartet,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>J.R. Raglow</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A string,
quartet of queer days, has mired me in a shoal</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Colin Smith</b> a string quartet of fishing lines</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>KA Claytor</b> tie around hamstring. Quart Ethylbenzene,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Michael Pappas</b> string quartet of sticky web</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>KD James</b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gaudiest
ring quartet ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Diana </b>The same fish she'd later string, quartets at a time,
on her hook for dinner.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Amy Johnson</b> “Four siblings, four former foster kids, four
theoretical physicists,” says the article. “A string quartet.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Here are the entries that caught my eye.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>BJ Muntain </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Pedro led the llama train, sure feet plodding between
mountain wall and drop. The trail widened into a meadow near a shoal stream.
Siesta time. The llamas grazed. Pedro's thoughts floated into dreams.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A rhythmic cry of alarm. A scream. He jumped at the
blust'ring quartet. Llama to llama, he pulled them off the huddled figure.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"You can't help on the full moon," he told his
son.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"It's daytime!"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Tonight's a full moon. Even I smell wolf on you. Go
home."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He calmed the llamas as Miguel slunk homewards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Travel the world," he grumbled. "Have
adventures. Come back a werewolf."</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">That final line just makes the whole piece.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>E.M. Goldsmith </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Raine left no footprints in the muddy shoals.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It had to be a dream. She awoke on the couch, dropped in
front of the television. Relief.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A nightmare from the true crime documentary. A view of the
sandbar in the river flashed on the screen. She had been friends with the
accused. Oliver. Decades ago. Everyone said he was innocent of that triple
murder. Until the water pulled back from that sandbar to expose the old bones.
She stared at Ollie’s image, remembered. Her body turned to bones.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A momentary horror. The knife. The pain. Then floating. And
light.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I'm not exactly sure what's going on here but "her body
turned to bones" is wonderfully enigmatic.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Just Jan </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Before I met Chip, I never thought a tollhouse toff could
fall for a bit of sugar and spice from the Shoals. He was all mine, right up
until the day he spied a bunch of ne'er-do-wells floating around the kitchen:
Rainier cherries. Sour cream. Cream cheese.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And Graham.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Snickerdoodle, Chip cried, Graham said I'd make the PERFECT
addition!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Don't listen to that cracker, I wailed. He's nothing but
crust!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Chip insisted. Persisted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sorrowfully, I desisted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I'll be back, he promised, as he dropped over the side of
our jar, but my semi-sweetheart never returned.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We were both crushed.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">wonderfully imaginative</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>KAClaytor </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Touchdown!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Chad jumped up from the snot-green couch—the most he’d moved
in days. Cheetos rained down like confetti, neon orange bits smearing into the
new carpet. He dropped the remote, picking it up with his bare toes. “Tallulah,
fetch me another beer. Be quick about it.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wives are given a toll-free number, if the time comes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A recording offers instructions with measured reassurance.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“To keep the body from floating…”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tallulah scribbled furiously, ‘Twenty-pound weight, tie
around hamstring. Quart Ethylbenzene, for sedation…’</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, out beyond the shoal, Chad, his beer, and his remote
keep company with the others.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Homage to the dearly departed snot-green couch.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">(for those of you new to the reef, this was the description
of my former couch, the one I revised with a carving knife)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0RTap-FeNrlafJi-rGdxdflThIzYFzfmDSBU9zo4oG1AvU3nEzzh9DpJmV0WqWqE91iFV29faLwPb3C2WRw3LU6ZrXiAyonaa8535f3Dheegj2Ge608iFZQD8to07MbUQjP8jSg_OBy-df5i6AcFnc3QoIiVUX6BUBVbdQ3F8pUyu7PgQq0rb/s640/sn%20couch%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="640" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0RTap-FeNrlafJi-rGdxdflThIzYFzfmDSBU9zo4oG1AvU3nEzzh9DpJmV0WqWqE91iFV29faLwPb3C2WRw3LU6ZrXiAyonaa8535f3Dheegj2Ge608iFZQD8to07MbUQjP8jSg_OBy-df5i6AcFnc3QoIiVUX6BUBVbdQ3F8pUyu7PgQq0rb/s320/sn%20couch%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrOLgAed_mBZdX6sr6Y5MVkXMA14yR395JpfeKU7UAJPCiLxBBgyG57Ie9zm473NZzPdmZoBv-WpuaLc31-ufhoZFbhuMSeu7MxSgd2Xmj4HLPuSs-TuA1IrH8rOVc_tFCAwDc2z9-yOoLyXrHS39vSH852ofz0r3GfJnlCexTirjmkIQ_RUr/s640/sn%20couch%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrOLgAed_mBZdX6sr6Y5MVkXMA14yR395JpfeKU7UAJPCiLxBBgyG57Ie9zm473NZzPdmZoBv-WpuaLc31-ufhoZFbhuMSeu7MxSgd2Xmj4HLPuSs-TuA1IrH8rOVc_tFCAwDc2z9-yOoLyXrHS39vSH852ofz0r3GfJnlCexTirjmkIQ_RUr/s320/sn%20couch%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgv3UDzgtQEx6MmDgEpksS_ZesVj64M9EfEM_zFtRb12L7Rf_EcrTleCvD412asa6jaOji2Hq7EA8-pkvgjo9XtryfVqu4XxO9TENJYz10wvE2Xb0GHLZwgN3XnWyTnZ8zNeOziEIGUInKrk6H40L4xnNPuK5fyunaw7uHdgbnGrgqIGS6mBK/s640/sn%20couch%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgv3UDzgtQEx6MmDgEpksS_ZesVj64M9EfEM_zFtRb12L7Rf_EcrTleCvD412asa6jaOji2Hq7EA8-pkvgjo9XtryfVqu4XxO9TENJYz10wvE2Xb0GHLZwgN3XnWyTnZ8zNeOziEIGUInKrk6H40L4xnNPuK5fyunaw7uHdgbnGrgqIGS6mBK/s320/sn%20couch%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>John Davis Frain </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Water Patrol pulls over Frain’s wife and boards her vessel.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“So you were fishing?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Following the shoals of herring to catch my husband’s
dinner.” She points. “He’s down below.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“But your boat has no cabin below.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh.” She winks. “He’s not in a cabin. He’s testing a
floatation device.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“How does that work?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“It doesn’t,” she says, forcing a teardrop. “It’s why we’re
drifting apart.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That line took a toll on his patience. “I’ll have to cuff
you for that one,” the officer groans.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“It was still worth it. I couldn’t live with that guy
anymore.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I love Frain's wife!<br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Mallory Love </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">I dreamed I went to the lighthouse again. Like a spirit, I
dropped off the cliffside and floated along the shoals and shores of the dark
sea. The light chased me as I traveled. But it couldn’t catch me. I was
unrestrained, ethereal.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I could sense you in the tower, watching, waiting. Sometimes
you'd question your sanity. The loneliness took a toll. That’s how our fight
started. With the questions turned accusations.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now you direct them at yourself. Did I slip, or did you
shove me?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The machines beep, but my eyes can’t open. See you soon, in
my dreams.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">oh my!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>NLiu </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think of you whenever I hear the Raindrop Prelude.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was a lone wolf, skinny and scabbed with mange, who
mistook you for the moon – floating exalted, so bright, so cold – and sang you
a wild nocturn.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Condescending, you invited me in, taught me more civilised
music. I grew – stood on two feet, every aria tolling sophistication, your
feral little protégé.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I cringed at your heel. But it was your shoal heart I
craved.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One bold night of storms, I took it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Only flesh it was. Only flesh.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Still, I think of you whenever I hear the Raindrop Prelude.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I'm not exactly sure what's going on here, but it's lovely.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Here are the four finalists</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Steve Forti </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">“The Olympics.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“What?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Jus’ sayin’s, all. The best ring quartet’s the Olympic
logo.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“That’s five, dummy.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Audi.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“A strong contender. We floating ideas, I’m going brass
knuckles.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“On brand. Clever thinking.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Jupiter’s got four rings, ya know. Joe Montana, too.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“My phone before it goes to voice mail.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“That’s the winner right there. Love the creative juices. So
we all agree? The bloody outline of the four bullet holes we put in the
ayatollah here makes the second best ring quartet?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Fo’ sho’.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“All right. Drop him in the hole and get burying. It’s about
to be raining palace guards.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Talk about a twist of an ending!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Ash Complin </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">With the threat of extinction floating over us, I'm proud to
announce a new, tidal form of energy production. We will begin construction on
the shores immediately.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I won't be koi. I've paid atoll most severe. My scale
reading has doubled. My health has gone to Shell. Sandy, my wife, dropped me
for my best chum.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But, I couldn't do this alone. I've only seen further than
others by standing on the shoalders of giants.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With our new generators, we can finally bring the fight to
the dam surface-dwellers. May the Kingdom of Atlantis rain forever!</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Oh suite mother of godiva!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Diana </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Some days grandma misses her home so much she says it felt
like a physical pain in her heart. She misses the rain the most, precious when
it came, pounding the ocean like drums. She misses slipping off as a child,
neglecting her chores to float among the bright shoals of fish. The same fish
she'd later string, quartets at a time, on her hook for dinner.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Grandma grows very silent when I ask her why she can't go
back. There's nothing left to go back to, she says.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dropping twenty nuclear bombs on an atoll doesn't leave much
behind.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">my heart just stopped when I read that last line.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Amy Johnson </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p><blockquote>
<p class="MsoNormal">Four siblings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The parents float in and out, but Chelle makes sure the
younger ones eat, get to school.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In sixth grade, Chelle reads L’Engle. Her shoal of
classmates misses the points. Chelle reads it to Vincent, explains the bug on
the string. Next, Ty. Then, Rosie.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Four siblings sent to four separate foster homes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bus rides, treks through the rain – to check on the three of
them, drop off library books, encourage them. Incredibly, none of it takes a
toll on Chelle’s GPA.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Four siblings, four former foster kids, four theoretical
physicists,” says the article. “A string quartet.”</p></blockquote><p> </p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I'm going to need some more time to pick the winner, clearly.</span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">What an array of wonderful this is!</span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p><p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Let me know what you think in the comment column. </span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-9104689524150816472023-11-17T07:00:00.003-05:002023-11-19T10:01:04.336-05:00En garde, M. Forti!<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">I'm renewing my efforts to thwart Steve Forti!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's almost the end of 2023! I must prevail at least once!!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> The usual rules apply:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Write a story using 100 words or fewer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. Use these words in the story:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>shoal</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>rain</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>drop</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>atoll</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>float</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you are <b>Steve Forti</b>, or wish you could be, you
must also use the word: <b>string quartet</b> BUT you can NOT use it to mean a
group of four stringed instruments!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XDQNqqTzIGURxfd1FScsKgEqq5GJ93rD2xIyP58Wg21i-4XEbYN7Sum9MFZVbELvE98zZyvXlt2fcurr5WXPX7HHohi7ACmXMkM8xHMYXVhnQIyMbt-Xxhps2_I2pvtRetMjFu0iDDZS-yApxkg51xgvbpgcAqhp0VO8o1eMMl9N7v5xUBE4/s734/Wile%20E%20%20Coyote%20pleased%20with%20himself.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="456" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XDQNqqTzIGURxfd1FScsKgEqq5GJ93rD2xIyP58Wg21i-4XEbYN7Sum9MFZVbELvE98zZyvXlt2fcurr5WXPX7HHohi7ACmXMkM8xHMYXVhnQIyMbt-Xxhps2_I2pvtRetMjFu0iDDZS-yApxkg51xgvbpgcAqhp0VO8o1eMMl9N7v5xUBE4/w249-h400/Wile%20E%20%20Coyote%20pleased%20with%20himself.png" width="249" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. You must use the whole word, but that whole word can be
part of a larger word. The letters for the prompt must appear in consecutive
order. They cannot be backwards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. Post the entry in the comment column of THIS blog post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. One entry per person. If you need a mulligan (a do-over)
erase your entry and post again. It helps to work out your entry first, then
post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6. International entries are allowed, but prizes may vary
for international addresses.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7. Titles count as part of the word count (you don't need a
title.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8. Under no circumstances should you tweet anything about
your particular entry to me. Example: "Hope you like my entry about Felix
Buttonweezer!" This is grounds for disqualification.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no
circumstances in which it is ok to ask for feedback from ME on your contest
entry. NONE. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's ok to tweet
about the contest generally.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Example: "I just entered the flash fiction contest on
Janet's blog and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">11. Please do not post anything but contest entries. (For
example: "I love Felix Buttonweezer's entry!"). Save that for the
contest results post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">12. You agree that your contest entry can remain posted on
the blog for the life of the blog. In other words, you can't ask me to delete
the entry and any comments about the entry at a later date. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">13. The stories must be self-contained. That is: do not
include links or footnotes to explain any part of the story. Those extras will
not be considered part of the story. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest opens: Saturday, November 18, <b>8:12 am </b>EDT</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest closes: Sunday, November 19, <b>10:00am </b>EST</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back to the later times this week because I'm heading out on
vacation on Sunday!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you're wondering how what time it is in NYC right now, <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/new-york">here's the clock </a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you'd like to see the entries that have won previous
contests, there's an .xls spread sheet here <a href="http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/">http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(Thanks to Colin Smith for organizing and maintaining this!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Questions? Tweet to me <a href="https://twitter.com/Janet_Reid">@Janet_Reid</a>. I'm also on Bluesky: <a href="@janetreid.bsky.social">@janetreid.bsky.social</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ready? SET?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />
<strike>Not yet!</strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strike><span>ENTER! </span></strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strike><span>Sorry, too late.</span></strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strike><span>Contest is closed. Results to come. </span><span><b><br /></b></span></strike></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-67784473182477250252023-11-15T07:00:00.001-05:002023-11-15T07:00:00.135-05:00Wo is die Brooklyn Bridge?<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On a recent fine autumn day I headed to the subway for my
weekly jaunt up to MoMA.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I like to go early to hit the members-only hour on Sunday
because it's a LOT less crowded. Less crowded on the subway, too.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I approached the subway entrance, I couldn't help but
notice a bevy of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ladies-of-a-certain-
age, clearly tourists, and clearly lost.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since I spend my days chomping on tender (toothsome)
writers, I look for ways to offset that when I can.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I approached the one looking back and forth between the
street sign and a map on her phone.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Do you need directions?"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Ja, bitte."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Oh boy, these ladies were German tourists; my German is
rudimentary at best, not to mention rusty.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Wo gehen Sie?" I asked, hoping I wasn't asking if
she needed some money.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Brooklyn Bridge walk."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Oh triple hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
ladies were REALLY far afield.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The bridge we could see in the distance was the Williamsburg
Bridge.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And even if they wanted the Billyburg Bridge, it's a mile
away from where we were standing. I know this cause it's one of my morning
walks when I need to juice up to take on the world. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Dis ist nicht die Brooklyn Bridge. Hier ist
Williamsburg Bridge."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In halting English: "Can we walk there?'</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Die Brooklyn Bridge...ist (eins, zwei, drei, vier--yes
I had to count on my fingers!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fünf kilometers."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Crestfallen faces all around.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What they didn't ask, but what I knew, was there's no direct
subway or bus route.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Sie mussen gehen on subway"...you must get back
on the subway.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The lady holds out her phone and shows me the directions she
and her friends had followed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sure enough, they'd gone astray at 14th Street Union Square;
perhaps thinking the L-train "to Brooklyn" meant the Brooklyn Bridge,
not the borough.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I once got so lost in Frankfort I ended up driving into a
parking garage at the airport instead of getting on the autobahn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could empathize with my new friends, but
that wasn't going to get them where they needed to go.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Wir mussen ...." but I didn't have the words for
"look at the map" so I mimed going down the subway steps.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Trusting souls, diese Damen. They followed me like
ducklings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Each subway station has a big map of the whole system.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I pointed to the L-train stop at Montrose.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Sie ist hier" You are here. (Red arrow)<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then I pointed out the Union Square stop (green arrow)where they could
connect to the southbound 4/5/6.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Sie gehen hier." <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I pointed to the Brooklyn Bridge stop on the 6
train.(pink arrow)<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNqQ5a75ajWzaqE_XOdwhhjt4aedz9IdjrRJut4jnEZiisCd-u94433bdho7oztMoB6227YmvAET6u7qc0rQ4t9_UOkTpbeknR-hRivSgNWC50KyvVdj7sSytuzwE8nqWHEZ_Lv_OYXnh6L4HaYJ1tp75I0nxsglXLTm-oM3bgxavuvDGYo_5/s640/wo%20is%20die%20Brooklyn%20Bridge%3F.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNqQ5a75ajWzaqE_XOdwhhjt4aedz9IdjrRJut4jnEZiisCd-u94433bdho7oztMoB6227YmvAET6u7qc0rQ4t9_UOkTpbeknR-hRivSgNWC50KyvVdj7sSytuzwE8nqWHEZ_Lv_OYXnh6L4HaYJ1tp75I0nxsglXLTm-oM3bgxavuvDGYo_5/w480-h640/wo%20is%20die%20Brooklyn%20Bridge%3F.png" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point my
grammar had made one of the ladies quite bilious. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sie ist grün.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Aha!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Enlightenment dawns.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now the hard part.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Haben Sie ein Metrocard?" Do all y'all have a
metrocard?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well no, no they did not.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now how the hell they got ON the subway was a mystery, but
we'd cross that bridge (ha!) later.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fortunately I always carry a cash refill Metro card in case
my prepay one doesn't work.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I check the balance. Not enough to get four ladies to 14th
Street, let alone back to where they started.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My new friend realizes some sort of transaction needs to
take place. She produces a credit card from her bag.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I punch in the amount they'll need, push refill.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The machine asks for the credit card.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We insert.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then, it asks for the zip code.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She lives in Germany, thus doesn't have a zip code of any
kind.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At this point, I'm not feeling too zippy myself.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But, an Angel of the Lord appears in an MTA uniform and asks
if we need help.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes yes ja!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He punches in five fives.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Apparently that's the secret code for zip codes if you don't
have a US address.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Presto, magic. The card returns to us, fat with fares.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The final challenge: getting through the turnstile.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I usher them to the entrance.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first lady swipes the card but doesn't know she then
needs to push through.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hilarity ensues as I mime pushing the turnstile.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She gets through, but still has the card!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Ich mussen die card use again!" </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She is puzzled, but when I reach for the card, aha! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We repeat the swipe and push three more times.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Success!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I lead them to the stairs down to the platform.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There's another map.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I show them where to get off and transfer to "der grün
line" the green line.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I'm praying they get on going south, but the signs will say
"Brooklyn Bridge" so the chances are good.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They thank me profusely in German.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I understand not a word, but I get the gist.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We wait for the train. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wir warten auf den Zug</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we journey to Union Square I wish I'd kept up with my
French and German. The number of German tourists I've encountered on my street
these past few months is a few more than zero. And all of them were lost.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And I wish I had that app that lets me type what I need to
say in English, and they could read it in German. I know those apps exist
because another lady who needed directions spoke Tagalog and the only thing I
know about Tagalog is that it's NOT pronounced Tag A Log.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ich liebe New York for a lot of reasons (MoMA being one of
them), and I want other people to love it too. I guess I better get that app!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wohin geht ihr heute?</p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-92031993208665801922023-11-13T07:00:00.003-05:002023-11-13T08:03:20.077-05:00"White Men Can't Get Published No Mo!"<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Richard North Patterson wrote an op-ed piece in the WSJ
(sadly behind a paywall) about how he couldn't get published anymore cause he
was an old white dude.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After I stopped laughing, I realized he was serious.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There's a <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2023/06/richard-north-patterson-new-book-trial-race-rejected.html ">nice piece from Slate on the topic.</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Richard North Patterson failure to secure a deal was NOT cause he was
an old white dude. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His book wasn't compelling;
his last book was ten years ago; and, he doesn't have a horde of fans slavering
for the next book.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Social media is full about yammer blaming agents for gatekeeping
and racism for their lack of a book deal.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes there are good books out there that don't get deals.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> It's important to
realize that books by established authors (and oh my godiva there are many) are
not published INSTEAD of good books by new authors.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is never a moment in an agent’s office when she says
"should I keep Felix Bestseller or go with Barbie New Girl."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Felix Bestseller has an established contract and has earned
the agency beaucoup bucks.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Barbie hasn't.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Barbie might be added in addition to, but until Felix stops
writing (or dies!) he's going to keep getting deals because readers are still
buying his books.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Felix's readers aren't likely to pick up Barbie instead.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The publisher's marketing department knows this, and
mercantile beasts that they are, communicate that up and down the food chain.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What's the solution?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hell if I know.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I like Barbie.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I want to sell her books.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I also need to keep my broom lubed and oiled, and the
liquor cabinet stocked, so I'm keeping my mitts on Felix until he stops writing
(or dies!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, what's the takeaway on this?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Drooling, slavering fans waiting for your next book is a
big plus. That's why you have a newsletter.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. Past success isn't a reliable indicator of future
success, and it's less reliable with every year that has gone by. A bestseller in 1982 isn't
much of a plus, usually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. Don't blame racism for anything if you're a white guy.
It's obtuse. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As usual, differing opinions are welcome. Usual rules apply.
No name-calling, no rants, and no personal attacks on other commenters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you want to bash me, take your best shot.<br /></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-51415124136392150632023-11-06T07:00:00.002-05:002023-11-06T08:45:10.434-05:0011/5/23 flash fiction contest results<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some of you confused hoard with horde.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(insert evil shark laugh here!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Members of the <b>Steve Forti</b> Prompt Word Fan Club:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Gail</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Tim Lowe</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>ParmCharm (</b>with a lovely mention of my favorite color
fuchsia!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Colin Smith</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>LynnRodz</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>J.R. Raglow </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Winner of the<b> Steve Forti </b>Prompt Challenge: <b>Steve Forti,</b> who used xylophone in a very distinct
way.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Foiled AGAIN!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">None of you took a guess about what provided the inspiration
for this week's prompt words: Beowulf.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Herewith the semifinalists.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>french sojourn </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Anonymous Noise?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Hi, name’s Hank and I have noise issues, more issues than
National Geographic actually.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The group whispers. “Welcome Hank.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I’ve lived a vengeful life; merely eating beside me pisses
me off, unless there’s a T.V. blaring.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“We’ve all experienced this, Hank.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“My damn cat walks around intentionally stamping it’s feet.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Well… that might be a bit...” He rose and nodded. “It’s
o.k.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I know people hoard their noises and lie in wait for me.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, I doubt...”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“And don’t get me started on those irritating voices in my
head.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Alright people, good job today, see you next Monday.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Great line: I know people hoard their noises and lie in wait
for me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Fortunately, I know the voices in my head are blog readers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Beth Carpenter </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">“There it is again! That noise!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Go to sleep, Edna.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Who can sleep? It’s like a hoard of bees in my brain. Do
something, Ralph!”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Fine.” Lights on. Window opened. I lurk, a mere shadow,
while he crashes about. Finally, he closes the window. “I think it’s gone.
Happy?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“My hero.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lights off.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A vengeful lust spurs me to act, but I must wait a little
longer. Soon, he begins to snore. Just before she follows suit, I approach and
whisper in her ear, “Hello. My name is Inigo Mosquito. You killed my mother.
Prepare to itch.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I had to stop and laugh for a full minute here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b></b></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><b>InkStainedWench </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"I am a mere scientist, a humble forensic
herpetologist," he cried. "I am no warrior, but my heart is pure.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"And you? You are a noisesome fire-breathing theropod,
roosting on your ill-gotten hoard! But I have tracked you down. I shall avenge
the villagers and return their stolen xylophones!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"And the worst of it, you didn't want them for the
melodies -- you wanted them for the scales!"</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I had to look up theropod (I love new words. Then I had to suss
out that the way you'd used it meant that you're relating dragons and
dinosaurs, which I find amazingly clever.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Michael Seese </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">"You know what really anoise me? People who can't
spell."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps you should look in the mere, I thought.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Though I can live with the occasional faux pas heror
there."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Daddy," our daughter said, skipping in, "is
a tomato a fruit or avengetable?"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Actually, that question was addressed by the Supreme
Court in…"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My mind wandered to another world, one where spellcheck
isn't "some government plot to stifle free expression."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Well," he said, placing his perfunctory peck on
my cheek, "off to civilize the untamed hoards through the beauty of
freshman composition."</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our daughter definitely is going to private school.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Unfortunately disqualified for posting a non-entry in the
comment column!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Sari Michael!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Dimitrius Harmata </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Night again. I hate nights because I’m only seven.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hear scary noises outside the fragile shell of our
apartment.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s just my dream, though.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am no longer a mere little Soviet boy – I am now a
middle-aged American. Yet, this hoard of dreams from my past life still
inhabits me.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My mom – the hero that she is – hurries to the door
clutching rubles.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s only kolkhoz folks selling stolen meat to city dwellers
door-to-door. I exhale. We’ll have fatty borsch tomorrow.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nothing to fear, no one to avenge. I can leave this little
boy and wake up now.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Not quite a story, but VERY evocative.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>LynnRodz </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">"Xylo, phone me quick, I hear noises!"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Xylo shook his head, his new bride of merely one month was
frightened of everything, or was she? He had enjoyed playing the hero while
they were dating, acting like one of the Avengers. Thor one night, Hulk the
next, but now she was calling him at work daily. He'd wait until he got home to
see what the trouble was.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">~~~~~~~~~</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Honey, I'm home, what's this about noises?"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Whhaat?" She emerged in a tiny negligee from the
bedroom where she hoarded chocolates and gossip magazines. "Uhh...who was
Captain America this afternoon?"</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">oh my!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Just Jan </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">A mere two minutes into the Holiday Mascot Support Group and
everyone’s making noise: Twenty-four-hour shifts, rotten eggs—believe me, these
folks ain’t heroes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I keep my trap shut and my hoard under wraps. I’m about to
refill my pint when in walks Elvis, slick, sequined, and sun-glassed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Dead Celebrity Support’s down the hall,” I say.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Too late. He spots the Big Guy talking to Cupid. “Santa’s
real?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not just real--he’s a vengeful elf. “Who d’ya think brought
you them blue suede shoes?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Seriously? Thanks, man! And if anyone asks, I wasn’t here.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I smirk. “Neither was I.”</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Very imaginative!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>John Davis Frain </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Supplementing writing income, Frain started a nighttime gig.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Literary 911, what is your emergency?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“I’m on Broadway watching a buxom blonde—”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“A walking cliché? On it.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Will you be coming?”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“And hoard all the fun? No, I send editors.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Phone rang again. “I’m reporting a murder.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Frain simmered at the voice. “Yesss...”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Apartment next door. Lady killed her darlings.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Listen, if you call agai—” Click. He’d avenge that caller
in his WIP.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Later…</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“You’re a cowardly, self-destructive antihero—”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Frain didn’t accept AI (or second person!) calls, so he
disconnected. Time for another stab at the writing gig.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Not quite a story, but no one can resist JDF!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">And the finalists are:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b> </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>NLiu </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">We knew the Silence was coming so we hoarded noise: water
lapping on the mere at dawn, the crackle of an unwrapped Hero bar, the clumsy
notes from a child’s xylophone. Sign language classes were oversubscribed;
earplugs languished unsold.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We put our hopes in last-minute diplomacy, negotiating our
sovereignty for sound.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It failed. There was nothing anyone could do.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Silence rolled in.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We screamed and cried but couldn’t hear ourselves. The
noiselessness was deafening.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is only one thing left, now.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We will avenge our loss of Mozart, of laughter, of nursery
rhymes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We will take their eyes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">holy moly.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I mean HOLY F/ING MOLY!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I've come to expect great work from NLiu, BUT HOLY F/ING
MOLY.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Madeline Mora-Summonte </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Daddy,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please don't be mad. I'm getting ravenge for what Mr.
Crawley did to Jenny.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She rote about him in her secret diary.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hoardes of angry bees keep buzzing in my brain, Daddy. I
have to do something.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He'll let me in because I look like Jenny, and he wants
another taste of what he did because it's always sweeter when no one knows,
like when we sneak candy before dinner.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I'm sorry I took your gun. It will make a mess, smere his
blood everywhere.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But its noise will make the bees be quiet.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I hope.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Love, Mandy</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">You guys just terrify me an awful lot of the time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><i>Grate </i>writing!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Diana </b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">The intrepid hero ventured stealthily into the cave and
began to climb, certain that the mystical hoard at its heart would be hers.
Others had tried and warned that it could not be reached, but she was no mere
amateur. She would reach the end without disturbing the useless noise traps
strewn about the lower ledges and alerting the monster -</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Crash!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">"Mittens? Are you in the pantry again?"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mittens hissed with irritation, leaping up the ledges with a
vengeance, but soon found herself firmly grappled well before she'd reached the
tuna.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Stupid human. One day those cans would be hers!</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">If the Duchess of Yowl were still with us, this would be her
choice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">And this week's winner is</span><span style="color: red;"><b> NLiu.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><b>Nliu,</b> drop me an email and let's figure out how to get you a
delicious, tasty prize.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">*****</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Thanks to all of you who took the time to write and post
entries.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">They were great fun to read.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">We're going to have a break next week so I can work on some
blog posts that aren't flash fiction. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-37250898043197297342023-11-03T07:32:00.003-04:002023-11-05T08:43:55.793-05:00Invest your (extra) hour in a Flash Fiction contest<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">Given we have a whole extra hour this weekend, let's invest
it in writing flash fiction!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> The usual rules apply:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Write a story using 100 words or fewer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. Use these words in the story:</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Noise</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mere</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hoard</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hero</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Avenge</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bonus points if you can suss out what I was thinking about
when making that list!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you are <b>Steve Forti</b>, or want to be, you must also
use the word: xylophone!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. You must use the whole word, but that whole word can be
part of a larger word. The letters for the prompt must appear in consecutive
order. They cannot be backwards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. Post the entry in the comment column of THIS blog post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. One entry per person. If you need a mulligan (a do-over)
erase your entry and post again. It helps to work out your entry first, then
post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6. International entries are allowed, but prizes may vary
for international addresses.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7. Titles count as part of the word count (you don't need a
title.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8. Under no circumstances should you tweet anything about
your particular entry to me. Example: "Hope you like my entry about Felix
Buttonweezer!" This is grounds for disqualification.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no
circumstances in which it is ok to ask for feedback from ME on your contest
entry. NONE. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's ok to tweet
about the contest generally.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Example: "I just entered the flash fiction contest on
Janet's blog and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">11. Please do not post anything but contest entries. (For
example: "I love Felix Buttonweezer's entry!"). Save that for the
contest results post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">12. You agree that your contest entry can remain posted on
the blog for the life of the blog. In other words, you can't ask me to delete
the entry and any comments about the entry at a later date. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">13. The stories must be self-contained. That is: do not
include links or footnotes to explain any part of the story. Those extras will
not be considered part of the story. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest opens: Saturday, November 4, <b>8:00 am </b>EDT</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest closes: Sunday, November 5, <b>8:00am </b>EST</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you're wondering how what time it is in NYC right now, <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/new-york">here's the clock </a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you'd like to see the entries that have won previous
contests, there's an .xls spread sheet here <a href="http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/">http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(Thanks to Colin Smith for organizing and maintaining this!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Questions? Tweet to me <a href="https://twitter.com/Janet_Reid">@Janet_Reid</a>. I'm also on Bluesky: <a href="@janetreid.bsky.social">@janetreid.bsky.social</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ready? SET?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strike> Not yet</strike><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strike>ENTER! </strike></p><p class="MsoNormal">Oh rats, too late. Contest closed. <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-60452932881748351732023-10-30T07:00:00.002-04:002023-10-30T07:00:00.146-04:00Flash fiction contest results <p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Reading your flash fiction entries <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was a lovely respite on a rainy Sunday.
Normally I go to MoMA on Sunday but I also like to stroll down Fifth Ave after
my visit, and the rain today just made that sound...soggy. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I read all of these of course, and the first
cull is usually based on whether the entry is a story. This is not a hard and
fast rule, there are some exceptions, but generally you need to write a story
with a beginning, middle and end.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There were some terrific scenes, but scenes
are not stories.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here are the entries that made the cut:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Steve Forti </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alice Openshaw </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">NLiu </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">C. Dan Castro </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alec Breton </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Earls </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Timothy Lowe </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">BJ Muntain </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Colin Smith </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mallory Love </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">french sojourn </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Amy Johnson <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Then I go back and read the semi-finalists
again. I try to give it some time so I read with fresh eyes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Here are the sem-finalists:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c2611497357565780437"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/profile/06027977543853683231"><b>Steve Forti</b></a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>Crusts o<b>f old</b> dinner s<b>tuck</b> on cast iron<br />
Mold and dead roaches ruled this env<b>iron</b><br />
Then like a ghost, and odd <b>sheet</b> did appear<br />
When it spoke, I admit that it struck me with fear<br />
“I am the <b>Clorox</b>, I speak for the sneeze<br />
Mold spores disrupt how my Auntie Seuss breathes<br />
Clean yourselves up, or I’ll end you all. Please.”<br />
No harm intended, a <b>case</b> of false figuring.<br />
“Your slime and your scum keeps on biggering and biggering!”<br />
The sheet came with vengeance, it cleaned up wi thneed<br />
The Clorox did wipe us out with great speed. </blockquote><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">I'm always a sucker for a hat tip to Dr. Seuss, and odd
points of view (is this one really from dinner scraps??)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c4071635946053230046"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c1064464501507377546"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/profile/00184714542401822508"><b>NLiu</b></a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>Becoming a tiger wasn’t as difficult as she’d been
told. She simply untucked herself, stopped ironing her soul tame. Her claws – unfolded
now from their polite velvet – rent the sheets, shredded the casement of her
dungeon window. She roared herself free and streaked across the snow outside,
bright as gunpowder and flame.<br />
<br />
Huddled unseen on the tower, the hunter cocked his rifle. Master had paid for
this one in rubies with blazing hearts. Quiescent talent, he’d said – don’t
lose the girl. But better dead than liberated.<br />
<br />
More than his life’s worth if she escaped.<br />
<br />
Eyes blurring with tears, he fired. </blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">This is brilliant.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c2954943017404236944"></a><a name="c6536591257873554189"></a><a name="c1809540317895311712"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/profile/15648247329883078385"><b>C. Dan
Castro</b></a> <br /></span></p><blockquote>
Tuckleberry Fawyer’s house had gone mad.<br />
<br />
I ran into a dead-end room.<br />
<br />
Behind me, Injun Joe: “You gotta settle!”<br />
<br />
I tore back the one bed’s sheet.<br />
<br />
Hollowed mattress.<br />
<br />
Iron case.<br />
<br />
I yanked it open, revealing gold coins. And vanishing half the room.<br />
<br />
A river appeared. Nearby sat fence sections.<br />
<br />
I dropped one into the river. It dissolved.<br />
<br />
Joe unfolded his spring-knife.<br />
<br />
Under the bed, I spotted a can.<br />
<br />
White paint.<br />
<br />
Brushes.<br />
<br />
Whitewash!<br />
<br />
I slapped it on fencing. Instantly white.<br />
<br />
I dropped it into the river, jumped on, and floated out of Joe’s murderous
reach.<br />
<br />
And to the next escape room...</blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Deeply imaginative, AND a hat tip to Tom Sawyer and
Huck Finn</span>!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c3425955590732679389"></a><a name="c4561348903617528388"></a><a name="c954243874195017914"></a><a name="c8076821563613110184"></a><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><a name="c6468243066520165881"></a></b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><b><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/profile/01936572930757357876">Earls</a></b> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>In the clamor of her leaving, I didn’t realize it was
Halloween. <br />
<br />
I just stood on the buckled sidewalk, pleading for her to stay, as she tucked
her life into that trusty Civic. <br />
<br />
I staggered back to the rowhouse with her departing words boxing my ears. She
had stripped sheets from our mattress, leaving a case of Iron City to prove her
point. <br />
<br />
Now, every October 31, I put her favorite candy in a plastic pumpkin with a
“Take Two” note. <br />
<br />
Inside, I open a tallboy and remember: “You were a hand worth folding long
before I met you.”</blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">This isn't quite a story, but the writing is so vivid I
just really loved it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c6152526548391937812"></a><a name="c4426660461839376917"></a><a name="c1115800113561517801"></a><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><a name="c1243426472697044848"></a></b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><b><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/profile/12977414826388000094">BJ Muntain</a></b> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>Jason couldn't tell if the perspiration on his forehead
was from the heat of the forge or the delicacy of his work. The tiny shoes
threatened to slip from his smallest tweezers. A fold in the ultrathin sheet of
iron here; a tuck there to fit the mount's feet. With a pinhead for a hammer,
he completed his greatest work. <br />
<br />
He'd asked the fae why she wanted to shoe the insect she'd flown in on, in case
it affected the shape. <br />
<br />
"I tried to ask the wizard something. He said, 'Shoe fly,' waved his hand,
and I was here." </blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Utterly brilliant.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c7290731684016416295"></a><a name="c2707004466976822531"></a><a name="c2906770576230765303"></a><a name="c7552405777615992937"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/profile/03292997431935215499"><b>Colin Smith</b></a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>Jane carefully folded her resume—two sheets of neatly
typed ivory paper—and tucked them into the envelope. Taking her premium Parker
from its case, she inscribed the address on the front.<br />
<br />
Donning her shawl, she braved the street to find a mailbox.<br />
<br />
In her day, she would have seen at least a couple of those iron boxes within
five minutes’ walk.<br />
<br />
After an hour, she slumped into a bench seat, took a frail handkerchief from
her sleeve, and dabbed her eye.<br />
<br />
Almost a month. No job. No money<br />
<br />
Silently, she pleaded for another time storm to take her home. </blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Nice twisty ending! Plus, mailbox woes!!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c927288560492412076"></a><a name="c576745943010660864"></a><a name="c9008038543058596782"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/profile/16282261391938135052">Mallory Love</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>Some people would see being stuck in an elevator with a
beautiful woman as an opportunity. James saw it as a case for his anxiety to
spiral. He spent his days with spreadsheets; she looked like a centerfold. <br />
A few awkward glances ensued, then stilted starts of small talk. Eventually the
conversation began to flow. James forgot about being trapped. <br />
Suddenly the iron hinges lurched. <br />
He was about to ask her out, when she turned and whispered.<br />
“I’ve wanted to tell you something for a while.”<br />
James leaned in and smiled. <br />
“You have a piece of spinach between your teeth.” </blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Oh the humanity!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c749522900524774442"></a><a name="c2141122702773870817"></a><a name="c5174708084085488155"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/profile/05324408700941398495">Amy
Johnson</a> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>“I thought I’d go to Ron’s Place tonight?” He always
assumes I mean my cousin Rhonda’s apartment. If he finds out, I can say I
wasn’t lying.<br />
<br />
“Again?”<br />
<br />
I finish all the dinner dishes, then tuck a roll of bills under the tampons in
my purse – he never searches that section.<br />
<br />
“Laundry done?”<br />
<br />
“Your shirts and the sheets are ironed. Everything’s folded and put away.”<br />
<br />
I park along Rhonda’s street, in case he’s checking the GPS tracker, and take a
bus downtown.<br />
<br />
The bartender waves me on.<br />
<br />
I clean up at Ron’s Place. Now I finally can afford my own.</blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">I really like the ambiguity of <i>clean up.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Does she vacuum and dust?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">or dose she fleece suckers at the poker table?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">And the subtle, but utterly compelling way she builds
our sympathies for the main character.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">This is superb work</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">***** <br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">There are three entries that really stood out: <b>NLiu, BJ
Muntain</b>, and <b>Amy Johnson.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I let those three sit again, but it was clear right
away that the winner this week has to be <span style="color: red;"><b>Amy Johnson.</b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><b>AmyJohnson</b>, drop me a line and let me know what kinds
of books are on your wish list (or if you have an Amazon wish list, send me the
link.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Thanks to all of you who took the time to write and
post entries. It's a real pleasure to read your work.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-2305134115522603462023-10-27T07:00:00.004-04:002023-10-29T08:24:16.392-04:00We had so much fun last time, it's another Flash Fiction contest!<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">We had so much fun last week, it's only fitting we should have
another contest this weekend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The hours have changed so do take a look (below) so you
don't miss out!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> The usual rules apply:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Write a story using 100 words or fewer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. Use these words in the story:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">tuck</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">iron</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">sheet</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">case</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">fold</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(Can you tell I was making the bed as I was thinking of the
FF prompts?)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you are <b>Steve Forti</b>, or want to be, you must also use
the word: clorox.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. You must use the whole word, but that whole word can be
part of a larger word. The letters for the prompt must appear in consecutive
order. They cannot be backwards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. Post the entry in the comment column of THIS blog post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. One entry per person. If you need a mulligan (a do-over)
erase your entry and post again. It helps to work out your entry first, then
post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6. International entries are allowed, but prizes may vary
for international addresses.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7. Titles count as part of the word count (you don't need a
title.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8. Under no circumstances should you tweet anything about
your particular entry to me. Example: "Hope you like my entry about Felix
Buttonweezer!" This is grounds for disqualification.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no
circumstances in which it is ok to ask for feedback from ME on your contest
entry. NONE. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's ok to tweet
about the contest generally.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Example: "I just entered the flash fiction contest on
Janet's blog and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">11. Please do not post anything but contest entries. (For
example: "I love Felix Buttonweezer's entry!"). Save that for the
contest results post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">12. You agree that your contest entry can remain posted on
the blog for the life of the blog. In other words, you can't ask me to delete
the entry and any comments about the entry at a later date. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">13. The stories must be self-contained. That is: do not
include links or footnotes to explain any part of the story. Those extras will
not be considered part of the story. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest opens: Saturday, October 28, <b>8:00 am </b>EDT</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest closes: Sunday, October 29, <b>8:00am </b>EDT</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you're wondering how what time it is in NYC right now, <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/new-york">here's the clock </a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you'd like to see the entries that have won previous
contests, there's an .xls spread sheet here <a href="http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/">http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(Thanks to Colin Smith for organizing and maintaining this!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Questions? Tweet to me <a href="https://twitter.com/Janet_Reid">@Janet_Reid</a>. I'm also on Bluesky: <a href="@janetreid.bsky.social">@janetreid.bsky.social</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ready? SET?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />
<strike>Not yet!</strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><strike>ENTER! </strike></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>oh darn, too late. Contest is closed.<strike><br /></strike></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-33273746305918593642023-10-25T07:55:00.000-04:002023-10-25T07:55:48.074-04:00Prizes!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71PKlyLo9vMiwLAv8GCa-ddlZOEejhhgaT3mPNmJEEFz2bXB0qD3Gnci594ZZPnRK_YCRO9-wpF3rZr0t6qfOtGWngG697nyuK3dLENAOCnE6sIsN38vxPkzg8B21JooARakVojv90eLfCuTTJGYyl5YAUz0jhY6nQFFLviFZVr0_cmHTB4ej/s640/Peacock%20and%20Sparrow.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg71PKlyLo9vMiwLAv8GCa-ddlZOEejhhgaT3mPNmJEEFz2bXB0qD3Gnci594ZZPnRK_YCRO9-wpF3rZr0t6qfOtGWngG697nyuK3dLENAOCnE6sIsN38vxPkzg8B21JooARakVojv90eLfCuTTJGYyl5YAUz0jhY6nQFFLviFZVr0_cmHTB4ej/s320/Peacock%20and%20Sparrow.png" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>Flash fiction contest winners get prizes, usually a book from my shelves that I've read and liked a lot. </p><p><br /></p><p>For this week's contest one of the winners mentioned she'd liked Bruce Borgos' The Bitter Past.</p><p>Aha!</p><p>I heard about The Peacock and The Sparrow by way of Bruce's newsletter. His comments made me want to read it so off I swam to the bookstore and got a copy.</p><p><br /></p><p>And Bruce was oh-so-right!</p><p>This book is amazing.</p><p>Very much NOT the usual kind of spy novel (which I love!) and so beautifully written that some of the sentences just made me stop reading to catch my breath.</p><p><br /></p><p>So it seemed a perfect circle to send the book to one of Bruce's new fans, and one of our contest winners. </p><p>Now, off to the post office to get this in the mail. </p><p><br /></p><br /><p><br /></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-8044160982650647902023-10-24T07:00:00.001-04:002023-10-24T07:00:00.144-04:00Flash Fiction Contest Winner!
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Well I had to really think hard on this one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">You rascally writers just up the stakes Every Single
Time. (Very cool!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">I re-read all the finalists, and I even brought myself
to re-read Mr. Forti's entry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">I soon realized there could not be just one winner.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Three of you wrote pieces that are aspects of the same
heartache.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Thus:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Madeline Mora-Summonte</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">BJ Muntain</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">KD James</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">are all winners this week.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Here are their entries again:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Madeline Mora-Summonte</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Lizzie studies the empty dish then looks around. She
doesn't know this place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">At the stove, an old man hums, spoons scrambled eggs
into a bowl. She doesn't know this man.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Lizzie flings her fork at him. She tries to run, but
she's wearing slippers, a robe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He says he's her husband, Paul. Married many years. He
points to her diamond, holds her gnarled hands. Says sometimes Lizzie forgets
things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He serves her eggs, butters her toast.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">She doesn't remember. But she forgets.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Or so he says.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He turns away. Lizzie slips the knife into her pocket.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Just in case.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">BJ Muntain</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Seven plates. One, two, three, four, five, six,
seven...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Seven forks.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Seven spoons for dessert.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Six steak knives and a butter knife for the kid.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Dishes for the Caesar salad. Dad's favourite!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Bringing out the food now: ham, scalloped potatoes -
cheesy, just the way Dad likes them - creamed corn, peas...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">The turnips. Where are the turnips? Dad will freak if
there aren't...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Oh.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">oh</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Burning eyes, removing the place setting at the head of
the blurry table, avoiding the looks of the others as they take their seats.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">No turnips tonight.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">KDJames</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">“You have to come, see for yourself,” my sister said.
“The dementia’s getting worse.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Dad carefully places dishes out for tomorrow: bowl,
spoon, cereal. Plate, fork, knife, for the frozen meal he’ll insist on for
dinner.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">“G’night, Timmy,” on his way to bed. It’s barely seven.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Timmy. My twin who died when we were ten. “Sleep well,
Dad.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">I grab the milk carton next to the bowl, return it to
the fridge.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">He needs the visuals: Rolls of tp piled on the bathroom
counter. Mismatched clothes laid out. Old photos of Mom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">And I wonder… will I, too?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">If each of you will send me your mailing address, and
what kinds of books you like to read, I'll get your prize in the mail.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Thanks to all of you who took the time to write and
post entries.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">It's always a real pleasure to read your work.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">And now, back to conniving about how to thwart my nemesis.
I really thought I had him this time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mnreYXhP6gv-IWGv_k_OrjN1O5KdS3byYIJ4S_SeB8lM-iEEq1zvjDZeBK9w1n7Kg4wsyrCdENq-HSHu0xs3JlMrdk4klyCUYRcUhM-Kq52ewee6GZhhG91R9fOUi5HrWwszRG2NKAPPE4t3I5axXYo49a3tQoa53VcKqdopeQoNpw5NCjdR/s774/wile%20e%20coyote.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="428" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mnreYXhP6gv-IWGv_k_OrjN1O5KdS3byYIJ4S_SeB8lM-iEEq1zvjDZeBK9w1n7Kg4wsyrCdENq-HSHu0xs3JlMrdk4klyCUYRcUhM-Kq52ewee6GZhhG91R9fOUi5HrWwszRG2NKAPPE4t3I5axXYo49a3tQoa53VcKqdopeQoNpw5NCjdR/s320/wile%20e%20coyote.png" width="177" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-28271383493058417832023-10-22T18:32:00.002-04:002023-10-22T18:32:48.996-04:00Flash fiction contest results<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c5170934401942520051"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">It is lovely to see so many familiar names back in the
comments section.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Thanks to all of you for writing and sharing your work.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Special recognition to</span><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> Colin Smith:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Fork she's a dish</span></i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> might be my new favorite laud.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">My former fave? Hubba hubba.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Special recognition to Kregger for putting Tim Lowe in
steerage on the way to Carkoon. Double whammy!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">As usual <b>Steve Forti </b>has thwarted me:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></u></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="color: blue; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">We were somewhere around Carkoon on the edge of the
reef when the kale began to take hold. A week of fast food had me clogged, and
I needed roughage. The fiber ‘round here was asbestos (oo<b>f) or k</b>ale. <br />
<br />
I debated for a while.<br />
<br />
Now thi<b>s poo n</b>eeded daylight. I sliced through the Carkoon Unwelcome
Center like a dull <b>knife</b> and crashed into the bathroom stall. Needing
leverage, I grabbed my highto<b>p lace</b>s for support and bared down. <br />
<br />
Once it all went <b>bye bye</b>, I reached for the paper and stopped col<b>d. I
sh</b>uddered.<br />
<br />
Carkoon uses the three sea shells.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">The use of oof here is hilariously on point given I was
late closing the contest cause I was at MoMA looking at the Ed Ruscha exhibit.
One of his better known works:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYo0TCrxLoCVS29FfMJ0V0RkySeygZB6IzWaRa-wseSO6Vi9LZLcIitX9TgPscQjblTJr8GqKH1pobbaKaVUDf9pNIpl_OgeFVaUcKzTHDDGg62u6vYh8fEdkPKKauGFJiSwBTwj9MQAp6Z8q9sjfYya5Wyyyl9i37xMdcobfHAPt9N8NaLBA/s1220/Oof.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1220" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbYo0TCrxLoCVS29FfMJ0V0RkySeygZB6IzWaRa-wseSO6Vi9LZLcIitX9TgPscQjblTJr8GqKH1pobbaKaVUDf9pNIpl_OgeFVaUcKzTHDDGg62u6vYh8fEdkPKKauGFJiSwBTwj9MQAp6Z8q9sjfYya5Wyyyl9i37xMdcobfHAPt9N8NaLBA/s320/Oof.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">I'm of two minds here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">One is complete and total disqualification due to subject matter.<br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">The second is to just give him a prize.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">What do all y'all think?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">On the first pass I listed all the entries that stood
out (not necc. in a good way!)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Timothy Lowe</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">CynthiaMc</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Steve Forti </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Colin Smith </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Craig F </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Madeline Mora-Summonte </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Kregger </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">BJ Muntain </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">MaggieJ </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Just Jan </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">KDJames </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">John Davis Frain </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">flashfriday </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">NLiu </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">shanepatrickwrites </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Mallory Love</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Then I went through and kept those that were a story</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Here are the semi-finalists.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c6725720787343066261"></a><u><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">CynthiaMc</span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>"Didja hear? The dish ran away with the
spoon," the bartender said.<br />
<br />
"Muffet's a floozy," said Mother Goose. <br />
<br />
"Not our place to say," said Mother Hubbard.<br />
<br />
"Old King Cole was an idiot " said Tommy Tucker. "She just
wanted his money."<br />
<br />
"He was smart enough not to give it to her," said the bartender.<br />
<br />
"Knife to his heart," said Hubbard. "He needs a good
woman."<br />
<br />
"Like you?" Goose asked.<br />
<br />
"Man's at a fork in the road," said the bartender. "He's
looking."<br />
<br />
Mother Hubbard grabbed her purse. "I think I'll offer condolences. "<br />
<br />
"Not if I get there first," Mother Goose said.</blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">This really made me laugh.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c517882338448820075"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c8737665046416532344"></a><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>Madeline Mora-Summonte</b></span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><br /></span></p><blockquote>
Lizzie studies the empty dish then looks around. She doesn't know this place.<br />
<br />
At the stove, an old man hums, spoons scrambled eggs into a bowl. She doesn't
know this man.<br />
<br />
Lizzie flings her fork at him. She tries to run, but she's wearing slippers, a
robe.<br />
<br />
He says he's her husband, Paul. Married many years. He points to her diamond,
holds her gnarled hands. Says sometimes Lizzie forgets things.<br />
<br />
He serves her eggs, butters her toast.<br />
<br />
She doesn't remember. But she forgets.<br />
<br />
Or so he says.<br />
<br />
He turns away. Lizzie slips the knife into her pocket.<br />
<br />
Just in case. </blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Oh man, this one gets ya, doesn't it?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c7471291747024403864"></a><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>BJ Muntain</b></span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"></span></p><blockquote>Seven plates. One, two, three, four, five, six,
seven... <br />
<br />
Seven forks. <br />
<br />
Seven spoons for dessert. <br />
<br />
Six steak knives and a butter knife for the kid. <br />
<br />
Dishes for the Caesar salad. Dad's favourite! <br />
<br />
Bringing out the food now: ham, scalloped potatoes - cheesy, just the way Dad
likes them - creamed corn, peas... <br />
<br />
The turnips. Where are the turnips? Dad will freak if there aren't... <br />
<br />
Oh. <br />
<br />
oh <br />
<br />
Burning eyes, removing the place setting at the head of the blurry table,
avoiding the looks of the others as they take their seats. <br />
<br />
No turnips tonight. </blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">I really like things that are understated but pack a
wallop, like this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c108659860292035283"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c4383532453692674943"></a><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>Just Jan</b></span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">When their memoir placed at the top of the NYT Best
Seller’s list, I almost puked. I’d been in bed for a month with double
pneumonia--a consequence of blowing down houses for a living--and too weak to
lift a spoon. Now I was nursing an undeserved reputation and a budding ulcer.<br />
<br />
Those fork-tongued porkers didn’t care who they knifed--they were squealing all
the way to the bank. Yet, I’m the bad guy.<br />
<br />
One day, it’ll be my turn to dish. I’ve already written the first line: There
were three apples, one for each pig. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">I'm always a sucker for the other side of the story!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">This one is wonderful.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c5547275918425890577"></a><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>KDJames</b></span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">“You have to come, see for yourself,” my sister said.
“The dementia’s getting worse.”<br />
<br />
Dad carefully places dishes out for tomorrow: bowl, spoon, cereal. Plate, fork,
knife, for the frozen meal he’ll insist on for dinner.<br />
<br />
“G’night, Timmy,” on his way to bed. It’s barely seven.<br />
<br />
<i>Timmy</i>. My twin who died when we were ten. “Sleep well, Dad.”<br />
<br />
I grab the milk carton next to the bowl, return it to the fridge. <br />
<br />
He needs the visuals: Rolls of tp piled on the bathroom counter. Mismatched
clothes laid out. Old photos of Mom. <br />
<br />
And I wonder… will I, too?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">oh. oh. oh.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c8316223062370561161"></a><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c3683992857437543903"></a><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>shanepatrickwrites</b></span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Bye bye fork. Bye bye knife. Her foods requiring only a
spoon and a dish in this place. Twice a day the slat slid open to deliver
something soft and digestible. That left fifteen hours, forty-seven minutes to
consider that hard and repugnant act that put her in the Land of Banned
Silverware. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Love the entries that are elusive and intriguing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="c5244289227456888781"></a><u><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>Mallory Love</b></span></u><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;">Marty was my everything: the cream to my coffee, jelly
to my donut, big spoon to my little. Until he left me for Betty. Her threat
level was more butterknife than razor-blade. I never saw it coming.<br />
<br />
I saw them everywhere. The grocery store. The post office. Even church. When
those dishonest yahoos walked in without pitchforks raining down, I questioned
my faith a bit. But it wasn’t my place to judge. I left that up to Betty’s
husband, who had been overseas. Rumor was he was a great shot, and the
headlines the day after he arrived confirmed it. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Love a good revenge story!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;">Let me know what you think in the comments column.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> <br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2b00fe; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-49165863668238799082023-10-20T07:00:00.007-04:002023-10-22T12:37:25.656-04:00The Bon Voyage Party for Tim Lowe Flash Fiction Contest<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> From <b>Tim Lowe:</b><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote>"I spent part of my day locating old FF entries in my
mountain of unorganized Google docs.<br />
<br />
"Miss those -- they really sharpened the brain, became a great outlet, a
wonderful diversion. The last one (as yet still in Preliminary results stage,
unless I missed it) was a much-needed distraction from the skull-splitting
boredom of a Covid isolation last January.<br />
<br />
"No, I don't have a point. Yes, I just booked a one-way trip to
you-know-where."</blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Indeed we do know where.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let's give Tim something good to read while he's squashed in
the middle seat between not one but TWO howling infants, and the seat in front
of him is occupied by someone intent on reclining 90 degrees, and the snack tray involves kale chips.<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> The usual rules apply:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1. Write a story using 100 words or fewer.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2. Use these words in the story:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">fork</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">knife</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">spoon</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">dish</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">place</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>If you are Steve Forti, or want to be, you must include this extra prompt word: bye bye.<br /><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3. You must use the whole word, but that whole word can be
part of a larger word. The letters for the prompt must appear in consecutive
order. They cannot be backwards.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4. Post the entry in the comment column of THIS blog post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5. One entry per person. If you need a mulligan (a do-over)
erase your entry and post again. It helps to work out your entry first, then
post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6. International entries are allowed, but prizes may vary
for international addresses.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7. Titles count as part of the word count (you don't need a
title.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8. Under no circumstances should you tweet anything about
your particular entry to me. Example: "Hope you like my entry about Felix
Buttonweezer!" This is grounds for disqualification.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are no
circumstances in which it is ok to ask for feedback from ME on your contest
entry. NONE. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's ok to tweet
about the contest generally.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Example: "I just entered the flash fiction contest on
Janet's blog and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">11. Please do not post anything but contest entries. (For
example: "I love Felix Buttonweezer's entry!"). Save that for the
contest results post.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">12. You agree that your contest entry can remain posted on
the blog for the life of the blog. In other words, you can't ask me to delete
the entry and any comments about the entry at a later date. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">13. The stories must be self-contained. That is: do not
include links or footnotes to explain any part of the story. Those extras will
not be considered part of the story. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest opens: 10am Saturday 10/21/23</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Contest closes: 10am Sunday 10/22/23</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you're wondering how what time it is in NYC right now, <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/usa/new-york">here's the clock </a><span class="MsoHyperlink">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since I go to MoMA on Sunday morning, the contest may look
open, but comments posted AFTER the time deadline will be deleted.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you'd like to see the entries that have won previous
contests, there's an .xls spread sheet here <a href="http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/">http://www.colindsmith.com/TreasureChest/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(Thanks to Colin Smith for organizing and maintaining this!)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Questions? Tweet to me <a href="https://twitter.com/Janet_Reid">@Janet_Reid</a>. I'm also at BlueSky
now: @janetreid.bsky.social</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ready? SET?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br />
<strike>Not yet!</strike></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strike>ENTER! </strike></p><p class="MsoNormal">Nope, too late.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Contest closed.<strike><br /></strike></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-28767702937359702152023-10-16T07:00:00.004-04:002023-10-22T12:36:56.058-04:00 Laudy, Laudy!<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote> Incoming query: My novel is "Propulsive! Heartwarming! Original!" </blockquote><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Oh yes, your book is all that and a bag of chips.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But when you put that in a query letter, my ONLY response is
"Oh yea? Says who?"</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cause you are not the most reliable source on how fabu your
novel is.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not only are you not objective, you're blindly partisan.<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And that is A-OK.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You should love your book.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You should think your book is not only the cat's pajamas, it's the cat in pajamas in a bag of chips.<br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A savvy writer, and effective querier, knows to NOT say
that.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A writer who hears "write your query like flap copy/book
jacket copy" might be led astray. What they don't realize is flap copy
that says "Propulsive! Heartwarming! Original!" was written by the
editor or the marketing department. NOT the author.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Leave lauds OUT of the query.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let the reader (ie me) discover your amazingness.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's much more fun that way.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And honestly, the queriers who tell me their books are
original are usually wrong.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They just haven't read enough to know that.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And the queriers who tell me their books are heartwarming have overlooked they are writing to a shark who has no heart and likes to eat (heartwarming) writers
for breakfast.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And the queriers who tell me their book is propulsive usually
have a pacing problem.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Leave the lauds to your readers.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Tell me the story.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That's all I need to know.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwB8Thqj3R2euQG0kvqlgMuz-K7V62ye4NKRSZUbs3hwZ94IClRB-uOwsWjjDUUNybPiSjAMMtXDGM8hnHEFPgmlLwryj7yJJmDAVgBd_rZy78iHqrYFTVeI5b045qqvG2v2lxiMVMcwcs86H-ZgdOXFIqPJuylXUI777wJ2mQ8oBaqrFjC6LQ/s800/cat%20in%20a%20bag%20of%20chips.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwB8Thqj3R2euQG0kvqlgMuz-K7V62ye4NKRSZUbs3hwZ94IClRB-uOwsWjjDUUNybPiSjAMMtXDGM8hnHEFPgmlLwryj7yJJmDAVgBd_rZy78iHqrYFTVeI5b045qqvG2v2lxiMVMcwcs86H-ZgdOXFIqPJuylXUI777wJ2mQ8oBaqrFjC6LQ/s320/cat%20in%20a%20bag%20of%20chips.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17040756.post-62367857055795100472023-10-09T07:00:00.009-04:002023-10-09T07:00:00.138-04:00Your fans await!<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even if you don’t have much to say now, it’s a good idea to
start building your mailing list.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A newsletter is how I found out about blog reader <a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Murder-Year-Kate-Larkindale-ebook/dp/B0CDFPV25L">KateLarkindale’s new book.</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Of course I bought it!</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If your book has been published recently, let us know in the
comments column.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">(The blog post is a bit spare this week. My computer crashed a week ago and I'm just now back on track. My takeaway from that: replace things before they break!)</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3BXuV99vlOjS6R5OqotKgUKDEQC9-yrhoiPA_OYCkeux-sL0l2xgocRoV4En7nX64ZOWLLEbHOkgUk_hUzjk3cZAgwvnvKr1dwKncruF0fggYnqrF09HX_PeeZmlEB8Nagn4BNG517ZLv9XGoDXW17c8KjEJDRNg3zJTaMr8RswlkPYUf1aj/s740/Wile%20E%20Coyoter%20acme%20catalog.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="740" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3BXuV99vlOjS6R5OqotKgUKDEQC9-yrhoiPA_OYCkeux-sL0l2xgocRoV4En7nX64ZOWLLEbHOkgUk_hUzjk3cZAgwvnvKr1dwKncruF0fggYnqrF09HX_PeeZmlEB8Nagn4BNG517ZLv9XGoDXW17c8KjEJDRNg3zJTaMr8RswlkPYUf1aj/s320/Wile%20E%20Coyoter%20acme%20catalog.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Janet Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00615380335938685231noreply@blogger.com20