Splickety Magazine

When I was a sophomore in college, I read my first short short story (nowadays called flash fiction, flashfic, or micro fiction).  It was 55 words long, about a man stuck in the trenches during one of the world wars.  The bombs started falling, his friend cowered in corner crying to God to save him, saying he'd convert and tell everyone about God if he lived through it.  It finishes by telling us that his friend never did talk about Gd to the prostitute he hired that night.  I wish I could remember the name of the piece or who wrote it.

Ever since then, I realized the flash fiction is a valid art-form.  It's difficult, it's fun, it's easy to read yet often hard to analyze.  Like any art, there are good examples, bad examples, and "popular" examples.  The 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature was given to Alice Munro, a short story writer, lends even more validity to the form.  Now, there is some contention over what constitutes a flashfic.  Some say 1000 words or less (such as Friday Flash), while others say 300 words or less.  There is even a category for microflash fiction, which is generally 150 words or less.

Splickety Magazine recently announced a contest for microflash fiction.  Write a 150-word speculative fiction story inspired from the image below.  I wrote two entries, and one of them, "Thief," won!  It will be appearing in the July issue of "Havok."  I can't wait to see my work in print! It is a truly wonderful feeling!

They are having a new contest about Steampunk versus Cyberpunk.  I'll see if I can't get into it, as well.  I also will be entering a contest at the Historical Novel Society.  Let's hope I am successful in this venture, too!  I've given myself a deadline to edit my novel, so managing my time is going to be essential.