Stories for Your Reading Pleasure

images-4It’s the perfect time of the years, with the nights turning cooler and the leaves falling, to curl up by the fire with a good story. So, from fellow writers across the web, here are a few of my favorites.

First up, the winner of WOW’s 2016 Spring Flash Fiction Contest,  Mixed Colors by K. Alan Leitch and 2016 Winter Flash Fiction Contest, runner-up, Carole Garrison’s –The Wait.

SmokeLong Quarterly, gives us – My Husband is Made of Ash by Jennifer Todhunter and My Friend Diane by Emily Flouton.

And, from Fiction Southeast, The Kidnapper’s Journal by Shoshauna Shy.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I did. Pass them on and let the authors know what you thought.

Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  PinterestBloglovinTwitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Want to Know More About Writing Flash Fiction?

flash-fiction2I love writing flash fiction. The stories are a quick read and an excellent tool for improving my skill as a writer.

If you’d like to learn more about writing flash fiction, check out The Writer’s Path and Neil MacDonald’s guest post – FLASH IN THE PAN – TIPS FOR WRITING FLASH FICTION. Also, be sure to click on the link for 12 hints on writing flash fiction by Claire Fuller.

Want to know where to send your work? Check out my Calls for Submissions in the sidebar and look at The Flash Fiction 500 Competition – but hurry, submission deadline is Friday.

Do you write flash fiction? Share your own tips or what you like about the genre. I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  PinterestBloglovinTwitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Stories to Share and Author Highlights

Time to ShareIt’s time again to showcase writers and their stories. I read many publications and when I find a story that moves me, makes laugh, or stays with me for days – I like to share it with everyone.

First up are two authors from Carver Magazine, Summer 2016.

Restoration by Ann Joslin Williams – She is the author of the novel Down From Cascom Mountain, the short story collection The Woman in The Woods, which won the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction, and the  director of the MFA Program in Writing at the University of New Hampshire. (Carver Magazine).

Daughters by Tayler Heuston – Taylor received her MFA from North Carolina State University. The winner of the 2015 Kore Press Short Fiction Award, her fiction has appeared in At Length MagazineTwo Serious Ladies, and NANO Fiction. (Carver Magazine).

From Oxford American Magazine – BLAISE ST. CLAIR By  Rebecca Wells. She is the author of one of my all time favorite books and movies, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. The story I’m sharing today is an excerpt from her novel in progress,  Blaise St. Clair’s Book of Being, (Oxford American Magazine).

I loved this story and if this line doesn’t intrigue you, nothing will.

“When Blaise St. Clair was able to breathe past her fear, the conversations were as gorgeous and as fragile as monarch butterflies at dusk on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. They were lamentations. They were lullabies. They were reveilles.” 

A Shirt Tale By Supie DunbarWOW 2016 Flash Fiction, Runner up. I liked this story. Sometimes we need a sign, a bit of encouragement to make us do something, even if it’s an empty shirt.

Supie became a writer after she retired. Her poetry and flash fiction are published in print  (Vine Leaves Literary JournalBlotterature Literary Magazine) and online (A Quiet CourageThe Voices Project).

If you enjoyed these stories as much as I did, please share your thoughts with the authors and pass them on for others to enjoy. Don’t forget to check out the Call for Submissions in the sidebar. Maybe your story will be the next one I highlight. How did you like the stories?

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  PinterestBloglovinTwitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

A Glint of Hope

PHOTO PROMPT – © Santoshwriter

Fred stopped pacing and stared out the window. After three straight days of rain, he watched with growing trepidation, as the sun appeared in a blue sky. Every time it rained three days in a row, something bad happened. “Bad things come in threes,” his mom said. This time he prayed she’d be wrong.

He waited for the doctor to emerge from his wife’s hospital room. “Please God, give me a sign.”

A singular leaf caught his attention. Five clinging drops glinted at him as if in Morse code. Rain. Hearing footsteps, he turned. The doctor was smiling.

 

Friday Fictioneers (hosted by Rochelle)-  100 words or less, inspired by a weekly photo prompt. Check out all the other entries here and be sure to comment.