I had the privilege of reading early an absolutely adorable children’s chapter book. I even got my own, real copy. Neener neener. I’m reviewing Wishweaver, written and illustrated by J.H. Winter, as both an author and an elementary educator. In both arenas, Whimsy’s journey–and it literally is a journey–is one that will delight young readers…
A few weeks ago, I entered my 100-word story in the second round of of NYC Midnight‘s flash fiction contest. I was assigned a genre, action, and word, and had 24 hours to craft my story. Sadly, I didn’t make the top ten this round, so I’m out of the game. I suspect that’s partly…
Last month, I entered a flash fiction contest hosted by NYC Midnight. Many thousands of writers were sorted into subgroups and challenged to produce a 100-word story featuring an assigned genre, activity, and word in 24 hours. Last night, the results for the first round were released, and because my story placed in the top…
Alternate title: Oh God a Post on Commas Whyyyyyyy Well, no. We don’t have to. But a couple of things happened recently that brought us here. The first was a response I left on Twitter. It was more a subtle jab at my grammar-nerdy self than an actual question (hence the lack of question mark).…
This week’s piece comes courtesy of the prompt over at Carrot Ranch: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story deep waters. I may or may not have asked a book character to appear in this one. I’ll say which one after the story, in case you haven’t guessed by then. Fishing My…
Welcome to my response to the flash fiction prompt over at Carrot Ranch: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story to nourish. The characters can nourish or be nourished. Since today is Mother’s Day, I put a bit of a maternal spin on it. Enjoy! A Little Something I open the pantry,…
It is my privilege to share with you the story of an upcoming author who I don’t hesitate to say will be the next Stephen King. Matthew Crocker (follow him here) is well established in the writing community on Twitter, and while he’s been developing his craft, he hasn’t yet published any of his short…
This week’s flash fiction piece comes courtesy of the prompt over at Carrot Ranch: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that declares, shield your face. It can be a knight of old, a doctor, or a senior citizen. What is the circumstance? Who makes the declaration? I hope you enjoy the…
Tap Tap With my gradebook in hand, I meander between the short desks, checking on my grid as students show me that they brought their homework. I finish and proceed to my desk, bending over to input my class’s attendance on my computer. I feel a tap tap on my arm. “One second,” I say. Tap…
How are you all faring in our social distancing efforts? Fortunately, cabin fever is the only type of fever affecting my family. We were going for walks if possible, but today’s weather looks like this. Happy first day of spring. So as I was scrolling through twitter and wondering what to do with my time,…
Allison Maruska 