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,…
Welcome to this week’s flash fiction inspired by the prompt over at Carrot Ranch: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about Clarice. She can be any Clarice, real, historical, or imagined. Following the story is some background about the Clarice I chose as the subject. Enjoy! The Invitation Clarice ran her…
Coming in just under the wire is my submission for this week’s flash fiction challenge over at Carrot Ranch, inspired by this prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes the open road. Enjoy! The Road I pass under the last green light, sighing. Behind me is the city, the…
Allison Maruska 