Day One “We’re putting together an anthology,” they say. They have an email to prove it. Very few combinations of five words so excite The Short Story Guy. Maybe “short stories turn me on,” or “sure, we’re a paying market.” It is not a literary style I’ve written in. Despite that, perhaps because of it, I am intrigued.…… Continue reading The Fall and Rise of Draft One
Tag: Short Stories
Behind: “The Carcassonne Dream”
It is winter. Christmas Eve 2011, and Writer Guy rides the train to Arles. Second class. The South of France trundles by outside, salt flats and olive trees, the mountainside and harbor towns of the Mediterranean coast. I sip my Coca-Cola Lite and return to my laptop. For in France the writing flows, as fast as the sweeping…… Continue reading Behind: “The Carcassonne Dream”
Behind: “La Upsell”
Here, in honor of its recent republication, is a “Behind The Short Story” I wrote for “La Upsell.” The short story is its own literary animal, a wholeness experienced in few words and on small bones. Some writers get a sunbeam and angel choir moment of inspiration. Others grit it out, go find the story. I’m…… Continue reading Behind: “La Upsell”
Behind the Short Story: “First of a Fine Spectacle”
I’m honored that my short story / high farce “First of a Fine Spectacle” was selected for Pure Slush No. 7, Catherine refracted. I’m a history buff. But I’ve not had much interest writing historical fiction. Or flash fiction. So historical flash? What drew me was the collection’s theme: Catherine the Great. A canvas rife with legend, some deserved, others…… Continue reading Behind the Short Story: “First of a Fine Spectacle”