Month: December 2013

Flash Fiction Vote: The End is Near!

2013 is almost gone. Time is running out on this year’s flash fiction challenge. There are only a couple more weeks to go. You get to choose the last few lucky authors to be included  in the next edition of the IU Flash Fiction Anthology.

Cast your vote in the flash fiction challenge. It’s time for IU readers to choose  this week’s winner.

Check out this week’s entries here. Vote for your favorite, then use those share buttons at the bottom of the post to spread the word.

Participate in this week’s voting, then  share the link to let everyone know the vote is on.

Polls close tomorrow at 5 PM.

 

Who wrote your favorite flash fiction entry this week?

  • Dick C Waters (37%, 16 Votes)
  • Kathy Steinemann (19%, 8 Votes)
  • Frank Lilly (14%, 6 Votes)
  • Jacqueline Hopkins (12%, 5 Votes)
  • Jon Jefferson (9%, 4 Votes)
  • AL Kaplan (7%, 3 Votes)
  • Annette Hatton (2%, 1 Votes)
  • John watson (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 43

Loading ... Loading ...

NOTE: Entrants whose submissions exceed the 250 word limit are eliminated from the poll.

Wave Hello to ReadWave

A few weeks ago I was cold-emailed by a charming chap called Rob Tucker who wanted me to check out his website for writers. He’d been reading my blog, he said, and had enjoyed it. My writing might be a good fit for ReadWave. I very nearly put it in the ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ pile, I get these emails from time to time. Don’t we all? But something about his tone made me read it again; it actually sounded as though it came from a real person. He wrote, ‘ReadWave is a place where you can write about anything – an idea, a life experience, a travel adventure or a moment of inspiration – as long as it’s under 800 words.’

Well Rob couldn’t have known but the 800 word thing hooked me in. Before blogging was invented (and before I knew whether I was a writer or not) I used to pretend that I had a humour column in some fancy newspaper or other and I’d write regular snippets about things that amused me. Back then I’d given myself an arbitrary length of 800 words, just for the sake of self-discipline. The pieces had never seen the light of day, apart from the occasional guest blog, and I wondered if this could finally be somewhere to give them an airing. So I checked out the website. Continue reading “Wave Hello to ReadWave”

Sneak Peek: Crosswind

Today we have a sneak peek from the new urban fantasy novel by Lynne Cantwell: Crosswind: Land, Sea, Sky Book 1.

Life on Earth is much improved since the pagan gods’ return. As conflict eases around the world, attention — and money — has turned to more humanitarian goals: improving the lives of the First Nations peoples and others who were repressed for thousands of years.

But the former ruling class – the military, religious, and corporate leaders who profited under the old system — are about to stage a last-ditch effort to bring their good times back.

The gods refuse to start a new war against those men, because that would make them no better than Their opponents. Instead, They have drafted three humans to help Them. Together, Tess, Sue and Darrell must find a way past their own flaws to ensure the gods’ peace will not be destroyed.

Crosswind: Land, Sea, Sky Book 1  is available from Amazon.com, Smashwords, and Amazon UK.

Here is an excerpt from Crosswind: Land, Sea, Sky Book 1 …

Continue reading “Sneak Peek: Crosswind”

Indie News Beat: TV Talent Shows for Writers? Seriously?

Literary media has been buzzing with the news of Masterpiece, an Italian game show which is offering one lucky author the chance of mainstream publication with a planned 100,000-copy print-run. Well, it had to happen, didn’t it?

Masterpiece whittled down 5,000 applicants to 70 wannabes, and thence to four “contestants” in each edition. The key section of each 90-minute show is to drop the writers in an unfamiliar environment (for example, spending a day with the blind), then take them back to the studio, sit them in front of a computer – and a studio audience, and give them 30 minutes to write what they can about it. For the two contestants who survive to the final round, each gets 60 seconds to give their “elevator pitch” to the Editor-in-Chief of the sponsoring publishing house as they travel with her in, er, an elevator. Continue reading “Indie News Beat: TV Talent Shows for Writers? Seriously?”